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! >>Meet our Big Sisters and Brothers

Program Directors

Lily Zhang (张立华, Zhang Li Hua)

Northview High School, 12th Grade

Lily Zhang is 16 years old and currently a junior at Northview High School. She lives in Johns Creek, Georgia with her parents, brother, and sister-in-law. Lily is a dedicated dancer of Atlanta Professional Dance Academy, and she recently graduated from Morning Star Chinese Cultural Center. Lily was the dance teacher for the Hand in Hand Summer Culture Camp, and she taught the girls Chinese Folk dances. She helps teach dance classes at Hand in Hand during the school year as well.

In her free time, Lily likes to play the piano, hang out with her friends, and read (her favorite series is Harry Potter). She also enjoys volunteering with kids, and she volunteers at the after school program at T. M. Culture and Arts Center. Lily loves Chinese culture and sharing it with the kids at Hand in Hand!

Kathy Lin (林之涵, Lin Zhi Han)

Northview High School, 12th Grade

Kathy Lin is a 16-year-old junior at Northview High School. Aside from being a hard-working student,Kathy is a dedicated dancer at Atlanta Professional Dance Academy and an always cheerful, high-spirited cheerleader at her school. She also has studied Chinese since she was a little girl, and has recently graduated from the Morning Star Chinese Cultural Center. In school, her favorite subject is Math andshe is a part of Northview’s Math Team. Kathy’s favorite thing to do when she’s bored is solving brainteasers, especially Sudoku’s. Other than that, she loves to bake, to play the violin, and to draw!
Although not born in China, Kathy really appreciates her knowledge of Chinese cultures and traditions. She finds them truly unique and interesting, and she cannot wait to spread the Chinese cultural to all the little sisters!

Past Directors

Donna Guo (郭丹娜, Guo Dan Na)

University of Chicago
Program Director

Donna Guo is 18 years old and a freshman at the University of Chicago. She loves music since she has played piano for over 10 years. She frequently performs at the piano All-State Winner’s Recitals during the annual GMEA Conference in Savannah. Donna also began studying violin in sixth grade and has since participated in the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Emory Youth Symphony Orchestra. In 2009, Donna and her duet partner won second place at the Souther Division MTNA Senior Piano Duet Competition. They were later invited to perform at the MTNA National Conference.

Her interests are not limited to music since she also likes to paint and sketch. In addition to art and music, she enjoys reading and spending time with friends.

Donna currently lives in Johns Creek with her parents. With most of her family in China, Donna values being able to share Chinese culture with others. She particularly loves spending time with younger children because they are so cute and lovable!

Jenny Su (苏玉静, Su Yu Jing)

Duke University
Program Director

Jenny Su is an 18 year old freshman at Duke University. Born in the Hunan province of China, she moved to America when she was four years old. She currently lives in Johns Creek with her mom, dad, and little sister named Annie.

In addition to being a dedicated student at Northview, Jenny enjoys dance, music, and art. She began dancing at the age of 5 and currently dances at the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy. In her spare time she likes to read, draw, surf the web, and bake.

Because of her love of Chinese culture, Jenny is very excited to share this understanding and appreciation with all the little sisters.

Founder

Karen Xiao

Harvard University
Founder, Program Director

Karen is 19 years old and a sophomore at Harvard. She lives in Johns Creek, GA with her parents, grandparents, and younger brother, Willy. A graduate of the Atlanta Contemporary Chinese Academy, and a dancer at Atlanta Professional Dance Academy, Karen is a dedicated artist, musician and student. She loves playing violin and was one of ten violinists selected to participate in the Governor’s Honors Program as a string major in 2008.

Karen first started teaching Chinese language and dance to children adopted from China in 2006. She has taught at the Kennesaw Chinese Academy, the Kid Chinese summer culture camps and volunteered at events of Families with Children from China all over the metro Atlanta area.

Because she enjoyed working with adopted Chinese children so much, Karen started Hand in Hand. She hopes that both adopted Chinese children and Chinese-American teens can gain something from being a part of the program.

Teachers

Haiying (Jessie) Li

Chinese Teacher

Ms. Jessie is the Chinese teacher at Hand in Hand. With over 8 years of teaching experience, Jessie loves working with kids. She has been a Chinese teacher in the Atlanta area for a long time and even taught a few of the Hand in Hand big sisters! Originally from Shanghai, China, Jessie lives with her daughter Kathy, son Kevin, and husband Fang in Johns Creek, GA.

She is one of the co-founders and directors of Morning Star Chinese Cultural Center and currently teaches a Chinese class at Morning Star in addition to the Hand in Hand Chinese class.

Ms. Jessie loves to cook and makes very delicious Chinese food!

Yu Xiao Jie

Dance Teacher

Yu Xiaojie graduated with the national rank of professional Chinese folk dance teacher’s certification from the Beijing Dance Institute and has over 20 years of professional and creative movement teaching experience. She has toured all over China with Hart to Hart Productions, representing China as an envoy of friendship through dance to Indonesia.

Ms. Yu currently teaches at the Atlanta Professional Dance Academy and is thrilled to be joining the Hand in Hand staff to teach dance.