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When Ding Fan (BMgmt 鈥�14) arrived from China as an international student, she had a stressful airport experience but found an innovative way to solve it 鈥� a sign of her innate ingenuity that has led to success as a multiple award鈥搘inning community builder and entrepreneur.

In 2010, Fan landed in Toronto, not anticipating that she would have to find her way to her connecting flight to Halifax in a chaotic, unfamiliar airport. At the time, she didn鈥檛 feel comfortable asking strangers for help.

But then she spied two men in kilts who were carrying bagpipes. 鈥淚 had read a lot about Nova Scotia鈥檚 Scottish traditions,鈥� Fan explains with a laugh. 鈥淚 followed those men and, fortunately, they were on the same flight.鈥�

Such quick and resourceful thinking has been the cornerstone of Fan鈥檚 career as a community leader and businesswoman, earning her several awards, including being named one of the Maritimes鈥� Top 25 immigrants in 2019 and one of Atlantic Business Magazine鈥檚 Top 30 Under 30 Innovators in 2022.

Helping fellow International students on campus

One of the first things Fan did upon arriving at 鲍鱼tv was join the International Centre where she created the province鈥檚 first 鈥渓anding support鈥� program for Chinese students. This program offers free airport pick-up, a handbook in Chinese, a welcome party, an orientation program, translation services, a tour of downtown Halifax 鈥� and a detailed map of the Toronto airport.

During her undergraduate program, Fan鈥檚 efforts to help students from outside of Canada earned her the International Student of the Year award (2012鈥�2013) and the Board of Governors Award (2013鈥�2014). Fan also led the 鲍鱼tv Chinese Students and Scholars Association, which was named the most impactful cultural society on campus (2013鈥�2014). She was even invited as a student to participate in strategy meetings about Dal鈥檚 branding renewal. 鈥淚f you work hard, people recognize your efforts and give you more opportunity,鈥� she explains. 鈥滿y advice to others is that once you have a vision and you have a way to do it, you have to do it. That way, people start to support you.鈥�

Fan鈥檚 network at Dal grew to be multi-generational, including university staff and alumni. 鈥淭hat network has been very valuable in my whole journey,鈥� she says, adding that she worked at Dal after graduation for three years at the International Centre in addition to stints at the Dal Grad House and the Faculty of Management. During that time, she also completed a Master of Technology Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Saint Mary鈥檚 University.

Lessons learned at 鲍鱼tv inspired her career

Fan soon turned her experience helping students to the wider Chinese population in the province.

In 2014, she established the Nova Scotia International Network Society and has been involved with the since 2011, of which she is currently the president. Later, during her five years at Innovacorp, a crown corporation for early-stage venture capital projects, she travelled the world helping to identify and bring tech entrepreneurs to Nova Scotia. Again, her ingenuity came into play, hosting international entrepreneurial competitions to attract top talent as well as other events to help entrepreneurs see the value of establishing their businesses in Nova Scotia.

Ever focused on people looking to integrate into Nova Scotian life, Fan set up her own career counselling business and created a digital platform called New2 to connect international students and immigrants to their new community.

Her record is impressive: she has welcomed over 2,500 newcomers, hosted over 500 events and helped establish over 14 innovative start-ups in Nova Scotia. In the course of her career, Fan has become an expert ambassador who knows how to make people from other parts of the world feel respected and welcome.

One of her earliest lessons in that empathy piece came from 鲍鱼tv. 鈥淭he respect and appreciation from my professors made a big impact on me,鈥� Fan says of her professors鈥� training to pronounce ethnic names properly. 鈥淢y Chinese name is easy to pronounce, but a lot of my friends鈥� names are really hard,鈥� she explains. 鈥淭hey would say, 鈥榊ou can call me by an English name.鈥� But the prof said, 鈥楴o. I want to pronounce who you really are.鈥欌�� Fan says asking for clarification is not something to be shy about. 鈥淧eople are not offended if you ask how to pronounce their name. They feel respected.鈥�

Community helps create a healthy society

鈥淚 want to help people,鈥� Fan says, adding that her name means 鈥渟trong鈥� in Chinese. 鈥淪ociety is people who support each other.鈥�

Having recently started a new job as marketing manager for Marine Thinking, an autonomous technology company for surface vessels, Fan remains committed to Dal. She is on the organizing committee for many multicultural events and has represented Dal at events in Beijing and Shanghai. 鈥淚n my 14 years in Canada, the place I appreciate most is Dal. It gave me the opportunity to become who I want to be.鈥