Council Member
Elected by students.
Term expires 31 December 2024.
Susan Zhang is a high-energy businessperson and serial entrepreneur. Susan's career has taken her to Australia, China, and the United Kingdom. She effectively brings a combination of technical prowess and commercial acumen in her roles at Google, later for ByteDance (TikTok), Amazon and currently Canva.
In 2014, Susan joined Google Sydney and quickly advanced to the role of Business Development for Google Arts & Culture. Susan was promoted to Google UK as a lead creative technologist and made an international name for herself crafting innovative data-driven solutions and global award-winning campaigns utilising advanced AI technologies.
Susan resigned from Google in 2018 to join a startup company in China, ByteDance. She led the company’s international expansion and monetisation, contributing to its success.
Susan is an author, an inspirational speaker in international forums including TEDx, Vivid Sydney and the London Business School Asia Business Forum, and a mentor for young entrepreneurs. In 2019, the Australia China Alumni Association named Susan the Young Australia China Alumni of the Year, and in 2022, Susan received a Judges’ Commendation in the Australian Ambassador's Award for Women in Leadership.
Susan holds a dual B.A. in Computer Science from Zhengzhou University and the University of Wollongong, and a Master of Information and Communication Technology from UOW. While transitioning her career from Software Engineer to Corporate leadership roles, Susan completed her Executive MBA degree jointly offered by Columbia University, London Business School and the University of Hong Kong. Currently, she is pursuing a PhD in Information Technology at UOW with a focus on educational key opinion leaders at the intersection of e-learning technology and pedagogy transformation.
