MISSION AND VISION

We are dedicated to supporting the growth of rural children and the professional development of teachers through community-based library programs and creative reading initiatives. We also empower more young people to engage with social issues through meaningful action.

We believe that:

A truly open library,

A thoughtfully designed reading activity, and

A young person engaged in self-discovery and growth

can each bring hope and transformation to children’s lives.

Over the past two decades, Dream Corps International has launched and supported library programs in more than 15 provinces and cities across China, donating over 70,000 books, reaching more than 50,000 children, training 800+ teachers, and mobilizing nearly 500 volunteers to work in rural schools and communities—using reading as a bridge for connection and growth.

In 2024, we entered our 2.0 phase—expanding from “library development” to a model of collaborative co-creation. With “Reading + N” at the core, we integrate reading with themes like inclusive education, culture, technology, and environmental sustainability. Together with volunteers, schools, villages, and partner organizations, we are reimagining what rural futures can look like.

HISTORY

Dream Corps was founded in North Carolina by Chinese scholars and students in 2004. In September 2010，we welcomed our first full time staff, raising our standards for program operations and internal management.

2004.6

Dreams Corps International conducted its first Summer Volunteer Program （svp） in the Lingfang Township Central Elementary School, Chaling County, Hunan Province.

2006

Huaiyuan Chen became the President

2008

Yixin Chen became the President

2010

Ruoxia Li became the President

2013

Xiaoruo Gai became the President

2017

Yingchao Huang became the President

TEAM

Dream Corps currently consists of two parts: the board of directors and the hub team. The board of directors is in charge of strategic planning and budget approval while the hub team is responsible for execution, including volunteer recruitment, project implementation, fundraising, marketing, and more.

Danxia Xie

Interim President

Graduated from the University of Chicago with a PhD in Economics, an MPP from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Master of Computer Science from Duke University. He is now teaching Economics at Tsinghua University, with his research focus on Macro, Development, and ICT Economics. He had worked at Peterson Institute for International Economics, Washington DC. At Duke University, he co-founded the NGO “Dream Corps”, and in the summer of 2004 initiated a project which utilizes ICT for the development of poor villages. This innovative practice was the “Harvard China Information Rainbow Project”, and is now being generalized to be the “The China Model of Information Village”.

Winnie Li

Co-President

Winnie is major in Advertising and MIS at the University of Texas at Austin. She joined Dream Corps family in 2014 as an SVP at Henan Dazeng. After SVP, she actively worked as a member of the Dream Corps at UT chapter. She joined the Hub Team in 2016. She loves kids.

Quan Du

Chapters Officer

Quan Du currently works as the Chapters Officer at Dream Corps International. Quan majored in business and economics in the University of Michigan during undergraduate years. He is now a graduate school student in Columbia University, studying financial mathematics. He joined Dream Corps family in 2014 as a member of the Michigan University Chapter and became its president from 2016 to 17. Quan joined the Hub Team in 2018.

Xiaoqian Niu

Chief Technology Officer

Xiaoqian(Sophie) Niu graduated from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying Information Science and Mathematics. She is now pursuing Master of Science in Information degree in University of Michigan. She became a Dream Corps summer volunteer in 2015 at Henan Province. In the coming year, Sophie was one online mentor for the summer volunteers. She joined IT Team in April, 2018 and visited program sites in June. Staring from end of July, Sophie is leading IT team as Chief Technology Officer.

Zihan Li

Chief Project Development Officer

Yixiong Yin is currently a senior at Indiana University major in B.S. Informatics. Yixiong attended the Summer Volunteer Program in May 2017, and was the co-president of Dream Corps Indiana University Chapter from 2017 to 2018.

Zijia Zhuang

Director of Public Relations

Zijia majors in Comparative Literature in Bryn Mawr College, and minors in History of Art and Child and Family study. ZIjia was a SVP volunteer in 2018, and became a member of the Dream Corps PR Team afterward. She joined the hub team in June 2019. ZIjia is also an avid reader of picture books.

Yanqi Chen

Director of Finance

Yanqi graduated from Indiana University with a master degree in accounting. Yanqi joined Dream Corps Indiana University chapter in 2011 when she was a freshman. She worked in Internal Management Team at Dream Corps Indiana Chapter. She works as donor relation officer in Dream Corps International since 2014.

