China Connections – Breaking Into U.S.-China Policy Work

Robert Daly is a visiting professor of the practice and founding director of the Program on China and the United States at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy. He previously served as director of the Kissinger Institute on China and the United States at the Wilson Center from 2013 to 2025. Before joining the Wilson Center, Daly directed the Maryland China Initiative at the University of Maryland from 2007 to 2013. From 2001 to 2007, he served as American Director of the Johns Hopkins University-Nanjing University Center for Chinese and American Studies in Nanjing, China.

Daly began his career in U.S.-China relations as a diplomat, serving at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After leaving the Foreign Service, he taught Chinese at Cornell University and worked on television and theater projects in China as a host, actor, and writer. He also helped produce a Chinese-language version of Sesame Street and directed the Syracuse University China Seminar.

Daly has extensive experience in U.S.-China relations and regularly provides analysis for major media outlets, including NPR, C-SPAN, CNN, and BBC. He is a director of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and the American Mandarin Society and a member of the Task Force on U.S.-China Policy. Having lived in China for more than a decade, he has interpreted for Chinese and American leaders, including Jiang Zemin, Jimmy Carter, and Henry Kissinger. His areas of expertise include U.S.-China relations, Chinese foreign policy, soft power and public diplomacy, and technology competition.

Kalisha Holmes has been a Foreign Service Officer since 2014.  She is currently a public diplomacy desk officer in the bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Prior to this assignment, she was mission spokesperson at U.S. embassy Dar es Salaam. She previously served as a Sports Diplomacy program officer, managing the Sports Envoy program which sends professional athletes and coaches overseas to work with U.S. embassies and consulates on short-term exchanges and is the Department’s primary liaison for professional North America-based sports leagues, as well as Team USA. 

Kalisha has also previously served in Lagos, Nigeria and in Beijing China. At U.S. embassy Beijing, she served as a visa officer and as the Deputy Director of the Beijing American Center, a public outreach center at U.S. Embassy Beijing where she coordinated cultural programming for around 25,000 visitors a year. In Lagos, Nigeria, she was a visa officer for both immigrant and nonimmigrant visas.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from George Washington University and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  She speaks Mandarin Chinese and Kiswahili. 

McCall Mintzer is Chief of Staff for International Operations & Policy at Boeing, where she supports the company’s international sales, strategy, and engagement. Her professional experience spans international business, public policy, and U.S.-China relations.

Prior to joining Boeing, Mintzer worked at the Brookings Institution’s John L. Thornton China Center, where she supported research on China and U.S.-China relations. Her work contributed to research and publications examining U.S.-China competition, foreign policy, governance, and broader political and economic developments in Asia.

Mintzer previously lived and studied in China, earning a master’s degree from East China Normal University in Shanghai, where her studies focused on Chinese politics, governance, political communication, and research methods. She was a recipient of a Chinese Government Scholarship and also worked with China Economic Review in Shanghai, writing and editing on developments in China’s economy, policy, business, and technology sectors. Her background combines experience in the private sector, policy research, and China-focused analysis.

Neil Thomas is a Senior Fellow on Chinese Politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute’s Center for China Analysis, where he studies Chinese elite politics, political economy, and foreign policy. He co-leads the Center’s Decoding Chinese Politics project, which examines China’s political institutions, leadership networks, key decision-makers, and major policy trends.

Previously, Thomas served as a Senior Analyst for China and Northeast Asia at Eurasia Group and as a Senior Research Associate at MacroPolo, the Paulson Institute’s think tank. He also taught at the University of Chicago’s Harris School of Public Policy. He has testified before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission and regularly contributes analysis on Chinese politics and policy to leading publications and media outlets.

Thomas holds a Master in Public Policy from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Australia. He has also studied at Renmin University, Tsinghua University, and Zhejiang University.

Bernice Xu is a Senior Associate with the Defense & National Security Practice at The Asia Group, where she supports defense clients across the Indo-Pacific region. Previously, she served as a Policy Advisor for Southeast Asia in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, focusing on U.S. defense partnerships with the Philippines, Singapore, and Indonesia. She also served as a Senior Program Associate at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, supporting programs including the Public Intellectuals Program, Track II dialogues, and military-security initiatives.

Xu previously worked at the National Defense University’s Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs and the Carnegie-China Center in Beijing. She holds an M.A. in Asian Studies from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service and a B.A. in International Affairs from The George Washington University. She is proficient in Mandarin Chinese.