Join Yale-China for a conversation between Ambassador Katherine Tai and Ms. Leslie Stone, moderated by Dr. Jennifer Weyburn on the challenge and importance of navigating people-to-people exchange in the current US-China relationship. The discussion will examine both the challenges and importance of building and maintaining US-China ties, at both the higher bilateral trade level and the on the ground people-to-people level, during this time of increased tension and mistrust.

This event, held in person at Yale’s reunion weekend, will be simultaneously broadcast as a webinar for our community.

Speakers

Ambassador Katherine Tai

Former US Trade Representative and Executive Director, Coalition for New Trade
Yale-China Fellow, 1996-1998; former Yale-China Trustee

Katherine Tai served as the 19th United States Trade Representative. As a member of President Biden’s Cabinet, Ambassador Tai was the principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy from March 2021 to January 2025. During her tenure, she spearheaded a major shift at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), recognizing the need for the agency to speak for the interests of the entire U.S. economy, not only the largest players.

Prior to her unanimous Senate confirmation in 2021, Katherine spent nearly 2 decades in public service crafting, monitoring, and enforcing U.S. and international trade laws. As Chief Trade Counsel to the House Ways and Means Committee, she played a pivotal role during the first Trump administration in the re-negotiation and ratification of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. She is also an experienced litigator and served as USTR’s Chief Counsel for China Trade Enforcement from 2011 to 2014.

Katherine graduated from Yale University and Harvard Law School. She began her career practicing law in the private sector, clerking for federal judges in the Districts of Columbia and Maryland, and teaching English in Guangzhou, China as a Yale-China Fellow. She is fluent in Mandarin.

Ms. Leslie Stone

Vice President and Director of Education Programs, Yale-China Association

Leslie Stone’s entire career has been in the field of U.S.-China educational and cultural exchange. As Yale-China’s Vice President and Director of Education Programs, she manages the portfolio of fellowships and exchanges that comprise the education program and has responsibilities across the organization.  Prior to joining Yale-China in 2011, she was executive director of the Lingnan Foundation for ten years. She earlier held positions at the Institute of International Education (IIE), WorldTeach, Inc., Prince George’s County Public Schools, and the Nanjing Aeronautical Institute. Leslie is a member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and is a Fellow at Ezra Stiles College at Yale University. She serves on the boards of the New Haven Chinese Cultural Cooperative and the Children’s Preschool. She holds an MA in Chinese Studies from the University of Michigan and a BA from Bowdoin College. In her spare time, she is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership at the University of Connecticut.

Dr. Jennifer Weyburn

Head of School, Packer Collegiate Institute
Yale-China Fellow, 1996-1998; current Yale-China Trustee

Jen has been fortunate to have made her way around the world as an educator. Jen grew up in Dobbs Ferry, NY and graduated from Yale in 1994 with a BA in history. After several years working at Saint Ann’s School in Brooklyn, Jen accepted the Yale-China Fellowship: New Asia CUHK, 1996-7; Ningbo, 1997-8. She then returned to New Haven to work on educational programs at Yale-China.

Jen earned an MA in English Education from Columbia Teachers College and then taught at New Rochelle High School. Her family then moved to Atlanta and Jen taught at Atlanta International School. She moved into school leadership at AIS, first as a curriculum coordinator and then as Middle School Head. During this time, she also earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy at Peabody College Vanderbilt.

Jen moved back to China as the Superintendent for Educational Programs and Student Learning at Shanghai American School. Next, she led Copenhagen International School in Denmark. In 2019 she returned to the States as Head of School at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn (a PreK - 12th grade independent school). She also serves on the Boards of the Windward School and the Guild of Independent Schools of NYC.