Empowered by his study at LSE, and after a six-years with a local government department, Yuanjie joined a UK based charity, Care for Children, as a country manager. He also heads up a local NGO in Shanghai, who promote inclusive sports and educational programmes for young people.
Current job title and description of what this role entails:
Country Manager & Head of Asia’s support team at Care for Children - In this role I manage the family placements of over 300,000 orphaned and vulnerable children in China. I also support project work in other Asian countries by leading a team of professionals. During my journey with Care for Children, I was seconded to Special Olympics (the world's largest sports organisation for children and adults with intellectual disabilities), as the World Games Liaison for the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games for two years.
Founder and Executive Director of Shanghai Future Youth Development Centre - I set up this NGO with the aim to promote inclusion amongst young people, both with and without learning difficulties, in and around the city of Shanghai via sports and educational programmes.
How has the programme you studied helped your career since you graduated?
I benefited from studying the MSc Management (public sector) programme. It opened the door to management theories and the practice of public institutions and agencies. It allowed me to analyse, denotate and understand public policies and decisions made by public sector departments, and currently helps me tackle practical issues in my work.
What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?
“Be grateful to your subordinates, and be unservile to superiors.” This came from a senior government official for whom I used to work with - it fosters teamwork, and guides you to become a respectable leader.
What’s the greatest challenge you’ve had to overcome?
The biggest challenge was probably 20 years ago when I had to introduce and promote family placements for orphans into China, it was when institutional care was dominant and public service system was rigid.
What are your hopes for the future?
To see more LSE alumni playing critical roles in the public sector industry, especially in South East Asia. By shaping the world with creativity, LSE alumni are contributing the world with positive changes, which are fairly desired in this part of the world. I do hope to see and work with more alumni in this sector for the future.
Share your fondest memory of the Department of Management:
I enjoyed taking part in study groups, they were a useful tool whilst I studied at LSE. By having young and talented souls from the globe in the same group, it allowed me to think globally and act internationally through the collision of academic thoughts, philosophy and cultures. This is THE amazing part of student life at LSE.
If you would like to be profiled or if you would like to nominate a Department of Management alumni, please email dom.alumni@lse.ac.uk.