 Speaker Biographies
Alan Beebe, President, American Chamber of Commerce in China
Alan Beebe is President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China) based in Beijing. He has over twenty-five years of business experience across Asia, including nineteen years in mainland China.
As President, Alan oversees all advocacy, programs, partnerships and insights provided by the Chamber to support the business growth of nearly 900 foreign corporations operating in China, including most of the U.S. Fortune 500. He leads major advocacy efforts related to market access, cybersecurity, structural impediments, implementation of Chinese regulations and laws, U.S. – China commercial relations, and other challenges impacting U.S. business in China.
In 2018, he launched AmCham China’s Technology & Innovation Initiative, focused on the business and policy implications of disruptive digital technologies. In 2020 he launched the Social Impact Initiative, a Chamber-wide effort to support China’s recovery from COVID-19.
Prior to joining AmCham China, Alan held various senior executive positions across Greater China with EY, IBM, and management consulting firms AT Kearney and PRTM. He also led a Beijing based start-up for five years, the China Greentech Initiative, which merged in 2014 with the Paulson Institute, founded by Hank Paulson.
Alan has advised a wide range of corporations and global investors on investing and operating in China. His clients have included global private equity firms, high technology companies, energy related companies, and major state-owned and private Chinese enterprises.
He holds a Master’s degree from Yale University in International Relations and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Computer Science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the U.S. He is a fluent speaker of mandarin Chinese, and also reads and writes Chinese. Alan was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska.
Michaela Browning, Chief Executive Officer, National Foundation for Australia-China Relations
Ms Browning is an experienced diplomat with extensive experience in advancing Australia’s foreign policy and trade interests in China, most recently as Australia’s Consul-General in Hong Kong.
She has held a range of senior positions including, Head of Investment, Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), Head of Established Markets and Special Adviser to the CEO on Strategy and China (Austrade), and Senior Adviser to Defence and Foreign Ministers.
Ms Browning has also been a Trade Negotiator at the Doha Development Round as well as for free trade agreements with the United States of America and Singapore. She has previously served overseas in Thailand and Singapore.
Ms Browning also sits on the Herbert Smith Freehills UNSW Chinese International and Business Economic Law (CIBEL) Centre Advisory Board and the Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) Board.
She has a Master's Degree in Foreign Affairs and Trade and a Bachelor Degree in Economics (Honours) from Monash University. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
April Palmerlee, Chief Executive Officer, American Chamber of Commerce in Australia
Palmerlee was appointed CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia in 2017 after an international career in government, education, and the corporate sector. American-born, Palmerlee has lived in Sydney since 2003 and is a dual citizen. She is a member of Chief Executive Women and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She received a BS from Georgetown and a Master’s from Columbia. In Australia, she has worked for the University of Sydney’s US Studies Centre, the Lowy Institute for International Policy, the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS), and Potomac Partners. In the United States, she held the rank of Assistant Secretary at the Department of State with the remit for international women’s issues. Before that, she was a senior executive at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. She has also worked for couturier Oscar de la Renta, financial publisher The Bank Credit Analyst, and not-for-profit The Spanish Institute. She is on the boards of CIS and Georgetown University Center for Australian, New Zealand and Pacific Studies (CANZPS). She also chairs the professional scholarship selection committee at the Fulbright Commission.
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