One Life’s Journey in Philanthropy

Chi-Dooh "Skip” Li
Partner | Ellis, Li & McKinstry PLLC

Skip was born in India, and lived at various times in China, Malaysia, Australia (where he began school), Taiwan, Guatemala, and Colombia (where he graduated from high school). His father was a career diplomat for the Republic of China. He came to the U.S. at age 16 to enter college. He received his B.A. at Seattle Pacific University, and his law degree at the University of Washington. He speaks fluent Chinese and Spanish.

Early in his career Skip was deeply involved in politics. From 1973 to 1976 he was legal counsel to Washington Governor Dan Evans. In January 1977 he founded what is now the Seattle law firm Ellis Li & McKinstry, intent on building a first class law firm made up of men and women who care deeply about clients, each other, and the community. He has a broad range of legal experience, having started his practice in a time when lawyers were generalists, and advises and represents clients in the U.S. and abroad in business transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate finance. He is peer-rated AV Preeminent (highest rating) by the Martindale Hubbell legal directory, and has been voted by his peers in Washington State a "Superlawyer” for as many years as the annual poll has been conducted.

 In 1982 Skip was inspired to pursue a dream of helping the rural poor in the developing countries to buy their own farmland and to build economic self-sufficiency through farming that land. That dream has blossomed into a non-profit organization known today as Agros International (www.Agros.org). Agros has helped create 42 communities so far in the rural areas Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Mexico. In a number of these communities, people who could never have dreamed of owning their own farm land have successfully repaid their land loans and received title to their land. Their children are going to school, and hope and dignity have been restored to their lives.

In 2012 Skip wrote and published his first book, Buy This Land, an account of the early beginnings of the Agros work, with autobiographical content showing God’s grace in preparing him for the challenge of pursuing what seemed like an impossible dream.

Skip and Cyd, his wife of 46 years, live in Seattle. They have four children and four grandchildren.

Scott Rodin has been serving not-for-profit organizations for the past 29 years. He has served as counsel and led training in fundraising, leadership and board development and strategic planning to hundreds of organizations in the U.S., Canada, Middle East, Great Britain, China and Australia. Dr. Rodin is president of Rodin Consulting, Inc., specializing in helping Christian nonprofits take a biblical approach to strategic planning, board development and capital campaign fundraising. He is also past president of the Christian Stewardship Association and Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. He is a Senior Fellow of the Association of Biblical Higher Education and serves on the boards of ChinaSource and the Evangelical Environmental Network.

Dr. Rodin holds Master of Theology and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in Systematic Theology from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland. His books include:

• The Million-Dollar Dime (Kingdom Life Publishing, 2012)
• The Third Conversion (Kingdom Life Publishing, 2011)
• The Steward Leader (InterVarsity Press, 2010)
• The Sower (ECFA, 2009)
• The Four Gifts of the King (Kingdom Life Publishing, 2008)
• The Seven Deadly Sins of Christian Fundraising (KLP, 2007)
• Abundant Life (Steward Publishing, 2004)
• Stewards in the Kingdom, (InterVarsity Press, 2000)

Dr. Rodin is married to Linda and they reside in Spokane, Washington.

 Tips for Fundraising in China: Moving From Zero to Hero

Clare Pearson
Pro Bono Counsel | Corporate Responsibility Manager, Asia  | DLA Piper

Clare is a full-time corporate responsibility (CR) manager and pro bono counsel for DLA Piper in Asia. A UK qualified lawyer, Clare works in three key areas:

• Advising foreign NGO's on their establishment in China and Chinese NGO's on foreign partners
• Advising companies on issues relating to social responsibility and government relations in China, and
• Setting the direction of CR projects across Asia.

Clare established the pro-bono legal practice of DLA Piper in China. She has been working with NGO's in China since 1997. In 2003, Clare attended the launch of Youth Business China in Beijing and the British Council/Shanghai Bar Young Lawyer's forum in Shanghai. Since then, her expertise in the field has grown and today she provides comprehensive advice to NGO's in China in the fields of government relations, incorporation and media management.

Clare's unique and long term working relationship with the Ministry of Civil Affairs in Beijing enables her to understand government policies and execute projects out of the reach of most corporate foundations. Today Clare runs a project that trains 200 rural teachers in China per year in conjunction with Nord Anglia. She manages the government and media relations for E3 (Equal Education for Everyone). The program, which has run for three years, has proved highly successful and is currently being scaled up by other corporate sponsors with government approval.

The second key area of Clare's work is advising clients on how to manage labour and community relations. Five years ago, Clare was one of the founders (with Boeing) of Beijing Ethics Network, a group of C-suite managers in Beijing, which meets every six weeks to discuss issues related to the ethical management of their companies in China.

