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WINTER 2013

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IN THIS ISSUE

Copyright © 2013 ALIST magzine. All rights reserved. Title is protected through a trademark registered with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. Printed in U.S.A.

WINTER 2013

18alice huang

An American microbiology pioneer shares her story.

26sheila marcelo’s $109 million bet

How an Asian American woman is ruling the service industry.

4LEADING OFF

must-know drinking etiquette for professionals; how it can

progress your career.

6EvEryDAy hErOEs

Making a difference where it matters.

10DON’T GET sETTLED

ann lee talks about china, the u.s., and her new book.

14TONy hONG

From quarters to art shows and major retail.

16ELAINE KwON

Power woman of New York.

22Permission to

coNFroNt Your FearsVivienne Wong of Oracle shares her

journey of becoming VP of Product Design for one of Silicon Valley’s behemoths.

2 | winter 2013 www.alist-magazine.com | 3

While the United States and much of the world bounces between political and economic uncertainty, one thing is for certain. The influence of female power is stronger than ever across the globe. Park Geun-Hye became South Korea’s first female president in December and will inevitably empower women during a promising era for the country. Meanwhile, riots and protests rocked India, bringing gender inequality and violence against women to center stage. The citizens of India have shown that the strength of women and social issues can severely hamper a nation’s government and economy.

Credit Suisse recently published a report tracking the performance of businesses whose corporate boards include at least one woman. The results were outstanding. Companies who had female executives on their boards outperformed those who didn’t by 26%. Executives say female presence reduces hostility and coercion.

The fastest growing sector of the U.S. economy is health care--an industry dominated by women. In fact, 73% of companies in the healthcare sector have women board members. This trend is echoed in other countries as well. So, as much of the developed world continues the move away from manufacturing and heavy industry, women are at the forefront.

Over the past year several new female CEOs took over the reigns of large corporations. Campbell’s Denise Morrison, Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, and IBM’s Ginni Rometty lead the pack as the first female leaders of their respective companies. It’s no wonder that Forbes has been compiling its 100 Most Powerful Women list for 10 years running.

In this issue of ALIST, we feature some amazing Asian American women. In many ways, the ascent of female leaders is similar to the rise of Asian American leadership. Both groups share the same challenges and many of the same successes. I hope you enjoy the stories that follow. And if you do, make sure to follow Debbie Choy Grage’s column, Women at Work, on alist-magazine.com.

Chuan Tsay Executive Editor editor@alist-magazine.com

BEforE wE BEgIN

Published for naaaP by weiss & hughes Publishing, inc.

www.weissandhughespublishing.com

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BUSINESS dIR. OF OPERATIONS CAThERINE LAW dIR. OF MARKETINg JOhN ZhANg dIR. OF COMMUNICATIONS TERESA ChUNg dIgITAL Ad MANAgER bRIE MANAKUL OUTREACh MANAgER UyEN LE KRy SALES & MKT. MANAgER KJ PARK CAMPAIgN MANAgER KRISTEN LU MARKETINg COORd SARAh LEE ExEC. gENERAL COUNSEL PETER WOO ASSOC. gEN. COUNSEL ALExANdER KO SALES ACCT. MANAgER SARAh PAI ExECUTIvE ASSISTANT JESSICA PhAN

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cover photo by christopher huang

www.christopherhuang.com

wHErE wE’VE BEEN

ChrIsTINE MCFADDENmanaging editor

christine spent last summer in seoul, interning for unesco and working from Korea’s DMZ. she’s now pursuing a master’s degree at stanford after being awarded

a full scholarship.

DEbbIE ChOy GrAGEmanaging editor

since alist launch last year, Debbie joined a women’s group that meets monthly to discuss

workplace and leadership topics. she enjoyed time off by visiting california’s national parks and

mount lassen. debbie also maintains her own column,

Women at Work, at alist-magazine.com.

LLEAdINg OFF

4 | winter 2013 www.alist-magazine.com | 5

LLEAdINg OFF

gLObETROTTEREARNINg RESPECT ON ThE JOb IN EAST ASIA, A LANd OF NUANCE

drinking for business sandy chang

In East Asia…

1 do not rush to sit down. wait to see if the host

has a specific seat for you.

2 avoid filling your own glass. Instead, try to fill

other people’s glasses.

3 usually, a lower-ranked person will serve a

higher-ranked person first.

4 Pour alcohol with both hands on the bottle.

5 If someone is pouring for you, present the cup

with two hands: left hand placed underneath and right hand on the side.

6 if you cannot drink, have a good excuse prepared

such as a religious or health reason. if you do not want to drink, they may not believe you because it is customary to reject offerings once or twice before accepting.

7 control your speed. make sure you are

always drinking slower than the other people in the group.

8 if you are getting a little too tipsy, drink beer

instead of the more alcoholic drinks. You can indicate that you have drunk enough by leaving your cup full.

9 Know whether you are splitting the bill or being

paid for. make sure to carry plenty of cash if you don’t know.

10 Watch and imitate! Drink responsibly!

What’s in your bag, Joseph Chang? by PATRICK SOON

ALIsT Magazine: Does your job as vP of Operational/strategic support services and Controller at vantage Oncology require you to use a lot of technology?

Joseph Chang: Yes, quite often actually. As the financial controller at Vantage, I travel nearly 60 percent of the time to manage the financial operations of the company. We have 46 radiation centers which I travel to, many of which are on the East Coast. While I used to pull out a laptop to get some work done on the plane, I’ve now found that I can get quite a lot of my work done on an iPad and so I use that on all my flights.

AM: I love traveling and especially flying. In the movie “Up in the Air,” George Clooney’s character advocates for slip-on shoes and getting in the TSA line with other business people. Do you have any tips for flyers since you fly so often?

JC: I like to dress comfortably so I fly in jeans. [Laughs] As a frequent traveler, sometimes having flown three times in one day, I don’t have to remove my shoes or belt while going through TSA checkpoints because I have a pre-check approval. That helps a lot. This way I don’t have to take off my jacket or shoes, I just go through the body scanner. Takes about five minutes.

AM: So, what do you carry in your bag normally?

JC: A 13-inch 256 GB solid-state drive Macbook Air, a white iPhone 5, and a white 64GB iPad. I carry these in my TUMI backpack (not-pictured). This TUMI is especially made for the iPad.

AM: Do you like to listen to music or watch movies while on the plane too? what headphones do you use?

