Rebecca Yang Email and Phone Number

The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.

Truman is a nationwide membership of diverse leaders inspired to serve in the aftermath of 9/11 and committed to shaping and advocating for tough, smart national security solutions. We believe that America is at its best when we use all the tools in our toolbox: Diplomacy, defense, development, and democracy promotion.From August 24-31, 2021, I led the Flight Manifest Operations team on behalf of Truman, which served as the central clearinghouse for all private charters arriving in and departing Kabul, Afghanistan through August 31. Truman Fellows and 150+ volunteers worked 24/7 to ensure that flights leaving Kabul's Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA) had no empty seats. Our efforts enabled 1000+ people (Afghans and U.S. citizens) to evacuate on 7 private charter flights, which predominantly flew to transit countries, including: Albania, Macedonia, the U.A.E, Ukraine, Uganda, and Qatar. Truman also supported some individuals' access to U.S. military flights, which travelled to a combination of U.S. military bases in the Middle East and Europe. I recruited and trained 150+ volunteers across the U.S., APAC, EMEA, built our Manifest Ops processes and SOPs from scratch, and scaled our Manifest Operations process improvements in real time with 24/7 global coverage. I also secured Amazon’s support for Truman's continued Afghanistan Crisis Operations efforts.

Public speaker on a diverse range of topics including innovation, strategic partnerships, cross-cultural communication and leadership, foreign policy, diplomacy, national security, career transition, trust and safety, digital ethics, gender equity, women in technology, and inclusion and allyship.

Business Advisor (Chief of Staff) to the Vice President of Global Education & U.S. State and Local Government, Worldwide Public Sector. I led pan-Amazon strategic partnerships to scale the business and serve our Public Sector customers.Bar Raiser: I helped hiring managers across Amazon hire the best bar-raising talent by conducting hundreds of interviews, leading interview debriefs, and training Amazon’s next generation of Bar Raisers.

The Global Shapers Community is a network of inspiring young people under the age of 30 working together to address local, regional, and global challenges. With more than 8,000 members, the Global Shapers Community spans 408 city-based hubs in 153 countries.

• Chief of Staff to the Director of Commerce Operations: Developed and executed Commerce Operations’ overall strategic plan and roadmap; Identified and tracked key performance indicators to ensure the results contributed to overall company, product, and community experience goals• Leveraged strong relationships with cross-functional teams (e.g. Product, Policy, Legal, Engineering, PR) to support Commerce’s rapid growth for 2.8B+ people, led large-scale strategic projects, solved operational problems at scale, and improved process efficiency: Results included a 500% increase in the number of policy launches in Q4’19 compared to Q2’19, improving user experience • Managed Commerce Operations’ headcount growth by 300% in 3 months: Recruited, interviewed, and hired 30+ new employees; Created and executed the organization’s first onboarding program• Led company inclusion initiatives, including teaching “Be the Ally,” a company-wide program that gives all employees a common language and tools to build an inclusive workplace; Sought out as an influential leader in this space by executive leadership and management

The 2018-2019 World Affairs Council Fellows Program cohort is comprised of Seattle leaders representing diverse fields. The Fellows convene monthly for discussions with high-caliber international experts who offer unparalleled insight into current global issues, and meet throughout the year for additional Council events and networking opportunities.

U.S. diplomats formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. I covered elections, human rights, freedom of expression, and religious freedom and provided policy recommendations to senior policymakers across the U.S. government. • Managed and mentored 8 Turkish and American staff• Developed and executed processes that improved the Consulate’s operational effectiveness for high-level visits by 50%, despite 20% reduced staffing after an evacuation due to increased terrorist threats• Created the Consulate’s first cross-functional reporting strategy, leading to a 2000% increase in the monthly reporting output with my reports featured in the U.S. President’s Daily Brief• Advanced U.S. policy and trade objectives by managing 40 high-level visits, including Presidential visits and the May 2016 UN World Humanitarian Summit• Developed relationships with a wide variety of Turkish contacts, including ruling and opposition party officials, human rights activists, journalists, and religious minorities; Coordinated with the EU and other global partners to provide recommendations to senior U.S. policymakers. • Led Mission Turkey’s engagement on women’s rights: Created the Department’s first “Mannequin Challenge” Facebook video for the International Day to Combat Violence Against Women; Video went viral (100K views in 5 days) and reached a wide cross-section of Turkish society, leading to the first meeting between the Consul General and the government’s conservative women’s NGO. Won the Franklin Award for my gender equality work.• Won the Department's Meritorious Honor Award for sustained engagement and reporting on numerous trials of journalists, academics, and civil society activists, demonstrating the United States' support for the rule of law and freedom of expression in Turkey

Pickering Fellow with service rotations at the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand and the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in Washington, D.C.

• Analyzed Thailand’s economic developments and provided recommendations to senior U.S. policymakers, facilitating the $37 billion bilateral trade partnership• Built relationships with over 40 Thai and U.S. businesses to promote the Thai-U.S. Creative Partnership, a bilateral partnership that encourages innovation between business and government, leading to the first high-level bilateral dialogue on science and technology cooperation • Developed relationships with local contacts, analyzed Thai-China economic relations, Thailand’s illegal elephant ivory trade, and renewable energy initiatives• Represented the U.S. government at regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meetings on identifying and protecting human trafficking victims

• Analyzed China’s political, economic, and security relationships with 22 countries in the Asia Pacific and compiled findings into a report for Department and interagency leadership, influencing the agenda of the 4 annual high-level dialogues between the U.S. and China • Drafted a report on the U.S.-China bilateral investment treaty negotiations for Department leadership, allowing the United States to advance closer to a trade and investment agreement that would give U.S. firms broader access to the Chinese market

Inspired by a visit to my late grandfather's village near Jiande in China's Zhejiang province, I founded a non-profit to raise awareness about and donate money to improve rural education and environmental protection in China.

I managed a group of editors, copy editors, and layout designers. Our team solicited, edited, and produced articles on public policy issues facing the Asian Pacific American community. We also implemented strategies to increase subscriptions and advertisements and managed the journal’s publication.The Harvard Asian American Policy Review is the first nonpartisan, academic journal in the country dedicated to analyzing public policy issues facing the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. Founded in 1989, the journal provides a forum for scholarship and publication on issues related to the Asian American community’s political, social, and economic development.

• Developed a strategy for AECOM to remain Massachusetts’ top competitor for transportation projects, leading to a $43.3 million contract by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Massachusetts’ largest infrastructure project• Researched PPP and traditionally delivered design-bid-build projects, PPP legislation, and legislators' positions on infrastructure policy and PPPs to refine AECOM’s PPP strategy

• Analyzed Southeast Asian and East Asian domestic and foreign policy issues for senior Committee staff members and the Policy Director on East Asia and Pacific Affairs• Researched cybersecurity and censorship in China and the Middle East/North Africa for senior Committee staff members

• Analyzed U.S. state export data and drafted a report to encourage U.S. companies to take advantage of their local Commercial Service under President Obama's National Export Initiative • Wrote export success stories for the monthly International Trade magazine on U.S. companies that succeeded in foreign markets