Management

Gang Chen

Chairman, Executive Director 

Mr. Gang Chen was appointed chairman of the board on September 17, 2021. Mr. Chen is a partner of Ascendent Capital Partners, where he has been actively involved in managing its portfolio companies and accumulated extensive experience in operations and corporate management. Prior to joining Ascendent, he served as the chief strategist for Biltmore Capital Group and head of alternative investment group for CMS Companies. Mr. Chen received his bachelor’s degree from East China Normal University where he worked for two years as a college teacher after graduation. He obtained a master of business administration degree from the Yale School of Management. 

Chimin Cao

Honorary Chairman, Co-founder and Director

Mr. Chimin Cao is our co-founder and has served as chairman of the board since our inception. On September 17, 2021, Mr. Cao resigned from chairman and was redesignated as honorary chairman. Mr. Cao has a wealth of experience in the early childhood education industry. Together with Ms. Yanlai Shi, Mr. Cao established our first play-and-learn center in 1998 and then incorporated Beijing RYB to expand our operations in July 2001. Prior to that, Mr. Cao founded Beijing Dongrun Fandoule Kepu Entertainment Co. Ltd. in 1996 as the first franchise to introduce Fun Dazzle indoor playgrounds to Beijing. Mr. Cao received his joint master’s degree of management from the Australian National University and Tsinghua University in 2007.

Yanlai Shi

Chief Executive Officer, Co-founder and Executive Director 

Ms. Yanlai Shi is our co-founder and has served as director and chief executive officer since our inception. Ms. Shi is a pioneer of the early childhood education industry in China. Ms. Shi also holds various positions, including a member of National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference of Fengtai District, Beijing, and a representative of the 11th National Congress of Chinese Women. Ms. Shi has received many honors in the business world as well. To name a few, she was awarded “Leader of Education Industry” in 2016 and “The Most Influential Business Women in China” in 2014. Ms. Shi received her bachelor’s degree in law from Peking University and joint master’s degree in management from the Australian National University and Tsinghua University.

Hao Gu

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Hao Gu joined RYB in 2019 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining RYB, Mr. Gu worked as executive director of the Asia Pacific Telecom, Media and Technology (‘TMT’) team in UBS AG’s Investment Banking Division in Hong Kong. Prior to that, Mr. Gu was part of the TMT Investment Banking team at Credit Suisse, where he worked on various important capital markets and M&A transactions. Mr. Gu received a master of business administration degree from Cornell University and a bachelor’s degree from Beijing Foreign Studies University.