Yao Li (Leo) is a Master’s student in Public Diplomacy at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Film Production.  At 19, he founded his first film production company, followed by e-commerce and tech service startups, which attracted attention from Alibaba’s venture capital arm. He is now the president of the Society of Public Diplomats and works as a student journalist at the U.S.-China Institute, where he has published on AI technology and video games. He has been recognized with the “Best Story Award” at the Greece Bridge International Film Festival and, in 2025, completed a Diplomacy Lab research fellowship for the U.S. Embassy in Singapore.