The globally minded team at CAPRI’s main office are working to make Taipei a nexus of innovative ideas from all over the world.
Syaru Shirley Lin, research professor at the Miller Center and a nonresident senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, teaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and National Chengchi University in Taipei. Lin is the founder and chair of the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation (CAPRI) and a steering committee member of the Partnership for Health System Sustainability and Resilience under the World Economic Forum.
Her book, Taiwan’s China Dilemma, analyzes the impact of the evolution of Taiwanese national identity on cross-Strait economic policy. Lin is currently writing a book on the challenges facing high-income societies in Asia Pacific, including inequality, demographic decline, inadequate policy and technological innovation, and threats to public health and environmental sustainability. Her commentaries frequently appear in both English and Chinese media. Previously, she was a partner at Goldman Sachs, where she led the firm’s private equity and venture capital efforts in Asia.
Cecilia Yin joined CAPRI in 2021 as part of its founding team.
Previously, Cecilia worked as an Executive Administrator in the Securities Division of Goldman Sachs (Asia) in the Hong Kong office from 1993 to 2015. She was responsible for administrative duties and client coordination for the Division, managing support staff and providing secretarial assistance to the Division Head.
Prior to joining CAPRI, Cecilia worked as Chief of Staff at Zheng He Capital, a private equity firm in Hong Kong, overseeing daily office operation, covering human resources-related matters and client events coordination.
Cecilia currently resides in Taipei, Taiwan.
Yulan Hsu joined CAPRI in 2022. Yulan has been involved in non-profit organizations (NPOs) management in Taiwan for over a decade, and currently serves as Director of Taiwan Women’s Link. She has extensive knowledge of strategic planning and interdepartmental coordination to assist decision-making in the organization and advise its long-term development.
Throughout her career, Yulan has held a strong commitment to women rights and social equality. Previously, Yulan has led and contributed to various Taiwanese NPOs, including National Alliance of Taiwan Women’s Associations, Legal Aid Foundation, Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, Ama Museum, among others. She was also appointed as the Secretary to the Commissioner of Department of Social Welfare in Taipei City Government.
Yulan is a native Taiwanese. She holds a Bachelor degree in sociology from National Taiwan University and a Master degree in sociology from Soochow University.
Caroline Fried joined the team that founded CAPRI in 2021. She has research experience in the economics, politics, development, and history of the Asia Pacific, particularly Taiwan and China. She has also researched the cross-border flows of students in higher education and the internationalization of higher education systems.
Before joining CAPRI, Caroline was an academic editor and research assistant in Taipei. Caroline hails from North Carolina, and she holds bachelor’s degrees in international affairs and history from Northeastern University, Boston, MA. Upon completing her undergraduate studies, Caroline was awarded a Fulbright grant to complete a master’s degree in Asia-Pacific studies at National Chengchi University, Taipei. She has called Taipei home since 2017.
Siwei Huang is part of the founding team of CAPRI. He has conducted interdisciplinary research on Taiwan, Hong Kong, and international affairs. Specifically, he has done research on the evolution of identity in Taiwan and Hong Kong, especially in the context of their relations with China. He has also examined the issues of environmental sustainability and internationalization in Taiwan, as well as the policy-making process in Hong Kong and its implications for state-society relations. He closely monitors developments in US-China relations and tracks how they affect various stakeholders in Asia.
Before joining CAPRI, Siwei was a research assistant at the Department of Social Sciences, Education University of Hong Kong. A native of Hunan, Siwei graduated from Hong Kong Baptist University in applied economics with First Honors and received his master’s degree in global political economy from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Having experienced the global-local nexus in Asia’s World City, Siwei values diversity and openness in the formation of a more vibrant and inclusive community.
Dr. Christine Cook is a visiting assistant professor at National Chengchi University. She specializes in communication science and media psychology and is active in the International Communication Association (ICA). She is also a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication and the Journal of Media Psychology. The broad goals of her work are to increase online civility, and her work with CAPRI focuses on bringing the Asian perspective to work focused traditionally in the Western world.
Austen Wei is an Administrative Associate at CAPRI. Prior joining CAPRI, Austen coordinated several international programs at National Chengchi University (NCCU). Her most recent position was at the College of Global Banking and Finance at NCCU, where her duties as the dean’s secretary included budgeting, managing projects, and managerial administration to ensure that the college’s operations ran efficiently. She received her M.A. from Durham University in the United Kingdom, specializing in democratization in East Asia. Austen also has a background in English literature at National Sun Yat-Sen University in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Sylvia Chen is CAPRI’s graphic and website designer. She designed, built, and maintains CAPRI’s website, and she handles the graphic design of CAPRI’s research products and communications material, both digital and printed.
She also designed the website of the Asia-Pacific Hub, one of CAPRI’s pilot programs. In addition, she was previously a full-time staff member at Fulbright Taiwan (Foundation for Scholarly Exchange), where she was in charge of graphic, website, and layout design.
Sylvia graduated from National Chengchi University (NCCU) in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in advertising. She majored in advertising, digital marketing, and branding and has specializations in English, Japanese, graphic design, and illustration.
