David Joiner

David Joiner is Business Development Director for Dipont Education Management Group. Dipont is the China leader in international high school educational exchanges with offices throughout China. Mr. Joiner is a China specialist and has also worked with educational programs at both AFS and CET Academic Programs. He speaks Chinese, Nepali, and Tibetan, with over 10 years living and working in Asia. Mr. Joiner is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with M.A. degrees in both Asian Studies and Community Development.

Karen Lewis

Karen Lewis is the Executive Director of the Agilent Foundation and formerly the Director of Global Media Communications with Agilent. She has served as the Company Archivist and Historian for Hewlett-Packard and has advised over 200 organizations on the establishment of archives and history programs. She also served as Curator at the Harvard University Archives.

Mark Opperman

Mark Opperman is the Director of Educational Technology at Stanford New Schools. He is a former executive at Sun Microsystems and has lived and worked in Tokyo, London, Beijing, Lausanne, and Paris. Prior to joining Sun, he taught at Beijing University and wrote software for many years. In 2000, he established the Oumu Foundation to enable virtual exchanges between students in China and the U.S. using the internet and digital video technology. He holds a B.S. from Stanford University in Mathematical Sciences and a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Ron Piovesan

Ron Piovesan is a manager with Cisco’s global corporate development team, focusing on acquisition, investment and partnership opportunities in Europe, Middle East and Latin America. Prior to that, he worked for over 10 years in various business development and corporate communications roles. Globally educated, he has a Bachelors degree from Carleton University in Canada, a Masters from Goldsmiths College, University of London, UK, and an MBA from the joint program at Columbia GSB and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business.

Laarni von Ruden

Laarni von Ruden is a CPA with a private practice in Palo Alto, California focusing on nonprofit organizations, small businesses, and special government districts. She received her Masters in Accounting from Northeastern University and a B.A. in Chinese Studies from Wellesley College. She serves as treasurer and as the chairperson of the Not for Profit and Governmental Accounting Committee of the MidPeninsula Chapter of the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. She also serves on several boards of not for profit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area.