Tianyi “Joe” Zhu

Partner
Nanjing Wande Group, and Managing Partner of Playground Capital

Tianyi “Joe” Zhu is an international entrepreneur and investor. He is a Partner in the Nanjing Wande Group, and the Managing Partner of Playground Capital, its North American subsidiary. Wande is China's largest parks and playground manufacturer with distribution to over 80 countries and equipment in over 300,000 playgrounds in China alone. Joe oversees the North-American operations and is responsible for oversight of international investments, acquisitions, and joint venture partnerships.

He was recently recognized by the NAAPPPA (National Association of Asian Pacific’s in Politics and Public Affairs) for the 2020 List of the Top 40 Asian Pacific Americans Under 40 in Politics & Public Affairs. He serves as the National Co-Chair of Leaders Forum, a bi-partisan Asian American network of business executives and influential thought leaders launched in the White House in 2014. He is also one of fifteen business leaders selected from across the United States to serve on the Millennial Debt Commission in DC. In Chicago, he also serves on the board of the Chinese Mutual Aid Association, recently granted $3 million dollars by the State of Illinois to build the first of its kind, Pan-Asian Center.

Joe in his personal life is also a professional boxer, who competed in the 2008 Chinese Olympic Trials, and was a former World Amateur Thai Boxing Champion.