Previously served as program officer for civil society and community development with a focus on sustainability at The Johnson Foundation; was a political risk analyst for China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam; has held various academic positions, including director of the Program in Global Studies and International Affairs at Alverno College in Milwaukee and visiting scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; conducts ongoing research on China's efforts toward sustainable development, and Chinese foreign and domestic policy; Ph.D., China studies, SAIS