Breaking Barriers: Insights from Echo Li at Committee of 100's Annual Conference and Gala
Co-chaired by Eric Zheng, president, American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, and Gary Locke, the 21st Governor of Washington and Former U.S. Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, the Committee of 100’s Annual Conference and Gala returned to Shanghai after a four-year hiatus. The event brought together nearly 300 leaders from business, government, academia, science, technology, sports and the arts, including ambassador Kishore Mahbubani, Scott Walker, Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, Jeffrey Lehman, vice chancellor, NYU Shanghai and Yue-Sai Kan, Emmy-Winning TV producer and host.
Governor and ambassador Gary Locke delivered the opening remarks by introducing the historical significance of the organization’s mission and how fostering exchange and collaborations played a pivotal role in U.S.-China relations over the past century.
Ambassador Nicholas Burns, the current U.S. ambassador to the People’s Republic of China, gave a virtual keynote address. He emphasized the committee's importance in cultivating bilateral relations, improving cultural understanding, and recognizing the vital contributions of Chinese Americans.
Echo Li, global chief commercial officer of Dentsu Sports International (DSI), was invited to participate in the panel discussion, “Breaking Barriers: Women in Leadership for a Sustainable and Inclusive Future”. Moderated by Nora Wu (Trustee Member, University of San Francisco) and featuring representatives from AptarGroup and SHANG XIA, the panel explored strategies to navigate gender bias, foster diverse leadership and empower women to excel in top roles. Echo shared three themes that particularly resonated with the room:
1. Mentorship: Paying It Forward
When asked about how mentorship has played a role in each panellist’s career growth, and what advice do they have for women seeking mentors: Echo reflecting on her own career journey, sharing a personal story of being entrusted at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games in Singapore when she was 21. “It was an enormous responsibility and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me. When I thanked my boss and mentor, he advised me, ‘Don’t pay me back—pay it forward.’ That has stayed with me throughout my career,” Echo revealed.
This philosophy drives Echo to champion young professionals, graduates from non-prestigious universities or women breaking into male-dominated sports fields. Her commitment has enabled many of her mentees to advance into leadership positions, continuing the cycle of mentorship and inclusion.
2. Solutions to Bridging the Gender Gap
“The first step in bridging the gender gap is to build a foundation that ensures a sustainable pipeline of women who are identified, trained, and prepared for advancement,” Echo said during the panel.
She highlighted the success of the team at Dentsu Sports International, with a 50/50 ratio of men to women employees — an effort she attributes to a commitment towards merit-based hiring. “Each of them was hired and promoted because of their talent and capabilities,” she noted.
However, Echo acknowledged that such representation remains uncommon in the sports marketing industry, especially leadership roles, likely due to unconscious biases in hiring process that limit opportunities for women from the start. To tackle these barriers, she passionately pitched the importance of including female perspectives in the hiring process—not just from HR but also within business lines. “This intentional approach,” she explained, “will be an essential first step to building a more inclusive workplace and advancing women into leadership roles.”
3. Embracing Unique Strengths
When asked about the advice she would offer to women aspiring to leadership roles: Echo noted the importance of recognizing and leaning into the unique strengths women bring to leadership roles. “Young women leaders often have this fire in their belly, wanting to prove that they are the same as men,” she reflected. “I was one of these young women.”
Over time, she realized that her greatest strength as a leader was her ability to balance assertiveness with empathy. Drawing from her career in global sports sponsorships, she explained how this empathetic approach has often given her an edge in high-stakes negotiations. “For many, it’s all about the terms in the contract. For me, it’s also about reading the room—understanding unspoken dynamics, body language, and crafting partnerships that feel like wins for everyone involved,” Echo explained.
She encouraged women leaders to embrace these distinctive qualities rather than striving to conform to traditional leadership styles. “We are equally capable, but we bring different strengths to leadership,” she advocated. “Embrace those differences—they are often our greatest assets.”
Echo closed with a vision for the future: “The true mark of progress will be when gender diversity is no longer a special topic but naturally woven into every leadership conversation.”
