Emily Chang
2023 CBWB Speaker

Emily is a global commercial leader with 24 years of experience spanning FMCG, QSR, Tech, Retail, Hospitality, and Creative industries. An acknowledged thought leader in Digital Customer Experience, Business Strategy, Change Management, and Workplace Culture, Emily holds an exceptional track record of accelerating global brands. She is a bicultural leader with proven success bridging China and U.S. cultures and was recently named one of China’s 2022 Women to Watch.

She just joined Wunderman Thompson this April, coming from a previous role as CEO of McCann Worldgroup in China where Emily looked after 450 team members across four agencies located in three offices. In the last three years, she restructured the leadership team and developed new strategic and digital capabilities to grow revenue +40% within the first 18 months and deliver record high margins. During this period, her focus on creating a sense of belonging also dramatically improved employee satisfaction while reducing turnover by over 10%.

Prior to McCann, Emily was CMO of Starbucks China, where she oversaw all commercial functions including Digital Flywheel, Loyalty, Sales & Partnerships, Category Management, and Studio. She led the commercial teams that brought the Shanghai Roastery, digital “Say it with Starbucks” gifting experience, and Delivery program to life.

Prior to Starbucks, Emily served as Chief Commercial Officer for InterContinental Hotels Group, Greater China where she led a transformation across her 5,200-person team to turn around market share, and improve guest, owner, and employee satisfaction. As the first executive in China for Apple Retail, she oversaw the APAC region, expanded the flagship footprint, and developed the Apple Asia operating model. Emily began her career at P&G, where she worked across all three business units, from upstream innovation, down to retail marketing at Walmart.

Emily teaches a masters course in Finance at NYU, is a member of the board of directors for SOS Children’s Villages, and recently published a best-selling book called “The Spare Room.” She has delivered five TEDx talks and has spoken at other industry-leading events like Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit.

Emily holds an MBA from Simon School of Business and a BA from University of Rochester. She splits time between Los Angeles and Shanghai, enjoying life with her husband of 23 years, 14-year-old daughter, and two rescue dogs, Holly Berry and Waymond Jasper.