Our staff is made up of Chinese-American teenagers from the metro Atlanta area between the ages of 13-18. All the big sisters and brothers are very passionate about sharing their Chinese culture with others and working with children. Our staff’s interests and backgrounds vary, so learn more about everyone here at Hand in Hand!

Want to volunteer at Hand in Hand? >> Learn more here

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Board Members

 

Jennifer Li (李瑾, Li Jin)

Big Sister Coordinator

The Lovett School, 11th Grade

Jennifer is 16 years old and a junior at the Lovett School. She currently lives in Johns Creek, Georgia with her parents, her sister, Jessica, and her cat, Halfey. She loves meeting new people, joking around, and listening to/playing music. She has played the piano for 12 years, the violin for 7 years, and the viola for 2 years. In school, besides being a part of the Orchestra, Jennifer is actively involved in many clubs, such as the Harry Potter Club, the World Relief Club, and is also a coordinator of Habitat for Humanity. She has learned Chinese ever since she was 6, danced at the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy, and played volleyball both in and out of school.

In her spare time, Jennifer likes to do many things. In her natural habitat, Jennifer can be spotted reading the Harry Potter series, jamming out on the piano, spending time with her cat, or playing Tetris! She loves little kids because they are so fun to be around, and she loves laughing with them. She thinks that the Chinese culture is a very important part of her life and can’t wait to share it with the girls through Hand in Hand!

Diane Lin (林达音, Lin Da Yin)
Big Sister Coordinator

Alpharetta High School, 12th Grade

Diane is a 17 year old senior at Alpharetta High School. She enjoys playing in her school’s Symphony Orchestra and is a Section Editor for her school’s newspaper. Outside of school, takes Tae Kwon Do classes, violin lessons, and of course, volunteers with Hand in Hand.

She enjoys reading and writing, and aspires to major in the liberal arts.  In her spare time, she likes listening to music, playing the guitar and piano, and spending time with friends.

She has been a part of Hand in Hand since it has started and is very excited to be an event coordinator this year. She loves every minute she spends with her little sisters and hopes to be a good big sister and role model to them.

Vicki Shaw (邵文, Shao Wen)

Webmaster

South Forsyth High School, 12th Grade

Vicki is a 17 year old student in the International Baccalaureate program at South Forsyth. As well as an innovative artist, she is a competitive swimmer, private swim instructor, and jazz pianist. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and working with children or tutoring those who need help. Vicki spent this past summer at GHP, majoring in art, and thoroughly loves the performing arts and films. Her favorite subject in school is literature and she is nearly fluent in Spanish.

Vicki’s first language was Chinese and she didn’t learn to speak English until the age of seven. Her connection to the Chinese culture allows her to better relate with the children at Hand-in-Hand, and she can’t get enough time with them!

Melissa Li (李秀玉, Li Xiu Yu)
Hands For Hope

The Lovett School, 11th Grade

Melissa is 17 years old and a junior at the Lovett School. She currently lives in Johns Creek, GA with her family. She enjoys music and has played instruments such as viola, piano, and gu zheng. She loves to dance and has been dancing at APDA for eight years.

In her spare time, she likes drawing, going to the movies with her friends, and listening to music. She LOVES traveling. Her favorite places include Jamaica, Hawaii, Ecuador, Japan, and many more. Her favorite part about traveling is learning about the cultures. That’s why she thinks it’s important to teach the Chinese culture to the kids.

Anna Qiu (邱安娜, Qiu An Na)

Duke University, Freshman

Anna Qiu is a freshman at Duke Universitry who currently resides in Johns Creek with her mother, father, and younger brother. Aside from being a dedicated student, she is also involved in various activities, such as yearbook and dance. Anna began dancing at the age of three before joining, at the age of seven, the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy, where she is a part of the pre-pro company. APDA has trained her in many styles of dance, focusing especially on ballet and Chinese folk dance.

But perhaps her greatest passion is volunteering. Anna has engaged in a gamut of volunteer opportunities, ranging from working at a HIV/ AIDS clinic to teaching English to middle school students in China. However, she created some of her most unforgettable memories through volunteering at Hand in Hand. She hopes that spreading her love of Chinese folk dance and Chinese language to a group of bright, beautiful adopted Chinese girls will allow them to truly embrace, understand, and love the Chinese culture that is a part of them.

