Anna joined the British Council in China in January 2016 as Learning and Development Manager within the HR team. Anna is responsible for ensuring that people throughout the British Council China have access to effective ways of acquiring, developing and refreshing the core skills needed across the organisation for optimum business performance. In her current role, she is able to utilise her experience as an English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher in Taiwan, South Korea and Italy, and her previous work for the British Council as a professional development mentor to state primary school teachers for the Ministry of Education, Malaysia. Prior to joining the British Council, Anna was an HR Advisor for Rathbone, a training organisation for vulnerable young people in the UK, based in Manchester where she gained her postgraduate diploma in HR Management and CIPD accreditation.

Jonathan Rechtman is a Chinese-English conference interpreter, entrepreneur, and mobility expert. Based in China for over a decade, he has interpreted for multiple presidents and prime ministers, Fortune 500 CEOs, Hollywood stars, Nobel prize winners, and a princess.

He is a seed-stage investor and Head of Partnerships at Cadence, a global matchmaking platform for interpreters and translators.

He is the co-founder of Mobility+, a thought-leadership platform for millennial mobility issues, and is a regular speaker on panels about the future of mobility and cross-border connectivity

He is a co-founding donor of The 1% Pledge, a philanthropy club for young professionals in Beijing, and an associate at the China Carbon Forum, a platform for high-level dialogue between climate stakeholders in China and the West.

He is an adjunct instructor at the University of Ottawa and the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing (UIBE).

Jonathan was trained as an interpreter by the European Commission (DG SCIC) and is certified by the US Department of State. He has a bachelors degree from American University in Washington, D.C., and a graduate degree from UIBE in Beijing.

I grew up in Sydney and came back in Beijing to pursue a career in Education, and have worked in the education industry for the past 8 years. I have always noticed a disconnect between locals and foreigners, which is why I started Pingo Space to help locals connect with foreigners. Pingo Space is a mobile platform that connects locals to expats through in-person experiences. Expats can monetize their skill and build their personal brand in China and Chinese clients benefit from theirs services. I was recently nominated as female co-founder of the year by TechNode at the China Bang Awards where Pingo Space won the best “Educational and service Product of the Year” award.

Jessie has been living and working in Beijing for the last two years. Previous to her role at Shunshun Education, she worked in legal services in Boston.

In addition to her formal role, she is the founder of the Beijing Women's Network, co-chair of the Tufts Alumni Chapter and a part of the Global Shapers Network.