The Fulcrum Team
This team of interviewers was founded in March 2015 under the leadership of Dr. Haiqin Yu and Justin M. Thomas with advice from Professor Helen Haste. The interviews cover a wide range of topics with the goal of opening up new potential within the field of education. The team has members from China, the U.S., Brazil, Singapore, and other countries, including more than ten graduate students and visiting scholars as the core members. The concept of “fulcrum” comes from Archimedes: “Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world”.
Interviewers
Chao Bai
is currently the director of international development of Juxiechang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. She earned a master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School in 2016. Given her interest in social awareness and engagement competencies, she took the courses taught by Professor Selman. She met Professor Haiqin Yu in class and began to assist her with her interview project. Her research area includes public health and education policy.
Jack Chen
serves as a board member and Vice President of the Boston Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA), Vice President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the United Chinese American (UCA), and founding member and reporter at Boston Asian Radio and Television. In 2020, he volunteered to help Michelle Wu be elected Mayor of Boston. In 2022 he joined Massachusetts House of Representatives Tami Gouveia’s campaign for Lieutenant Governor. His lifelong mission is to empower minorities to use their rights and speak up for themselves.
Tianyu Fu
is a graduate student from Nanjing Normal University, China. His undergraduate and master’s majors are Art and Design with a concentration in Photography. During his time at school, he participated in a number of cultural exchange events held in Boston. Now he is a volunteer photographer and reporter for BARTV in Boston.
currently works in the energy industry. After graduating from Northeastern University with a master’s degree, she worked at Boston International Media Consulting Inc as a journalist. From 2017 through 2019, she interviewed Yabuli Forum founder Tian Yuan, President of Olin College Richard K. Miller, and many other prominent people of Boston. Meanwhile, she worked on many significant events in Greater Boston, including the 2019 Longquan Celadon Tour Exhibition. While in Boston, Yidan excelled at building friendships between the United States and China. She returned to China in 2021.
Mingzhu He
is an innovator, researcher, experience designer, and educator. She is passionate about designing future technology experiences that are good for humans and for the planet, especially in the healthcare and education spaces. She currently works at Samsung Design Innovation Center in San Francisco, where she and her team advise the leaders in Samsung Electronics and Samsung Mobile divisions. She holds two master’s degrees – one from Harvard Graduate School of Education (Mind, Brain, and Education) and one from DePaul University (Human Computer Interaction). Her undergraduate degree is from the University of Chicago, in Economics with a concentration in Premedical Professions.
Siang Huat (Jason Hong)
is currently teaching physical education at an elementary school in Singapore. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of Warwick in 2014. In 2015, he was pursuing a master’s degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard Graduate School of Education where he met Haiqin Yu and began to assist her with her interview project on the subject of education. Jason strongly believes that education can and should be a social leveler.
Yinqi Li
is a professor at Zhejiang University. He earned his Ph.D. degree in Geology from Zhejiang University in 2013, and then he moved to the Solid Earth Geochemistry Lab of Harvard University as a Post-doctoral fellow from 2013 to 2016. During his stay at Harvard, Yinqi met Haiqin Yu and helped her with the interview of Harvard’s Higgins Professor of Geochemistry Charles H. Langmuir.
Yi Lin
is currently a Ph.D. candidate in The Department of English at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research focus is sustainability discourse and critical discourse analysis. She earned a master’s degree in Human Development and
Siwen Z. Minero
is an assistant research professor at the University of Montana after receiving her Ed.D from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research interests include understanding human interactions, how to effectively use sciences of developmental adversity (i.e., neurosciences, epigenetics, ACE s) to improve lives, and how to build on the power of relationships and systems to facilitate success in endeavors that fuels success in the next. She is also the chief learning officer at the nonprofit Mama Laoshi Club.
Sonia Maria Pereira Vidigal
is currently teaching at a Brazilian College, Singularidades Institute, in an Education program. She earned her master’s and her Ph.D. in Education from São Paolo University in Brazil. As part of her Ph.D. program, she conducted part of her research at Harvard University in the 2014–2015 academic year. She met Haiqin Yu at Harvard Graduate School of Education, where they participated in some projects together.
Lianjiang Wang
is currently a lecturer at University of Jinan, China. As one of Haiqin Yu’s colleagues, he helped her interview Olin College President Miller and translated the interviews of this project. His research focuses on translation teaching and translation theory. He has also translated quite a number of materials from English to Chinese and vice versa, including four books published by China Light Industry Press, Ltd.
Gary Yu
is the founder of Boston International Media Consulting Inc. and Boston Asian Radio and Television. He has expertise in political campaigning, media relations, and marketing, and has extensive connections in government, business, community-based organizations, and professional nonprofits in the Asian community. He has served as President of the Boston Chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA), President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the United Chinese American (UCA), and President of New England Chinese American Alliance (NECAA). He was also an instrumental contributor to Boston Mayor Michele Wu’s and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s election campaigns. Now, he is a member of State Auditor Diana
Ting Zhang
is currently a professor, a supervisor of master’s degree students, and the dean of the Special Education Department at the School of Education and Psychology, Jinan University in Shandong Province, China. These multiple roles entail a deep involvement in both teaching and management at the university. Since 2012, she has been very active in the training of special education teachers in Shandong Province. Moreover, she has made great contributions in the areas of special education policy and regulation, teacher education, and moral education.
