Sunny Chen brings nearly 20 years of experience in financial services, having served as the Finance COO for Nomura’s Asia excluding Japan region. She is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Her career has taken her across continents, but her deepest passion has always been education.

Sunny was born in a small village in southern China, where opportunities were limited. After immigrating to the United States, she embraced learning as a way to change the course of her life. She earned a full-tuition Posse scholarship to Wheaton College, studied economics, and spent a transformative year abroad in the UK and Japan. That experience opened the door to her first job in Tokyo and sparked a lifelong interest in global learning.

Today, Sunny is pursuing an Executive MBA at Cambridge Judge Business School, continuing her commitment to personal growth and lifelong learning. After nearly two decades in finance, she felt a growing desire to create impact beyond the corporate world. That calling led her to co-found Iliani Education Group.

As a mother of two boys, Sunny understands the hopes and concerns parents carry when it comes to their children’s future. She also knows firsthand the pressures students face in today’s competitive world. Through Iliani, she brings together her global experience, leadership background, and personal journey to help young people grow into confident, thoughtful, and empathetic individuals. She believes that when self-motivation, passion, and hard work are met with the right support, students can unlock new possibilities for themselves and for the world around them.