Shen Danxi: Comparing Chinese and American Philanthropy

As China’s economy continues to develop, and individuals and private companies amass greater wealth, another area of growth is the philanthropic sector. Shen Danxi, a 2018 Richard Rockefeller Fellow and deputy secretary general of the Sany Foundation, talks about how her foundation represents a new generation of Chinese philanthropy, and what she sees as the key differences between American and Chinese foundations. Shen Danxi is the deputy secretary general at the Sany Foundation, a private, corporate foundation in Beijing. Ms. Shen oversees the foundation’s grant making, program research, and global partnerships. She previously supervised the Sany Foundation’s 3ESPACE, a co-working incubator and event hub for social innovators. Prior to joining the Sany Foundation, Ms. Shen worked at the intersection of education and social innovation through partnership development and program design at the Harvard SEED for Social Innovation (now a registered fund at Shanghai Adream Foundation), a network for China’s next generation of social sector leaders. Ms. Shen holds a master’s degree in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and has studied international human rights and linguistics at Peking University, Waseda University, and Beijing Foreign Studies University. Ms. Shen is also founder of Dean D’Art, a volunteer organization that has brought drama and arts education to over 300 migrant children in Beijing, and currently sits on the board of the Beijing Deqing Charitable Foundation.