Helena Na Xiao

Helena Xiao joined the Beijing Global Center in 2015 and oversees all the programs and operations that involve the Columbia Global Center as the deputy director. She works with the Beijing Advisory Board as well as the Faculty Advisory Committee to create a special resource pool for Columbia in China and the region and to serve as an anchor promoting and facilitating academic and research opportunities on globally relevant interdisciplinary topics for Columbia faculty and students, as well as providing a point of ongoing engagement for international alumni.

Prior to joining the Center, Helena has developed extensive experience and expertise in international development and collaborative programming, with a strong focus on fostering partnerships that drive meaningful change through years of work with governmental agencies and international organizations, including the United Nations Development Programme in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Beijing, the International Poverty Reduction Center in China under the State Council Leading Group in Poverty Alleviation and Development and others.

She holds a master degree in public health policy from Johns Hopkins University. Before that, she studied Business & Civil Law at Beijing Normal University and holds a Certificate of National Legal Profession Qualification in China. She is the leading editor and translator of the Chinese edition of The Tools of Government: A Guide to the New Governance by Lester M. Salamon (Peking University Press), and one of the four editors of Yearbook of China's Poverty Alleviation and Development in 2013 and 2014 (China Agriculture Press).