Spring Connection Series: Lunar New Year Dinner in Northern Virginia

Pei Cheng is the Senior Director of Influencer Relations at Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, the nation’s largest youth mentoring organization. She leads talent engagement across sports and entertainment to advance the mission of youth empowerment.

Through collaborations with celebrities, pro athletes, leading corporate executives, and cultural changemakers, Pei combines her love of pop culture with purpose— creating awareness and impact by building communities of influential voices to inspire action. She drives talent strategy and activation across national media, digital content, speaking engagements, events, campaigns, and youth experiences in collaboration with brands such as the NFL, NBC Universal, and other leading corporate partners, to create reach and relevance.

Prior to BBBSA, Pei worked at the National 4-H Council, helping to revitalize the 100+ year old brand through PR and talent collaborations. She began her career in media, communications, and television production, including as a talent producer at Time Inc., where she booked celebrity and pro-athlete talent for Sports Illustrated and People, as well as other Time Inc properties.

Pei is based in Rockville, Maryland and enjoys traveling, discovering new restaurants, cooking, eating, and binge-watching shows. She is dedicated to mentoring the next generation, paying forward the kindness, encouragement and guidance from the many supporters who have shaped her own journey.

Ryan Chou is a medical AI researcher and medtech founder based primarily in the D.C. area who builds multidisciplinary solutions at the intersection of engineering, medicine, and policy. He graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2025 with a B.S. and M.S.E. in Biomedical Engineering, a focus on Biomedical Data Science, and a minor in Applied Mathematics and Statistics alongside pre-medical coursework.

At Johns Hopkins, Ryan served as the 111th SGA Student Body President and earlier as Class President. He co-led an award-winning biomedical engineering design team, co-founded and served as the Inaugural Chair of the Maryland Student Legislature Science and Technology Caucus, served as Co-President of the Medical Ethics Discussion Panel, and engaged extensively in medical AI research.