Renée Boey loves to teach and she loves to learn. She caught the teaching bug as a college student when she taught at a Boston public high school for the Harvard Project for International Education and served as the Director of the Phillips Brooks House Citizenship Program that offered naturalization assistance to immigrants. These experiences made her see the life-changing impact education can make within and beyond the classroom. Education has long since become a profession and a passion for her. Renée’s teaching approach has been shaped by her exposure to a variety of school systems and cultures. She enjoyed her experiences at both local and international schools growing up in Hong Kong and completed her high school education at St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H. The deeply formative years at St. Paul’s gave Renée the liberty to nurture her interest in many subjects and extracurricular activities as well as the opportunity to learn from a diverse community of peers and teachers. The school’s emphasis on the arts and humanities as well as service instilled in Renée a vital appreciation for creativity, thinking from multiple perspectives along with a desire to lead a meaningful life. These values underpin the mission of Baker & Bloom. After graduating from Harvard College as an English major with a language citation in Japanese, Renée obtained an M. Phil in Renaissance Literature at Cambridge University. She returned to Hong Kong, completed a teaching internship at St. Paul’s Co-Educational College and received her Postgraduate Diploma in Education at the University of Hong Kong. Since then, she has coupled her passion for literature and education as a creative writing teacher, an educational consultant for schools such as St. Stephen’s College, a board member of the HKMA David Li Kwok Po College, and most rewardingly, as an IB English and Humanities teacher at The ISF Academy. She stays connected to her US boarding school, St. Paul's School as a main form agent and also serves as a Board Director of the Harvard Club of Hong Kong. As a teacher, she has seen how the pressure of tests too often stifles the imagination and how the stress of college admissions saps the pleasure of learning. To address these concerns, Renée and her team have done extensive research, designed original curricula, and pursued professional development to prepare young people to face these challenges with positivity, integrity, and creative confidence. Renée is excited to be harnessing her experience, skills, and passion to launch Baker & Bloom. It is her fervent hope that Baker and Bloom will offer young people an ideal environment to grow and a community of inspiration and innovation.