Curtis S. Chin

Chin earned his bachelor’s of science degree in journalism at The Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a department major in Economics. He completed his master's degree in public and private management (MPPM/MBA), concentrating in Finance, at the Yale School of Management.

He attended Fort Hunt High School in Alexandria, Virginia.

Early career at Burson-Marsteller

In 1986, Chin began his career at Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations and communications firm, in Washington, D.C. Over two decades, Chin counseled a wide range of global businesses and institutions, including multinational food & beverage, consumer goods & services, energy & infrastructure, finance, and telecom & technology companies, among others in often highly regulated sectors. While at college and prior to joining Burson-Marsteller, Chin had served as a White House summer intern under U.S. President Ronald Reagan, working in the Office of Vice President George H.W. Bush.

In 1990-1991, Chin was posted to Tokyo as consultant at Dentsu Burson-Marsteller. After returning to the United States, he served an 11-month stint as Special Assistant to the United States Secretary of Commerce, Barbara H. Franklin. Chin moved to Beijing in 1995, where he was subsequently appointed managing director of Burson-Marsteller’s Corporate/Public Affairs practice in China in 1996 as well as head of the firm’s Beijing operations. He was based in Hong Kong from 1998-2001, taking over leadership of and overseeing operations of Burson-Marsteller’s flagship Asia office. He relocated back to Burson-Marsteller’s global headquarters in New York in 2001 after September 11, where he worked in part under founder chairman Harold Burson. In New York, Chin oversaw one of the firm’s largest clients, served as managing director, Asia-Pacific, and also helped guide the firm’s emerging Corporate Social Responsibility consulting work. From 2006-2007, he also took on the role of Managing Director, Global Business and Client Development.

While at Burson-Marsteller, Chin was named by then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and continued under Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a member of the Secretary of State’s Advisory Committee on Cultural Diplomacy, where he helped originate the Benjamin Franklin Award for Public Diplomacy.

He is a co-author of the 2005 report, Cultural Diplomacy: The Linchpin of Public Diplomacy.

Asian Development Bank

In early 2007, Chin was appointed the United States Executive Director, with rank of ambassador, to the Asian Development Bank following his testimony before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee and subsequent action by the full U.S. Senate.

He served as U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, based in Manila, Philippines, until late 2010. He was confirmed to the post by unanimous consent of the United States Senate, becoming one of the highest-ranking Asian-Americans in government and the fourth ever U.S. ambassador of Chinese heritage. In this capacity, Chin was a senior member of the United States Department of the Treasury international affairs team, serving under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, during one of the world’s most challenging economic times.

At the ADB, Chin helped formulate and communicate U.S. policies and positions on a wide range of projects, including major energy and transportation infrastructure investments, and financial services and education sector reform programs. He also served on the ADB’s audit and pension committees, responsible for supervising financial statements, approving its administrative budget, and reviewing and approving all policy documents as well as some US$10 billion per annum in loan, equity and technical assistance operations.

Chin advocated for human resources, risk management and governance reforms. He played a key role in pushing for improved external and internal communications, and the adoption of a whistleblower policy. During his service, he sought to ensure a dialogue on and commitment to sustainable development that is focused on “people, planet and partnership”, particularly in Asia’s least-developed nations. This has included seeking to ensure the ADB’s commitment to strong environmental safeguards, anti-corruption efforts and diversity in its own workforce, as well as the adoption of best practices in technology, communications and management. While at the ADB, Chin’s focus on the most vulnerable and on greater development cooperation and effectiveness helped drive his role in the ADB’s establishing the first major partnership agreement between the ADB and UNICEF. His experience at the ADB also led Chin to create the acronym “the little BRIC”, referring to Bureaucracy, Regulation, Interventionism and Corruption. Chin argues that the little BRIC continues as one of the biggest constraints to economic growth and poses a real threat to institutions and commercial progress across all industry sectors.

In September 2010, prior to stepping down as the US Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, Chin testified again before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, arguing for continued robust U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific region and for continued reform at the multilateral development banks.

Post-Asian Development Bank

Following his service at the ADB, Chin was appointed to the Board of Trustees of Community & Family Services International (CFSI), an international humanitarian organization based in Manila, Philippines. He provided oversight as a trustee of CFSI, until shifting in 2015 to a similar role with the U.S.-based, non-profit organization Friends of CFSI, and continues to advocate for the weakest and most vulnerable in the Philippines and abroad.

From 2012-2014, Chin was based at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Bangkok, Thailand, as a Senior Fellow and inaugural Executive-in-Residence. While housed at AIT’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Asia Center, Chin worked closely with the then-AIT President and Office of the Secretary in supporting advocacy, outreach and engagement efforts to rebuild AIT’s campus following 2011’s devastating floods in Thailand.

He founded advisory firm RiverPeak Group, LLC in 2012, as a means to build on his prior work in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Through RiverPeak Group, Chin focuses on opportunities and economic growth in the United States and Asia & Pacific regions. This has in included providing counsel to Equator Pure Nature, a leading Southeast Asia-based consumer products company.

In 2013, Chin was elected to the board of World Education Services (WES), the United States’ leading authority on credential evaluation and provider of research about student mobility, international enrollment management, and transnational education. He served on the Governance Committee of the Board, and as a trustee from 2013-2017.

In 2014, the Milken Institute, a Los Angeles-based non-partisan, non-profit economic and policy think tank, appointed Chin as its inaugural Asia Fellow. In this role, Chin provides guidance and expertise in shaping the direction and programs of the Institute’s Asia Center, based in Singapore, and also serves as a global resource to colleagues in Los Angeles and Washington. As part of the global Milken Institute team, Chin has joined forces with the think tank’s leadership to address such issues as infrastructure and technology innovation.

In 2015, he joined the Advisory Board of Dolma Impact Fund – the first international private equity fund purely focused on Nepal.

Chin remains a powerful voice for issues related to “responsible development,” that is economic development that embraces “people, planet and partnership” with a particular regard for the weakest and most vulnerable, including women and children. From Fortune magazine to Milken Institute global conference appearances, he advocates for partnership across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors.

He is a contributor to global publications and media outlets including the Bangkok Post, Japan Times, The Nation, The Straits Times, Nikkei Asian Review, The New York Times, Project Syndicate, South China Morning Post and The Wall Street Journal. He appears regularly on BBC, Bloomberg TV, CNBC and other media outlets. In articles and interviews, he speaks out against “the little BRIC,” has raised the visibility of issues related to development and the most vulnerable, and advocates for closer relations between the United States and Asia.

Chin is represented by speakers bureaus, Chartwell Partners of London and The Insights Bureau of Singapore.

In 2016, he launched the YouTube channel “Asia Minute with Curtis S. Chin” to help bring his message about the importance of the Asia-Pacific region and its development issues to a younger, global audience.

Chin is the author of the Japanese bestseller, “Writing your way into business and law school,” published by ALC Press.

Cultural engagement

Chin is also a member of the international advisory council of the Battery Dance Company of New York, a leader in U.S. cultural diplomacy and engagement, and of the advisory board of Ma-Yi Theater Company, also of New York, a leading producer and incubator of innovative new works by Asian-American writers.