Ashley Wang 王亚丽 （Wang Ya Li）
Language and Dance Coordinator

Norcross High School, 11th Grade

Ashley is a rising junior that attends Norcross High school. Her
hobbies are reading, writing, listening to music, and teaching. She
plays piano and violin, and her favorite pieces are Moonlight Sonata,
The Tempest, Szherzo Valse, and The Butterfly Lovers. She graduated
from the Perimeter Chinese School in 2009 and has continued to study
chinese mythology and culture in her spare time. Currently, she is
tutoring a Little Sister in speaking Chinese.
Since freshman year, Ashley has been helping out at the Hand-in-Hand
Chinese and Dance classes each week. She loves coming to Hand in Hand
because she loves sharing her Chinese culture and heritange, which she
is very proud of. She hopes to see Hand in Hand grow as an
organization because she hopes that more Little Sisters and Brothers
can have Chinese role models to look up to.

Big Sisters and Brothers

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Susannah Cai (蔡笑答, Cai Xiao Da)

Northview High School, 12th Grade

Susannah is 17 years old and currently a senior at Northview High School. She is a graduate of Atlanta Contemporary Chinese Academy and has been learning Chinese ever since she was 5 years old. Susannah lives in Suwanee with her parents and little brother Samuel. She loves traveling, watching sports on TV, and playing piano. At Northview she is also a member of the Northview Literary Arts Magazine staff.

Susannah first got introduced into the Hand in Hand program when she was a junior. She is a relatively new member, but has developed interest in helping out at various events and developed close relationships among the little sisters. Susannah loves working with children and spreading her love to them. She wants make all the kids feel happy.

Susannah can’t wait to meet new girls and hopes to continue to be a positive role model for them.

Alice Chen (陈嘉怡, Chen Jia Yi)

Georgia Tech, Sophomore

Alice is 19 years old and is a freshman at Georgia Tech. She has played piano for 12 years and has won many piano competitions and honors. In 2008, Alice was selected to attend the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program for six weeks in the summer as a piano major. She is also a member of Northview High School’s Chamber Choir and enjoys singing and listening to all types of music, especially Michael Buble and the Beatles.

Alice lives in Suwanee, GA with her mom, dad and younger brother, Kevin. She loves playing with little kids and laughing with them, because she loves to laugh. Alice looks forward to the Big Sister events and getting to hang out with her little sisters, Maddie and Addison.

Jessica Chen (陈元元, Chen Yuan Yuan)

UC Berkeley, Sophomore

Jessica is 19 years old and a freshman at UC Berkeley. She loves sports especially soccer and tennis. She loves playing tennis. She hopes to attend a World Cup one day. She took AP Chinese Language and Culture at school. She has gone to China ten times and loves eating all different kinds of food there. She loves family time with her parents and older sister.

Jessica academic strengths lie in math and science. In past summers, she has done research in math and physics. Her collaborative math paper is currently awaiting publication in a graph theory journal. She learned to play piano when she was little and likes to play piano for fun and played violin in the school orchestra. She loves randomly singing out loud in random places, karaoking, watching and playing sports, traveling, eating almost everything, and hanging with the family!

Isabella Cheng (程佳意, Cheng Jia Yi)

River Trail Middle School, 8th Grade

Isabella, age 13, was born in Shanghai, China in 1998. She moved to Georgia in 2003 when she was 5. In the 3rd grade she moved to Johns Creek and attended Findley Oaks Elementary School. She was a peer tutor in 4th and 5th grade. She still tutors elementary kids in different subjects now. Isabella goes to Chinese School on weekends too. Isabella likes to bake, read, and watch trivia game shows. She is in her middle school Symphonic Band and plays the flute. She also plays piano for the RTMS Jazz Band. She really likes to teach kids about new things and can be really outgoing once you get to know her. Isabella also has a big obsession with Hello Kitty. Isabella lives in Wellington with her parents and twin brother, Frank.

Patricia Ford (茉莉, Mo Li)

Georgia Tech, Freshman

Patricia Ford is an upcoming freshman at Georgia Tech. She has enjoyed dancing with the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy for over 10 years now. She is a part of the pre-professional division and is trained in both classical ballet and Chinese folk dance. Aside from dance, Patricia loves volunteering and working with little kids.

