The FACES Network

Background

One of FACES' key long-term impacts is the establishment of a talented, influential and well-networked group of alumni which will form the future bulwark of positive U.S.-China relations.

Organizing successful conferences is necessary but not sufficient to create this strong FACES network. We are cognizant that we must succeed in three other aspects: identifying future leaders effectively; giving them the opportunity to cultivate lifelong friendships; and inspiring them to shape their future careers with U.S.-China relations in mind. Our efforts have yielded significant results so far, and this document strives to illustrate them within the framework of these three aspects.

Selecting Future Leaders

Each year, we adopt an aggressive approach to reach out to potential delegates in top universities in both the U.S. and China through emails, bulletin boards, flyers, and by word-of-mouth. For our 2005 conferences, we have received a record number of over five hundred applicants, from which forty delegates were eventually selected via a rigorous and consistent application process.

Fostering Deep Friendship

Our conferences are designed to foster friendships from the very start. We are not simply another academic conference or a free socializing trip for fun-loving students. Rather, by strategically placing activities (e.g. pre-conference group-work, both fun and formal social events, cross-border collaborative projects between American and Chinese delegates, simulations) in the span of time during and between the intense conferences, we seek to allow delegates to know each other socially and intellectually.

As a result, a strong esprit-de-corps has emerged within each batch of delegates; and from what we have observed, many deep friendships have emerged. Since the setup of our alumni mailing list in end 2003, we have had more than 900 emails. These emails ¬C travel tales, personal updates, calls for reunion, messages seeking advice on U.S.-China affairs, request for recommendations ¬C are a testament to the close-knit nature of our alumni network.

Many of our alumni, both within each batch of delegates and between different batches, meet up in person, often. For example, during the summer of 2005, we conservatively estimate that there have been twelve reunions in Beijing, eight in Shanghai, three in Hong Kong, four in New York City, three in Washington DC, four in Singapore, and one in Tokyo.

The raw enthusiasm of our alumni is fully supported by FACES. We have a Director of Alumni Relations (William Chan, former FACES Officer) dedicated to keeping in contact with alumni members, suggesting and creating alumni-related events. He is also supported by several Alumni Regional Coordinators in both U.S. and China. He, in turn, works with Regional Alumni Coordinators from among former delegates themselves in key alumni centers like Beijing and New York. Lastly, we have created a website specifically for our alumni (www.facesalumni.org).

Impacting the Future of U.S.-China Relations

The majority of our current delegates and alumni from our past three years are still young; most of them are finishing up with school, many are working on their graduate degrees, and several are working on their first job. From their positions as young alumni, however, most of them have exhibited significant promise in impacting U.S.-China Relations.

Since the inception of FACES three years ago, a Fulbright scholar has emerged out of every batch of our U.S. delegates. Aaron Halegua ('03 delegate), Wing Yan Choi ('04 delegate), Johnny Lee (05 delegate). Former FACES President Ross Perlin ('03 delegate) and former '03 delegate from U.S. Diana Fu have recently been awarded the Marshall and Rhodes Scholarship respectively for their graduate studies in the United Kingdom. All five of their scholarship grants have a strong China-related dimension.

Our Chinese delegates have excelled as well. Following China's accession to WTO, the current generation of Chinese university graduates is the first to have access to top-notch careers opportunities within China-based international business. While many of our Chinese delegates have moved on to established tracks in the government and academia, a significant number of them have joined this emerging Chinese business elite. By June 2006, FACES would have five Chinese delegates working in McKinsey offices in China, and many more working in other top management consulting firms and investment banks.

FACES Chapters

To our knowledge, FACES remains unique among student organizations in the U.S. and China, but the popularity of our programming has convinced us that our model could fill an important niche at many other universities. Indeed, it was the very testimony of non-Stanford delegatesÁ»that they wished their own schools had an organization comparable to FACESÁ»that led us to the idea of setting up FACES chapters. FACES chapters are self-sufficient and designed for their respective communities, but also form parts of a broader FACES family headquartered at Stanford. Former delegates are indeed the logical people to bring FACES back to their own campuses, but FACES at Stanford must take an active role in assisting their efforts and providing guidance.

Thus far, our efforts have yield significant results, especially in China. In the past year, our former delegates have successfully established chapters in Peking University, Fudan University, and Renmin University of China. The existence of FACES chapters in three of the top five Chinese universities will allowing FACES to spread the message of positive U.S.-China relations effectively to Chinese students.