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Educational Staff
We are proud to be the most professional team in Mandarin teaching and training in the Chicago area. Our
staff includes experienced, native-speaking Chinese teachers, many of who are graduates of Universities in the U.S. and China.
Staff development workshops led by teaching professionals, are conducted on a regular basis. Our staff is connected to the
most current learning techniques with our relationships with teaching universities in China, Taiwan and across the country.
Co-Executive Director and General Manager
Gina Dong is from Shenyang,
Liaoning Province, in China, and is a graduate of Shenyang Music College with a Bachelor's Degree in Piano Performance, and
a graduate of Shenyang Art Normal School with a Teaching Diploma in Music. She brings over 15 years of teaching experience
in both music, Chinese and English. She also designs and creates teaching curriculums. Her love of working with young students
gives her great satisfaction. She thrives off of watching her students blossom and improve. With gentle encouragement
and a strong belief in all her students, Ms. Dong’s always offers guidance with patience.
Co-Executive Director and General Manager
Zhao Yi was born and raised in Nanjing, China, on the Yangzi River several hours west of Shanghai; She
graduated from Nanjing University with a major in Chinese Literature. Zhao Yi's educational background and natural talent
as a teacher, makes her undoubtedly one of the best Chinese teacher in Chicago. She enjoys, fiction, history and she
is a good listener. Her passion is teaching Chinese culture and language.
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Teaching Staff
Zhi Hong is from Shenyang, China. She got her bachelor degree in Chinese Language and Literature from Shenzhen
University, and also graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago with a MBA degree. Extensive experience teaching Chinese
with children and adults. She was a editor in a top 10 design company in Shenzhen before she coming to U.S. Because of appreciating
the beauty of the Chinese literature and cultural, she has an irrepressible urge to impart her professional knowledge to the
students, to help them develop skills and even to guide them experience the beauty from learning which will enrich our lives.
Ying Ying Yang was born and raised in Haicheng, Liaoning Province of China until she was 12 years old. Growing up in
the US with an American family and surrounding, Ying Ying preserved her Chinese and involved herself in Chinese culture every
chance she had. Ying Ying graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design and a minor
in Management. She loves working with children -throughout her life she has worked with her Godparents’ charity in helping
sick children from around the world; and also tutored English to Chinese children and Chinese to American teens. Ying Ying
enjoys working at Chinakids - she loves being close to her roots, working with great teachers; and teaching the most darling,
precious and astonishing students at Chinakids.
Yinghua, an Associated Professor
teaching English as a foreign language at Beijing Foreign Studies University in Beijing, China, started teaching Mandarin
Chinese at Loyola University Chicago as a part time instructor in August 2008. Now she is a full time Lecturer teaching Mandarin
Chinese at UIC. Yinghua started teaching kids Mandarin Chinese at the very beginning of 2010 and joined Chinakids’s
team in August, 2010. Yinghua always regards teaching as her labor of love and takes great pride in the teaching of the language
as well as its culture in this country.
Vivian Yu, a native of Mainland China. She was born in Shanxi, Taiyuan and lived there with her parents, both of whom taught
at The University of Taiyuan. Vivian spent her childhood summers visiting her extended family in Beijing, Harbin and Shanghai.
When she was 11 she moved to Hong Kong with her mother and it was there she learned to speak Cantonese and English. Vivian
first came to the US as an exchange student and spent a year in Ft. Madison, Iowa and graduated from Ft. Madison Senior High
School. Vivian has a B.A. in Film/Video Production from Columbia College. She is very happy to be teaching Chinese at Chinakids.
Vivian has two boys and she lives with her family here in Chicago.
Lei Zhang was born and raised in Tianjin, China and left for the U.S when she was 16 years old. She graduated from Knox
College in Galesburg, IL with a B.S. in biochemistry and chemistry. She has been working as a HIV research technician
at Rush University Medical Center for the past five years and finishing her Master of Public Health degree in
the division of Community Health Science at UIC. During my senior year of college,sheinitiated a Chinese (Mandarin/Eastern Asian Study) program at
Knox College, as well as taught Mandarin for college credit. She is passionate about teaching the language, as well as the
Chinese cultures and traditions. She is honored to become one of the members of the teaching team this year,
and is looking forward to having a great time at ChinaKids.
