Grace Wong is currently serving as the Chair of the Chinese Canadian Museum, the first such museum in Canada.  She served on the Working Group to help establish the museum and then became the inaugural chair in March 2020.

Grace Wong’s professional experience spans over three decades at the University of British Columbia, serving in roles such as Senior Advisor International in the Office of Provost & Vice President Academic, and Assistant Dean in the Sauder School of Business.  She worked extensively on developing international partnerships and initiating new programs.  In 2018, she received the UBC President’s Staff Award for Creativity and Innovation.  Grace retired from UBC in January 2020.

Grace Wong has been active in the community for many years.  She served as public representative on the board of the Chartered Professional Accountants of BC and is currently on the board of the CPA Education Foundation.  Past roles include Chair of SUCCESS, member of Mobility Pricing Independent Commission, BC Expert Panel on Business Taxation, BC Immigration Task Force, BC Premier’s Asia Pacific Trade Council, and others.  Grace has been recognized with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the BC Community Achievement Award and the King Charles III Coronation Medal.

Grace has a MBA and B.Ed(Sec) from UBC.  She was born in Vancouver and grew up in the Chinatown area.  She is married with three grown daughters. 

Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee (Ph.D) 李林嘉敏 is an arts and culture leader with research interests in public art and social practice.

She is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at the Chinese Canadian Museum, which was successfully opened on July 1st 2023, showcasing 3 inaugural exhibitions in a 27,000 square foot space in the heart of Chinatown. Since it’s opening, the museum has presented six featured exhibitions at its main location and its two temporary sites in Vancouver and Victoria and offered numerous in-person and online programs to communities across Canada.

From 2019-2022, she was the Director of Education and Public Programs at the Vancouver Art Gallery. In this position, she oversaw public programs designed for diverse audiences of all ages to enhance the understanding of the Gallery’s over 12,000-piece art collection and of travelling contemporary and modern exhibitions.

From 2016-2019 she was on the founding team to open Tai Kwun Centre for Heritage and Art, Hong Kong—a UNESCO heritage site—serving as the Education and Public Programs Curator and led over 200 programs with a robust team of full-time staff and part-time docents. In 2016, she was the Scholar in Residence at the David Lam Centre, Simon Fraser University. From 2008-2015, she was on faculty as Senior Lecturer at the English Department of Chinese University of Hong Kong.

She was born on  xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwu7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories in Vancouver, Canada. She holds degrees from McGill, Canterbury and Lancaster Universities.

Bijan Ahmadi is the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Canada China Business Council (CCBC), where he leads the Council’s strategic direction, operations, and programming across all seven chapters in Canada and China. In this capacity, he also serves on CCBC’s Board of Directors and its Executive Committee.

As a recognized voice in Canada–China relations, Bijan works closely with senior executives, policymakers, and institutional partners to strengthen bilateral trade and investment ties, advance member services, and position Canadian companies for success in the Chinese market. His work focuses on translating policy and regulatory developments into practical insights for business leaders and supporting high-level commercial engagement between the two countries.

Prior to joining CCBC, Bijan co-founded and served as Executive Director of the Institute for Peace & Diplomacy (IPD) from 2018 to 2024, where he helped build the organization into a respected binational foreign policy think tank operating in Canada and the United States. During this period, he launched IPD’s Asia research program and its annual flagship conference, the Indo-Pacific Strategy Forum (IPSF) in Ottawa, now widely regarded as Canada’s leading platform for policy and economic dialogue on the Asia-Pacific region. He was also co-editor of Canada–China Brief, an online policy publication covering political and economic developments in the bilateral relationship.

Throughout his work on China, Bijan has advised multinational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises on navigating Canada–China trade, regulatory, and policy environments. He has led Track 2 and Track 1.5 dialogue initiatives in partnership with Chinese, Canadian and American institutions and he regularly delivers lectures and professional training on Canada–China economic relations for public and private sector audiences.

Bijan also serves on the Advisory Board of the Canada China Forum, a platform dedicated to nurturing the next generation of China-competent Canadian professionals.

He holds a Master’s degree in Global Diplomacy from SOAS University of London and a Master of Applied Science from the University of Toronto. Earlier in his career, he worked in strategy and management roles in the financial services and real estate sectors and has served on the boards of several Canadian non-profits and NGOs, including the Toronto branch of the Canadian International Council.