In 1967, when Yeni Wong climbed the boarding stairs and found a window seat close to the front of Pan Am’s Boeing 707 headed for the United States, she was nervous, anxious, and lacking in the confidence that would later define her. The engines started, and the plane began to taxi. A short time later, as the plane lifted off the tarmac and launched into the blustery sky, a cheer erupted throughout the cabin. She closed her eyes and tried to visualize the new life awaiting her on a strange college campus, but all she could think about was that the flight seemed to take forever.
It was a long way from the Taipei airport to her first step on American soil in San Francisco. It was even a stumble-and-fall trip from there to the nation’s capital and a new job as a chemist. From her vantage point on the runway that day, she had no way of knowing if she were leaving the confines of a friendly, stable life and launching into oblivion.
It was a long way from the Taipei airport to her first step on American soil in San Francisco. It was even a stumble-and-fall trip from there to the nation’s capital and a new job as a chemist. From her vantage point on the runway that day, she had no way of knowing if she were leaving the confines of a friendly, stable life and launching into oblivion.
Fear seized and then released her from its grip. She looked ahead and took the first step to becoming one of the leading female billionaires from Taiwan. There was a lot of territory between her first step and the ultimate broadening of an empire that brought Chinatown, and her personal leadership, to new heights.
The amazing journey of Yeni Wong spans from Taipei, to Chicago, to Washington, with many stories in between. What can you expect from a woman who had only a couple hundred dollars in her pocket when she first came to America? Whatever your expectations may be, you certainly wouldn’t expect that young woman to become a billionaire. That’s what Yeni achieved in just half a lifetime.
Yeni’s life is full of people who helped her succeed. Through willpower, determination, and an unparalleled ability to learn from others, Yeni achieved her dreams. She has proven that she can achieve just about anything with sheer courage, talent, and determination.
I don’t mind telling you that I’m a great admirer of Yeni Wong’s. She is neither extreme nor unreasonable, which is why her philosophy has resonated with grassroots immigrants. She is not afraid to speak out against the crushing issues of gender and racial inequality we face. She is energized, rather than deterred, by the caustic criticism she constantly endures. As in many rags-to-riches stories, her success, it seems, is owed as much to luck as talent—she aspired to be a chemist (she received her PhD in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago) and is now a business magnate in Washington, DC.
So because she is smart, talented, accomplished, and a natural leader, not to mention attractive, there are two Yenis who live symbiotically within each other. First is a woman of principle, action, and compassion who fights for the powerless. Second is a beloved entrepreneur in Chinatown and a philanthropist. The two sides of Yeni inform each other. She can be the glamorous celebrity, but look closely at photos of her on the red carpet—there is kindness in her eyes as well as introspection and consideration.
Yeni was a chemist before she became an entrepreneur. She is an extraordinary entrepreneur, and one of my heroes. She has shown time and again that enthusiasm is the surest path to success in business. As the first female leader of a major association in Chinatown, Yeni has used her extraordinary talents to maintain the delicate balance of a community coalition. These talents were put to use in jump-starting Chinatown’s economy, which was in a slump when she took power in 1997. She is a woman who keeps to herself but with great personal standards and morality. She is a most successful entrepreneur who has made women of all ages envious.
I have always admired independent thinkers—those with the courage, faith, and intuition to forge their own ways. In business, these pioneers take calculated risks, care less about bottom lines and more about ideas and innovation, and are intent on bettering the world along the way. Yeni defines this approach. She has not only made it to the top with the cards stacked against her, but she has also made extraordinary contributions to our community through her philanthropic efforts.
I believe Yeni could have been elected congresswoman, but she chose the harder and arguably more important job of running Washington’s biggest and often most challenging district: Chinatown. The work of reforming this area represents her Mount Everest—a ferocious challenge—but she’s helped its revitalization as nobody else could.
But it may be her pioneering leadership in our community’s nascent field of philanthropy that will be Yeni’s lasting legacy. Ultimately, how she approaches philanthropy could prove to be just as important as how much she gives. Her philanthropic work has been characterized by collaboration and transparency. She is setting a remarkable example for those who have benefited so enormously from Chinatown’s economic expansion and are looking for ways to give back.
Yeni actively pursues a deeper understanding of the world around her, and her humanitarianism lends depth and wisdom to her key characteristics as a true philanthropist. She is a proud mother of two, a devoted wife, and the head of a gracious enterprise group. But make no mistake: her resolve is steadfast, and Asian American women are the better for it.
In the pages to follow, I present a well-rounded, balanced view of Yeni set squarely in her time and place. Woven into the biographical narrative are cultural, social, political, and personal forces to let the reader see Yeni in her full complexity, even majesty. I also give her the opportunity—through extensive interviews—to share her hopes, her victories and defeats, her despair, and her joy through her own words and deeds in addition to those of her closest companions and compatriots.
Yeni Wong is quite simply one of the greatest leaders, and personalities, in her community and beyond. This book will explore the mystery of the true trajectory of her life and journey with its zigzag bursts, or risks, examined in more detail.
Yeni Wong is quite simply one of the greatest leaders, and personalities, in her community and beyond. This book will explore the mystery of the true trajectory of her life and journey with its zigzag bursts, or risks, examined in more detail.