JC: I have a set of Bose QuietComfort 2s. They’re noise-canceling and I love their sound quality. These over-the-ear models are more comfortable than the QC3s in my opinion as those just sit on the ear. They drown out the “hum” sounds on planes. I do like to listen to music or catch a movie that I’ve downloaded onto my iPad prior to my flight, but I generally like to catch up on healthcare news via the Wall Street Journal app on my iPad.

AM: How do you like your new iPhone 5 compared to the iPhone 4S?

JC: I recently picked up a white iPhone 5 a couple weeks ago. Love it. I don’t have to scroll through as many pages for my apps now due to the larger screen

that displays an extra row of apps. Much faster. It’s also great because the documents that I look up on either my Macbook Air or iPad are perfectly synced with documents viewed on my iPhone. Excellent build quality too.

AM: what sort of apps do you use on the iPad for work?

JC: Keynote, Pages, Numbers, WebEx, GoToMeeting, Citrix, and Jumper. Keynote is like Powerpoint. Pages is like Word. Numbers is like Excel. WebEx and GoToMeeting I use to keep in contact with the office via videoconference. Jumper and Citrix I use to pull documents from my PC work computer securely. They’re all simple, fast, and very well-tailored to the iPad.

AM: Since you spend a lot of time in various cities, do you have a favorite place to dine?

JC: Absolutely. While Yelp helps me find good places to eat on the fly, I have my own lists of places I like to eat at too. Atlanta has a good number of eateries and I use it as my hub to other destinations on the East Coast. From

there, I can get to just about any locations within an hour

and a half. In Atlanta, these restaurants are my favorite:

Antico Pizza Napoletana, Bacchanalia and Bocado. I can send you the full list.

AM: Thanks so much for your time today and for participating in the very first ALIST WIYB column.

JC: My pleasure. I’ll send you back the interview form. [Signs standard release form on his iPad with a flick of a finger]

Patrick Soon is a recent graduate of Whittier Law School in Costa

Mesa, CA and an editor for the American Bar Association. He loves technology and his Nexus 4. Find more of his technology articles at patricksoon.com.

“What’s in Your Bag?” is a new column for ALIST Magazine that features Asian Americans in various industries and the kinds of gadgetry they carry around with them on a day-to-day basis. In our inaugural column, ALIST interviewed Joseph Chang, financial operations controller for Vantage Oncology, Apple fan, and jetsetter-extraordinaire.

Sandy Chang is a senior at Stanford University majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. She loves learning more about cultures and languages; therefore, her friends often find her procrastinating by watching Asian dramas and anime. 

For many people in East Asia, socializing with your co-workers after work is as equally important as doing the actual work itself. In other words, drinking with colleagues is not only for fun, it is for your career.

Why? One of the main reasons drinking after work is so important is because of the belief that people are more honest after drinking. For some cultures, work is bound by a formal superior and subordinate relationship that demands politeness and hinders open discussion. Therefore, being slightly inebriated during these sessions is deemed acceptable because dissenting opinions can be blamed on alcohol.

Richard Dasher, a professor at Stanford University and director for both the US-Asia Technology Management Center and the Center for Integrated Systems in Tokyo, has found informal sessions very helpful. Dasher, who teaches the course “Japanese Business Culture,” says informal sessions can be used to validate what was said in formal meetings and to discuss with other business companies the best ways to approach negotiations.

Dasher also emphasizes that informal sessions do not necessarily need to be at a venue that has alcohol. A café can act as a perfect location for an informal talk with a co-worker or supervisor. However, venues with alcohol are a popular place to hold these sessions because they are a place where people can be most informal with each other.

This phenomenon is quite similar to the American “happy hour.” What makes drinking in East Asia different, however, are the cultural traditions. For example, while in East Asia it may be fine to be slightly inebriated; for American supervisors, it is good manners and great social skills that will impress. What does this mean for an American entrepreneur trying to expand into East Asia? Possibly, it means alcohol tolerance.

But more importantly, it means cultural awareness. In my experience, the business drinking culture between East Asian countries are pretty similar. Dasher mentions that while in China, a cheer with the phrase “Ganbei” means that you should down your whole glass. In Japan, a cheer with a similar phrase “Kanpai” does not necessarily mean you have to drink your whole glass.

LLEAdINg OFF

everyday heroesSTORIES by ChRISTINE vO | PhOTOS by ERIC bOThWELL

The people in the following pages are the unsung heroes who find time out of their days to give back to their communities, while expecting nothing

in return except for a smile. In this issue, we’re stopping by the

San Francisco Bay Area.

6 | winter 2013 www.alist-magazine.com | 7

as a child, Josephine Wong was told that a simple smile could bring happiness to others. So, she began

smiling at classmates, teachers, and even strangers that she encountered in her daily life. That conscious effort to smile and to make a large or small impact in others’ lives has now continued well beyond the years when Josephine was a smiley, effervescent youngster.

Today, Josephine, who works as an assistant engineer for Bill.com, volunteers two Sundays every month as a project leader with Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN), a program at the Embarcadero YMCA in San Francisco that fosters the self-esteem, confidence, skills and talents of kids with autism through non-competitive recreational activities.

Josephine linked up with Hands on Bay Area (HOBA), an organization that matches interested volunteers with a

range of projects in the Bay Area, when she realized she wanted to spend her spare time as a volunteer. Before she found her home at KEEN, Josephine would volunteer alongside her mother to make sandwiches at Glide Memorial Church in downtown San Francisco, pack lunches for homeless people and serve meals to the elderly.

Now, she finds that her time with the 30 KEEN kids, who she claims continuously express their happiness and joy for life, is one of her favorite ways of spending her time. A typical volunteer Sunday session for Josephine involves setting up stations for the kids, providing an orientation for the new volunteers and pairing up the volunteers with the kids.

“I can take part in their recovery journeys and the opportunities to see them smile, acquire new skills, grow taller, bond with each other, or just simply seeing

them on a regular basis are absolutely priceless,” Jospehine says. Not only does this opportunity enable her to be part of the kids’ lives, but she is able to get further acquainted with the families, many of whom are Asian Americans.

While Josephine is undoubtedly one of the unsung heroes in those children’s lives, she considers each and every one of them to be her hero. “They all live with an illness that no one in this world can say for sure where it has come from or how to prevent it. I can’t begin to imagine how frustrating it can be to not be able to express my thoughts and feelings verbally,” she says.

