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Our People

Meet Our People

Dan Zhu (she/her) | Executive Director (Interim), CIRCLE

Languages spoken: Mandarin Chinese, English

Favorite café in Seattle: Spicy Chongqing in Renton

Fun Fact: I am a mother of two little boys.


Ziyan Bai (she/her) | Assistant Director for Graduate Programs, CIRCLE

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Tian Fu in Northgate

Fun Fact: My research area is graduate education, including access, student experience, finance, and education outcomes.


Hyerim Park (she/her) | Student Transitions Coordinator, CIRCLE

Languages spoken: Korean, English

Favorite café in Seattle: Café Canuc, Petit Pierre

Fun Fact: I met Macklemore at Le Fournil.


David Huang (he/him) | Unite UW Program Manager, CIRCLE 

Languages Spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Hong Kong Bistro in International District

Favorite book: Dune by Frank Herbert


Siya Nkosi's HeadshotSiya Nkosi (he/him) | Strategic Communications Coordinator, CIRCLE 

Languages spoken: IsiZulu, English, SiSwati, Mandarin Chinese, Xhosa, Afrikaans.

Favorite café in Seattle: Broadcast Coffee

Favorite Book: Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga


Jason Matthew Cundrawijaya (he/him) | Peer Advisor for CIRCLE of Friends

Languages spoken: Indonesian, English

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Ramen Danbo in Capitol Hill and Molly Moon’s Ice Cream

Avgeek and Formula 1 fans. Favorite Movie: Top Gun Maverick. Favorite Music: Shooting Star – Owl City


Maja Kelly  (she/her) |Student Success and Wellbeing Coordinator

Languages spoken: English, Serbo-Croatian, Russian, (some) French

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: HaiDiLao Hot Pot

My favorite movie of all time is The Sound of Music.


Elizabeth Dechasa (she/her) | Program Assistant

Languages spoken: English, some Spanish and French, beginner Amharic

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Retreat in Greenlake

Favorite Book: Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West


Jiayu Xu (she/her) | Peer Advisor for CIRCLE of Friends

Languages spoken: Mandarin Chinese, English, Korean (a bit)

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Pipa Mountain Hot Pot

Hobbies: Love Dance; Love Sunset by the Ocean


Mellot Samuel | Program Assistant

Languages spoken: English, Amaringya, Japanese, Ge’ez

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Ichi Bento

Fun Fact: With my team we won third in a National Hip Hop competition.


Haeyoon Choi (she/her) | CIRCLE Communication Student Assistant

Languages spoken: Korean, English

Favorite restaurant and café in Seattle: YGF MaLaTang and Leon Coffee House

Hobbies and Fun Fact: Dancing and Figure skating. I lived in U.S., Korea, and Vietnam.


Tan Solip Chea (she/her) | Peer Advisor for CIRCLE of Friends

Languages spoken: English, Khmer, Thai

Favorite café in Seattle: Seattle Best Tea

Fun Fact: I can solve a Rubik’s Cube in under a minute.


Chenxi (Rita) Chen (she/her) | CIRCLE Communication Student Assistant

Languages spoken: Mandarin Chinese, English

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Green House, Pipa Mountain Hot Pot

I love travel, art, drama, music and dance! Fun fact: I have a mole under my left eye lid.


Celia MaloneCelia Malone (she/her) | Student Transitions Intern

Languages spoken: Mandarin Chinese, English

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Green House, Pipa Mountain Hot Pot

Fun Fact: at age 9 I memorized over 200 digits of pi, but now I can only remember around 80.


Heidi NguyenHeidi Nguyen (she/her) | CIRCLE Program Transition Assistant

Languages spoken: English, Vietnamese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: HaiDiLao Hot Pot

Fun fact: I have watched the full Marvel series 5 times.


Samuel LamSam Lam (he/him) | CIRCLE Program Transition Assistant

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Kong Tofu house

Fun fact: I like to travel a lot, I spend a year in Ireland before I came to US.


David WangDavid Wang (he/him) | Unite UW Program Leader

Languages spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Kin Len

Hobby: American sports (MLB, NBA, NFL), Fun fact: Used to play contact football.


Jason GuoJason Guo (he/him) | Unite UW Program Leader

Languages spoken: Mandarin Chinese, English

Favorite place to eat in Seattle: Green House, Pipa Mountain Hot Pot

Fun fact: I have an Instagram food account @foodislife.seattle and I review restaurants there.