Pub. 5 2015 Issue 3

we needed to be good helpers for my dad because she was going to the U.S. to improve her English to be a better high school language teacher. When my mother returned to China a year later, she asked me whether I wanted to go to the U.S. to study because our relatives from the U.S. could help me and so I did. I was excited and frightened when I first arrived in the U.S. in 1986. Little did I know that my relatives in New York City were extremely accomplished and wealthy. I went to a private school in Andover, Massachusetts for my last year of high school, where 98% of the graduating class went to an Ivy League school. I could barely speak English. With a lot of hard work I was able to graduate with honors. From there, I went to Wellesley College and Columbia University for my undergraduate and graduate studies. The experience of growing up in China and having little access to the basic items common to American life, like a washing machine and coffee; my early experience in the U.S. was an absolute culture shock. I became fascinated with creat- ing wealth. Prior to becoming President and CEO of ACEE I was a board member for several years. I joined the council because I fell in love with the mission of training teachers to educate students to become economically responsible consumers, employees, business owners, parents and citizens. After 13 years climbing the corporate ladder and having achieved financial independence, I was driven by a desire to serve. I wanted children to be prepared for real life, learning the fundamentals of earning income, spending, bor- rowing, saving, and the economic system which allows price, incentives, choices and trade to work efficiently. ACEE is a 501(C) 3 nonprofit organization dedicated to im- proving economic and personal financial literacy in Arizona and is 100% privately funded. ACEE is the author of Arizona K-12 Economic Education Academic Standards and the only organization in Arizona which: provides teacher professional development in teaching personal finance and economics; has a strong, affiliated academic base with Arizona’s universities and community colleges; has a sustaining partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank; and distributes proven nonpropri- etary economic education curriculum resources to schools free of charge. ACEE reaches approximately 150,000 students annually. We are very excited about the new partnership with the Arizona Bankers Association. ACEE’s annual economic edu- cation gala event in November is one way the community can help us raise money to train teachers and engage students. We expect many banking executives, business owners and educa- tors to attend this wonderful event with Dr. John C Williams, President & CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Fran- cisco. For more information, go to www.azecon.org . w The experience of growing up in China and having little access to the basic items common to American life, like a washing machine and coffee; my early experience in the U.S. was an absolute culture shock. I became fascinated with creating wealth. 7 SUMMER 2015