Yeni Wong leads other Chinese American women in pursuing their dreams by demonstrating what is possible. Bursting through the barriers of the male-dominated community of competitive business, Yeni Wong is the first Chinese American woman to become a successful entrepreneur in Washington, DC. She is the owner of a four-story building in the heart of Chinatown and is seeking a sharply higher rent as developers and business owners transform the neighborhood. With strong support of her family and a handful of others who wanted to witness the first Chinese American woman of her background succeed, she withstood criticism on many fronts and achieved personal success.
Yeni Wong serves as chairperson of the Institute for
Taiwan-America Studies and as chair of the board,
president, and chief executive officer of Riverdale International Inc. She also
serves as a managing member of Gallery Court LLC. She founded the National
Asian American Political Empowerment Fund (also called Asian American Action
Fund) and serves as its president. Yeni was the president and chair of a number
of business ventures, including the Chinatown Garden restaurant. Prior to
becoming a restaurateur, business owner, and developer, she was a research
chemist at the US Department of Agriculture.
She has continued to wade through a sea of
challenges as she serves as director of the National Women’s Business Center.
She served as chair of the board of directors of the
Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, the Chinese Community Benevolent
Alliance, and the Temple of Cun Yum in Washington, DC.
She followed up her success by serving as the first female
on a special task force for community safety in Chinatown. Yeni also served as
an executive board member of the downtown DC Business Improvement District
(BID) and a board member of the National Museum of the Women in the Arts. Yeni has
also taken an active role in her community, holding the position of, among
others, the mayor of Chinatown (CCBA chair) for
two consecutive terms.
Yeni imagined a life much different from the one she has
today. From a homemaker looking after her husband and two children, she turned
into a fearless defender of Chinese American female rights, working tirelessly
to support Chinatown’s development and supporting many others whose needs were pressing.
“My dream and my call is to see the community of Chinese
American women achieving in national and local business and community affairs
through the same equal opportunities,” Yeni said.
I asked her for her thoughts on some of these vital
issues.
Is the fact that you are a woman part of what has allowed
you to achieve all that you have accomplished?
Yes, as a woman, it makes it easy for me to talk with
people. I can build alliances and create channels to give voice to the
voiceless. I have spoken to many immigrants from Asia Pacific and organized
support for families in despair. Never having lost hope in the society and
local political system, I have worked with stakeholders across all sectors to
influence changes and structural transformation to ensure Asian Pacific America
lives up to its promises and obligations.
What were some of the greatest obstacles you had to face
to get where you are today?
Like anywhere else for those who work to promote Asian
Pacific Americans, I have often been challenged by unknown people about my work
for Asian-Pacific American rights and rights of women left behind. As a Chinese
American woman who works on women’s rights issues, personal security is my concern.
What do you believe is your greatest contribution to
society and your community?
I believe that it is absolutely necessary to combine the
local-level work with the national, regional, and international level. I make
the connections between the work with individual Asian Pacific Americans and
their families to the local government in the Chinatown district. I can also
bring the painful stories from the ground to the local government agencies and
the national level for Asian-Pacific American issues.
What is your message for Asian-Pacific American women and
girls who might be inspired by your journey?
Engage yourself in common Asian-Pacific American
struggles. Try to be a remedy for the difficulties of others. Your own problems
become less important when you do this, and this is a great way to engage
yourself in society. Regardless of the extent of the barriers and obstacles you
might be facing from society and the community, never stop fighting for your
dreams and paving the way for other Asian-Pacific American women too. I want to
say that, actually, most Asian-Pacific American women experience conflict in a
different way than most men. They also develop unique skills and expertise for
resisting, addressing, and preventing conflict. Work on immigration and
community cannot afford to neglect constructive contributions of women. You
should not lose hope and should always be strong and courageous
to make changes.
What do you think have been the most important factors in
getting you where you are today?
I have experienced double discrimination being a Chinese American and being a woman, but this has given me an opportunity to change this. I already had the compass of universal rights and freedoms, but I realized the discrimination faced by Chinese American women was much more. I want to express my gratitude to those before us who struggled for these opportunities. I also think that growing up surrounded by my community’s miracles—waking up early and collecting the eggs and berries for breakfast—helped me to understand the merging of Asian-Pacific American rights and how important it is to stand up for it. Education has been a key factor for me, and it has really played a vital role in getting me where I am today. My family also influenced and encouraged me a lot, and my work as an informal community fighter gave me an opportunity to work closely with the communities. Ultimately, they inspired me to run for the position of mayor of Chinatown (CCBA chair) for two consecutive terms.
