Yeni Wong is a symbol of strength for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders across Chinatown, in Washington, DC, and also across the United States. It was she who came up with the slogan, “Electing Our Leaders, Empowering Our Community.” Yeni not only spoke those words but also dedicated her life to empowering Asian women beyond the national capital region through politics and philanthropy.
She has been a source of strength for many Asian women
leaders.
Yeni Wong also serves as the chair and cofounder of the
influential Asian American Action Fund. The AAA-Fund is a progressive political
organization that is dedicated to empowering Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
across the United States. Through the AAA-Fund, Asian Pacific Americans (APAs)
from different ethnic groups and from all over the country work together to
increase the voice of the APA community in local, state, and federal
government. We do this by helping to elect APA and other political candidates
who have a demonstrated commitment to the community and by engaging APAs in the
political process.
When you talk to Yeni Wong, her bright, sparkly blue eyes always look as if she has just discovered something, whether you’re talking about number 2 pencils or the cosmos. She is that passionate about everything. That’s why she has such good radar—she’s open to the whole experience that is Chinatown as a community. She’ll take a good idea from anyone, and she’s willing to try anything. It can be as wild and imaginative as possible—as long as it’s authentic.
Yeni does not take her abilities for granted. She deserves
all of her success because she is one of the most hardworking and disciplined
people I know. She is a world-class entrepreneur and a true champion in every
sense of her philanthropic endeavors. Yeni is on a mission—and how amazing that
we all get to witness it in DC Chinatown.
Yeni Wong is generally described as a restaurant owner.
This is wrong. Yeni Wong is a revolutionary who wants to change the world
through food. In the ’90s, when she established her Golden Kingdom restaurant,
Chinese cuisine was considered an oxymoron. Yeni set out to change that, persuading
farmers, foragers, and fishermen to raise fresh local food for Golden Kingdom.
That kick-started the farmers’ -market
movement and proved that American produce could equal anyone’s.
Insisting that good food was a right, not a privilege, she
then turned her focus to the community. Yeni’s belief that we should teach
nutrition in the local community was once considered quixotic, but her project
pioneered a citywide movement. Golden Kingdom is undoubtedly the most
influential restaurant of its time in Washington, DC, but Yeni’s legacy extends
far beyond that. She proved the power of a restaurant owner, showing an entire
local community that one passionate person can reshape the eating habits of a
community.
A force of nature—that’s what pops into my head every time I have the opportunity to
see Yeni Wong in person. And it’s not just because of the brilliantly black or
sometimes gray hair. It’s because of the brain underneath it.
Yeni doesn’t just sit at the table. She builds a better one. Today she sits at the head of the boardroom table at the Institute for Taiwan-America Studies. In March 2016, she took the world by surprise when she invited the former premier of Taiwan to make a speech on Capitol Hill.