Yuan Jiakai is the Executive Director of the Hong Kong-based Finance Center for South-South Cooperation. He is also the founder of the Shanghai Ethno Philanthropy Fund. Previously, he served as Vice President and China Chief Representative of United Way Worldwide, the world’s largest privately funded nonprofit organization, dedicated to advancing early childhood education, financial stability, and health in over 40 countries and territories.

Jiakai has held leadership roles at several prominent domestic and international nonprofit organizations, including the China Red Cross Jet Li One Foundation, Beijing Youcheng Entrepreneur Poverty Alleviation Foundation, Rare Conservation (based in Arlington, Virginia), and the World Wide Fund for Nature China Representative Office.

Before entering the nonprofit sector, Jiakai worked in the Leveraged Finance Group of Credit Suisse’s Investment Banking Division in New York. He holds a BBA from the University of Toronto and an MBA from the University of Michigan. He was awarded a full scholarship from the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) program at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, granted to leading figures in the nonprofit sector.

In 2019, Jiakai was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, appointed to its Global Future Council on China, and named “Future Leader of the Year” by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai.