Next Step Connections- Our Team
Next Step Connections is led by an energetic team of dedicated professionals who all share the same work ethics. In total, they have accumulated more than 40 years of work experience in China.
Founders
Jerome Le Carrou
A native of France, Jerome completed a combined major in political sciences and journalism at Utah State University. Based in Shanghai since 2005, Jerome has worked as an assistant editor for Shanghai Talk magazine and has helped creating the "Foreign Culture Club". Jerome founded Next Step Connections in October 2007. He brings an extensive professional network to NSC, as well as a wide-ranging portfolio of skills. He is fluent in French, English and Mandarin.
Leonard Hayashi
Born in Los Angeles, of Japanese and Chinese descent, Len graduated from the University of California, San Diego. Len has lived in Shanghai since 1997 and joined NSC in April 2008 as a partner. Len brings a wealth of operational and managerial experience to our fast-growing organization. He oversees all day-to-day operations, and directs our workforce. He is fluent in Mandarin, Japanese and English.
François Liot
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A Native of Paris, France, Mr. Liot holds a Master’s degree in biomedical science in pharmacology from ESCP-EAP European School of Management. Francois Liot worked at Merck Serono France as a Junior Product Manager from March 2004 to May 2005. He joined Shanghai Ethypharm in July 2005 as the Asia/Pacific Business Development Manager. Mr. Liot joined NSC as a partner at the end of 2007.
Hong Kong Program director
Alfonso Ballesteros Martinez
A native of Mallorca, Spain, Alfonso holds a BA in economics from the University of Stirling, Scotland and a Master of International Business from the Instituto Español de Comercio Exterior (ICEX) in Madrid, Spain. Alfonso was working in Hong Kong as a trade officer for the Spanish consulate since 2005 before joining NSC. He is fluent in English, Spanish, German, and French.
"I have been bragging about the Next Step Connections Team since I've made it back home. I keep telling everyone I talk to that we had terrific hosts in Shanghai and that's why I got to see the sites I saw". S.Richardson, Business analyst, Pepsico Inc, Plano, TX, USA August 2008