Patricia is only half Chinese, but can speak Chinese fluently. Her mother is of Chinese decent and her father is Caucasian so she is very close to both cultures. During the summers, Patricia likes to visit her grandparents in China and attend different dance programs. She has participated in programs with the American Ballet Theatre, Shangai Ballet Institute, and also Georgia’s Governors Honors Program.

Catherine Gu (顾凯茜, gu kai xi)

Georgia Tech, Sophomore

Cathy, 19, is a graduate of the Atlanta Contemporary Chinese Academy. In 2009, she attended Georgia Governor’s Honors Program as a math major.
She loves fruit, penguins, and Germany. She also enjoys pretending she can sing.

 

 

 

Jenny Kuo (郭华鸽, Guo Hua Ge)

Duluth High School, 12th Grade

Jenny, now 17, was born in Xi’An China and moved to the United States when she was two. Currently, she lives in Duluth with her parents.

She is has been a dancer at the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy since elementary school and has played violin since age 7. She is self-taught at piano and enjoys goofing around on it whenever possible. She also enjoys drawing and painting in her spare time. In addition to music and art, she’s a hard-working student at Duluth High School and is a member of many clubs along with Duluth’s Studently Leadership Team. Beyond that, she loves to spend time with her family and friends.

Growing up, Jenny always wanted a younger sibling to spend time with, and now she’s more than excited to be able to share her culture with younger children!

Julia Lan (兰天虹, Lan Tian Hong)

Chattahoochee High School, 9th Grade

Julia Lan is 13 years old and is an eighth grader at River Trail Middle School, where she’s an honor roll student. She enjoys dancing, playing violin, swimming, playing volleyball, and ice skating. She lives in Johns Creek, GA with her parents, aunt and uncle’s family, and her grandparents. At school she’s a member of the National Junior Beta and Tri-M music honor society. Julia has been dancing with the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy for 4 years and has been playing violin for 5 years.
In Julia’s spare time, she loves hanging out with her friends, going to the movies, going shopping, and going to the pool. Julia thinks the Chinese culture is very important to learn about and she’s looking forward to share it with the kids at hand-in-hand!

Jessica Li (李玢, Li Bin)

River Trail Middle School, 8th Grade

Jessica is in the 7th grade at River Trail Middle School and lives in Johns Creek, GA with her family, including her mom, dad, and sister Jenn who is also a Hand in Hand Big Sister. She loves dancing ballet and Chinese folk dance and has been dancing for about eight years. A talented musician, Jessica has also played piano for eight years and the violin for four years. Because of her love of music, she is a member of the Tri-M Music Honor Society at her school. In her spare time, Jessica also enjoys baking and cooking.

Tanya Su (蘇盈之, Su Ying Zhi)

Alpharetta High School, 12th Grade

Currently, Tanya is 17 years old and a senior at Alpharetta High School. She was apart of the AHS Symphonic Orchestra for three years and also participated in the Fulton County Honor Orchestra annually during her time in the school orchestra. This past summer she attended the 2010 AID Summer Program sponsored by the Taiwanese Overseas Youth Commission, where she taught English to children who live in disadvantaged areas for learning English. In her free time, Tanya likes to dance, play violin, learn more about Taiwan, read, and make crafts.

 

Christie Sui (随圣芳, Sui Shen Fang)

Johns Creek High School, 11th Grade

Christie Sui is a 16 year old sophomore at Johns Creek High School. She loves meeting new people, playing violin, and traveling. She graduated from the Atlanta Contemporary Chinese Academy in 2010 after 10 years of studying Chinese. She enjoys working with kids and volunteering in various parts of the community, such as Beta sponsored events. Christie has played the violin for 7 years and has been a member of her school orchestra and the Fulton County Youth Orchestra. She has been on the Swim Atlanta Swim Team for two years and has competed in her neighborhood swim team. Recently, she has developed a passion in figure skating and is taking classes at an ice-forum. She currently lives in Johns Creek, GA with her parents and her little brother. Christie loves making little kids laugh and is excited to share her Chinese culture with the Hand-in Hand Organization!

