Today we’d like to introduce you to Elena Zee.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Elena. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
It has been a long journey to get where I am today. I was born and raised in Shanghai, China in the 60s and 70s, a very dark period in China. My parents were both teachers and I always dreamed of following in their footsteps. When I was 12 years old I found out that my family had relatives living in the United States. My mom told me there was an opportunity for our relatives to help me study in the U.S. and that the decision was up to me. My curiosity about the world and new opportunities prompted me to say “yes!” I had no idea how this answer would change my life forever.
At 17 years old, I came to the United States, both excited and frightened. The experience of growing up in China with little access to basic items like a washing machine, microwave, or even bananas and coffee, made my early experience in the U.S. an absolute cultural shock. Little did I know that my relatives were extremely accomplished and living in New York City.
I went to a private school called Philips Academy 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 then but with a lot of hard work, I was able to graduate with honors. From there, I went to Wellesley College, where I earned bachelor’s degrees in both economics and math. I then earned a master’s degree in economics from Columbia University.
After graduate school, I was driven by the desire to be economically independent. I started my career at American Express. As Director of International Operations and Vice President of International Information Management, I was responsible for growing financial services business in more than 20 countries. After 13 years of climbing the corporate ladder and having achieved financial independence, I was driven by a desire to serve. I wanted our kids to be prepared for real life, learning the fundamentals of earning income, spending, borrowing, saving, investing, and budgeting as well as the economics behind our free market system.
I felt like it was fate when I heard about the commitment American Express was about to make in developing nonprofit leaders. I also felt fate’s hand when I was introduced to an organization to support teachers and make a difference in our future. It is wonderful that life helps us to find purpose. I am so grateful to be able to serve a purpose that I had when I was a child.
I graduated from the American Express ASU Lodestar Nonprofit Leadership Academy and stepped into the role of President and CEO of the Arizona Council on Economic Education. It seems so unbelievable that I am now leading a nimble organization which provides professional development to K-12 teachers in economics and personal finance, reaching 200,000 students annually so that they grow up and become economically responsible consumers, employees, parents, leaders and voters.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have faced adversity throughout my life, beginning when I was just a baby. I grew up in a dark time for China. My grandfather, who owned banks and businesses prior to the 1960s, was put in prison for representing capitalism during the Cultural Revolution. The government confiscated everything my family owned, from our house and cars to jewelry, business and money. My parents had to move from the city to the countryside to save money on rent in order to buy food. When I moved to the United States, I remember how eating a banana felt like a milestone experience.
As an elementary school student, I had to take a national standardized entrance exam, which determined if I would be allowed to attend a “good” school or be sent to a “bad” school. I missed the cut off by three points. However, because my parents taught at the school, I was admitted as a “standby” student, meaning the government had the discretion to send me back to the “bad” school for any reason if I didn’t perform.
Through rigorous memorization and practicing thousands of math problems, over the course of one year I was able to move up the rank from being placed as the last student in my grade to the eighth among 200 students. My brother wasn’t as fortunate. He was sent to one of the “bad” schools, where he struggled and narrowly graduated from high school. He never went on to college.
When I arrived in the United States, I had to face several more obstacles. I barely spoke English and I was one of the few Chinese students at my school. I remember sitting in the school cafeteria with a group of high school girls when one of them slowly asked: “do you eat this breakfast in China?” Feeling like a two-year-old and singled out like an alien, I replied “Yes!”, though the answer was a lot more complicated, more than I felt like explaining with my awkward English. Although I could get by daily casual conversations, taking classes was a whole different matter. I still remember the first quiz in American History, which I failed miserably. I was so embarrassed. My humor, popularity and excellent academics in China were no longer relevant.
However, each obstacle I was faced with and overcame only made me stronger and helped transform me into the woman I am today.
Arizona Council On Economic Education – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
The Arizona Council on Economic Education (ACEE) is a 501(C)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to improving economic and personal financial literacy in Arizona. ACEE is the original 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 universities and community colleges; and distributes proven independent economic education curriculum resources to schools free of charge. The ACEE has served 1,852 schools in 229 school districts in the state of Arizona. It has trained 1,500 teachers annually, reaching 200,000 students annually.
The ACEE envisions a world where all school-aged children are empowered through economic and personal financial literacy to make informed and rational choices throughout their lives as consumers, savers and investors, workers, entrepreneurs, citizens, and participants in a global economy.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
During the mid-1990s, American Express was trying to grow its international customer base and improve customer service. I was a young manager assigned to this project. As a lead project manager, I had to first figure out what every country was doing, identify opportunity areas, recommend strategies, then obtain buy-in from every country’s manager, and implement solutions. I was faced with cultural and language challenges from 20 countries around the world. People were used to their traditional and local way of doing things.
I lived out of a suitcase for two years, though I did get to see many countries around the world. Working with a team of people, we developed an outstanding global information system and launched service agreements around the world to realize more than $400 million dollars in re-engineering savings. My team and I received the Chairman’s Award for Quality, the highest honor in the company. This experience developed my leadership skills in so many areas, which I applied in every job and every challenging situation later on in my life.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3260 N. Hayden Rd., Suite 207 Scottsdale, AZ 85251
- Website: http://www.azecon.org/
- Phone: (480) 368-8020
- Email: programs@azecon.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Arizona-Council-on-Economic-Education-194448300608/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/azcouncileconed
Image Credit:
Marion Rhoades Photography
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