Team Appleseed

 

Core Team

Appleseed’s international team of researchers, strategists, and communicators just love to figure out what makes people tick. Like detectives and anthropologists, we observe, listen, and ask questions to uncover insights hidden in plain sight. Then we help clients design a “path of least resistance” to drive adoption.

 
 


PHILIP KAO, CO-FOUNDER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Philip is fascinated with how we humans behave, due to our often wrong but generally useful psychology. He thinks a great majority of problems can be boiled down to miscommunications—which can be resolved. At Appleseed, Philip leads projects and the organization.

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  • Echoing Green Global Fellow, SOCAP Scholar, Miller Center GSBI Alum, OC Fellow
  • Speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
  • BS Electrical Engineering at UCLA
  • ex-Accenture, ex-SGA
  • Read more about Philip in our story.
 
 
 

RUTH CHIANG, MD FAAP, CO-FOUNDER

Ruth is a pediatrician who believes every unique child deserves individual care and attention, so that they may reach their full potential. She believes the same about every unique community and every unique social enterprise supporting those communities. At Appleseed, Ruth provides health expertise and works on organizational strategy and culture.

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  • Speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
  • BS Psychobiology at UCLA; MD at University of Arizona College of Medicine; Pediatric Residency at UCI-CHOC
  • ex-The Children’s Clinic; Kaiser Permanente
  • WEL Scholar 2021
  • Read more about Ruth in our story.
 
 
 

BAPTISTE TEYSSIER, BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT COORDINATOR

Baptiste is convinced the world would be a far better place if we’d listen to each other. Because solving complex behavioral challenges requires true listening—to clients and their customers—he has the chance, every day, to bring about that better world. Baptiste is a researcher and strategist at Appleseed.

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  • Speaks French, English, Spanish
  • BA Philosophy at Haverford College
  • ex-Semilla Nueva
 
 
 

Lily Wang-Falzon, Ethnographer & User Researcher

Lily believes that the best solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges are driven by empathy. A qualitative researcher at heart, she excels at developing deep understandings of culture. She is a researcher at Appleseed.

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  • Speaks English, Mandarin Chinese
  • BA Sociology at the University of Notre Dame, MA China Studies at Peking University
  • Yenching Scholar
 
 
 

Mary Fu, Operations coordinator

Mary has a long-standing interest in sustainable development and has worked at both the local level and at a think-tank to affect change. At Appleseed, she ensures that systems are running smoothly, collaboration is seamless, and details are not missed. 

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  • Speaks English, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish
  • BA International Development at UCLA, MA Policy Analysis
  • ex-RAND Corporation