Yinghua Academy Board of Directors


Cindy Moeller, Chair
Cindy has many years of experience in both education and business.   After earning an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, Cindy pursued a career in business for 20 years.  During her business career Cindy worked at General Mills for more than 11 years in a number of senior-level human resource positions, including Director of Human Resource Development and HR Director, International.  Cindy has been the top HR executive at Baldwin Piano Company and Promega Corporation, a biotech company in Wisconsin, where she also served as the president of the board of Woods Hollow, a daycare center sponsored by Promega.  In 2003 Cindy decided to pursue her interest in improving public education and accepted the opportunity to be a Fellow with New Leaders for New Schools, an intensive program designed to prepare people to be urban school principals.  She served as the Principal Resident at Stowe Fine and Performing Arts Academy, a Chicago Public School.  In spring 2005 Cindy returned to Minnesota to be the director of a new charter school, Harriet Bishop Academy.  Later that spring the Harriet Bishop Academy Board and Cindy decided, given low enrollment and challenges in finding an appropriate facility, to defer the opening of the school until the fall of 2006.  After exploring several options, the Harriet Bishop Academy Board and Cindy decided to adopt a focus on Chinese language and culture for the school.  In less than a year Cindy and many other people took the foundation that had been created by the Harriet Bishop Academy board (including the charter to open a public school, a Federal Charter Schools Program grant, and a grant from the Walton Family Foundation) and created Yinghua Academy.  Cindy is currently a Program Director at the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota.  In addition to her MBA from Kellogg, Cindy has a BA from Northwestern and an MSW from Western Michigan University.  (e-mail: cindy@yinghuaacademy.org)

Sandy Doubek
Sandy has been a part of the international business community for the past several years specializing in retail global packaging and trims production. Her international business experience has brought to light the importance of bilingualism and understanding global economy. Her business travels brought her to China several times and many parts of the world including Europe, Asia, Middle East, Central America and South America. She currently is the Senior Manager of Print Services for OptumHealth and Ingenix, which are a division of United Healthcare Group. Prior to working in international packaging and trim production, Sandy worked 15 years in the Twin Cities advertising community for Target Corporation, Fallon McElligott, Martin Williams and Duffy Design. She is been a part of several volunteer organizations and is currently the Secretary on the board of Yinghua Academy Community Association (YACA). Sandy lives in Shoreview with her husband Tony and daughter Alaina, who is a student at Yinghua Academy.

Luyi Lien
Dr. Luyi Lien received a Ph.D. degree from the University of Minnesota, with a major in Family Education, in addition to a Master’s degree in Applied Psychology from Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan.  Her undergraduate degree from Fu-Jen Catholic University consisted of a double major in Chinese Language and Literature and Applied Psychology.  Prior to coming to the United States to pursue her degree, Dr. Lien worked as an elementary Chinese literature teacher for five years in many enrichment programs in Taiwan, including Language Center of Mandarin Daily News, a prestigious center for Mandarin education.  As a curriculum writer, she was part of the team that designed and rewrote the curriculum for the composition textbooks for 2nd through 8th grade students.  The textbooks were published and used by Language Center of Mandarin Daily News.  In addition to the curriculum writing, Luyi also published a book and wrote many articles for newspapers and magazines in Taiwan.  She also served as a youth counselor and was been trained as an individual counselor and group facilitator for Counseling Center in Taiwan for many years.  After coming to the United States, Luyi was a volunteer teacher for children learning Mandarin and Chinese culture in community.  In her professional studies Luyi worked closely with University professors and participated in many research activities. One of her research interests is related to the alternative curriculum perspectives that can potentially give a great impact for teachers’ curriculum development.  Her public presentations include topics such as Multicultural Worldview and Confucianism, Education, and Family: The View from Asia.  Luyi currently serves as Curriculum Coordinator at Yinghua Academy. She and her husband and children reside in Little Canada.  Their two daughters, Fisher and Ashley, attend Yinghua Academy.

Clark Liu
Clark Liu supervises a small IT department for a non-profit organization.  He has experience in several facets of Information Technologies including networking, security, application design and deployment, and system administration.  His work includes day to day operations as well as participating in the budgetary process, managing resources and several projects.  Currently he is focused on the encryption and protection of data and systems that may be accessible through the Internet.  Clark received his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis on Chemistry.  He began his career at 3M as a Software Engineer.  He has enjoyed many roles in the industry and values change.  Clark resides in Falcon Heights with his wife Emma, and three children.  Of the three, Naomi and Nathaniel attend Yinghua Academy.  The youngest, Tobias, is looking forward to joining his older sibling at the school.

Doug Parish
Doug Parish is a finance professional with nearly 20 years of experience, principally in the financial services industry.  Presently, he serves as Vice President and General Auditor for Ameriprise Financial, Inc.  Prior to joining Ameriprise, Doug held various audit and financial control positions with Ceridian Corporation, Citigroup, Bank One, Boatmen's Bank, and Price Waterhouse.  He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) in Minnesota.  Doug graduated cum laude from St. Olaf College with an Economics major with concentrations in Accounting and Asian Studies.  At St. Olaf, Doug expanded his interest in China through classroom study and also spent a term in Shanghai in 1986.  Doug lives in St. Paul with his wife Jean and daughter Zoe, whom they adopted from China in 2001, and who is a student at Yinghua Academy.  He is the Treasurer of the Yinghua Academy Board.