By giving back to the children and seeing their smiles, Josephine is reminded of the simple pleasures in life--the joy found in helping others. And, perhaps she’s getting her reward from all those smiles she shared in her youth.

when Emily Chan was 16, she wrote a poem about her own everyday hero--her mother. In

that poem, Emily described her mother’s daily life as an immigrant and single mother who took courses in the evening and whose body ached from her long days working at a Chinese restaurant. As she watched her mother struggle, Emily vowed to herself that if she was ever in the position to lend a hand to others, she would do so.

Emily is now a personal wealth manager at a large financial institution in San Francisco and has found a way to contribute to the younger generation by creating a summer internship program specifically for Asian American students.Through this program, she hopes to give back to the community by enabling students to gain access to the world of finance as well as uncovering their true areas of interest and passion.

Recently, Emily met an MBA student

at a conference who spoke about the difficulties of landing an internship in the financial sector. Emily took this student under her wing and gave her an internship at her institution. The interns who have been mentored by Emily have applauded her willingness to extend herself to help them navigate a new field, and also on her ability to provide sound advice and direction for their futures.

“I try to train and mentor them to become successful analysts,” says Emily, “but, I try to give them flexibility and encourage them to learn as much as possible.”

Emily hopes her interns become future leaders. She also implores them, as professors and mentors asked of her, to really ask themselves what they really want to do with their lives, to discover who they are and to take ownership of that.

“I try to tell my interns to really find what they love. Something that they can also make a living out of as well,” she explains.

Beyond the professional development, Emily also wants to help them build character, perhaps in the same way she built her own character by watching her mother. “Always treat other people with respect,” she says to them. “It’s important to give back to my community and to provide access to those who might not already have access.”

Emily has already witnessed the growth and development her interns have undergone, and many of them land coveted positions upon graduation. Another unstated component of the internship, a trait they have probably picked up on by watching Emily, is to offer advice to younger students.

In the end, Emily hopes that interns will follow in her footsteps and give back to others, whether that’s through mentoring or offering their service to others in the community who would benefit from their support.

LLEAdINg OFF

New Year, New Horizons

Check out what naaap members are doing.

2013 Write for ALIST. We’re fun to work with. Plus, you’d get a free subscription.Read some books. The mind is a beautiful thing. Don’t waste it!Pay your taxes. This is something you should do anyway. Tax crimes are bad.

Feb 2: Celebrate Chinese Cultural Heritage Day with the Chinese Cultural Center of Greater Toronto and the Royal Ontario Museum.

Feb 18: Successful Parents in NAAAP and Member of Provincial Parliament Soo Wong invite you to a Family Day Celebration in Toronto.

Feb.

Mar.

Apr.

Visit www.naaap.org for a complete list of

regional chapters and events.

Check out NAAAP Toronto’s mixer with the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers.

NAAAP Toronto continues the party with their annual Community Open House Special Edition Mixer featuring 5 community partners.

Mar 1-3: Attend NAAAP’s Leadership Academy in Washington, D.C.

Mar 13: NAAAP Dallas-Ft. Worth celebrates its 2nd Anniversary.

Apr 20: Dumplings for Diplomas, a scholarship fundraiser by NAAAP DFW, features dumplings from premier restaurants around the Dallas area and an eating contest.

Apr 6: MAASU (Midwest Asian American Students Union) 2013 Spring Conference in partnership with NAAAP and ECAASU (East Coast Asian American Students Union) at U. of Michigan

Feb 22-24: The East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) is at Columbia University this year.

Feb 16: API Blood Drive and Bone Marrow Registration in Seattle. Help out a great cause.

MayThe Scholarship Gala honors the awardees of the NAAAP-Boston Future Leaders Scholarship Award. Have a blast and meet the next generation.

8 | winter 2013

with 38,988 YouTube subscribers and more than 5,000,000 views on their channel, the founders

of the Jubilee Project have garnered considerable fame for their videos, which raise money and awareness toward good causes.

Their catchphrase, “Doing good is contagious,” has caught on as organizations such as TOMS, Partners in Health, and Odanadi and YouTube celebrities like Ryan Higa, Arden Cho, Jason Chen, and Wong Fu Productions have shown their support for the Jubilee Project’s short films.

However, it was not until this past summer that Eddie Lee, Jason Lee and Eric Lu, creators of the Jubilee Project, decided to quit their full-time jobs and studies to become devoted to their organization’s mission.

As I interviewed Eddie, who gave me a look into how the Jubilee Project spends its days, it seemed nearly impossible to imagine that Eddie, Jason, and Eric had balanced their careers as an associate director for the White House, a senior consultant at Bain & Company, and an aspiring doctor at Harvard Medical School, respectively, while running their organization, managing logistics, and overseeing every cycle of the filming production process.

The seemingly impossible was portrayed as possible in speaking further with Eddie, as I learned how the Jubilee Project arrived at its destination through years of dedication and a unique compassion that is clearly reflected in the work the three have produced.

The Jubilee Project operates by seasons. “What we do is write films in that season, write our scripts and shoot as many scripts as we can,” Eddie explained.

On a typical production day, Eddie, Jason, and Eric wake up at 7 a.m. to shoot with their actors until midnight or 1 a.m., rest, and then repeat every day for the next one or two weeks. On days they are not filming, the Jubilee Project starts its days

with a staff meeting around 10:30 a.m. to talk about what they are planning to do and also what is happening in each member’s lives.

“We are passionate about creating that relationship and we talk about anything we are discouraged by and what we are thankful for,” Eddie says. Although the three have been living together since this summer, the bonds they developed at the Jubilee Project’s inception have only grown stronger with each passing day.

On a typical day not filming, the three founders of the Jubilee Project enjoy traveling together. “Whenever we take our days off, we want to do something crazy,” laughs Eddie. “We went surfing a couple times and right now we’re in San Diego for a two-day trip to relax a little bit. Watching shows, staying at a hotel, and eating at buffets.”

As Eddie recounted his progression as a politics and government major in college to his year-long stint as a campaign filmmaker for Obama in 2007 to being recruited as a White House associate director, I could not help but be reminded of a quote by gender theorist Kate Bornstein: “Your life’s work begins where your great joy meets the world’s great hunger.” Eddie Lee holds an impressive resume as a Harvard alumnus and former White House Associate Director, yet he has decided to essentially dedicate his life to not just one of the world’s great hungers, but to multiple good causes.

