Big Ideas, Real Impact.

OUR CEO

Wendi is a seasoned leader with 25 years of experience in mission-driven organizations, including NGOs, social enterprises, and for-profit companies. Her work focuses on advancing education locally and globally, improving employment opportunities, and addressing inequality in low-income communities. Throughout her career, Wendi has successfully established high-net-worth (HNW) fundraising, event, and marketing processes while developing dynamic online and offline communication strategies. She collaborates closely with senior leadership, board members, and advisory teams, managing over 40 development and events staff to create multi-year strategic plans, execute annual and capital campaigns, and cultivate relationships with corporate, foundation, legacy, and major donors, raising over $200M in her career.

A recognized thought leader, Wendi frequently shares her expertise through keynotes, panel discussions, and media interviews. She has presented at leading financial institutions, including BNP Paribas, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, as well as for media outlets such as Reuters and Bloomberg. Her speaking topics cover a wide range, including the ripple effect of girls' education in Asia and Africa, women's entrepreneurship and global access to capital, corporate social responsibility, and the importance of de-stigmatizing mental health. This public engagement complements her professional focus on creating value aligned with an organization’s mission, vision, and strategic goals, emphasizing measurable outcomes through continuous evaluation of metrics and key performance indicators.

Wendi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Cornell University, where she was a Cornell National Scholar (in the top 2%). She furthered her education in integrative health at Columbia University. She earned her MBA from Cornell, where she was elected Class President and served on the Professors’ Advisory Council. Her dedication to community service includes leadership roles, such as serving as Board Chair of Music Breeds, which provides free music education to underrepresented communities, and as co-founder of S.A.M., a health organization for patients in pediatric hospitals in La Paz. Born in Japan and raised on a farm in Vermont, Wendi has studied in France, volunteered in Bolivia, and traveled to over 65 countries. She currently resides in Manhattan with her family.

Jennifer Schmidt serves as the Vice President of Yen Philanthropic, bringing over 15 years of disciplined leadership in international fundraising and strategic communications. Throughout her career, she has secured over $50M in capital for mission-driven organizations, specializing in the design of high-capacity donor pipelines and the execution of complex capital campaigns. Jennifer’s expertise lies in translating institutional goals into rigorous fiscal strategies, ensuring that every outreach effort is anchored in technical precision and narrative authority.

designPrior to joining Yen Philanthropic, Jennifer led development initiatives for global NGOs, where she mastered the nuances of cross-border philanthropy and high-value corporate partnerships. She is an expert in the iterative process of donor cultivation, known for her ability to provide steady counsel and strategic revisions that align long-term growth with foundational values. A graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, Jennifer combines an analytical approach to global wealth trends with a commitment to active listening, ensuring that every client framework is built for sustainable, measurable impact.

Philip Tse serves as the Chief Communications and Marketing Officer and brings two decades of expertise in high-level branding, marketing, and strategic communications to his role at Yen Philanthropic. Over the past 20 years, he has specialized in the architectural design of organizational identities, transforming complex institutional missions into clear, high-impact narratives that resonate in a crowded global marketplace. His approach centers on the belief that a brand is a living extension of its mission, requiring a disciplined integration of data-driven marketing and authentic storytelling.

Throughout his career, Philip has led comprehensive rebranding initiatives and multi-channel communication strategies for both established international NGOs and emerging social enterprises. He is an expert in the initial design of market positioning and provides the steady counsel required to revise and adapt messaging as global trends shift. Having managed diverse creative teams across three continents, Philip ensures that every Yen Philanthropic client benefits from a communication framework built for technical precision, cultural intelligence, and long-term narrative authority.

Tanya Hsieh is the Major Gifts Director at Yen Philanthropic, bringing over a decade of specialized experience as a major gifts officer. She has built her career on cultivating high-value donor relationships through a combination of data-driven strategy and sophisticated interpersonal engagement. Tanya excels in designing initial outreach frameworks that align a donor’s personal legacy goals with an organization’s long-term capital needs, ensuring every solicitation is both technically precise and mission-anchored. In her role, Tanya oversees the development of major gift pipelines, providing the steady counsel required to navigate the complexities of high-capacity philanthropy. She is an expert in the iterative stewardship process, frequently revising cultivation plans to adapt to changing donor circumstances or shifting organizational priorities. By prioritizing active listening and technical rigor, Tanya ensures that the organizations she represents secure the sustainable, high-level investment necessary to drive systemic global impact.