China first grabbed my attention when, as a six year old, I saw the film Inn of the Sixth Happiness. Like the film's heroine, Gladys Aylward, I felt from that day on that China was the place where I belonged. I have since spent most of my adult life in China, having worked as a British diplomat in Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai. My life changed forever in 2002, when I adopted my daughter Isabel from Fuling and we made China our home. My second daughter, Eilidh from Langfang, arrived just in time for Christmas 2011, and her happy smile has brought much joy into our lives.  I was drawn to work for Half the Sky, where I feel we are truly making a difference for the children who need us the most, the orphaned, disabled and disadvantaged children of China.

Carma Elliot took the China helm of Half the Sky at the start of 2011. She first came to China in 1984 as a student at Fudan University in Shanghai. Living and travelling in a China which was opening up and changing so rapidly led her to seek a career where she could continue to connect with the country, as a diplomat in the British Foreign Office. After a diplomatic career spanning 23 years, 12 of which were in China, Carma was delighted to join the amazing HTS family in Beijing where she lives with her daughters.