Meet the Counselling Team
L to R: Mimi Chan, Bob Mansueto, Annie Yung, Jennifer Lee, Sow Fun Dawson, Marc Marier and Brankie Wong
Sow Fun is the ‘veteran’ member of the University Counselling Office having joined CIS in 1998. She was born in Kuala Lumpur and received her B.A. at the University of Alberta, Canada. Upon graduation she worked at the UN Asian Pacific Development Centre as a Research Assistant in Malaysia and went on to complete her graduate studies at the University of Stockholm, Sweden and the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. As an international student in three different countries, she is very sensitive to the needs of students. Sow Fun worked at the Canadian High Commission for five years as an Education Counsellor and another five years at a London university as Student Adviser.
Jen has joined the UC team as Deputy Director of University Counselling. In that role, Jen will have administrative as well as counselling responsibilities. Jen brings twenty-one years of related professional experience having worked in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Korea and the US in both university admissions and college counselling. She brings to CIS a wealth of knowledge garnered from her previous roles as Director of College Counseling at the Buckley School in Los Angeles, Head of Counseling at the Shanghai American School (Puxi Campus) and her work as an Admission Officer at Scripps College and an outside Admission Reader for UCLA. The inaugural recipient of the International Association for College Admission Counseling ‘Rising Star Award,’ Jen received her B.A. from Wellesley College and earned a Master’s degree in Education from Harvard.
Bob has over 40+ years experience in education in the United States and throughout the world. He has served as Admissions Counselor at Monmouth University in New Jersey for one year, Undergraduate Admissions Counselor at George Washington University for three years, Assistant and Associate Director of Admissions at Oberlin College for five years, Dean of Admission at Reed College for thirteen years, and headed Admissions and Financial Aid at the University of Vermont for one year. Following his work in admissions, he held the position of Director of College Counseling and History Teacher at the York School in Monterey, California from 1997-1999. In September of 1999 he became Director of University Counselling here at Chinese International School.
The second most recent addition to the University Counselling team (and, sadly, not the youngest) Marc arrived at CIS in August of 2012. He was born and raised in the great State of Maine where he attended high school and earned his B.A. degree in English from the University of Southern Maine. Marc taught English for over twenty years at the high school level before earning his Masters in School Counselling in 2004, again from the University of Southern Maine. In 2006, Marc, wife Lori, and daughter Juliette moved to Dubai where he worked as a high school counsellor at the American School of Dubai for six years before coming to CIS. Marc is an active member of IACAC (International Association of College Admission Counsellors) and has frequently presented at professional forums.
Annie joined the University Counselling team in June 2014 as the Individual and Career Advancement Counsellor. Raised in the windy city of Chicago, Annie obtained her B.A. degree in Psychology from DePaul University and holds a Master of Social Sciences in Counselling from The University of Hong Kong. Prior to joining CIS, Annie worked as a Higher Education Counsellor at King George V School in Hong Kong. Having served on the George M. Pullman Scholar Alumni Selection Committee since 2013 and UCLA Admission Reader, Annie has a great understanding of the university process and is well-equipped in providing holistic guidance to students in the years leading up to university applications and beyond.
As University Counselling Office Manager since 2004, Brankie has been responsible for submitting countless application documents to universities around the world. In addition to her many professional responsibilities, she is the mother of two children (Katrina and Tyler). Born in Hong Kong, she received her education at Bowling Green State University. She resides in Sha Tin with husband, daughter and the family pets.
Mimi Chan
Mimi Chan serves our University Counselling office as administrative assistant to Brankie Wong. Mimi comes to us with 19 years of experience, primarily in education related fields, most recently having worked at the British Council and English Schools Foundation. Mimi is Hong Kong born and bred. She loves travelling whenever and wherever she can, and Norway is her most favourite country. She also adores dogs and cats.