Xinyi & Andrew
Back to the team

Candidate for KSSG President

Hi there! I'm Xinyi

I'm Dutch and Chinese, born in China and moved to the Netherlands at age 9. I somehow ended up spending most of my career in the Middle East, then moved to Stanford for business school, and now I'm very happy to be back at HKS for my second year of MPA.

Portrait of Xinyi Tong

Xinyi in 10 seconds

  • BCGFormer Consultant
  • StanfordMBA
  • FulbrightFulbright Scholar
  • LSEMaster's · Int'l Political Economy
  • HKSMPA2
My favorite HKS job ❤️

My favorite HKS job so far: Orientation Leader

I ended my summer two weeks early to help organize MPA Orientation, and I absolutely loved it.

One of my favorite parts was getting to think about what I wish I had experienced when I first arrived at HKS, and then trying to create some of those moments for the incoming class.

  • Interviewed Ambassador Samantha Power

  • Brought in some of my favorite professors and HKS people, including Roger Porter and Stephen Krupin

  • Welcomed the new MPA class and wrote individual welcome letters

  • Helped create the kind of Orientation I would have wanted when I first arrived

Xinyi with fellow Orientation Leaders in yellow HKS tees on the Harvard Kennedy School wall
The Orientation Leader team
Xinyi with Ambassador Samantha Power at the MPA orientation fireside chat
With Ambassador Samantha Power
Xinyi hosting the fireside chat with Ambassador Samantha Power on stage
Hosting the fireside chat with Ambassador Samantha Power
Xinyi welcoming the MPA cohort alongside Professor Roger Porter in the Taubman hallway
Welcoming the MPA cohort with Professor Roger Porter
The MPA orientation group with Ambassador Samantha Power after the fireside chat
After the fireside chat
The Orientation Leader team in yellow HKS tees beside a "Welcome, MPA students!" sign
Welcome, MPA students
Xinyi speaking on the microphone during an orientation session with the OL team
On the mic at orientation
Xinyi with alumnus Philip Johnston at the orientation alumnus fireside chat
Alumnus fireside chat
Xinyi in her orientation tee with Sasha, a therapy dog, on the HKS grounds
A visit from Sasha, the therapy pup
Xinyi holding handwritten welcome notes with a fellow Orientation Leader
Welcome notes for the cohort

Why I'm running

“I have been deeply, deeply impressed by the people here.”

That is probably the biggest reason I decided to run.

Over the past year, I kept hearing concerns from students about parts of the HKS experience that could be better. When I started considering KSSG, even more people reached out.

Some were international students struggling to navigate internships and jobs. Others talked about childcare, caregiving responsibilities, student life, alumni access, or ideas they had raised before but never heard about again.

Andrew and I started putting all of these concerns into one shared tracker. We have been collecting issues, ideas, and student feedback so there is a clear record of what students have actually asked for and what happens next.

  1. You raise it
  2. We track it
  3. We take it forward
  4. You see what happened

Previous KSSG teams have taken on many of these issues. One thing we want to improve is transparency around what happens after an issue is raised.

For example

Students have repeatedly asked about retaining an alumni email address after graduation. What happened to that request? Where did it get stuck? Can something else be done?

We want students to be able to see what was raised, what action was taken, where something currently stands, and what answer HKS ultimately gave.

If I can make even a small difference in helping you get more out of HKS, so you can go out and work on the things you came here to work on, that would mean the world to me.

Featured by HKS

Written up in the HKS Admissions Blog

Xinyi Tong with Dean Samantha Power, featured in the HKS Admissions Blog

Harvard Kennedy School Admissions Blog

Insights from MPA students who helped lead Orientation

Read the feature

A few random things about me

🎓 My mom & Harvard

My mom has been worrying about what she is going to wear to our graduation for approximately two years.

Her explanation:

“It's Harvardddd.”

❤️ Ask me about caregiving

Eldercare and caregiving are very close to my heart. My mom and I were caregivers for my grandfather, and it completely changed how I think about families, aging, and the people quietly taking care of someone they love.

If you are balancing HKS with caring for a child, parent, sibling, partner, or anyone else, I would especially love to hear from you.

Meet Andrew →