As a bestselling audiobook narrator, Nina was invited to appear on China’s most prestigious online platform, Read Poems For You, whose distinguished guests have included the President of Ireland, the President of the United States, the Queen of Denmark, and the Chancellor of Germany.
She was also selected to lead the Pearson English Teaching Project at China’s Dolphin Publishing House and served as the official spokesperson for the national Pearson English Competition. As the youngest participant, she joined the “Read English for You” initiative, which garnered over a million followers across various platforms and helped propel Margaret Wise Brown’s poetry collection to the top of China’s bestseller charts.
In addition to winning multiple state-level speech contests and qualifying nationally for the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad (USNCO), Nina has coached hundreds of students in debate, speech, Spelling Bee preparation, and honors chemistry courses. She has also taught lessons to children battling cancer.
Later, Nina was invited to serve as an official audiobook narrator for more than a thousand bestselling American children’s books at China’s Tonglifang Bilingual Publishing House and became a certified commercial host on China’s largest audio platform, Ximalaya.
Princeton Prize in Race Relations and global presentation
Global presentation at the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations (HPAIR)
Recognized internationally for advocacy and leadership through featured speeches at the United Nations
Nina’s passion for philanthropy was ignited at the age of nine when she decided to donate instead of using the money to celebrate her birthday. Since 2020, she has dedicated her birthdays for six consecutive years to funding the care of “Pika Pika,” an orphaned elephant in Africa, and continues to donate to this day.
Since seventh grade, she has donated 12 inches of hair annually—on three separate occasions—to support children with alopecia and cancer, later expanding her impact through GLAD Academy by funding wigs designed for diverse Black hair types.
Nina has also donated her funds from being an official paid audiobook narrator in China to support medication during the COVID-19 pandemic and provided aid to children suffering from leukemia.
Nina served as first chair and Principal in YSDP, placed third in an International Music Competition, and became the youngest freshman at her high school to qualify for ILMEA.
She achieved first place in the entire state of Illinois in both the Broadway and Opera divisions. She uses her voice and performances to raise funds for multiple charitable projects.
Nina passed her Senior-level figure skating test for both moves and freestyle with Distinction.
As Captain of her high school’s Science Olympiad, Science Bowl teams, Academic Challenge competition team. Nina Zhan observed systemic barriers preventing underrepresented students from pursuing STEM. Determined to challenge these
Nina hosted Webinars with Co-founder Summer Sun, a student at Harvard University
Through Words4Wisdom Society, Nina founded an international E-magazine, “Imagine2Empower,” for both STEM and culture and delivers reading materials to underserved children—the first two issues reaching over 600 readers.
Additionally, she is a mentor for the Reading & Writing Corner Club.
Nina initiated the annual Fundraiser Debate Tournament to raise funds for Haitian children, and organized a COP28 fundraiser that incorporated cultural perspectives on climate change. She also organized a webinar with a USA Youth Senator on sustainability, engaging over 300 attendees, and her Zero Dropout From School initiative raised funds to support 150 underprivileged students in Yunnan, China.
Nina has been teaching for five years. She was selected as the 1st president of her Chinese school’s Tutoring Club. Her writing and art have also been published in various books and magazines.
Furthermore, she earned national recognition in the Chemistry Olympiad and ranked among the top three in state-level Chemistry tournaments. She has written a computational organic chemistry research paper on a novel breast cancer drug, which led her to begin teaching an Honors Chemistry class.
Nina’s has earned her four consecutive Presidential Volunteer Service Gold Awards, stems from her core belief: equity is not just about opening doors but ensuring that people feel empowered to walk through them. Through her four international nonprofits, scientific research, and advocacy, she continues to push boundaries and uplift a world worth protecting.
