Jonathan Auerbach, Anja Manuel, and Susan Thornton Appointed to the National Committee’s Board of Directors

The National Committee on U.S.-China Relations is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to its Board of Directors on December 18, 2018. We are honored to welcome Directors Jonathan Auerbach, Anja Manuel, and Susan A. Thornton, who will help guide the National Committee at this critical period in the relationship.

	Jonathan Auerbach is executive vice president and chief strategy growth and data officer at PayPal where he leads their global strategy and business development efforts. He also oversees the company’s M&A initiatives, identifying opportunities for PayPal to expand its reach and meet its growth objectives. Previously, he was CEO Group Digital Life at Singtel where he was responsible for a global portfolio of mobile video, digital advertising, and analytics businesses, and managed Innov8, Singtel’s $250 million corporate venture fund. Prior to Singtel, Mr. Auerbach was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company where he held a variety of executive roles in Asia and North America, including leading the Asian Telecommunications, Media and Technology Practice; the Singapore Office and the Southeast Asia Region; and the North American High Tech Practice. Mr. Auerbach has also served as a member of the Economic Strategy Committee of Singapore and the Singapore Government’s Committee on University Education Pathways Beyond 2015. He is currently on the Board of Advisors of the Lee Kong Chian Business School at the Singapore Management University, and he is chairman of the board of HOOQ, a video streaming service aimed at emerging markets that is backed by Singtel, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures. Mr. Auerbach holds a B.A. in East Asian studies from Dartmouth College and a degree in politics, philosophy, and economics from the University of Oxford, UK, where he was a Keasbey Scholar.
	Author, former diplomat, and advisor on emerging markets, Anja Manuel is co-founder and partner along with former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, in RiceHadleyGates LLC, a strategic consulting firm that helps U.S. companies navigate international markets. Ms. Manuel is the author of the critically acclaimed This Brave New World: India, China, and the United States, published by Simon and Schuster in 2016. From 2005-2007, Ms. Manuel served as an official at the U.S. Department of State, responsible for South Asia Policy. Earlier in her career, Ms. Manuel was an attorney working on international and Supreme Court cases, and an investment banker at Salomon Brothers in London. A graduate of Harvard Law School and Stanford University, Ms. Manuel now also lectures at Stanford University. Ms. Manuel is a frequent commentator on foreign policy, and technology, for TV and radio (MSNBC, Fox Business, BBC, Charlie Rose, NPR, etc.) and writes for publications ranging from The New York Times, to Fortune, The Atlantic, and Newsweek, among others. Ms. Manuel serves on several corporate and nonprofit boards, including the boards of Overseas Shipping Group, Inc. (NYSE listed), Ripple Labs Inc., a leading blockchain payments company, and advisory boards of Flexport Inc., Synapse Inc., Center for a New American Security, the American Ditchley Foundation, and Governor Brown’s California Export Council. Ms. Manuel serves as West Coast co-chair of a Harvard Initiative on Technology and Public Purpose with Former Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, and is a member of the Aspen Strategy Group and the Council on Foreign Relations. Ms. Manuel lives in San Francisco with her husband and two small children.
	Susan A. Thornton is a retired senior U.S. diplomat with extensive experience in Eurasia and East Asia. She is currently a senior fellow and research scholar at the Yale University Paul Tsai China Center and a non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution. Until July 2018, Thornton was acting assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs at the Department of State and led East Asia policymaking amid crises with North Korea, escalating trade tensions with China, and a fast-changing international environment. In previous State Department roles, she worked on China and Korea policy, including stabilizing relations with Taiwan, the U.S.-China Cyber Agreement, the Paris Climate Accord, and the Agreed Framework on North Korean denuclearization. In overseas postings in Central Asia, Russia, the Caucasus, and China, Thornton’s leadership furthered U.S. interests and influence in a host of difficult operating environments. Thornton received her M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS and her B.A. from Bowdoin College in economics and Russian. Apart from her foreign policy work, she devotes her spare time to community, education, fresh food, and connecting with nature on her family farm in Lisbon, Maine.