Though she is the youngest of this year’s cohort of Project Pengyou Leadership Fellows, Rachel Powell-Young, the Founder of the new Project Pengyou D.C. International School Chapter is off to a great start already. After a successful launch of her school’s new Chapter on Pengyou Day, her efforts to build better U.S.-China relations at her school were applauded by a local news organization, AFRO.

For their Pengyou Day celebration, the D.C. International Chapter helped their classmates learn more about Chinese culture while having fun at the same time, through chopsticks races as well as matching Chinese characters to their pinyin and English meanings.

As highlighted in the article, Rachel has been to China three times already and has studied Chinese since she was young making her the ideal bridge-builder. However, despite having two parents who work in the public sector and a strong Mandarin skillset, Rachel has her sights set on working in the financial sector. She told AFRO: “When I grow up I want to do something in the financial field…I think knowing how to speak Mandarin could really help me in the business world.”

We’re so proud of Rachel and all of the work she has done to set up her Chapter, and we can’t wait to see what she will do in the future with her Chapter!