About Me
I help people and organizations communicate across national, sectoral, and socioeconomic boundaries. For the past four years, I have worked (mostly) with entrepreneurial groups (mostly) in China. As a consultant, teacher, and student, I have learned from individuals from throughout China’s society: university students, wind turbine engineers, patent attorneys, energy researchers, corporate social responsibility managers, European and African diplomats, and even the vegetable vendors who gave me daily vocabulary lessons when I first arrived in 2006. These varied experiences have challenged me to question my assumptions and clarify my words.
You can read more about my credentials on my LinkedIn profile.
I’m a San Francisco native, and my favorite holiday is Halloween.
I’ve posted pieces I’ve written over the past few years, which fit with several of the roles I’ve played. These include:
Wide-Eyed English Teacher
I graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Latin American Studies in May 2006. About a week later, while thumbing through my well-worn copy of Delaying the Real World, I found out about CIEE Teach in China. I taught English at Jiaxing University in Zhejiang Province for a year, during which I wrote detailed emails to friends and family. I have reprinted parts of these emails here. My absolute favorite, which received more responses than any other, is this: The Man in the Fountain, Wal-Mart, and China’s Course of Development.
Microfinance Analyst
I first got interested in microfinance in 2005, as an exchange student in Chile, where I volunteered with a non-profit called Accion Emprendedora. I also learned about microfinance in China through my work with Wokai in 2008-2009. Wokai is a non-profit organization that connects contributors around the world with entrepreneurs in rural China. My work included blogging about this emerging field. I have re-posted a few of these posts here. My favorite is this one: Cow Dung, Poverty, and Microfinance in Inner Mongolia.
Quarterlifer Abroad
In early 2009, I started a blog called Quarterlife Abroad, celebrating the adventures, tribulations, and career perspectives that come with spending your “me” years far from home. I wrote several posts of advice for college students and young professionals thinking of working abroad. These ideas might be useful for someone contemplating such a move. My favorite post on this topic is: Three Ways to Find a Job Overseas.
You can contact me by leaving a comment or emailing me: leslie [dot] forman [at] gmail [dot] com.