From “Back to Innocence,” a short filmed through a compelling sequence of events in reverse chronology, to lighter shorts such as “Love Language,” which features a heartwarming couple communicating through Post-it notes, the Jubilee Project has raised awareness for serious issues as varied as sex trafficking, learning programs, and services for

the deaf and hearing impaired. For such a daunting undertaking,

Eric spoke calmly of the resignations and sacrifices of each member of the Jubilee Project: “We are growing so much and we have never felt this sort of peace before in our lives. We realize [now], looking back and working 9-5 jobs and being in school, we were so bogged down by what the world expected us to do, we never really felt like we were feeding our own spirits and souls. It was a freeing experience of rejuvenation, and we feel very peaceful and joyful.”

He also spoke about the technical skill-sets they have each developed as a result of spearheading a grassroots organization. “We are developing a lot of skills from communication to creating business plans to making partnerships with non-profits.”

“We are learning to become entrepreneurs and also visionaries; [we are] taking a simple idea and making something out of it.”

To learn more about the Jubilee Project, visit their site at: www.jubileeproject.orgFor followers of the Jubilee Project: look for current projects entitled “Firefly,” a short centered on a child with autism and the friendships she makes, and “Master Chef”, a short based on the true story of blind chef Christine Ha, recent winner of Master Chef.

a day in the Life of the JubiLee proJeCt by dIANA TAO

getdon't

settled! Lessons from China and Another huge Political Transition STORy by SAMUEL TSOIPhOTOS by JACKIE hO

12 | winter 2013 www.alist-magazine.com | 13

Looking back on the 2012 campaign, it is impossible to ignore the onslaught of messages calling it the

most important election in generations. Indeed, it is often hard to step outside of the American media cocoon and see what else is happening around the world.

Approximately 48 hours after Americans went to the polls, China began the process of installing its new leadership for the next 10 years. It is easy to dismiss the undemocratic process, which will carry on without the billions of dollars spent courting voters and flashy debates. However, this crucial ceremony within the Chinese Communist Party happened in the midst of the most political infighting in decades, as China solidifies its status as the world’s second largest economy during a time of global anxiety.

The title of a recent publication captures this important international relationship in both a timely and provocative manner: What the U.S. Can Learn From China: An Open-Minded Guide To Treating Our Greatest Competitor as Our Greatest Teacher, written by Ann Lee, who teaches economics and finance at New York University.

This richly relevant book is a rare treat, both for its keen cultural observations that illuminate the sophisticated economic and political analysis of US-China relations and for its usefulness as a lens through which America can comprehend itself in a changing world.

America’s “Deep-Seated Insecurity”

“So many [Americans] have an emotional reaction just to the word ‘China,’” Lee says. The impassioned feedback she received can be categorized into two camps: internationalists who hail the book as insightful, balanced, and eye-opening; and nationalists who are adamant that the one-party state, ripe

with corruption and oppression, and with the majority of people still living in poverty, has nothing to teach the world’s indisputable superpower.

It is by carefully disarming the ideological minefields that exist between the People’s Republic and the U.S. and parsing out practical, efficient, and ingenious solutions to real-world problems, that Lee’s book adds a real contribution to arguably the most consequential bilateral relations in the world today.

In the book, Lee chronicles the sweeping changes that China has undergone in the past decades to become the world’s most dynamic economy without glossing over its glaring and serious problems and discusses the ways America can apply China’s best practices.

Most distinctively, Lee discusses how America can rediscover some of the values that it shares with Chinese civilization, namely work ethic, community, and entrepreneurship. Moreover, how China selects leaders could be something America can emulate, given single-digit

approval ratings of Congress. Lee points to practices such as civil service exams, the depth of leaders’ experiences, and the professionalization of officials, whereas in the US, civil servants have different qualifications than elected officials.

Not surprisingly, said suggestions are nowhere to be seen in mainstream media. “There’s some deep-seated insecurity in many Americans at this point in time, rooted in the economic downturn,” observed Lee. “I think their reaction to China stems from these insecurities.”

On her book and media tours, readers call in with very emotional remarks without considering the nuance in her ideas. It does not help that “getting tough” on China has become a common platform in stump speeches. While debates on monetary policy and intellectual property are important, candidates running for office often do not present the consequences of intensifying China-bashing with serious ramifications to diplomacy and global governance.

“It’s not necessarily pure rhetoric; there are many interest groups that have real reasons to try to emphasize new enemies to justify their budget increases, and a lot of folks who are influential hawks who advocate for American leadership in world affairs, code word for more military bases,” Lee says. “This strident message can really inflame people; it’s a lack of sensitivity to more international dialogue and understanding--respect for others’ worldviews and backgrounds.”

A Fresh Perspective from the Far East

At the same time, globally minded publishers have seen an explosion in content about China, from The Economist’s section and blog dedicated to coverage of the Middle Kingdom, to the plethora of books and think-tank reports on China’s economic and political footprint. Lee has been invited to present her book to venerable U.S. institutions such as MIT, Google, and the Treasury Department.

While the curiosity is expanding, the literature on China in the English-speaking world is, predictably, written from a Western perspective and vis-à-vis a U.S.-centric lens. This is what sets Lee’s book apart.

As a Chinese American who has the mixed blessing of straddling two worlds, Lee’s perspective is uniquely authentic and balanced. She writes unapologetically of her optimism in American ideals, yet relentlessly warns that the premise of American supremacy is increasingly unrealistic and unworkable in a multipolar world.

“I can see that the new generation is changing attitudes,” Lee says, pointing to the willingness of young people to be bridge-builders between Asia and America. “I’ve had a conversation with pioneering Asian American leaders who have respect and credibility to speak up more, but many of them don’t because there are too much at stake. Unable to advance a more constructive dialogue, that in turn hurt many Asian Americans as a result.” 

Lee sees a shift from a posture that de-emphasizes Asian identity for the sake of blending in and achieving success in mainstream America, to a more assertive and proud Asian identity.

“[Asians in America] have to embrace the fact that Asia has a rich history with many important civilizations in terms of contributing to inventions,” Lee asserts. “I think that gets blocked for whatever reason--they see the current paranoia [over the China threat] and they shrink from it instead of try to correct it.”

Lee learned these lessons firsthand from her personal journey.