Why (and How) I Should Talk to My Clients About Philanthropy

Ed Lazar
President | Threshold Group

Ed has 30 years of experience helping families of significant means manage their wealth. He joined Threshold Group, a US-based multifamily office, in 2001 as its President to create and deliver their integrated wealth management service offering.

Prior to joining Threshold Group in February 2001, Ed was a Partner in Arthur Andersen’s Family Wealth Planning practice and headed their North and South Carolina Core Tax Services group of some 65 professionals. His estate and income tax planning background, family business consulting and registered investment advisory experience was brought to bear for clients facing the complex issues of family-owned and operated enterprises. He co-authored and/or taught numerous courses to his Andersen colleagues, including their Intermediate and Advanced Family Wealth Planning tracks. He was Andersen’s liaison to the North Carolina Family Business Forum, playing a key role in its creation and in building its constituency.

Ed’s philanthropic passions are rooted in education. He currently serves on the advisory boards for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center at the Albers School of Business, Seattle University and the College Success Foundation in Tacoma, Washington. Ed is a former member of the Family Office Exchange Advisory Board. He has also served on the Alumni Association board of his alma mater, Valparaiso University and as Treasurer of Communities in Schools of Peninsula. Ed is a Certified Public Accountant and Personal Financial Specialist in the states of Washington and North Carolina and is a member of the national and Washington CPA societies. He is a registered investment advisory representative in Washington. Ed is a frequent writer and speaker on families and family office industry issues. He and his wife Paula (also a Valparaiso graduate) live in Gig Harbor, Washington with their three children.

Lawrence Ho
Barrister & Solicitor | Philanthropy Counsel

Lawrence is a Chinese-Canadian attorney based in Vancouver, BC. Since 1996, Lawrence has developed a consulting practice with Family and Corporate Foundations as well as with various Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO's). Lawrence currently serves as Philanthropic Counsel to several North American and Asian-based families. Lawrence also works in the area of government/non-profit relations and building international networks to accomplish charitable goals of civil society, with a particular focus on China and North Korea.

Lawrence has a Masters of Law in International Trade and International Comparative Law from the London School of Economics. He also has law degrees from Canada (LLB) and the United States (JD). He previously taught International Comparative Law in Beijing the China University of Politics and Law. (1994-1995)

Lawrence has consulted and provided assistance amongst others to the China Ministry of Civil Affairs, China Charities Federation, China Association for Friendly Contacts, China Non Profit Network, China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, Special Olympics China, Amity Foundation, World Vision China, Ford Foundation, and the Asia Foundation.

Lawrence was the founding Executive Director of the Chang Family Foundation (michaelchang.com) and serves on several philanthropic boards. He also serves as Senior Fellow at the Murdock Charitable Trust (Vancouver, WA).

Lawrence and his wife Angela, a family physician, opened one of the largest integrated medical clinics in Vancouver in 2009 (crossroadsclinics.com) and have been married since 1996.

Keys to Success for Chinese NGOs: Navigating Law, Government and Media

Wang Liwei
Founder & CEO | Beijing Liwi Xing Culture Company and China C Media Group (Charitarian Magazine)

Born in Shenyang but excelling in languages, Wang was one of the first Mainland Chinese to work for a foreign company in the mid 1980's. He rose to the top of a US business which involved frequent trips to New York. One of the first bilingual Chinese CEO's of a foreign company, he was then recruited as a translator for the Chinese military for a short period.

Travelling 25 days per month, he became sensitized to other import/export opportunities. In the early 90's he observed that China's domestic cotton market could not meet demand from the growing clothes manufacturing sector. Making a prescient purchase of cotton from the US and Uzbekistan, Wang was the first importer of cotton to China. His Swiss business partner rewarded him with a very substantial Social Responsibility budget.

Having no idea how to allocate these charitable funds, Wang made a careful study into the state of charity in China. Finding a nascent sector in need of assistance, he established Charitarian Media Group in Hong Kong in 2006. The purpose of the magazine was to advise Chinese CEO's, like himself, how to give back to society most effectively. He also developed his own philanthropic projects during this period by developing rural vocational schools.

As more foreign companies arrived in China, Wang expanded Charitarian to include an English language version of the magazine to advise foreign NGO's on philanthropy in China. As a pioneer in charity in China, he became China's spokesperson for any issues relating to non-governmental organizations in China. In recognition of his charity work, in 2009 he was given the title of honoree vice-mayor in Guanxian and subsequently recognized as the Charity Advisor to the Ministry of Civil Affairs under the new administration in 2012; again an honoree position.