CSOFT International

Company: CSOFT International Ltd., Beijing, China
Company Description: CSOFT International Ltd. is a leading provider of multilingual localization, translation, testing, and outsourced software development for the global market.
Nomination Category: Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Asian Entrepreneur

Nomination Title: Ms. Shunee Yee, President and CEO

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated entrepreneur during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):

Ms. Shunee Yee is CEO and President of CSOFT International, Ltd., a localization
and translation company based in Beijing, China. In just six short years, Ms. Yee
has grown the business from a one room office to a 350+ person global
enterprise.  Under her direction, CSOFT has consistently increased annual
revenues, and now has several locations throughout the world, from Australia and
Japan to Canada and the United States.

Ms. Yee’s entrepreneurial accomplishments over the past year can best be
described by examining her role as both businesswoman and mentor.

As CEO and President, Ms. Yee’s primary accomplishments include earning
recognition for quality service and continued growth for CSOFT. 

In 2009, CSOFT was the first Asia based business to receive International
Organization for Standardization's (ISO) 13485:2003 certification for the medical
device industry.  Last year, it won ISO 9001:2000 certification, and just this
month, it was updated to the prestigious ISO 9001:2008.  CSOFT’s strides in
quality have prompted customers like Oracle to say "CSOFT is one of the finest
partners I have worked with.” 

In addition to receiving accolades for quality service, CSOFT’s revenue stream has
doubled every year over the past six years under Ms. Yee’s direction. Since last
summer, CSOFT has won five new clients, including industry giant Sony
Ericsson.  Several clients have increased their annual spend, with one Fortune 500
company quadrupling it from $150,000 to $1M USD.

Other milestones include the announcement and development of CSOFT’s
L10NPRO, a localization management enterprise system for clients, the
expansion of business units in Asia and the US, the issuance of two white papers
on the economy and terminology management, and the expansion of its language
translation/technology solutions by nearly 30 percent.

In addition to her accomplishments as a savvy businesswoman, Ms. Yee acts as
a mentor to her team. She believes a company’s greatest asset is its people, and
she makes it a priority to invest in them at every opportunity.

One example is the CSOFT Annual Worldwide Summit.  The May 2009 Summit,
held in Beijing, brought together the entire company from ten countries, as well as
select clients and key speakers from Microsoft China, Lavasoft, Beckman Coulter
and Common Sense Advisory. Ms. Yee uses the Summit to inspire her
employees to reach their potential and learn from the best in the industry.  She
also uses it as a platform to work against some of the stereotypes that people
have when they have not experienced all that China has to offer.

For example, always encouraging diversity and a love for culture, Ms. Yee
sponsors a different art exhibit each year at the Summit. This year’s display
highlighted both the history of the company and the many cultures that CSOFT
works with on a regular basis.

In summary, Ms. Yee’s investment in her team and commitment to quality are the
cornerstone of CSOFT’s continued success.

List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:

http://csoftintl.com
http://medl10n.com
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=168
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=165
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=162
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=161
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=159
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=157
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=156
http://csoftintl.com/shownews.php?id=130

Provide a brief biography of the nominated entrepreneur (up to 100 words):

After 9 years as an executive with two large localization firms in the US, Ms.
Shunee Yee co-founded CSOFT to provide professional and cost-effective
globalization solutions.

Prior to CSOFT, Ms. Yee served as vice president for Asia Market Development at
Lionbridge Technologies, a multilingual localization company based in the US.
She pioneered the company's technical development services in China and
helped the company win multi-million dollar accounts. Ms. Yee came to Lionbridge
through the acquisition of International Communications, a US multilingual
localization firm with such clients as Microsoft and Adobe. She served as the
vice president for Asia market development and helped build International
Communications' operations in China. She has been featured in many publications
including the Boston Globe, The Economist and IDG journals.

Ms. Yee holds a Master's degree in Education from Rhode Island College. She is
also a graduate of Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing, China.