“I came [to the U.S.] when I was 8, so I’ve seen two very different cultures, spoke different languages,” Lee recalls. “I think it freed me from having my identity rooted in any particular nationality; it gave me more of an internationalist mentality, which is what we need to have in order find common ground in many areas.”

Co-Creating the World Although Lee is receiving much

critical acclaim from fellow academics and analysts on her book, she still sees an enormous challenge in changing the mindset of Americans about China.

“I think this is going to take time; culture doesn’t change overnight, but [having more Asian Americans] working in media would be one of the most effective and powerful ways to try to move the needle,” says Lee.

Despite optimism about cross-national learning and bridge building, she is not naïve about China’s shortcomings, from its corruption among local officials to its people’s lack of civil and political rights and the terrible environmental degradation. Still, Lee doesn’t see a traditional incompatibility between undemocratic government and creativity. Rather, she points to strategic investment by the centralized government in key industries that are boosting Chinese innovation, whether it’s measured by the number of patents that outpaces America’s, or the incredible feats in infrastructure.

On the innovation front, Lee highlights American developers who are emulating China. Lee describes a hotel in Brooklyn that was assembled via three chunks of building blocks and completed in three days, all stemming from watching a video of Chinese construction.

Overseas, China’s foreign policy is also garnering attention, especially its ability to win new friends abroad through business deals rather than through hard power.

“China came up with an ingenious quid pro quo: supply infrastructure to help

other developing nations get on their feet while gaining access to the necessary raw materials. It’s a win-win situation,” says Lee.

At the same time, there are accusations of Chinese firms flooding local labor markets. Lee explains the frequent incompatibility between foreign workers and Chinese firms, and the inability of the Chinese to address grievances. “This is a weakness: they need to communicate much more. Not everyone comes and sees the world with the same lens.”

Even as China learns how to project itself abroad, Lee notes the demonstration of a different way of using foreign aid is possible in place of conditional attachments and top-down approaches. America and its Western counterparts have tremendous baggage, from the legacy of colonialism and corporate exploitations to modern military occupations. Thus, lessons from China present a historical opportunity to, in Lee’s words, “co-create the world.”

“It can be a future in which productive global cooperation can lead us to a new renaissance that will finally actualize the common desires for the common benefit of all people,” Lee writes.

Conversely, post-Mao China has also learned a great deal from America. US foreign direct investment has helped lubricate China’s astonishing modernization. American firms that spurred technological innovation and the symbiotic trade and monetary relationship have fueled American and Chinese manufacturing and development.

Lee ends her book on a note of faith in American institutions and ideals, from individual freedom and room for dissent to the power of the American brand and diversity and the checks and balances of the democratic system. Lee believes in America’s ability to self-govern and inspire hope--critical ingredients for China to chart a sustainable future.

“Americans should rise to the occasion and demand the best solutions in our own government,” Lee writes. “…not just on Election Day, but every day.”

“So many [Americans] have an emotional reaction just to the word ‘China.’”

“There’s some deep-seated insecurity in many Americans at this point in time, rooted in the

economic downturn,” observed Lee. “I think their reaction to China stems from these insecurities.”

He does not want to simply be known as the “tree guy.”

tony hong:“TheTree guy”

STORy by ELAINE WANgPhOTOS by ERIC bOThWELL The “tree guy” is how most people know

Tony Hong.

A Los Angeles-based ink artist known for

his impressive body of artwork featuring trees,

Hong is responsible for the detailed tree branches

gracing the covers of iPhones and iPods.

From school slacking to San Francisco’s SOMArts Gallery

Hong’s journey to becoming a successful

artist was not an easy, nor a direct one.

Attending UCLA and majoring in psychology,

Hong says he lacked motivation, having his friend

take notes for him while he doodled.

“I should have taken time off,” he admits.

“School wasn’t a priority.” His friends

encouraged him to do something creative, but

it wasn’t until he was 28 that he enrolled in art

school and attended one short-lived year at Otis

College of Art and Design.

Hong struggled with money. His lowest

point came when he didn’t have enough money

for a new car battery and had to set an alarm

to go start his car every two hours to recharge

it. He paid for gas with quarters. The lowest

amount he ever paid? 49 cents.

But art kept creeping back into his life. He

accepted a job teaching high school math at

New Covenant Academy, also luckily landing

one period of art to teach.

Hong continued doing his own art as well,

landing his first group show in San Francisco at

the SOMArts Gallery.

“It’s funny how all these little pieces, you

know, fit in,” Hong says. “You don’t know how

or why at the time but it just works out…I feel

grateful.”

Branching outHong caught his first big commercial break

when his work ended up in Target stores on

iPod and iPhone cases, jokingly referring to his

struggling period as his “sophomore slump.”

“It was the most random thing,” Hong

remembers. A contact of his from Uncommon, a

case-making company, asked for a few samples

of his artwork, and the rest is case history. He

also scored his first solo art show in Los Angeles

in November 2010. His dream is to be shown

in the David B. Smith Gallery in Colorado. “If

I could get into that gallery, that would be my

validation,” says Hong.

On top of working to achieve new artistic

heights, Hong also wants to branch out

commercially, specifically into housewares. He

admires writing and wants to be a storyteller,

perhaps creating a book that combines his art

with meaningful stories relevant for today

(A favorite book of his is Shelly Silverstein’s

The Giving Tree). He does not want to simply

be known as the “tree guy.” Hong gives this

advice to young artists, deriving from his own

experiences: “You don’t have it all figured out;

you just have to be honest….and work your ass

off.”

To learn more about artist Tony Hong, visit his website: www.tonyhong.net.

From quarters to art shows

and major retail, this is tony hong.

16 | winter 2013

chord of lifeA master of music and martial arts, Elaine Kwon doesn’t stop thereSTORy by gRACE RONg WANg | PhOTOS by JACKIE hO

Prize-winning pianist Elaine Kwon made her orchestral debut with the

Washington-Idaho Symphony at age 15 and has performed solo, concerto,

and chamber music concerts throughout the U.S. and internationally. As

a soloist, she received standing ovations at her 2008, 2010 and 2011 Carnegie

Hall concerts, as well as in her solo concerto performances with the Slovak

Sinfonietta, Toronto Philharmonia Orchestra, Finger Lakes Symphony and the

New York Chamber Virtuosi. As chamber musician, she toured regularly for

10 years as part of the Hebert/Kwon piano duo, and performed as a member

of Forecast New Music Group, Light and Sound Water Trio, Sapphire

Ensemble and OCTET. As composer, she created an original score for

the acclaimed Shakespearean play, Corsetless, which premiered

in Buffalo, N.Y., was showcased in Carnegie Hall, toured

through Ireland and is being made into a feature film.

