Daphne was born in Chicago, IL to two Chinese immigrants - one an aspiring software engineer obtaining a Master’s in computer science at Northwestern, the other a chemist with a passion for business management. After two years of living in a one-room apartment above a cigarette store, she moved with her parents and soon-to-be newborn sister to a suburban city in Wisconsin, where she would reside for the next 16 years of her life.

During high school, Daphne became heavily involved in environmental and public policy work. She founded her high school’s Green Team and non-profit Dane County Youth Environmental Committee with the mission of creating a united front of youth environmentalists. For four years, she served on the City of Middleton Sustainability Committee and interned for the non-profit Sustain Dane and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

For three years, Daphne petitioned and pushed through a sustainability resolution through the Middleton Cross-Plains Area School District board, with the goals of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2035 and reducing landfill waste by 35% by 2025. For her commitment to public service and activism, she was awarded the U.S. Gold Congressional Medal, the U.S. President’s Volunteer Service Award, Wisconsin’s Prudential Award, and WAEE’s Student of the Year.

Upon graduating high school, Daphne ranked #1 by the Wisconsin Academic Excellence Award and had 18 AP credits under her belt, as well as maintaining a 4.0 unweighted GPA all four years. For her high marks in business classes, her 1,600+ hours working at the UW Credit Union, and being the President of her school’s DECA and Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) clubs, she was awarded as a 2022 U.S. Presidential Scholar for Career and Technical Education (CTE), the nation’s top honor for high school students.

After being offered admission to top universities, including Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Georgetown, USC, and Berkeley, Daphne chose to attend Yale University. Her younger sister is a rising first-year at Columbia University in New York City. Daphne is a Film & Media Studies and Economics double major with a GPA above a 3.9.

At Yale University, Daphne serves as elected President of the Yale Cinematic Productions, the sole film production company at Yale, and Internal President of the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association, the largest service organization at Yale. She has interned for the Lionsgate 2023 feature film, Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret, for ACE Entertainment, a Los Angeles production company that produced the hit Netflix series, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, and for Toluca Pictures, known for Netflix’s Wednesday and Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale. In public policy, Daphne has interned at the Office of Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers and the Office of Congresswoman U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro.

As a fellow at the prestigious Emma Bowen Foundation, Daphne interned this past summer at Paramount in Los Angeles.

Recently, Daphne was a lead actress in “Hindsight” (2022), a short film that won the Student World Impact Film Festival (SWIFF) Drama award. She has been the lead actress in numerous other short films, including “DIANE” (2023), “Birthday Wish (2023), and “Back Home” (2023). Daphne directed the black-and-white short film, “Yin Yang” (2022), romantic comedy “Heartbreak Avenue” (2024), and comedy “The Very Sad Tale of Gerald Humm” (2024). As a first-year, she produced two Yale senior theses: “EXSTASIS” (2023) and “Algun Dia” (2023), one of which won the prestigious Howard R. Lamar Prize. She has DP’d “Roughly Seven Minutes” (2023) and “How to Mind Your Mother” (2024).

She is currently represented as an actress by Tina Kiniry Management and The Rock Agency, and is an acting student at the LA-based Anthony Gilardi Acting Studio.

Additionally, Daphne has combined her activism work with her love for film by directing videos for Connecticut non-profits, including Women Against Mass Incarceration (WAMI), Lawyers for Children America (LFCA), Elena’s Light, and Haven Free Clinic. She runs a videography business, filming for student organizations such as the Rhythmic Blue, Baker’s Dozen, Spizzwinks, Red Hot Poker, Something Extra, The New Blue, Whim ‘n Rhythm, and the Yale Record. Daphne currently holds the Student Technology Collaborative (STC) Head Coord position for the Yale Center for Collaborative Arts and Media (CCAM) Lending Lab, and manages hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of video, sound, and lighting film equipment.

Currently a rising junior at Yale University, Daphne is looking forward to seeing where this next year takes her.