WASHINGTON, DC, US — The US Grains Council (USGC) has made three additions to its global staff, one for its ethanol team at the USGC headquarters in Washington, DC, and a pair based at its Beijing, China, office.

Linda Schmid joined the USGC as the new manager of ethanol policy and sustainability. She will assist the director of global ethanol market development, the global ethanol team and global offices in the development and implementation of an effective multilateral strategy for US corn-based ethanol opportunities. She will plan, coordinate and implement ethanol activities around the globe, while mapping relationships for engagement efforts.

Schmid has held positions at the World Bank, USAID and most recently was a consultant working on international trade and industry analysis for a variety of global customers. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland.

Ellie Yan is the new program manager in the USGC’s China office. Yan will lead the planning, implementation and evaluation of the Council’s programs in the country.

Yan worked in numerous organizations prior to joining the USGC, including media, the Netherlands Agri-Food & Technology Centre and Tsinghua University. For nine years, Yan served as a project officer in a government institution, supporting international communication and cooperation in Chinese language and culture.

Yan holds a bachelor’s degree in languages from Jinan University in Shandong Province, China.

Also in the China office, Xiaoming Wang serves as the new marketing specialist, focusing on coarse grains and co-product promotion. In this role, Wang will assist the country director in developing market strategy and implementing the USGC’s market development programs in China.

Wang previously was a consultant at Tractus Asia, serving multiple US states in promoting trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) in China. His latest assignment was as chief representative of the Iowa Economic Development Authority, facilitating trade and FDI in the East Asia and South Asia markets. Before Tractus Asia, Wang managed production in the industrial packaging sector at Deufol China and Seaworthy Packaging Solutions.