Her recording of the Rubinstein Piano Concerto No. 4

with the Slovak Sinfonietta was released on Artist’s Choice

Recordings in December 2011.

Elaine received a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Boston University, a Master of Music

from New England Conservatory with highest honors and the Distinction in Performance

Award, and a Bachelor of Music from University of Texas in Austin with highest honors

and the Academic All-American award. She is now a Lecturer/Affiliated Artist at MIT,

where she teaches music theory and piano lab.

As an avid martial artist, Elaine holds a second-degree black belt in taekwondo

and is a five-time U.S. National Taekwondo champion in Traditional and Creative

Forms (1994, 1997-2000). Presently she studies Shaolin Kung Fu. She was chosen

to represent Nike in the 2003 Asia campaign as a martial artist and has appeared

in numerous magazines, advertisements and videos. She hosted the 2006 action-

adventure host-wrap show The Lounge--Shaken ‘n Stirred on ImaginAsian TV.

She has been a featured guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show and was honored

as a “Power Woman” of New York. Elaine was the subject of a documentary for

the Arirang TV series, Dream It, which was broadcast internationally to 89 million

households. Elaine lives in New York City, where she continues to find ways to

combine and communicate her passion for music, martial arts, food/wine, and

optimal living.

Grace Rong Wang is a full-time consultant in a management consulting company in New York City. She writes ad-hoc for NAAAP Charlotte. Grace is also an amateur violinist, playing for symphonies in her spare time.”

alice huangScience Pioneer ExtraordinaireSTORy by dOROThy hEPhOTOS by ERIC bOThWELL

Alice Huang recalls the moment she knew that science would become her chosen field of study. In her college microbiology class, her eyes widened when she looked into the microscope and saw all the bacteria and cells that were otherwise “invisible.”

20 | winter 2013 www.alist-magazine.com | 21

a few years later, Huang had earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Johns Hopkins University and

started to build an illustrious career. She spent more than 20 years as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School and later became the Dean of the Faculty of Science at the New York University. She also served on the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Johns Hopkins University and other organizations. More recently, she served as President of the American Association for the Advancement of Society from 2010 to 2011.

Today, Huang is a Senior Faculty Associate at the California Institute of Technology, and her research primarily centers on studies of microbiology and virology. She is best known for her graduate work with then-mentor Nobel laureate David Baltimore, who is now her husband. Huang’s research helped him discover the important biological process of reverse transcriptase, essential for the reproduction of retroviruses such as HIV. Huang is also an active proponent of women in the sciences and received the Alice C. Evans Award in 2001 for her

work helping and promoting the study of sciences for women.

A Troubling Pipeline For Science Research

Huang notes that in general, women still face “tremendous backlash not permitting [them] to reach those heights.” When Huang was younger, she did not know of any female scientists she could look to as role models. She ended up looking to John Enders, the 1953 Nobel Laureate, for inspiration. Enders was the first man to successfully grow the poliovirus in a cell line, thereby opening up the whole ability to work with the poliovirus. This eventually led to the development of the polio vaccine.

Although there are now more female scientists, Huang is worried about the future pipeline. She points out that despite the high number of qualified women in science research, studies have suggested that they are not promoted as frequently as their male counterparts. Huang emphasizes that there is still work to do to ensure that “access to education, information, and job options is equal for both sexes.”

Furthermore, the general lack of

enthusiasm for science and math for girls in the U.S. concerns Huang. Her worry is echoed by others. According to findings published in journals like Science Daily and the Washington Post, it was found that girls more often choose to study the humanities or sciences as opposed to more “advanced elective courses,” such as applied physics or mathematics.

Part of this problem stems from the way in which students are educated about math and science and the attitudes they develop toward these subjects when

they are young. Huang suggests that the solution lies in changing our approach to math and science education, emphasizing the importance of making science and math more relatable to students and suggesting that professors should try to approach science and technology in more engaging and relevant ways. “You can’t just stand up and write on the blackboard with your back to the students and then test them on what you’ve mumbled through lectures,” she says.

Huang notes that the problem starts with the way kids are educated at a young age. “[The periods of] junior high and high school are the most important, but we have already turned off a lot of kids [by] grade school. In the end they never want to study science and math because their introductions to science and math were not interesting.” She adds that university professors should also be trained to teach well to encourage enthusiasm for math and science in college students.

Doing MoreOn the role of Asian Americans in

American society, Huang has pointed observations. She notes that, “When we

look at some of the more recent statistics for Asian Americans, we realize that we are not contributing as much as we can to this country.” She especially laments the lack of Asian American influence in the U.S. political realm. Historically, international conflicts have always had serious consequences for minority groups in the U.S., especially those that do not have significant political influence. As China grows in importance on the world stage and begins to assert itself--perhaps in ways that the U.S. may not approve of--the need for Asian Americans to participate in U.S. politics also grows.

“We have the capabilities, but we don’t look at the bigger picture of how this country will be shaped and how it will treat Asian Americans in the future,” she says.

This reminds us of a question that we hear from many Asian Americans--why stick our necks out and be a leader? The answer, as Huang alludes, is that if we do not actively participate in shaping the future of the U.S., our children could be written out of it. Huang points out that young people play a crucial role. She thinks it is important to help all Asian Americans participate fully in American

society, whether in the political, business, or other realms. “This is our country and it’s important that we don’t just take the best things for ourselves and our families, but that we do give back in some ways to help future Asian American [generations],” she says.

The Future of ScienceHuang believes that the future of

science lies in neuroscience and the challenges that studies of neuroscience will bring. She comments that neuroscience is a “true interdisciplinary science,” helped by studies of psychology and biology. Additionally, with physical advances in imaging and unique computational biology, all fields of science have been empowered like never before to obtain more accurate and up-to-date information.

Yet Huang says that the integration of social sciences into the study of physical and life sciences has truly helped transform scientific studies and practices; the study of social sciences helps us delve into the motivations and causes of human thought and interactions between people: “It opens up so much besides study of disease and general development.”

