Chai Ling

Jenzabar President and Chief Operating Officer Chai Ling is a longstanding supporter of a citizen’s right to education. While a student in her home country of China, Ms. Ling was directly involved in anti-government protests and demonstrations. Speaking out against the country’s practices, she took part in 1987 assemblies for democratic reforms. Two years later, Chai Ling was a student leader in the seven-week-long Tiananmen Square student protests. Through these efforts, she organized pro-democratic activities that included hunger strikes. Following the protests and subsequent military-organized shootings, Chai Ling found herself on China’s list of the 21 most-wanted students. Fleeing her home country in 1990, Chai Ling ultimately ended up in the United States, at Princeton University on a full scholarship. An MBA from Harvard Business School completed Chai Ling’s formal education, which she began in China with a degree from Peking University and graduate studies at Beijing Normal University. Since graduation, Chai Ling has founded software provider Jenzabar, Inc., as well as affiliated charitable organizations The Jenzabar Foundation and All Girls Allowed. Recognizing her good fortune in being able not only to speak her mind about her government but to leave China, obtain two Ivy League degrees, and operate corporate and charitable organizations, in 2011, Chai Ling sought to share her story through a memoir entitled A Heart for Freedom. The book tells the story of her fight for democracy, beginning with a look at her youth under a Communist regime and continuing through her college education, activism, and post-protest efforts to build a better China one citizen at a time. One of the ways she strives to help her homeland is through All Girls Allowed. The nonprofit seeks to improve the lives of those affected by China’s controversial one-child policy and focuses specifically on mothers and daughters whose freedoms are endangered or impinged upon. By providing not only education and awareness of the policy, but also financial help in the form of monthly child-rearing stipends, scholarships, and legal defense, Chai Ling’s organization works for democracy and fairness in China. Chai Ling cites her newfound relationship with God as the inspiration for All Girls Allowed. Having accepted Christianity in 2009, she strives to spread the gospel of God’s love through helping those suffering from oppression, both governmental and societal.