Yi Wei, Percussion

Meet Yi

Yi Wei appeared most recently on Show 142, recorded in April 2006. Before that, she appeared on Show 109, recorded in November 2004, at age 16. Yi returns to From the Top in 2020 as part of “Where Are They Now HL-30”.

Yi Wei is dedicated to making the world a better place by bringing together big ideas, stellar people, and a commitment to opportunity for all. Her vision of perfect is a day in which the term “social business” is redundant. With expertise in social entrepreneurship, impact investing, and partnership development, Yi currently serves as the VP of Impact Capital at IFF, a mission-driven lender, real estate consultant, and developer serving low-income communities across the Midwest. Prior to IFF, Yi served as the Global Director of Water and Sanitation at iDE, where she spent nine years in Asia and Africa, growing a start-up initiative into the largest market-based rural sanitation program globally.

As a first-generation immigrant, Yi is the first in her family to graduate college. She has a BA in Social Studies from Harvard and is a Civic Scholar at UChicago Booth, where she is studying for her MBA on a full-tuition scholarship. She is a proud Chicagoan, having grown up in Chinatown and attended St. Therese Chinese Catholic School and St. Ignatius College Prep, graduating as valedictorian. Prior to her career in social entrepreneurship, Yi was an aspiring professional musician, having shared the stage with the likes of Yo-Yo Ma, Béla Fleck, as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and as a street musician with her grandfather throughout Chicago. Yi serves on the HFS Chicago Scholars, an organization dedicated to helping bring students achieve their dreams despite their economic status. In her spare time, she is loves running, cycling, and spending time with her partner, Andy, and her bernedoodle, Allan.

Show 142 bio:

Yi Wei (marimba) is a 17 year-old senior at St. Ignatius College Prep from Chicago, IL.  Born into a family of musicians, Yi loves to play all types of music including Latin, jazz, rock and pop.  Other commitments that fill her time are journalism, Model UN and volunteering.

Yi is a Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist.
Scholarship Year: 2006