“You can’t just stand up and write on the

blackboard with your back to the students and then test them

on what you’ve mumbled through

lectures.”

PerMission to be confident

story by uyen Le kry | photos by eriC bothWeLL

It is difficult to imagine that the poised, expressive, engaging and personable Vivian Wong, VP of Product Development at Oracle, was so painfully shy as a young girl that she hid behind closed doors for hours while her mother entertained guests.“No one believes I’m an introvert,” Wong said, “but I didn’t start coming out of the shell until I

went to university.” Her transformation didn’t begin impacting her career until just a few years ago.

For 10 years, Wong worked as a computer engineer. She started out in Sydney, then moved to the

U.S. in 1998 with her husband for work opportunities. At Peoplesoft (later acquired by California-

based Oracle), it wasn’t her direct manager, but her manager’s manager, Koby Avital, a VP at the time,

who spotted her leadership potential.

“The saying that the harder you work, the luckier you get, is so true,” Wong said. “Koby insisted

that I be promoted from a technical role straight into management.”

Wong was shocked. “I didn’t want to be a manager. I didn’t think I could give constructive

feedback.” But she soon saw that being in management gave her the opportunity to “make a bigger

impact, not just for myself but for everyone.” Wong’s natural affinity for relating to others quickly

helped her form relationships with team members, figure out what makes them tick, motivate them

to work towards business targets and manage in times of uncertainty.

Speaking Up“Proactive communication is really important,” Wong said. “You have to be able to relay the

good, the bad and the ugly.” This included speaking up for herself as well.

“[As] Asians, we tend to think our good work will speak for itself,” Wong explained, “but in

corporate America, that’s only half the battle. The other half involves helping others see that good

work and its business value.”

Wong has fought this battle not by relying on aggressive self-promotion but by being herself

and always focusing on the business outcome. “I’ve always operated with an inclusiveness mindset

and that has helped me demonstrate impact across teams, broaden connections and build a support

network. I try to encourage the same in my teams. I tell them all of our work combined is what

customers get.”

“It has to come from within,” Wong said. “Do it because you believe in it. Start with considering

what it is that you hold on to and whether it serves to build relationships and communicate your

effectiveness.”

Facing Internal FearsFor Wong, this self-evaluation led to the annihilation of a deeply ingrained belief about how she

should relate to those in positions of power.

Less than four years ago, despite repeated promotions at Oracle and taking on greater

responsibility for larger teams, Wong had a problem: she couldn’t talk to anyone who was above her

manager’s level without breaking a sweat.

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24 | winter 2013

With the help of a business coach, Wong discovered that the underlying fear had to do with her past. “My mother, my sister and I lived in what I thought was a domestic violence situation, she said. Though we left my dad in China for Australia when I was 11, that fear stayed with me.”

Good EnoughLooking back, Wong saw that a lot

of her behaviors centered on fears of not being good enough. Wong became gentler to herself as she got older, but the fear of being imperfect in front of figures of authority remained and paralyzed her. “The day I identified that fear and realized how it was affecting my career,” Wong said, “I bawled my eyes out.”

Some individuals of Asian heritage may relate to authority figures at work in a similar way to how we were raised. We bend our heads, keep our mouths shut and wait for permission to speak up, to share views, to question the status quo and to relate to others in a non-hierarchical way.

This may have been what was holding Wong back. Her father had not been a threat in her life for many years, yet the fear of him prevented her from truly connecting and communicating with the people who were important to her career.

Wong confronted her fear head-on. She visited her dad in China and “suffered a roller-coaster ride.” But the effort helped her understand that his past violence was circumstantial--a by-product of the power dynamics that were acceptable in her parents’ culture at the time. Her resentment of him dissipated, along with her fear of those in positions of power, and made it possible for her to call upon and project qualities that have helped her attain ever-larger leadership roles.

New OpportunitiesIn 2010, a general manager at Taleo, a

cloud-based talent management solutions provider, offered her a position as VP of Engineering. They had met in 2005 at a conference and connected over Facebook and LinkedIn. Although he quickly observed her potential for cultivating a collaborative and results-driven work environment, something he desired for his development team, Wong believed it was her willingness to open herself up to

a discussion about opportunities at Taleo that landed her the job.

“It was one of the best decisions of my life,” Wong said. One year after leaving for Taleo, Wong was back at Oracle following its acquisition of Taleo for $1.9 billion. Her entire team of 50 engineers and managers followed her.

As difficult as it may be to dig deep and explore personal fears (with

or without a business coach), Wong’s example demonstrates that we can all try to reach out to others and connect. It takes initiative, which starts with giving ourselves permission to be confident with our abilities and instincts, to be less than perfect, and to fail. This realization has served Wong well and brought her to a place where she has been making--and continues to make--significant impacts.

sheila Marcelo:

building the “Amazon of Care”

STORy by JASMINE AKOPhOTOS by ChRISTOPhER hUANg

28 | winter 2013 www.alist-magazine.com | 29

Like many crises, the big one in Sheila Marcelo’s life happened when she could least afford it. At the time,

Marcelo was managing multiple roles--graduate student and working mother of two--when her father had a heart attack while carrying her baby up a flight of stairs. She suddenly faced a huge problem: not only did she need care for her father, but she also needed help for her mother, care for her two young children and overall peace of mind as a young professional juggling responsibilities at work, school and home. It was only through a stroke of luck that Marcelo managed to find a reliable caregiver.

Although she eventually pieced together care for her family, this experience stuck with Marcelo and inspired her in 2006 to found Care.com, an online service that matches families with caregivers. Headquartered in Boston, Care.com offers a breadth of care solutions, including childcare, special needs, senior care, pet care, tutoring, housekeeping and benefits solutions for corporations.

“When it was time to start my own company, I knew that helping families find affordable, reliable, quality care was something that could truly make a difference,” says Marcelo.

Under Marcelo’s leadership, Care.com has garnered funding from Silicon Valley’s top venture capitalists, such as angel investor and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman. However, the most important vote of confidence may be from the more than 7 million members who consistently use its services.

Roots of Her Entrepreneurial Spirit

As a Filipino-American woman, Marcelo is not your usual CEO. In 2012, women held 14.3 percent of Executive Officer positions at Fortune 500 companies, and Asian Americans make up less than 2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs. What is Marcelo’s background, and how did it prepare her to lead a fast-growing Internet company?

