Second Yale-NUS alumnus joins prestigious Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program

Yale-NUS College alumnus Jiang Haolie has been named a 2024 Knight-Hennessy Scholar. Under the Knight-Hennessy Scholars Program, Haolie will be pursuing a two-year Master’s in International Policy (MIP) at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute (FSI) for International Studies. Knight-Hennessy Scholars are selected based on their demonstration of independence of thought, purposeful leadership, and a civic mindset, and receive up to three years of financial support as they participate in the King Global Leadership Program.

Haolie graduated from Yale-NUS College in 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Global Affairs. His final-year capstone was awarded the Yale-NUS Outstanding Capstone Award in Global Affairs.

Currently a senior analyst at Edelman Global Advisory, Haolie works on regional government relations and strategic advisory consulting across Asia-Pacific, specialising in labour protection and green transition.

Outside of work, Haolie volunteers with Community of Advocacy and Political Education (CAPE), and Transient Workers Count Too (TWC2), a migrant labour rights non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Singapore. CAPE, at which Haolie currently serves as its coordinator, was co-founded in 2017 by him and fellow students as a student organisation based at Yale-NUS College, until August 2023. CAPE has now grown into an independent and volunteer-run community group focused on raising political literacy and building civic capacity of Singaporeans. At TWC2, where he has served for nearly a decade, he has led and supported research advocacy projects on migrant worker protections and injustice.

While at Yale-NUS, Haolie was actively involved in student activities. He served in the Yale-NUS Student Government, and during his term, led the creation of the Student Government’s Senate and was its inaugural Speaker. He was also a founding member of Roosevelt Institute @Yale-NUS, a student-led public policy think tank, and Fossil Free Yale-NUS, a student group that was part of an inter-university, student-led campaign focused on encouraging universities to diversify from fossil fuels.

On receiving the Knight-Hennessy Scholarship, Haolie said, “I am thrilled by the Knight-Hennessy’s leadership mentoring and community. Hearing about the experiences of existing scholars in the Program and attending their Immersion Weekend reminded me poignantly of the same verve and diversity, civic ethos, and intellectual vibrance of my time at Yale-NUS. I look forward to reconnecting with and tapping upon this same energy!”

Haolie shared that Stanford FSI’s International Policy Program was appealing to him because of its practice-oriented focus, small cohort size and access to faculty, and their strengths in Asia-Pacific democracy studies. He hopes that through the Program, he can amplify and globalise his current work on labour rights, migration studies, and democratic development.

Elaborating on how his Yale-NUS experience has contributed to his growth, Haolie said, “Yale-NUS was one of my most formative experiences. Its liberal arts training, intellectual verve, incredible faculty catalysed my intellectual growth and my research interests. Most importantly, I benefitted from the imbrication of this intellectual energy with Yale-NUS’ civic space. Critical discussions often expanded beyond classrooms into dining halls and lawns and the wider campus community, evolving into energetic active citizenry and praxis.”

Professor Joanne Roberts, President of Yale-NUS College, said, “Haolie is intellectually curious and dedicated to serving the community. During his time at Yale-NUS, he contributed actively to the College community through his work in the Student Government and the various student groups he was involved in. At the same time, he has been steadfast in supporting migrant workers through his long-term volunteer work with TWC2. We are extremely proud of Haolie and are excited for him as he embarks on his new learning journey at Stanford. We look forward to seeing the positive impact that he will go on to make.”

Haolie is the second Yale-NUS alumnus, after Liam Rahman (Class of 2017) to receive the Knight-Hennessy scholarship. Across its alumni and graduating classes, the College also has three Rhodes, six Schwarzman, four Yenching and two Fulbright Scholars.

For media enquiries, please contact publicaffairs@yale-nus.edu.sg.