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Peggy Liu, Chairperson

As Chairperson of JUCCCE, Peggy Liu is one of the leading catalysts of a green China and consults companies and governments on sustainability and cross-cultural collaboration.

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Peggy Liu, Chairperson of JUCCCE, is a leading environmentalist at the heart of the greening of China since 2007. Named the "Green Goddess of China" by Chinese press, she travels the world to consult companies and governments on how to catalyze societal-scale change, scale sustainable innovation, and collaborate with China.

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Peggy keynotes around the world on lessons she learnt in tackling China's toughest environmental challenges: pollution, urbanization, epidemics, drought, obesity and diabetes. Peggy's superpower is bringing people together to bring in a better future faster. Peggy's "Tornado Leadership" methodology draws from her work across policy, economic, technical, and spiritual realms to lead these China-wide changes:

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  • Organized the MIT Forum on the Future of Energy in China from which JUCCCE was formed. This forum was the first public dialogue between US and Chinese government officials on clean energy in China, just as China was just starting to look seriously at greening itself. China quickly became the world leader in renewable energy investments.

  • Introduced Smart Grid to China and catalyzed the revolution of electricity distribution to allow for renewable energies and energy efficiency at scale. Now China is the world leader in implementing Smart Grid innovations.

  • Educated 1000 Chinese government leaders (mayors and central government) on how to build sustainable cities with the earliest trainings on "ecocity development". This curriculum helped shape eco-city trends in China. Now China is leading the world in building sustainable cities.

  • Catalysed China’s change from incandescent lighting to energy efficient lighting, the largest leverage point in saving energy. Now China is the world leader in LEDs.

  • Created the China Dream initiative in 2010 to reimagine prosperity for sustainable consumerism. "China Dream" is now the national slogan. A healthy environment is now embedded into the national priority and identity of China.

  • Launched Food Heroes in 2013, teaching young kids and parents to eat in a way that is good for themselves and the planet. Now China's diets are incorporating more planetary friendly foods and food waste policies are strictly implemented.

Peggy is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader. She was awarded the "Nobel" of climate change, the "Hillary Step". The Economist called her "one of the most innovative thinkers in Asia." Previously, she was a venture capitalist and founded one of the earliest ecommerce companies in Silicon Valley. A "Red Herring" cover story dubbed her an "Internet Pioneer". She started her career as an MIT-trained engineer and McKinsey consultant.

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Peggy dedicates her life to personal and planetary health. She believes that the most helpful skill is heart-based storytelling, and that cultural translators will have the most important roles of the next generation.

Boards and Other Appointments

 

Peggy is a Distinguished Professor at China Academy of Governance, a lecturer at China Executive Leadership Academy of Pudong, and the National Academy for Mayors of China. She is a board member of Project Drawdown, an advisor to the FTSE Environmental Markets Committee, EAT Forum and Volans, a Governor of the Hillary Institute. She is a Thought Leader at Criticaleye CEO network. She served as an executive advisor to Marks & Spencer, an advisor to PWC China, a sustainability advisor to HP, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Councils on Sustainable Consumption 2012-13 and on New Energy Architecture 2011-12, and an energy adviser to the Clinton Global Initiative in 2008. She is a recurring judge for The Circulars at Davos (circular economy) and the Hult Prize (social entrepreneurship at college level).

 

Prior to JUCCCE she was an early-stage venture capitalist in Shanghai. In the 1990's Peggy was recognized as an Internet pioneer on the cover of 'Red Herring Hits'. She headed Channel A, one of the earliest e-commerce companies in Silicon Valley. Other executive positions in Silicon Valley included General Manager of Consumer Applications at Zaplet, a dynamic email communications platform, and VP of Marketing at SeeUthere.com. Peggy also served as a management consultant at McKinsey (http://www.mckinsey.com/careers), a product manager for Internet Chameleon- the first Windows software that used a graphical user interface to surfing the Internet, a product manager for Symantec C++ and Norton OEM products, and a programmer on ISDN modems at Codex Motorola.

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Academics

 

She is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and completed a program in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a program at the Lee Kwan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore.  

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Recognitions

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As one of the leading green voices in China, Peggy was honored as:

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In Chinese press, she has been recognized as a green leader on covers and in features such as:

 

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Select Speeches

 

Peggy’s public speeches around the world give a unique window into China’s decade-long green journey, and the relation of food education to all Global Goals.

 

Gigascale, Gigapace: China’s Rapid Green Journey

Keywords: Sustainable Urbanization, China, Green Solutions, Innovation, Clean Energy, Sustainable Consumption, Government Policy, Environmental Progress, Pollution, Belt and Road

 

Food Education: The magic lever to achieve personal, planetary, economic health

Keywords: Food Innovation, Changing Diets, Innovative Education for Kids, Achieving Global Goals, Regenerative Agriculture, China, Hunger to Obesity, Government Policy

 

The First Comprehensive Ranking of Top 80 Carbon Drawdown Solutions

Keywords: Climate Change, Global Warming, Solutions

 

Makeup, Lights, Camera, Action! How Women Can Slay their Media Presence

Keywords: Women’s Empowerment, Media Training

 

Geographies covered:

Greater China, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, US

 

 

Peggy is a frequent speaker at World Economic Forum and TED, and appears regularly on BBC, Discovery Channel, and other media. Watch her in: Voice of America’s “A Single Step: Journeys of Women Leaders”, "Cities Changing Diabetes", "Catching the Sun", Discovery Channel’s “Power the Future” Part 3 and Part 4, Discovery Channel "How China Works".

 

“China’s Rapid Green Transformation” assesses China’s journey in the last 10 years.

 

"China as a Cleantech Laboratory of the World" Keynote opening speech at the first ever TEDxChCh.

 

“Dream in a box: Reinventing the American Dream” at TEDxOccidentalCollege

 

‪ “Cultural Bridges - Service Jobs of the 21st Century” at TEDxShanghaiWomen‪

 

 

As a leading expert on food education for personal and planetary health, she advocates around the world for better diets using Food Heroes’ innovative classroom curriculum and family engagement at the dining table.

 

“Launch of the Global Nutrition Report” Drivers of obesity and diabetes in China. EAT Forum 2016

 

"China: from hunger to obesity in one generation". EAT Forum 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Book Features

 

 

 

"Gray Rhino", Michelle Wucker

"End of Copycat China", Shaun Rein

"Visions 2100: Stories from Your Future", John O'Brien

"The World We Made", Jonathan Poritt

"Green Recovery", Andrew Winston

"Green Gold: 11 Sustainable Entrepreneurs and Their Secrets"

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View Peggy's CV

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