While Marcelo’s own personal emergency helped light the idea for

Care.com, her entrepreneurial spirit can be traced back to her childhood in Asia. Growing up in the Philippines, she witnessed her parents’ determination to explore a variety of business paths to support her and her five siblings. Their

entrepreneurial pursuits included real estate, trucking, rice mills, and even chicken and duck farms.

“Watching them then, I saw very Filipino traits: resourcefulness, strong work ethic, innovation and care for others,”

says Marcelo. “I took these lessons to heart and they are very much a part of me and Care.com.”

Although Marcelo initially gave in to her parents’ wishes for her to be a lawyer and went to Harvard Law School, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her true interests lay in business and entrepreneurship. Following her gut, she simultaneously attended Harvard Business School and became one of a select group of people to receive a joint JD/MBA degree.

Rather than work for an established company or law firm out of graduate school, Marcelo took a risk and joined an Internet startup called UPromise, which helps families save money for college. She soon went on to work for another Internet company, TheLadders.com, a job-matching service for career-driven professionals.

“The two experiences solidified what I’d felt for a long time,” Marcelo reflects. “I wanted to use the power of technology to build a company focused on helping people.”

Building the “Amazon of Care”With that vision in mind, Marcelo

faced the immense task of constructing Care.com from the ground up. Pulling from her past experiences, she determined that building her company came down to two key, interwoven factors: people and values.

“It’s one of the things they don’t teach you in business school but it is fundamental to building a successful company,” she stresses. “Having the right team--a team that shares the same values and ideals--is essential to launching and growing a company, to attracting and retaining talent, and to navigating the myriad obstacles that arise along the way.”

However, to Marcelo, the “right team” was more than just skill sets. “For me, it is about people who share a value system,

“I don’t see things as hurdles,” shares Marcelo. “I see opportunities to test and iterate ideas. I believe it’s about evolutions, not

revolutions --both in work and in life.”

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30 | winter 2013

who have a common vision for what a team and a company should look and feel like. A team like that is self-motivating, because it has a unified purpose.”

For Care.com, only with everyone sharing the same values would the company be equipped to face the hard path ahead.

Opportunities, Not Hurdles The road at first was tough going for

Care.com as both a new company and a young player in the incredibly dynamic Internet space. Yet, instead of shying away from challenges, Marcelo chose to embrace them.

“I don’t see things as hurdles,” Marcelo shares. “I see opportunities to test and iterate ideas. I believe it’s about evolutions, not revolutions --both in work and in life.”

Following this philosophy of evolution, Marcelo and the Care.com team painstakingly tested multiple hypotheses over the years. They adjusted their initial ideas and took strategic risks to learn about what worked for them and what did not. The company’s attractive and user-friendly online platform, which allows caregivers and businesses to build profiles and users to easily customize their search for the right match, is testament to these changes.

Additionally, in order to make Care.com’s business model scalable, it had to be both realistic and ambitious. Using the company’s global expansion as an example, Marcelo explains that she and her colleagues had a lot to learn before even considering entering new markets. Different markets had different care challenges, and the company needed to evaluate the trade-offs of building from scratch or making acquisitions. Global expansion was certainly risky and ambitious, so waiting several years to evaluate the right options was vital.

“We’ve based our decisions on what we know it takes to build a successful operation, what the market challenges are --all things we didn’t know in 2006,” Marcelo says

.Giving Back

In this age of CEO private jets and golden parachutes, one special quality about Marcelo is her willingness to give back to the community. One issue that particularly struck a chord for her was women in entrepreneurship and empowering women in all fields to seize opportunities. She recognized the lack of female CEOs and leaders in the venture capital or technology space, let alone female CEOs in general.

Leveraging her resources and expertise, Marcelo channeled her energy into starting WomenUp.org, an organization that seeks to increase female entrepreneurship and opportunity worldwide by providing mentorship, access and knowledge through a collaborative community.

“We’re working to change how female leaders are perceived by others,” she says. “We also have to empower women and girls to see themselves as leaders. We need to instill in them that the characteristics labeled as ‘female’--things like valuing relationships, process, and empowered teams over achieving tasks and winning--are leadership assets, not deficits.”

WomenUp.org seeks to achieve greater empowerment through forums, events, online resources and developing a cohesive network for young women interested in business and entrepreneurship. By increasing opportunities for young women, WomenUp.org and like-minded organizations aim to provide women with the entrepreneurial skillsets they need to succeed.

Unfortunately, in the venture capital industry, women currently represent less than 10 percent of venture capitalists. Marcelo believes increasing that number is critical.

“Firms with at least one female partner are 70 percent more likely to lead investments in a woman-led company than firms with only male partners,”

Marcelo asserts. “When you consider the tech-space, where only 8 percent of all venture capital investment currently goes to female-led companies, you can see what an impact changing the status quo would have.”

In addition to her work empowering young women with WomenUp.org, Marcelo is a frequent speaker and adviser on entrepreneurship and a strong advocate for education. She is also a board trustee for the Philippine Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainable economic development, technology and innovation in the Philippines. Clearly, the values that serve as the foundation for Care.com also permeate through her professional and personal endeavors.

Going GlobalSo what’s next for the busy CEO,

mother of two, entrepreneur, advocate, and mentor? Marcelo currently has her hands full guiding Care.com’s international expansion, as the company recently launched in the U.K. and Canada, acquired Besser Betreut--the largest online care portal in Europe--in mid-July, and garnered an impressive $50 million in funding last August.

“As much as Care.com has grown, there’s tremendous opportunity ahead for us both geographically and in the scope of services we offer our members,” Marcelo says.

By leading with insight, emphasizing the importance of values and giving back to challenge the status quo, Marcelo is a great example for young women and Asian Americans seeking an inspiring figure. Not only is she a proven business executive, she is also putting her money where her mouth is and truly extending a hand to help other young women climb up the professional ladder.

“Giving back so that others can have opportunities similar to what I’ve experienced has been very rewarding.”

To read the full interview transcript with Sheila Marcelo, visit ALIST’s website at alist-magazine.com.

“We’re working to change how female

leaders are perceived by others.”

NAAAP International Convention Toronto Ontario, Canada Aug 8-11, 2013naaapconvention.org

“I represented the people of Hawaii and this nation honestly

and to the best of my ability. I think I did OK.

aloha.”

- Senator Daniel Inouye1924-2012