Jing Zhao
is currently a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, China. She was a visiting scholar at Harvard Graduate School of Education from 2014 to 2015 where she met Professor Haiqin Yu and began to assist her with her interview project on the subject of education. Professor Zhao’s research focuses on early language and literacy development, especially emergent literacy acquisition among children with autism.
Songyu Zhu
is currently a researcher and practitioner in higher education, adult learning, and corporate talent development. She earned a master’s degree in Higher Education from Harvard University in 2015 as a Victor and William Fung Fellow. Since then she has been working with Professor Haiqin Yu on interviews and research projects on the subject of education. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in History and a minor in Economics from University of Southern California in 2014.
Qiuzi Zhou
is a passionate multimedia storyteller, and currently works at Petrol Advertising in Southern California. She obtained a master’s degree in Emerging Media Studies from Boston University in 2016. Prior to that, she completed her bachelor’s degree in Journalism at Wuhan University, China. With a diverse academic background and industry experience in both the Eastern and Western worlds, she crafts impactful narratives that bridge cultures and markets. Drawing upon her expertise in journalism and social media, she leverages her abilities in research, interviewing, and storytelling techniques to great effect, aiding numerous Eastern brands in establishing a strong foothold in the Western market. She firmly believes that every individual and organization deserves to share their remarkable stories with the world.
Lingtao Yu
is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree with a major in Mathematics and Finance at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. Prior to this, Lingtao earned her high school degree in Pennsylvania, U.S. in 2017, and studied at Pennsylvania State University with a Mathematics major and Korean/Music Production minor.
Shuangchen Yu
is a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Economics and Management, Tsinghua University. She received two bachelor’s degrees at Tsinghua University. In the summer of 2014, she was studying at Harvard Summer School as a high school graduate when she met Haiqin Yu.
Xiaoyu Zhang
is currently a speech-language pathologist working at the best rehabilitation hospital in the United States, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab. Previously she worked a senior speech-language pathologist at Carle Foundation Hospital affiliated with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She obtained a master’s degree in Speech-language Pathology at Rush University, and since then has been working as a CCC-SLP in the medical field. She was at University of Wisconsin-Madison finishing her master’s degree in Applied English Linguistics when assisting Haiqin Yu with her interview project in 2015. She earned her bachelor’s degree with a double major in International Communication and Journalism as well as English Literature at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Photography Collator
Ruijia Wang
is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Social Work at Jimei University in Xiamen, China. She devotes herself to volunteer activities and has worked as a volunteer in a welfare house for three years. In the autumn of 2018, she participated in the international exchanges organized by her high school in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. She earned her high school degree in Shanghai in 2019.
Tailei Hou
is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology. His main research interests include the synthesis of novel photocatalytic materials and the exploration of the photocatalytic mechanism. He completed his master’s degree in environmental science and engineering at the University of Jinan. During that time, he met Dr. Yu and began helping her with copy editing. Since then, he taught himself office-related software as well as drawing and image processing software such as Chemdraw, Origin, and Photoshop.
Jie Yu
is currently an analytical chemistry technician in a state-owned enterprise. She earned her master’s degree from Tongji University in 2016. During her undergraduate and postgraduate periods at Tongji University, she was a English translator volunteer in the UNEP-Tongji Institute of Environment for Sustainable Development (IESD). She has been working with Professor Haiqin Yu for many years and maintains a good cooperative relationship.
Proofreader
Sifei Sheng
is currently studying at the Knowledge-First Empowerment Academy High School, and is committed to volunteer activities. In the fall of 2020 and 2021, she served as stage manager for the school’s charity performance. She has been participating in the Chongqing Cultural Relics Protection Program for three years and is a long-term volunteer at Shancheng Story Hall. In the summer of 2021, she participated in the Guizhou Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Project, went deep into the mountains to look for non-genetic inheritors, learned about the production of intangible cultural heritage, and spread knowledge of China’s intangible cultural heritage. In the autumn of 2021, she established an Intangible Cultural Heritage Association at school and served as President. She joined the Stray Animal Rescue Program in the summer of 2022. In the spring of 2023, she launched a tie dyeing activity at Warmth and Love Children’s Home to help deaf and mute children and spread the Chinese intangible cultural heritage at the same time.
Yibao Liu
is a graduate student at the School of Design, University of Jinan under the supervision of Professor Haibo Yang. His major is visual communication design, and he has participated in many design competitions while in school. He is very interested in book cover design and believes that excellent book cover design can combine visual beauty and cultural connotation to convey the main ideas and contents of books.
Haibo Yang
is currently the Vice Dean of the University of Jinan School of Design, has been a colleague and friend of Haiqin since 2000. As a crossover designer, Professor Yang breaks through professional barriers, and is committed to exploring the boundary and cross-innovation points of product and brand design and service model design. He was nominated for the Guanghua Longteng Award as one of the “Top Ten Outstanding Young People in the Chinese Design Industry” in 2015, as one of the “Top Ten Design Educators in China” in 2019, and as one of the “Top Ten Outstanding Young People in Shandong Province” in 2021.