JoAnne (Joni) Bessler

JoAnne (Joni) Bessler is a global citizen. She has lived and worked in the US, Israel, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and most recently China, where she and her husband raised their three sons.She thrives on experiencing new cultures—the more “off the beaten path” the better.Joni speaks Spanish, Hebrew and Mandarin, albeit no longer fluently, in addition to her native English.

The majority of Joni’s 40-year professional career was spent as a Partner with Booz, Allen & Hamilton and at Strategy&. At Booz, Joni served clients globally in the Health, Financial Services and Consumer sectors focused on helping organizations grow, improving operating efficiency, and navigating complex cross industry/cross geography challenges. She consulted in both the public and private sectors. While at Booz, Joni also served, at the invitation of the CEO, as the Global Chief People Officer in a 3-year rotational role.

Post retirement from Booz, Joni shifted her focus to education as President, China for Avenues, the World School, Co-founder of Bookends in Shanghai, and Advisor to Y.K. Pao School in China.

After getting “stuck” in the US at the beginning of COVID, and unable to return home to China, Joni co-founded Full Steam Forward, an after-school STEAM enrichment program for 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade girls from under-resourced communities. Joni serves as Chairwoman and CEO of Full Steam Forward. Most recently, Joni was accepted into the highly competitive Distinguished Careers Institute Program at Stanford and will be returning in Fall 2025 for a year of study.

Joni holds a BSc in Engineering from Stanford University and an MBA from University of Chicago GSB (Booth). She sits on the Board of Birth Matters Foundation in Costa Alegre Mexico. Joni splits her time between NYC and La Manzanilla, Mexico.