Nancy Yao (she/her/hers) brings over thirty years of non-profit and financial management to her role at DGSD. Previously at Yale, she served as the executive director of the Yale-China Association where she led university-wide faculty and student programs between Yale and China. She led the team to establish Yale-China’s inaugural arts program. Nancy has leadership experience in governance of non-profit arts and culture organizations and for-profit entities, including staff and board positions at the Tessitura Network, The Community Fund for Women & Girls, International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Museum of Chinese in America, Council on Foreign Relations, Goldman Sachs & Co., the Center for Finance and Research and Analysis, Aberdeen-managed closed-end funds, and CNN International.
An advocate for and a lover of the theater, Nancy serves as co-vice chair of the Long Wharf Theater. She was an early member of the Here and Now Theater Company based in Los Angeles. She continues to write and act in plays; she dreams of creating a regular schedule of tableaux vivants. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Nancy received her MBA from the Yale School of Management and her AB from Occidental College.