Tiffany Kwan, first TT national to get Schwarzman Scholars fellowship

Tiffany Kwan is the first person from TT to be awarded one of the world’s most prestigious graduate fellowships, Schwarzman Scholars.

Kwan, 22, told WMN she applied for the fellowship in September, and while she did not expect to be selected, she decided to ‘shoot her shot.’

She said she was shocked and delighted when she got the call that she was selected.

“I just remember screaming for joy. I don't even think I was coherent. I was just screaming on the phone, ‘Thank you so much!’

“It’s an honour to be the first person from TT to receive the fellowship but I don't want to be the only one. I encourage more Trinidadians apply for this scholarship. I hope they take advantage of this opportunity because it's open to everyone, no matter their background. And it's a great opportunity to learn from a different country and see what we can bring back to Trinidad to help improve the country.”

Schwarzman Scholars is a one-year, fully-funded master’s degree programme in global affairs at Schwarzman College, Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. And Kwan was one of 150 youths elected from 4,200 applicants for the 9th cohort, starting in 2024.

According to the Schwarzman Scholars website, the programme was designed to prepare the next generation of global leaders, so it looked for candidates with leadership qualities and the potential to foster cross-cultural understanding.

“Scholars come from a wide variety of industries and backgrounds, such as business, technology, politics, healthcare, and more. Schwarzman Scholars’ dynamic curriculum – based on the pillars of China, leadership, and global affairs – is designed to provide scholars with the knowledge, skills, and firsthand experience needed to navigate the complexities of the evolving global landscape.”

Kwan is in the first semester of her last year at York University’s Schulich School of Business, Toronto, Canada where she is pursuing a bachelor's in international business. She will be heading to China at the end of August 2024, after she has completed her degree.

She said she applied for the fellowship because she believes learning from so many different experienced people and gaining experience herself will give her the foundation that will help in her future career.

“I applied because China's so critical to global supply chain and trade, it's the epicentre of everything that goes on in the world. I thought it was really important for me to learn from China, especially since I'm in international business.”

Her reason to go to China was also personal, as both her parents were born in China and moved to TT with their parents when they were young. She never had been to China and was very excited to go for the first time, and to be immersed in China’s culture and language.

She said she understands Cantonese and is trying to learn Mandarin so the stay is an an opportunity to improve her Chinese, which would make it easier to communicate with her grandmothers. It would also give her the chance to meet her paternal grandfather in person, as he lives in Hong Kong and often travelled.

The decision to study business was easy for Kwan as she grew up in the environment. She said her family is one of entrepreneurs and she gets her mindset from them. As a result she really values entrepreneurship and wants to help build up entrepreneurs.

She said as youths, her parents were “extremely poor” and business was the way they were able to survive. She always admired how hard her parents worked and wanted to learn more about business on a global level as everything is so connected.

“They came to Trinidad for an opportunity to get out of poverty and to start their lives. Trinidad was where they were able to make a living and my parents had to sacrifice a lot to provide for me and my sister, giving us the opportunity to go to school and become who we are today.

“Another reason why I chose business is because when we start businesses, we create jobs. By creating jobs, we are able to help people make a living for themselves and their families. Seeing my family being able to help their employees provide for their family is just one thing that really inspired me when I was a kid and that's still what keeps me going till this day.”

Kwan graduated from Bishop Anstey High School East at age 16. She moved to Toronto to live with her aunt and complete two years of high school in Canada to get course credits to enter university. But she returned to TT every Christmas to spend time with her family in Trincity.

She is still figuring out her career path but she eventually wants to start her own business. After graduating from Tsinghua University, she plans to work in consulting or with a start-up company to learn about various business operations.

Earlier this year, she co-founded CarbonReport, a school project that evolved into a business after it won first place in the Lassonde School of Engineering’s BEST Startup Experience 2023. It is a software solution to help heavy industry businesses measure and reduce their carbon footprint while saving money and enhancing sustainable practices.

Kwan is also interested in food technology.

She said her first few jobs were at restaurants and the amount of food she saw wasted “traumatised” her, knowing so many people could not afford food.

“I knew that was a problem so I started learning more about different ways we can manage it. That's where I started learning more about agricultural and food technologies.

“And the reason why I wanted to go to China, again, was because China is actually the country that has invested the most in agricultural technologies, and also has invested the most in climate change initiatives.

“Because they are the pioneers of it, I wanted to go there and learn more about it, and then bring that knowledge back to Trinidad and start contributing and making a great social impact for the country.”

She said her ultimate goal was to return to TT for several reasons. The first was because her family lives here and she wants to be able to spend time with her parents as they get older. She also wants to contribute to her country on a wider level.

“While there are many great things about TT, there are also many things that can be improved. To me, contributing to my country’s development will make me more fulfilled than just going to another country and working in a corporate job, sitting in a cubicle. That doesn't sound very exciting to me.”

She said she is aware the country’s high crime rate has made some people abandon TT, but although her family’s businesses have been affected, it will not deter her from returning. She believes crime is high because the country’s economy is bad and people need to survive.

“The only way for things to get better is if we have better opportunities for people to make money instead of having to go through crime to do that. So that's also one of the reasons why I do want to eventually come back and see where I can help. There are so many different ways Trinidad can improve and I want to see the country do its best.”