What are some of the challenges that Asian-Pacific
American women face today?
Asian-Pacific American women are monitored through sexuality in some traditionalist societies. If you do not change the expectation for chastity imposed on most Asian-Pacific American women, then you cannot create strong female role models with just a handful of successful Asian-Pacific American women at the top. And this chasm between the two groups gets so wide that the majority gets wrapped up with values that are unknown to the minority. This becomes a threat to modern life, making it harder to develop or progress in any sense. However, when we look at the century we are in as a whole, we see that closed societies do not actually fight against the immoral crimes that are hurtful to human dignity. They don’t even include them in the statistics of the country, and this is what we are working to change now.
Has Bbeing
an Asian-Pacific American woman, has that affected your road to where
you are today and how?
Honestly, my parents were always supportive,
and that helped me a lot. Being an Asian-Pacific American woman did not affect
my journey; however, the society perceives that I should be doing something
else. Sometimes they believe that I should be staying in a family instead of
doing what I am doing, but I believe that everything comes at the right time,
and it’s not about the time; it’s
about the person.
Tell us a bit about your ambitions and those who inspired
or influenced you to be who you are today.
Concerning my ambitions, I am very interested in working with people with disabilities. My goals is that one day they will live normal lives in their own community, which includes education and job opportunities. I cannot specify a certain person who inspired me, as I have met a lot of inspiring people. God gives every person a specific talent in which he or she excels, and I look up to excelling people in different fields.
What do you think have been the most important factors
that have helped in getting you where you are today?
The first factor was my family, specifically my mother.
She supported me step by step. Whenever I was letting go, she pushed me to
continue, especially in the field of community service. If I did not belong to
this family and did not have these parents, I would not be where I am today.
How do you cope with being one of the few Asian-Pacific
American women in your community of work, which is predominantly male?
When I first joined the local community activity, I had trouble getting recognition due to the belief that women are going to stop being entrepreneurs to get married and raise a family. Yet as I started to excel and prove my determination and dedication, receiving a lot of awards, much more attention was given to me and other female Asian-Pacific American players. Since it’s a male-dominated Chinatown and I was the lone woman in the whole of the community, it was initially difficult to get cooperation from males, but I have overcome that over the years. They now see me as an equal partner in decision-making and respect my views. After assuming my position as the mayor of Chinatown, I managed to do a lot of development work, namely to revitalize the economy, renovate and construct a new CCBA building, improve community resilience, and successfully lower community crime rates.
What is your main message for the Asian-Pacific American
younger generation? What should they learn from your experience?
I have had a very good experience being the first female entrepreneur in Chinatown. I would like to encourage all aspiring young girls to come forward and participate as candidates in the next local government elections. The main message that I would like to give is that everyone is equal and that being an Asian-Pacific American woman should not hinder active participation. I can say with confidence that if Asian-Pacific American girls and women are capable, they should participate in local elections. They have to follow their passion. That’s how they are going to excel. As my mother always used to tell me, “Nothing is impossible; you can be anything you dream of.”
Yes, being an Asian-Pacific American woman entails many obstacles, even more so in Chinatown. Just the simple fact of being an Asian-Pacific American woman gives you more disadvantages in many areas. But ever since I became an entrepreneur, I have taken life by the reins, and if I’ve made a mistake, I’ve learned a lesson. Today I’m grateful that I decided to do things differently and overcome the obstacles, discrimination, and inequality. I’m thankful I have stayed true to my dreams of obtaining society’s recognition for the community work I do, ensuring that Asian Pacific women are no longer excluded from laws and that the contribution of our work to society is understood.
What message would you like to give to young Asian-Pacific
American women? What should they learn from your experience?
Do what they like to do, make their own decisions, and
listen to the experiences of others, taking in everything that can help them.
Asian-Pacific American female leaders have been my inspiration, my tribute to
everyone today who has played a key role in my struggles and in my life.
What message would you like to share with the
Asian-Pacific American women and children who are inspired by your work?