--- title: "Alumni News |  From Silicon Valley to sustainable bread: Alumni Megan Wang's recipe for impact" description: ISB's Alumni Achievement Award celebrates former students’ achievements and service and helps inspire current students with purpose and compassion. image: https://blog.isb.cn/hubfs/Weixin%20Image_20261009145828_17_37.jpg --- MENU [![isb-logo-new-1](https://blog.isb.cn/hubfs/Imported%20images/isb-logo-new-1.png)](https://www.isb.cn/) - [Quicklinks](https://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/quicklinks) - [Calendar](https://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/news-medianews/calendar) - [Dragons' Gate](https://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/dg) - [Dragons' Exchange](https://dx.isb.bj.edu.cn/) - [PowerSchool](https://sis.isb.bj.edu.cn/public/home.html) - [Vidigami](https://www.vidigami.com/) - [Login Troubleshooting](https://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/quicklinks/login-troubleshooting) - [ASA Registration (SchoolsBuddy)](https://isbdragons.schoolsbuddy.net/) - Search [![International School of Beijing](https://blog.isb.cn/hubfs/logo-small.svg)](https://www.isb.bj.edu.cn/) - 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It is about people, purpose, and the choices we make to create a more sustainable future for our communities and the world around us. Based on ISB’s [Strategic Focus Areas](https://www.isb.cn/about/strategic-plan), the school encourages students to discover and pursue their passions, connect learning with real-world experiences, and use their talents to create positive social impact. This spirit is beautifully embodied by Megan Wang (ISB Class of 2008), a member of ISB’s Alumni Advisory Council. Her nonlinear career has taken her from music and Silicon Valley to opening a sustainability-focused bakery in Brooklyn. Through Boots Bread, Megan explores the connections among food, farming, community, and climate – from how grain is grown and milled to how a business treats its people and supports its neighborhood. Her story offers a compelling example of how following one’s curiosity can lead to meaningful purpose, and how an ISB education can continue to shape the way alumni approach the challenges and opportunities of the world around them. Read our interview with Megan below. Your path has taken you from ISB to earning a music degree to a corporate career in Silicon Valley to now running a bakery in Brooklyn. What happened along the way? Talk about building a nonlinear career! What happened is fairly simple: I followed my curiosities. During my time at ISB, inspired by teachers like Mr. Beckstead and Mr. Raatz, I decided to continue my pursuit of music when I went off to college. At the time, it was so integral to my identity and while I was unsure of whether I had the skill to perform professionally, I wanted to at least continue exploring the history of jazz and funk. During college, I landed an internship at a social media marketing company over the summer. Everyone was using Twitter all of a sudden, and I felt the energetic pull towards Silicon Valley. Tech was exciting, new, and was being built for the purposes of democratizing access – be it to information, transportation, food delivery, etc. At the time, I remained unaware of the larger issues of over-privatization and “growth at all costs,” but I was in my early 20s and I was living the classic startup dream. As part of the company’s growth, I was asked to relocate to Shanghai to build cross-border supply chains which grew to generate over 70 million RMB in revenue within two years. I learned the hard lessons of people management, cross-cultural communication, and the risk of scaling a business too fast. I then went on to become the CEO of theBoardlist, a mission-driven organization focused on diversifying boardrooms, from publicly traded Fortune 500s to VC-backed private companies. I was deeply aligned with the values: every Series B board and above should have at least one woman or person of color, and we would change the culture of work. But after a few years, DEI became a polarizing political buzzword and many people seemed to forget the intention, purpose, and importance of diversity. I helped lead theBoardlist through a merger in 2023, after which I decided I would finally pursue a deep interest of mine: baking. I applied to bakery jobs across New York City and ended up learning production at places like Saraghina Bakery and Librae. During that time, I also cooked for Climate Farm School, an experiential learning program that brought adult professionals onto farms to learn about regenerative agriculture. Participants would come back from a day in the field and share what they'd learned about soil health and farming. It became clear that I needed to connect my baking to the source: how the grain is grown, how far it travels, and how it's milled. The kind of bakery I wanted to work in was hard to find, so I realized I had to build it. ![Weixin Image\_20261009145833\_19\_37](https://blog.isb.cn/hs-fs/hubfs/Niuniu/Weixin%20Image_20261009145833_19_37.jpg?width=750&height=1125&name=Weixin%20Image_20261009145833_19_37.jpg) ISB's sustainability roadmap centers on "planet." What does a loaf of bread have to do with climate?  More than most people think. Most flour comes from a commodity system built for yield, efficiency, and shelf life. That means monoculture, long supply chains, and milling that strips out much of the grain's nutrition and flavor. Not only that, but “cheap” food is actually expensive – those costs are simply externalized on our health and the climate. My co-founder and I are building Boots Bread on the premise that we’ll bake with regionally grown grains, locally and freshly milled, using mostly whole grains. When a bakery commits to buying this way, farmers have a reason to grow regeneratively – intentionally managing the health of the soil, its impact on climate and the community it supports. Every loaf is a small vote for a different kind of agriculture. We aspire to be a small yet important part of a re-regionalized system – one that is the antithesis of the current monopoly that exists in our global staple crops supply chain. If you’re interested in learning more, click [here](https://www.climatefarmschool.org/news-blog/know-your-grains) for a post Megan wrote for [Climate Farm School](https://www.climatefarmschool.org/news-blog/know-your-grains). Sustainability at ISB also includes "people." How does that show up at Boots Bread? First, the service industry is notoriously underpaid, filled with toxic personalities, and does not offer a pathway to ownership or wealth-building opportunities. Yet, these businesses are the frontlines of our essential workforce – which we saw firsthand during Covid. We believe that people that work in kitchens deserve a living wage, a pathway to upward mobility, and to be treated with dignity and respect. There is nothing sustainable about having a workforce that is trying to survive paycheck to paycheck. Second, a small business like a bakery is critical infrastructure to a neighborhood and is a reflection of the community that has helped to build it – as seen in the case of the many backers that helped fund our Kickstarter, including ISB alumni in New York, and those who plan to integrate us into their regular grocery runs. Centering connection, as simple as it sounds, is actually the pathway to rebuilding our food system – knowing your farmer, baker, or butcher and how your food is grown or where it is coming from. I think in a world that feels busier and busier, we might often think that convenience is more important, but what we end up losing in opting for the fastest option is an opportunity to connect with each other. Does your Chinese heritage show up in the work? More every year. My dad's family is from Jiading, a farming area outside Shanghai. For most of human history, local, seasonal, whole-grain food wasn't a movement. It was just how people ate. Lately, I've been fascinated by the history of millet and wheat in China, and how each crop followed the landscape where it thrived, and deeply shaped Northern and Southern culinary traditions. I'm not sure yet how that will show up in my baking, it's a curiosity I plan to keep following. What would you tell ISB students who care about sustainability? Go spend time outside in nature. Reconnect with the earth and the people who are currently stewarding it. Talk to a farmer, or find an incredibly inspiring ecosystem restoration project – I’m currently learning more about the Loess Plateau Project in north-central China. Meet people who are growing food and feeding their communities. For me, this was the most tangible way I felt like I could make a difference. | | --- |   ISB’s Alumni Network continues to grow. Counting nearly 10,000 students, parents, and faculty as formal members, the organization provides the opportunity for alumni to connect with one another – and their successors. For alumni news, events, and details of how alumni can visit campus and connect with current students, visit [www.isb.cn/community/alumni](https://www.isb.cn/community/alumni). ## [International School of Beijing](https://blog.isb.cn/) ISB is an extraordinary school, made so by a tradition of educational excellence spanning 45 years. 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