The Husky Presidential Ambassadors Leadership Institute is a unique opportunity for a cohort of 19 current University of Washington students and a cohort of 19 incoming first-year Chinese international students and 9 incoming Global Innovation Exchange (GIX) students to participate together in a cross-cultural leadership development immersion experience.  Globalization has created a need for leaders with greater understanding of cultural differences and increased competencies in cross-cultural communication and practice. Leadership Institute participants gain valuable skills in intercultural communication, explore cultural perspectives of leadership and study leadership practices in a global setting. The Husky Presidential Ambassadors Leadership Institute is an innovative education model that cultivates young global leaders who think beyond boundaries.

 

Current UW students spend one week in academic preparation in Seattle before traveling to China for two weeks. UW students spend their first week in Beijing, China visiting historical sites and gaining exposure to Chinese cultural surroundings.  The cohort of incoming first-year students and GIX students join the current UW student cohort during the second week to participate in an experiential leadership development curriculum. Participants connect leadership theory to practice by meeting with local and national government officials, business leaders and community change agents while also engaging in skill-building and self-reflective opportunities that will accelerate their personal leadership development.  In the fall, all participants continue this leadership education opportunity through Unite UW, a domestic-international student exchange program on campus. 

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Program Leaders: 

Francesca Lo

Director, Husky Leadership Initiative

Francesca believes that leadership is about working with others to create positive change and is something that grows out of experience, practice and reflection. She oversees the programming and strategic direction of the Husky Leadership Initiative. Fran’s prior work in higher education service-learning and student affairs and in community-based youth leadership programs have fueled her passion for facilitating college students’ learning and development in their journeys to become effective, caring and socially just citizens in their communities. She holds a Doctor of Education from the UW College of Education, a Master of Arts from the UW School of Marine Affairs, and a Bachelor of Science from Brown University.

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Liping Yu

Senior Lecturer, Asian Languages & Literature

Born and raised in Beijing, Liping is passionate about introducing American students to Chinese language and culture. She has extensive experience teaching Chinese language and culture and has led several study abroad trips to China.  At the University of Washington, she teaches Chinese to both heritage and non-heritage speakers. Before coming to the UW, she taught Chinese language at Princeton University and Louisiana State University as well as English language at People’s University in Beijing. She holds an M.A. from Lousiana State University, an M.A from Tsinghua University, and a B.A. from Beijing Normal College of Foreign Languages, and has co-authored several books.