Vivian Lin Thurston is the Founder and Chairman of the Board of Chinese Finance Association of America (CFAA). She also served as CFAA President from its inception in 2009 until 2015 on a volunteer basis.

As a full-time professional, Vivian Lin Thurston is a Partner and Portfolio Manager at William Blair Investment Management, and responsible for portfolio management of William Blair’s Emerging Markets Growth, China A-Shares Growth, China Growth, and Emerging Markets ex China Growth strategies. Previously, she was a global equity research analyst covering the China A-shares market and large-cap consumer companies. Before joining William Blair, Vivian was vice president and consumer sector head at Calamos Investments. Before that, she was an executive director and senior investment analyst at UBS Global Asset Management/Brinson Partners, where she was responsible for stock selection and research for consumer sectors in the United States and emerging markets. Vivian also held roles at Mesirow Financial, China Agribusiness Development Trust and Investment Corporation, and Vanke. She is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Chicago. Vivian received a L.L.B. in sociology from Peking University and an M.A. in sociology and M.S. in finance from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Hong is the President of CFAA since April 2015. She also served as the Vice President from 2013 to 2015, and Secretary of the Board from 2011 to 2013.

Hong is the Head of Fixed Income and Currency Research at the Research and Investments Group of Morningstar. In this role. Hong leads a team of researchers to deliver capital market assumptions and asset class research on global fixed income assets and currencies. Prior to this role, Hong was a portfolio manager at Morningstar’s Investment Management Group where she co-managed 5 Morningstar Funds. She also held different roles previously at Morningstar including being a member of the Global Asset Allocation team, and as an Operations Associate at Morningstar Investment Services. Hong holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and insurance from Renmin University of China, a master’s degree in finance from DePaul University, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth Graduate School of Business. Hong is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society Chicago.

Qi David Tang is the Vice President of CFAA and has been a Director of CFAA since April 2013. He was also in various CFAA Officer positions previously including Vice President and Treasurer.

David is Director and Head of Quantitative Research at EquiTrust Life Insurance’s Investment data warehouse infrastructure, automation and quantitative research initiatives. Prior to that, David was a senior vice president and Head of Fixed Income Quantitative Research at Neuberger Berman. David also held various risk and quantitative research roles at Fannie Mae, Allstate and ABN AMRO. David received an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and an M.S. in Economics and Computer Science, and a B.A. in International Economic from Renmin University of China.

Krystal Tai is the Secretary of the Board of CFAA and has been in the role since April 2020. Her main responsibilities at CFAA include membership management, event organizing, and marketing. Krystal began her involvement with CFAA as a volunteer in 2015.

As a full-time professional, Krystal is a Senior Associate at PwC, specializing in capital markets and banking management consulting. Prior to PwC, she worked as a Brokerage Analyst at Société Générale. Krystal holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Henan University of Economics and Law, China, and a Master of Science in Computational Finance from DePaul University.

Michelle Liu is the Treasurer of CFAA and has been in the role since April 2016. She is responsible for CFAA’s financial planning and management, record keeping, financial reporting, and tax filing.

Michelle is a product manager at Morningstar Retirement, where she works on a suite of retirement management products that help financial advisors onboard and service retirement plans. Prior to that, Michelle was an associate at Goldman Sachs, Asset Management Division, where she worked in the Global Shareholder Services group and provided high-quality service and solutions to the shareholders of Goldman Sachs funds. Michelle received an M.S. in Computational Finance from DePaul University, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, and a B.S. in International Finance from Liaoning University.

Ray Zhan is the Founder and Chair of CFAA Shanghai Branch and has been a Director of CFAA since August 2014.

Ray is currently an equity partner of 大成Dentons Law Firm based in Shanghai, and practices law in the areas of foreign direct investments, intellectual property, IPOs, M&As, and general corporation affair and litigation. He also holds various roles outside of his full-time position, including Editor of Law Observation of the China Listing Companies Association, legal expert to Hong Kong High Court, 2024 Commercial Ambassador of Shanghai City Fengxian District, and the organizer and presenter of 大成Dentons Forum Chinese Companies IPOs in the US Capital Market since 2018. Ray is also a commission member of Asia CEO Chapter, an association for distinguished CEOs in the professional service industries in Asia, and the co-founder and president of Hoti Capital, a boutique VC firm.

Ray received a Master of Laws degree from Kent College of Law at Illinois Institute of Technology, a Master of Laws degree from East China University of Political Science and Law, and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science of Technology. He also holds graduate degrees from ECUPL and HUST.

Yuyang Zhang is a Director of CFAA and has been in this role since April 2020. She has contributed significantly to CFAA’s branding and social media marketing effort.

Yuyang Zhang is a Data Science Manager at Discover Financial Services. She supports senior leadership on the analytics initiatives related to emerging risks and opportunities. Previously, she was vice president of Business Development & Market Analytics at Huatai Financial USA Inc, and quantitative analyst at Rice Dairy. Yuyang received an M.S. in Applied Data Science from University of Chicago, and a Bachelor’s degree in Finance from East China University of Science and Technology.