Meet the Mandy And Pandy Team!
Chris Chiaru Lin — Creator
Chris is an American Born Chinese. He was born in 1969 in Detroit, Michigan USA. His middle name, Chiaru, means scholar from Chiayi (a city in central Taiwan).
Chris went to Chinese School as a child. He took Chinese seriously during college at the University of Michigan and started a class for learning Business Chinese at Ross School of Business. Chris studied Chinese in Taiwan and practiced Chinese in China.
Ingrid Villalta — Illustrator
Ingrid was born in San José, Costa Rica in 1974. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with a major in Graphic Arts at the University of Costa Rica. Ingrid is Fluent in English & Spanish.
Ingrid authored and illustrated children’s books. She has also enjoyed painting murals for children’s spaces in the states of Tennessee & California (http://www.wallsforfun.com)
Ingrid was a Senior Graphic Designer for Avon of Costa Rica from. She pursued a second degree in 3D Character Animation at the Academy of Art University, San Francisco, CA and worked in product Illustration & packaging design for Bath Accessories Company, Inc., Hayward, CA.
Inge Bynens — VP of Sales & Marketing
Inge was born in Belgium, Europe. She is fluent in multiple languages as French, Dutch, Flemish, German, English, basic Spanish and Arabic.
She is an International business specialist with a decade of experience. Her educational background is International Business & Marketing & Languages and Child Psychology with ‘High Honors’.
Song Song – Co-author
Song was born in Shanghai, China and now lives in Michigan. She is a native speaker of both Mandarin and the Shanghai dialect. She has studied English since she was 10 years old.
In addition to writing, Song teaches both adult and children’s Chinese language classes. Song has a bachelor’s degree from Donghua University in Shanghai and is currently in post-baccalaureate studies at Eastern Michigan University’s Teaching Program.