Melody Tsao (曹思涵, Cao Si Han)

Alpharetta High School, 12th Grade

Melody is 17 years old and a senior at Alpharetta High School. She currently lives in Alpharetta, GA with her parents, and younger brother, Kenny. She speaks Mandarin Chinese at home, and also enjoys visiting her relatives in Taiwan in the summer and practicing her Mandarin there. In her free time she likes to read, listen to music, play the piano, watch Asian dramas, spend time with her family, knit, and eat dragon fruit.

At school, in addition to being an active member of Alpharetta High School’s Key club, a community service club, she also enjoys playing the violin in her school orchestra and running on the cross country team. Outside of school she has earned the Excellent Award in the Association of Chinese Schools in Southeastern United States’s 2009 Reading 朗讀 competition, 1st place in Atlanta Chinese Cultural School’s 2010 Speech competition, and Excellent award in the 2008 nationwide Hai-Hwa Essay Contest On Chinese History And Culture in the Senior group. In addition, this year she was one of the volunteers selected to be a volunteer teacher in the 2010 Overseas Youth Teaching Volunteer Service Program in Taiwan. There, she had an invaluable experience teaching elementary school children in rural Taiwan, and was able to not only enjoy working and becoming friends with all the kids, but she also experienced the warm hospitality of Taiwan’s people, from their parents, teachers, and neighborhood friends.

As a part of the Hand in Hand program, she is excited to be able to combine her passion for the Chinese language and culture together with her love of working with kids to help out as a Big Sister in this program!

Lucy Yang

Lambert High School, 10th Grade

Lucy Yang, 16, is a junior at Lambert High School. As a dedicated clarinetist and championship marching band member, she also participates in the national AGLOA Academic Games tournaments and the Lambert Student Council. Participating in District Honor Bands since 7th grade, Lucy also composes music, which won her 3rd prize in the statewide Reflections contest in 8th grade. She enjoys origami, video games, fish raising, and books in her free time. Lucy admires East Asian cultures and loves to work with little girls, especially with a little brother for a sibling.

Alice Young (楊喬茵, Yang Qiaoyin)

Savannah College of Art and Design, Freshman
Previous Webmaster

Alice Young is a 18-year-old living in Johns Creek with her younger sister and her parents, who both grew up in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. She dedicates most of her time to art, specifically painting, photography, digital art, and even web design. In 2009, she attended Georgia’s Governor’s Honors Program as a Visual Arts Major and a Computers Minor. Alice has also Northview’s Photography Club Co-President for 3 years. In her free time, Alice enjoys watching Criminal Minds, listening to music, and exploring Atlanta.

Steven Zhang (张锎宇, Zhang Kai Yu)

Georgia Tech, Freshman

Steven Zhang is 19 years old and currently a senior at Johns Creek High School. Born in Wako, Japan (his parents moved there from China), Steven moved to Yunnan, China to live with his grandparents when he was 3 months old. Steven moved to the US when he was 6. He now lives in Johns Creek, Georgia with his parents and sister.

Steven is a dedicated Student at Johns Creek High School. In addition, he is also in the band where he played the clarinet for 7 years, the debate team, beta club, key club, and math team (honorary).

In his spare time, Steven likes to play the hulusi (葫芦丝), a cultural instrument native to his province in China, hang out with friends, read, listen to music, and do debate work.

Jenny Zhao (赵启延, Zhao Qiyan)

Northview High, 9th Grade

Jenny Zhao is a 14 year old and an 8th grader at River Trail Middle School. In school, she is a Principal Honor Roll Student where she enjoys making friends and having fun. She have also participated in many school clubs such as Jr. Beta and Tri-M. She loves playing tennis and volleyball, dancing, drawing, being around kids, and smiling. She has also been dancing at the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy for 4 years, playing the violin for 4 years, and playing the piano for 6 years. She live in Johns Creek, Georgia with my mom, dad, and all of my friends.

After learning Chinese for 5 years at the Atlanta Chinese Contemporary Academy, and 3 years at the Morning Star Chinese School, she knows that the Chinese culture is a big part of my life. Jenny is very excited to be in Hand in Hand so that she can help the girls learn about their own culture.