Cindy Mei
Program Director

Cindy was raised in Chicago, Illinois. She studied journalism and art history at Northwestern University. Cindy's experiences abroad started on a high school summer culture and language program in Nanjing, China. Since then, she has studied abroad in Beijing, Shanghai, and Florence. On campus, Cindy was a study abroad ambassador and later fellow, positions aimed at promoting the benefits of cultural exchange and international education. In 2023, Cindy was awarded a Fulbright grant to teach English in Taiwan where she designed and taught her own curriculum to junior high school students in Chiayi County. As VELD program director, Cindy hopes to continue to promote cross-cultural relations for young individuals. Her goal is to provide recent U.S. graduates with financial and cultural access to Taiwan--fostering individual growth and community through education.

Peggy Shih
Director of Professional Development

Dubai, Paris, Shanghai, San Francisco, and Taipei - growing up across three continents, Peggy has always held a passion for culture exchange through languages. Prior to VELD, her career experiences include managing partnerships between Silicon Valley tech companies in North America, consulting Chinese and European companies on brand management in the Middle East, and mentoring students based in Middle East and Asia on launching nonprofits and startup companies. Through VELD, Peggy is passionate about helping the fellows embrace language learning as a passion and sharing the beauties of Taiwanese hospitality to the world. She holds bachelors degrees in Linguistics and French from the University of California, Berkeley, with minors in Japanese and Applied Language Studies. She is fluent in four languages and proficient in another two.

Brittany Smith
Senior Advisor and Fellowship Manager

After graduating from Yale with a degree in History, Brittany began her career in education working as an independent editor and proofreader for the human editing division of the prestigious digital education company, Grammarly. In addition Brittany has attended many fellowships herself resulting in work in both China and Korea. During her travels, she taught intermediate and advanced English classes and American History and Culture classes to students at Lingnan College of Sun Yat-sen University. Now living in Taiwan, she's passionate about helping others just like her come experience the vibrant cultures in Asia.

Andy Zhang
Program Coordinator and Chief Educational Officer

Being both born in the U.S and the founder of an education consultancy in Taiwan, Andy is passionate about both education and helping to bridge the gap between east and west.  Growing up in Maryland, he was lucky to have access to a great education system where he was able to really explore his interests. Upon moving to Taiwan after graduating from Yale, he fell in love with the island and saw an opportunity to help Taiwanese student experience a more American education system. Now, with the VELD Fellowship, he continues his mission to create greater cultural exchange between the U.S. and Taiwan in the context of improving students' education.

Ian Chen
Fellowship Advisor

Raised around the world from China to Indonesia and Switzerland, Ian has a strong passion for global issues and sharing knowledge. He studied history at New York University with a focus on military, imperial, and East-West comparative subjects, graduating with high honors. Before joining, he had also previously worked as a recruiter helping to bring talent into the offshore wind industry in Taiwan.  Outside of work, Ian divides his time between writing, visual arts, and strategy games.

Caderyn Owen Jones
Fellowship Advisor, Founder

Born in South Africa, growing up in London, and studying at Yale, from which he graduated cum laude with a double major in Archaeology and Classical Studies, Caderyn has spent his whole life dealing with new languages and locales. Himself a fellowship veteran, since graduation he has spent many years in the educational field all across Asia. 

After kickstarting the program, Caderyn is delighted to leverage his experience to support its continued flourishing from afar.