Denis Z.

Denis Z. has a long and varied work experience. Denis started their career in 2001 as International Program Director at Tianjin University of Commerce Boustead College. In 2004, they became an IELTS Examiner at the British Embassy in China. In 2006, they joined Bain & Company as an Associate Consultant. From 2009-2013, they worked at NeoPhotonics, first as a Finance Associate and then as a Financial Analyst. During their time at NeoPhotonics, they were responsible for the $82.5M NeoPhotonics IPO, a $39.8M private placement with a sovereign wealth fund RUSNANO, a $42M bank debt raise, and two M&A deals. Denis also prepared quarterly SEC reporting, consulted the CEO and CFO in preparation for quarterly investor calls, and performed annual financial planning, product costing and analysis, competitive landscape analysis, and financial modeling. In 2013, they became the Founder of Rukuku, Inc.

Denis Z. has a varied educational background. Denis obtained a BA/MA in Applied Linguistics and Education from Chita State University between 1995 and 2000. In 2000 and 2001, they earned a Certificate of Completion from Tianjin Normal University in Mandarin Chinese. In 2007, they earned a Certificate in Mathematics from Western University. Between 2008 and 2010, they obtained an MBA/MA in Finance from The Wharton School and an MA in International/Global Studies from The Lauder Institute - University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, Denis Z. has obtained four certifications: Creating Great First Impressions from LinkedIn in December 2021, University of California Berkeley, Haas School Of Business, Bay Area NSF Innovation Corps from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in July 2014, United Nations Translator in Mandarin Chinese, Russian and English from the United Nations in October 2005, and an edX Verified Certificate for Introduction to R for Data Science from edX.