President of U.S.-China Cultural Institute
Shirley Young is President of Shirley Young Associates, LLC, a business advisory company and serves as senior advisor to General Motors, China. From 1988 until December 31, 1999, she served as Corporate Vice President of General Motors Corp. As Vice President for China Strategic Development and Asia Pacific Counselor, she had key involvement with General Motors’ two billion dollar investment in China’s auto industry particularly with Shanghai GM building Buick cars. Subsequently her responsibilities included operational responsibility for marketing, distribution and sales in China. Prior to this, she served as Vice President for Consumer Market Development at General Motors’ headquarters, working across the various marketing divisions of the company.
A recognized expert in brand development and consumer motivations, Ms. Young spent her earlier career at Grey Advertising, becoming Executive Vice President, member of the Agency Policy Council and President of Grey Strategic Marketing. Her work involved strategic marketing and communications for a broad spectrum of companies in a wide range of fields, including food and beverage, drugs and household products, cosmetics and fashion, automotive, appliances, airlines and retail.
Shirley Young serves on the Board of Teletech Holding, Inc. and Salesforce.com. She has served as Director of the Bank of America, Bell Atlantic/Verizon Corporation, Dayton-Hudson/Target Corporation, Holiday Inn/Promus/Harrah’s, the Bombay Company and as Vice Chairman of the Nominating Committee of the New York Stock Exchange.
Ms. Young is Governor and former founding-Chairman of the Committee of 100, a national Chinese-American leadership resource, and serves as chairman of the US-China Cultural Institute, formerly Committee of 100 Cultural Institute. She serves on the worldwide Board of Directors of The Nature Conservancy and on its Asia-Pacific Council. She is a founding member of the Committee of 200, an international organization of leading businesswomen. Ms. Young was appointed to the President’s Commission on Executive Exchange and was a member of the Business Advisory Council for the U.S. State Department Agency for International Development.
In China, Ms. Young is an honorary professor of Tsinghua University, Beijing; Tongji University, Shanghai; and Huazhong Technology University, Wuhan; and honorary trustee of Jiao Tong University in Shanghai. In the U.S., she is trustee emeritus of Interlochen Center for the Arts and served as a trustee of Wellesley College and on the Board of Directors of the Associates of the Harvard Business School, and Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, as well as the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.
Ms. Young has received many awards for outstanding efforts in marketing and advertising. She was named Advertising Woman of the Year by the American Advertising Federation and received the Women’s Equity Action Award for Achievement in Advertising. Northwood University named her Outstanding Business Leader. Catalyst awarded her the Catalyst Award for Outstanding Corporate Director and the Chinese-American Planning Council named her Woman of the Year. She received a Director’s Choice Award from the National Women’s Economic Alliance.
Ms. Young is a graduate of Wellesley College, Phi Beta Kappa, and is a recipient of the Wellesley College Alumna Achievement Award.
