Angela Chao

Angela Chao serves as the Chair and CEO of Foremost Group, an international shipping company. She started her career in the company as the Assistant Vice President spearheading the company’s Safety Management System to meet the new International Maritime Organization’s regulations for large bulk carriers. Prior to this, Angela worked as a banker at Smith Barney, which is now part of Citigroup. Working in Mergers and Acquisitions at Smith Barney enhanced her ability to manage transition and drive strategy. Angela Chao has an undergraduate degree from Harvard College in Economics, and a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School. Both her finance case from Harvard Business School, Ocean Carriers, and her undergraduate thesis, Empirical Tests of Status Consumption, were published and cited in various academic journals and coursework. Angela is Chair of The Foremost Foundation among several other Foundations. Founded by her parents, James Si-Cheng Chao and Ruth Mulan Chu Chao, the foundations promote educational excellence, East-West cultural exchanges and special healthcare initiatives. Harvard University announced recently a significant gift from the Company and family to build the first building ever named after a woman, and a person of Chinese heritage at the center of the Harvard Business School campus to serve as a gateway and convening place for executives, faculty and students from the MBA, Doctoral candidates. They also established the Ruth Mulan Chu and James Si-Cheng Chao Family Fellowship Fund, whose goal is to provide financial assistance to students of promise who will hopefully become the leaders of the future. Angela works to connect the two worlds of east and west. As a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Young Leaders Forum of the National Committee on US-China Relations and Co-Chair of The Asian American Foundation’s Advisory Council, she actively participates in improving communications and understanding between the two cultures. Bilingual in Mandarin Chinese and English, she is the honorary Chairperson of the Chiao-Tung University Alumni Organization in America. She utilizes her bicultural background and experiences within the business sector as well having served on the boards of various shipbuilding and international trade committees. Angela Chao is on the board of New York City’s Economic Development Corporation, which serves to strengthen economic growth within the five boroughs of the City. She also sits on the board of Dean’s Advisors for Harvard Business School, and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Angela Chao is a popular and frequently sought after public speaker in the international trade industry, having spoken at the world’s largest shipping organization, the Baltic International Maritime Council, as well as World Shipping (China) Summit. She has been chosen as an Eminent Young Overseas Chinese, by the State Council Overseas Chinese Affairs Office. Angela has also been featured within the special edition of the Journal of Commerce on Women in International Trade, and was recently asked to be a founding member of the Wall Street Journal’s Task Force on Women in the Economy.