Social scientist Noelle Borao
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About Noelle BoraoI'm a social scientist whose focal research is innovation and strategic information theft, subsumed under the broader area of US-China affairs. I'm a product of Vietnam—a former French colony, of an escape by boat and the US welfare system, of the discipline of martial arts and the emotional stillness of the Buddhist temple, of the fire of Latin dancing and the ingenuity of the American spirit. While many immigrants to this country rejoice in pointing out its imperfections, I am grateful to have flourished off the backs of many hardworking American families. In turn, as a first-generation American, I consider myself a meaningful contributor to the West. In my career I have launched and operated several companies in the consumer space as president and CEO, developing knowledge of both the operating and global business environments, especially in China. I have advised senior executives in business, academia, and government alike, and while those experiences have inspired, there is cause for alarm as it relates to aligning the pursuit of economic growth and preserving the nation's character. I believe my life and professional experiences as a practitioner-scholar converge in this unique moment in history to enable my delivery of authoritative and deep insight on US-China matters of consequence to commerce, government and academia alike. To this end, I hope my research activities will help shape both business and governance. I am focused not on success, but significance, and believe my most important work lies ahead. As I have neither the appetite for self-promotion nor social media noise (and much prefer the promotion of ideas), I created this website to disseminate, learn, and connect to those who have the gumption to believe that their sober thought leadership can help shape the world. Dr. Borao offers a rare convergence of executive leadership, national security training, and rigorous scholarly research in U.S.–China affairs. Her assessments draw directly from founding and operating ventures during China’s transformative post-WTO integration period, giving her rare visibility into the ground-level friction between commercial enterprise and geopolitics. Complementing this operational baseline is a rigorous academic foundation: a PhD from the University of Denver, an MBA from Pepperdine University, and specialized graduate credentials from Harvard University’s international security programs for senior executives. Recognized with induction into Beta Gamma Sigma, Dr. Borao brings an authoritative lens to the complexities of the commerce-security nexus. She developed and defined the concept of Strategic Information Appropriation (SIA): the acquisition, without authorization, of information an organization holds and can keep others from using, whatever the medium, whether by cyber intrusion, covert collection, exfiltration, counterfeiting, or infringement. |