Trisha Lim joined CAPRI in February 2023 as part of National Taiwan University’s internship program between the Office of International Affairs and NGOs based in Taiwan. She is a current Masters student studying Biodiversity Conservation at National Taiwan University, with a particular interest in carbon policies and emission reporting.
Prior to moving to Taiwan, she obtained a Law degree from the University of Nottingham in the UK and worked as a compliance and operational risk adviser at Standard Chartered Bank Brunei. Her volunteer work over the years has been in the environmental sphere in promoting food self-sufficiency and reducing carbon footprint from imported produce. Her interdisciplinary background has motivated her to pursue further education in creating a more sustainable and resilient future.
Emily Cheng joined CAPRI in August 2023 as part of the Princeton in Asia fellowship. After graduating from Princeton University in 2021 with a major in Molecular Biology, Emily worked at the global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company. With plans to pursue a career as a physician working in healthcare policy, she anticipates that her experience at CAPRI will introduce her to the decision-making process and stakeholders involved in bringing legislation to people and communities.
Hannah Semmes joined CAPRI in August 2023 via the Princeton in Asia fellowship. She has research experience in education and information literacy, global health, and environmental security. She has a particular interest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Before joining CAPRI, Hannah was a senior consultant at Guidehouse in Washington, DC. She has served in various roles across the private, public, and non-profit sectors. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Leadership & Public Policy with a specialization in Global Commerce from the University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School. She served as the Class of 2020 commencement speaker for the University of Virginia, where she currently volunteers on the Batten Alumni Advisory Board.
Upon completing her undergraduate studies, Hannah was awarded a Critical Language Scholarship from the State Department to study Bahasa Indonesia at Universitas Negeri Malang (UM). As economies develop, climate crises proliferate, and new technologies emerge, Hannah believes trust and collaboration will prevail as the common thread of global resilience.
Will Hanvey joined CAPRI in September 2023 as a co-op student from Northeastern University. He is currently a fourth-year undergraduate student studying International Affairs and Data Science, with a regional focus in East Asia.
Will worked his first co-op as a Junior Data Scientist at Lightcast in Boston, where he performed analysis on and did projects relating to national and international labor markets. Before coming to CAPRI, Will spent five months in Japan studying at the University of Tokyo. At CAPRI, Will looks to bring real-life experience to his studies in the East Asia region.
In September 2023, Benson Lo joined CAPRI while studying in the Global Communication and Innovation Technology Master’s Program at National Chengchi University. Benson has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Foreign Languages and Literature from National Cheng Kung University. Benson’s research focuses on the impact of new media and games on social relationships and psychological well-being in post pandemic. His work on new media and parasocial relationships was exhibited in the Taiwanese Psychological Association 2022 conference as both a poster and a video.
Before joining CAPRI, Benson was a digital marketing intern at 104 Corporation. Benson is also in charge of a Facebook fan page called “原創迪士尼 – Original Disney,” which has 12,000 followers.
Our team spans the globe, bringing together diverse experiences, ideas, and perspectives.
Alistair Lang joined CAPRI in December 2022. He has a bachelor’s degree in history from University College London and a master’s in global governance and emerging markets from Birkbeck College. His research has included the economic and political changes in Indonesia and Mexico since the 1980’s and the role of foreign policy in Russian domestic politics.
Alistair has a background in finance, public policy, and communications. Before joining CAPRI, Alistair cofounded and managed the Reform for Resilience Commission, which was set up to address the need for more resilient and sustainable health and economic policy, as highlighted by the pandemic.
Currently based in Manchester, he is from the United Kingdom but has traveled extensively in the Asia-Pacific region and looks forward to seeing even more.
Jacob Libby is a recent graduate from a two-year master’s program at the Yenching Academy of Peking University, where his research focused on the geopolitics of the US-China-Taiwan semiconductor trade and the broader challenges associated with export controls, foreign direct investment, and industrial policy in the region. Previously, Jacob completed his undergraduate degree in foreign affairs and Spanish at the University of Virginia. He has worked at the US Department of State, the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center, SupChina, and the Miller Center at UVA, conducting research on contemporary US-China relations and East Asian politics and economics.
He is deeply interested in the growth of East Asia’s technology sphere and plans to dedicate his career to fostering positive, productive relations between the US and East Asia toward a prosperous and innovative future in the face of collective challenges such as climate change and democratic erosion. He is currently pursuing a law degree at Harvard Law School in furtherance of that goal.
Oliver Jongue joined CAPRI as an intern over his summer break in 2022. He is a second-year student at the Australian National University (ANU), double majoring in Law and International Relations. Oliver’s current research interest is in US-China relations and the international political economy. However, he has completed projects on various topics, including law reform and human rights to global security. He has previously worked as a law ambassador for the ANU College of Law, spearheading the college’s marketing and on the executive of the ANU Society for the United Nations as the conference director, which promotes the discussion of global issues by organizing events such as Model United Nations Conferences. Oliver is a native of Taipei but is currently residing in Canberra.