Kristina Schatz
Kristina Schatz, a St. Paul area resident for over 20 years, has worked in many areas from education and bilingual services to film and video production.  Kristina graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota with a degree in History and Spanish Language and Literature.  She was the recipient of scholarships that allowed her the opportunity to work, study, and live in many countries including New Zealand, Mexico, and Uruguay.  Kristina, fluent in Spanish, began her career providing direct services to the Hispanic population in West St. Paul.  While there, she started and administered a bilingual, volunteer-based education program for adult immigrants, created bilingual course curricula, and produced Spanish educational videos.  Subsequently, Kristina worked as a bilingual paralegal for El Salvadoran refugees seeking political asylum in the United States, a Service Representative for the American Red Cross, a freelance writer, a small business owner, and a producer of social issue documentaries for Public Television and other non-profit organizations.  Currently Kristina is a freelance Producer for Target Corporation.  Kristina has a daughter who was adopted from China and who will be a kindergartner at Yinghua Academy in the fall of 2007.  Kristina serves as the Secretary of the Yinghua Academy Board.

Michael VanKeulen
Michael has been involved within public education for the last 18 years, including teaching for ten years in Forest Lake, MN; working at the Minnesota Department of Education as a Teacher on Loan to support curriculum development and within the Service Learning Department, a special education teacher for Minneapolis Public Schools, and Director of VOA High Schools.  Michael co-founded Iqra High School, which specializes in assisting East African refugees in English language acquisition and attainment of a high school diploma.  This program is a dual language, community-based program that has provided education to students ranging in age from 14 to 72.  Michael has also been involved in the start-up process for several charter schools across the state of Minnesota including Al-Hikmah Academy, a forthcoming Arabic Immersion Elementary.  He has served on numerous boards for schools, community councils, and nonprofits.  His university studies include St. Cloud State University (undergraduate), Hamline University (MAED), University of St. Thomas, and The University of Minnesota.  Michael and his wife Michelle are the proud parents of two daughters born in China.  One will be entering kindergarten at Yinghua Academy in the fall of 2007.

Margaret Wong
Margaret has been in the field of education for over three decades. In addition to 35 years of Mandarin teaching and curriculum development experience, Margaret has been the Director of International Education at Breck School since 1990.  At Breck School where there are over 450 students enrolled in the Chinese program, Margaret has created and instituted a K-12 Chinese curriculum and coordinated and led 25 student trips to China.  Margaret has also established pre-collegiate Chinese language programs nationwide. These programs range from Concordia Language Village to various public and private school programs.  Margaret is active as a board member in many professional and civic organizations including CLASS (founding member and Vice President), the Chinese Language Teachers Association (CLTA), the U.S.-China People Friendship Association - MN, the Chinese Heritage Foundation (founding member), and the China Center at the University of Minnesota.  Margaret has published several works on the development of Chinese language programs and A Basic Guide in Teaching Chinese.  Most recently, she served as one of the coordinators for the MN Department of Education Mandarin Chinese Project.  Margaret graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Minnesota with a B.S. in Foreign Language Instruction and has participated in graduate studies at Stanford University, San Francisco State University, and the University of Michigan.  Margaret has received many awards in education and for her leadership in professional and civic organizations.

Larry Yan
Larry is the Founder and Director of the Minnesota Chinese Day Care and Learning Center, which provides programs including daycare, pre-school, and after-school, offering Chinese, English, dance, music, and arts with an emphasis on Chinese language and culture.  Prior to starting the Minnesota Chinese Day Care and Learning Center, Larry was a consultant and manager for USA Gateway Travel & Tours and Asian International Travel.  Larry coordinated travel groups, set-up a new branch office, and developed business relationships with airlines and customers.  Larry, a native of mainland China, has a BA in English Language from Beijing University, an MA in linguistics from Hunan University, and an MA in curriculum and instruction from the University of St. Thomas.

Joe Yang
Joe is an attorney in downtown Minneapolis practicing almost exclusively in the area of real estate law but he has over ten years of legal experience which includes insurance law, eminent domain and land use law, and criminal law.  Joe began his legal career with the law firm of Kennedy & Graven but left that firm in 2002 to join St. Paul Traveler's Insurance Company's specialty claims group as a Professional Errors and Omissions Attorney.  In 2005, Joe and his family moved to Shanghai, China where he started business exporting agro-chemicals from China to Minnesota.  He also served as a corporate trainer for Target's local sourcing managers and staff in Shanghai.  Returning to Minnesota in January, 2007, Joe rejoined Kennedy & Graven's real estate practice but is also developing a China practice.  As part of his real estate practice, Joe has participated on the real estate side of the establishment of four charter schools in the state of Utah.  Joe graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in history and received his J.D. from William Mitchell College of law.  He is a member of the Minnesota State Bar Association, Hennepin County Bar Association (Real Estate Section) and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.  Joe lives in Minneapolis with his wife Robin and daughters Sylvie and Louise.  Sylvie will be a second grader at Yinghua and Louise hopefully will be a future Yinghua student.