Dr. Xiaoyan Zhao was most recently Senior Vice President and Global Director of Research and Consulting at GfK Roper Public Affairs but is now working on creative writing projects including a novel which takes place in 1960’s China. Her work includes polling in the Soviet Union and subsequently in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan, public diplomacy projects for the U.S. State Department and Qatar Supreme Committee, values and trends research for global companies, and reputation monitoring for government institutions. With research spanning 60 countries, Xiaoyan has delivered presentations to clients on all continents including the World Bank, United Nations Peacekeeping, the Washington D.C. diplomatic community, and the Global Summit of Women.
Xiaoyan has attended the Stanford Creative Writing workshops and the Northern California Writers’ Retreat. Dr. Zhao obtained an M.A. in Broadcast Journalism and a Ph.D. in Communications from Stanford University.