I currently lead a five way research and translation partnership, with four Universities and the Queensland government, looking at rural and regional economies. How they can adapt and sustain into the future via innovation, leadership, and entrepreneurship. We do this through economic analysis and in depth, place-based research, delivered by some of Queensland's most experienced resource and policy economists. I have worked extensively in Asia for the past 20 years, specifically in the agribusiness, textiles, research and education management sectors. And was fortunate to work across Asia and Europe for some of the world's leading brands including Dulwich College International (K-12 education), The Financial Times/Pearson Group (UK), The Woolmark Company/AWI, the Australian Wool Exchange and the University of Queensland. After almost 18 years in China I returned to take up a role as the CEO at Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise and Food Leaders Australia - a leading, membership-based regional economic development agency, and during my tenure saw the region receive a weekly freight route to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific, a new Ag Tech investment forum in 400M, the first passenger flight from a regional airport to Shanghai, China; as well a number of project engagements within the Surat Basin.Highly experienced in governance and the international agribusiness R & D investment sector, I co-founded and Chair @FSCO (www.fsco.io), a financial technology company that works in the "messy middle" between agri-food value chains and their funders with MasterCard Global and Hedera; and sit on a number of commercial and not for profit boards.I am fluent in Mandarin and have a PhD in agricultural economics from The University of Queensland. Chinese literature, Chinese economic history graduate and research degrees from Xi'an Foreign Language Institute, Nanjing University and Beijing University of International Business and Economics (UIBE).