Li Zou

Ms. Li Zou is Co-Director at the Next Age Institute, a McDonnell Academy partnership in applied scholarship between Washington University in St. Louis and the National University of Singapore to study, design, and test social innovations.

Ms. Zou focuses on asset-building and child development accounts as a strategy for development of individuals, families, and communities. She has consulted for governments in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, Singapore, and Azerbaijan.

Ms. Zou has co-edited three books: “Inclusive Child Development Accounts: Toward Universality and Progressivity” (Routledge, 2020 in English), “Asset Building: Strategies and Policies in Asia” (Peking University Press, 2014, in Chinese), and “Asset-Building Policies and Innovations in Asia” (Routledge, 2014, in English).

Ms. Zou holds a Masters degree in Social Work and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to her current appointment, she worked for CGAP, housed at the World Bank, on advancing financial access for the poor in China.