Yuan Zhang

China Representative

Graduated from Duke University with a Master in Management. Yuan heard about Dream Corps from one of her close friends who studied education and decided to join Indiana University Chapter to help with their publicity as well as establishment. After she returned to China in 2011, she assisted Dream Corps with organizing reading activities at their Beijing site every week. In 2012 she started working for the Publici-ty and Outreach team with the goal of connecting DC with local nonprof-its and companies to share the joy of reading. In 2013, Yuan expanded her work and joined the Fundraising team.

Anita Chen

Chief Fundraising Officer

Anita Chen graduated from New York University majored in Finance. She joined Dream Corps in 2010 as a volunteer and in 2015 as New York Professional Chapter President and 2018 as North America treasurer. She is a long time marathon runner, loves philanthropy and children’s education.

BOARD

Danxia Xie

Chief

Lili Lai

Board Member, Founder

Lili Lai is Associate Professor at the Institute of Medical Humanities of Peking University, China. She received her PhD in Anthropology from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2009, and did her post-doc research at Peking University from 2009 to 2011. Her recent book, Hygiene, Sociality, and Culture in Contemporary Rural China, was based on her fieldwork where later becomes one of Dream Corps' sites, published by Amsterdam University Press. Her research interests focus on body, everyday life, and medicine.

Lan Zhang

Board Member

2010 Summer Volunteer. Graduated from Tsinghua University and later obtained an MBA from Bush Business School at the University of Chicago. She currently works for a private equity firm. She joined Dream Corps in 2010 and served as the leader of Sichuan Nanguang team.

Kristal Hou

Board Member

Ms. Hou is a venture capitalist and management consultant. She has extensive experiences in financial services, human resources, public service, and information system management. Currently is Managing Director of Shanghai Alliance Financial Services Ltd. She believes that good books can enlighten hope and dream for children in rural China. With such belief, she donated a Dream Corps library in Gansu province and started serving as honorary board member since 2014. Ms. Hou holds MBA degree from Zicklin Business School of Baruch College CUNY, and Bachelor degree in Economics from Xiamen University.

Mr. Luo is one of the co-founders of Dream Corps, graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a joint PH.D. in Computer Science and Cognitive Science. He has extensive experience in research and teaching in the fields of cognitive development and foundations of cognitive and information sciences. He currently works as a software engineer and has been working for Dream Corps as a volunteer since its beginning.

Ms. Hu is one of the co-founders of Dream Corps. She now is a coach for inner wisdom and self-fulfillment, as well as a mindfulness teacher and writer (www.gongyirensheng.org). From 2009 to 2014, she worked as Director for China Program at The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organization at Harvard University, and helped launch Harvard SEED program, dedicating to selecting and training Chinese social entrepreneurs. Before this, she worked at Ashoka headquarter for three years. In 2006, Ms. Hu published an article "What is Social Entrepreneurship", and it is widely considered as the first article on social entrepreneurship in China.

Articles

贵州札记

暑假去贵州的志愿项目以前，有不少人在明处暗处质疑。以贵州孩子的知识和能力，许多的想法是不是能够实施，而我们是不是只是单纯到易碎的梦想家......

一些回忆

很随意的回忆了两个人，几件事，讨论了一些概念。这个世界一直都在变化，梦想行动就像一个营地，人来了，人又走了。在这里，我们影响别人，也被别人影响......

关于书和人的两个故事

要说与梦想的故事，基本都是在纷繁的人事物之间编织交联，没有什么属于我个人的记忆。同时又觉回忆太多不知如何说起，不妨说两个书与人的故事......

梦想开始的岁月

我们所做的事情并不大，所筹的款项也不算多，但我们在踏踏实实认认真真地工作着，孩子们，志愿者们和我们自己都在成长中有所收获。也许这就是梦想行动存在的意义......

PARTNER

China Changjiang River Charity Foundation is one of Dream Corps' most valuable collaborating partners. Dream Corps is registered under China Changjing River Charity Foundation in China and fundraises as well as operates under its supervision. Besides, there are other four partners：