Regina Yan is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Washington, DC based Patient-centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), a healthcare research funding organization established by the US Congress. Prior to that, Ms. Yan served as the Chief Operating Officer at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. The Institute is the world’s most influential think tank in international economics. Ms. Yan is an expert in international development, board governance, and strategic partnership, as well as a specialist in nonprofit institutional building for international organizations.

For over a decade, Ms. Yan worked for Eurasia Foundation (EF) and served as its Executive Vice President. Ms. Yan directed EF’s general operations in more than a dozen countries and managed its special projects such as the economic education and research program, media viability fund, and the small business lending program. Working with key funding and institutional partners, she spearheaded the launch of these special projects into independent organizations such as the Economic Education and Research Consortium (EERC), which administers the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), and the Izmirlian-Eurasia Universal Credit Company. Regina Yan also supervised the transformation of Eurasia Foundation, which involved the transition of its representative offices into independent local foundations. Five foundations in Russia, Central Asia, South Caucasus, Ukraine and Moldova, plus the Foundation in the US, form the Eurasia Foundation Network. Ms. Yan established the first NGO Resource Center in western China providing consultation, training and funding support for community development organizations.

From 1992 to 2000, Ms. Yan held various executive positions at IREX, an international research and education organization, where she provided management oversight to IREX’s field operations in 22 countries and launched its programs in Asia. Prior to that, she managed international programs at the US National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. She has administered programs in Central and Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, Asia and the Middle East.

Regina Yan is a Senior Adviser of the KSE Board, a world-class graduate economics program in Ukraine. She is a board member of the East Europe Foundation in Ukraine and Moldova, a Senior Advisor to Eurasia Foundation, and a member of the National Committee on United States-China Relations.

Ms. Yan received her undergraduate degree from Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, and holds a degree from the University of Hawaii.