Yeni Wong’s life story is one of achievement. She rose through the community ranks from humble, minority beginnings to become Chinatown’s first female mayor in 1998. She has been acknowledged by friend and foe as a quintessential American success story and has often used her success as a symbol of the American Dream. She was characterized as a neo-liberal, a “new Democrat” community leader, and she experienced mixed success in Chinatown.
I met Yeni Wong in the 1990s when she spoke in Chinatown at the fundraiser for Taiwan 921 Earthquake Aid. Already, her essential public qualities—intelligence, compassion, eloquence, and wit—were on display. She was also a fighter for causes that counted. Whether people agreed with her or not, they learned quickly that it was worth paying attention to what she had to say.
Seventeen years later, Yeni has proven herself as the most successful female community leader in DC Chinatown’s history. Yet her incredible journey continues. As a dynamic community leader, she must summon all her skills as a communicator while facilitating a large crowd in a turbulent era on a community stage. For her, the hardest part may be accepting that in community revitalization, clear-cut wins and losses are rare. Chinatown revitalization is a carefully chosen phase, where unnecessary fights are avoided and multiple perspectives rigorously weighed. A skilled community leader rarely generates extreme reactions; often, the most one can hope for while speaking is that when heads nod in response, it is in quiet agreement, not slumber.
Can Yeni adjust? She already has. It helps that no one doubts her courage, toughness, or brains and that everyone knows who she is. It helps more that despite living under intense scrutiny for so long, Yeni knows exactly what she believes. The mission of community revitalization is in her bones. She loves to tackle hard problems and has an assignment now where the campaign is inexhaustible. She brings with her an entrepreneur’s ability to marshal arguments, a pragmatist’s skill at negotiating agreements, and a leader’s knack for making herself heard. In the end, she is more likely to change the task than the task is to change her.
She is the first female chairperson of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Washington, DC. She completed her formal education at a prestigious American university and made her career as president and CEO of Riverdale International and sole chair member of Gallery Court LLC. Standing at the helm of these two companies, she has played a vital role in reviving the spirit and life of downtown Washington, DC, developing two instrumental properties located in the heart of Chinatown. This impressive list of achievements begs the question, “What is the secret to Yeni’s success?”
Attendees from all corners of Chinatown crowded into a small community auditorium to find out. To the audience’s surprise, Yeni’s life story resembled an impeccably packaged gift. Behind every one of her accomplishments was a long list of inspirational anecdotes about dedication, struggle, and sacrifice.
When starting over in a new country, Yeni was not afraid to explore and embrace the American values of optimism and communication while retaining the traditional Chinese values of constantly seeking improvement and self-sacrifice. In her speech, Yeni graciously and repeatedly thanked her parents for the opportunities they gave her and her brother. Moreover, she noted that her mother instilled in her children an independent spirit and love for new experiences. Yeni made clear that she was able to achieve success in life because of the sacrifices made by her family members.
The most poignant lesson language learners in the community and around the Washington area could glean from Yeni’s speech was that the true secret to her success is, indeed, her verbal communication skills. Yeni speaks simply and clearly. She made her immigration story special with vivid imagery. She used easily digestible generalizations about the Chinese heritage and adjusting to different cultures to make her views memorable.
I admire Yeni Wong’s vision and effective communication skills in an interconnected world where all people have a chance to make the most of their talents. Yeni is curious, ambitious, thoughtful, open-minded, and has a big heart. She is willing to learn and grow, and Yeni cares deeply about fixing the inequities she sees in Chinatown. She has inspired people around the Asian community by creating the AAA-Fund and committing most of her wealth to taking on challenges such as improving education, connecting people, and building strong communities. Changing Chinatown once was not enough for her. I can’t wait to see what she’ll do in the decades to come.
As I've emphasized throughout this book, Yeni is a visionary. The changes taking place in Chinatown in Washington, DC, today are among the most remarkable developments in the United States. She sees that while there are many good causes and pressing problems, ultimately our chances of thriving as a species depend on tending and feeding the precious flame of knowledge. Her investments take the long-term view, with a focus on shifting the culture toward being more committed to the community she deeply loves as well as the virtues of curiosity and reason. She fosters a deep respect for the community in its immensity. She is indeed a visionary, helping to inspire a new definition of our nation’s capital while her personal commitment helps newly arrived Asian-Pacific American immigrants.