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Lijun comes
from Tianjin in China, and graduated from Australia Charles Sturt University with a bachelor degree in business, and is also
a graduate from University of Illinois at Chicago with a MBA degree. She comes from many year of teaching Chinese
to the foreign students in China and was also an English teacher before I coming to the U.S. She has a lot of fun being with
the children at ChinaKids.
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Board of Directors
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Jeannette Levitt grew up and attended school
on the east coast. She holds a BA degree from Smith College and an MBA from Northeastern University. For 10 years
prior to moving to the midwest, Jeannette worked in the Human Resources field for several large companies including Nabisco
and Warner-Lambert. In 1997, after her husband Steve’s work brought them to Chicago, Jeannette started a consulting
business providing HR services to small organizations. Once she and her husband started a family, however, the joys
of motherhood eclipsed the world of “work” and she closed up shop. Today Jeannette and Steve have four children,
including two daughters adopted from China. Jeannette was thrilled to find ChinaKids shortly after it opened and she
and her children have been attending classes ever since. Jeannette feels very fortunate to have found a place to not
only help her family learn Mandarin, but also a place to feel connected to the richness and beauty of China and its culture.
Tina Sullins Owner of Blue Sky Realty and mother of an adopted daughter from China, Tina and her family have been
students at China Kids since it’s inception in 2005. Joining the board in 2010, she now lends her small business
skills and entrepreneurial spirit to helping China Kids thrive and grow.
Michael Chu is a partner with Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione, a Chicago-based law firm that practices intellectual
property law exclusively. Michael holds a J.D. from the College of William and Mary, where he was the Articles Editor
for the William and Mary Law Review, and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Michael recently
finished his term as the president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), where he served on its
Board of Governors since 2001. He now serves as the president of the NAPABA Law Foundation, an organization dedicated
to providing scholarships in support of the Asian Pacific American community. As an advocate for the Asian Pacific American
community, Michael has spoken before the Senate Democratic Steering Committee regarding issues of diversity within the federal
judiciary. Michael also serves on the board of directors of the Asian American Institute, a local organization benefiting
the Asian American community in Chicago and an affiliate of the Asian American Justice Center in Washington D.C. Michael
is also a member of the University of Illinois Leadership Circle Steering Committee and a graduate of the 2006 Fellows class
of Leadership Greater Chicago. Michael has served on the Board of Trustees of the Latin School of Chicago from 2007-2010.
Michael and Stephanie have three children that have been students at ChinaKids over the years: Caroline, grade
8, Christopher, grade 6, and Nicholas, grade 3.
Ginny Moffat spent her career in college textbook publishing, retiring as a vice-president with McGraw-Hill Higher
Education in 2006. Her professional experience includes sales, marketing, management, strategic planning,
and custom publishing. She has been a volunteer with Executive Service Corps of Chicago (retired executives
who do business planning with non-profits) since 2007, as well as volunteering with Lincoln Elementary School and the Lincoln
Park Zoo. Ginny has also been an active volunteer with Holt International Children’s Services since
1992 and has traveled to see Holt’s child welfare and adoption programs in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Romania and Guatemala.
In 2006, Ginny and her family adopted a 2-year-old girl from China through Holt International. Her
daughter has taken Mandarin lessons ever since. Her family was delighted to find ChinaKids, because of
their dual emphasis on language and Chinese culture, as well as the structured approach to teaching.
Juliana Yee Carlucci manages the marketing
programs and communications for ChinaKids. Prior to becoming a full-time mother of two girls, Julie held marketing positions
for major consumer package goods companies after graduating from the Kellogg Gracudate School of Management at Northwestern
University. While working overseas in Taipei, Taiwan with S.C. Johnson, Julie took advantage of the full immersion environment
and formally studied the language honing in on her reading and writing skills. Prior to starting a family, Juliana led the
Chinese division of EthnicGrocer.com, serving as General Manager and Vice President of Marketing. Both of Julie's daughters
are enthusiastic students of ChinaKids and enjoy sharing their joy of the language and culture with others in hopes to further
bridge the relationship between the two cultures.
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