International Business Ethics Consultant and former Co-Chair for the Columbia University Seminar on China International Business
Kristen is a 1987 Wellesley graduate, where she majored in Chinese and was a student of Mrs. Lin. She was a Wellesley Yenching fellow at the National Palace Museum1987-88. Following her return to the U.S. in 1988, Kristen worked at the headquarters of the U.S. China People’s Friendship Association in Washington DC. In that role, she helped organize study tours to China – until the tragic events of June 4, 1989 in Tiananmen Square resulted in her sudden unemployment. She quickly found a job as a contractor at the U.S. Small Business Administration. This motivated her to get her MBA at Columbia University before once again heading back to Asia. While living in Hong Kong from 1993-1997, she worked as a sales manager for a U.S. multinational company representing various German meat processing equipment manufacturers in China. Subsequently, she joined San Miguel Brewing of the Philippines, providing project management support to global brewery projects. After returning to the U.S. in 1997, Kristen renewed her ties with Columbia and served for several years as Co-Chair for the University Seminar on China International Business. This culminated in her 2005 publication China’s Environment and the Challenge of Sustainable Development. Kristen has worked as a consultant in the field of international business ethics from 1997 to the present, helping organizations build and strengthen their ethics and compliance programs. Most recently, this has included stints in the ethics offices of the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington D.C.