Devoted to women of color in business

I just returned from a wonderful trip to Honolulu to attend the annual Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) Hawaii Chapter installation and scholarship dinner, a fun-filled event with honorary guests, a silent auction, lucky raffle tickets, and entertainment. The new chapter president was sworn in at this event, which was graced with the attendance of Honolulu's mayor, Mufi Hannemann.

The event was held at the swanky Sheraton Waikiki, in the upstairs ballroom with about 50 tables of 10 people each. I sat with my host, Claudine Cheng, who gave me a fragrant lei and who introduced me to the various officers of the group. Thanks Claudine!

We had great food (six courses including egg flower soup, duck with taro, sweet and sour fish, and fried haupia -- mmmmm), and great conversation with the people at my table, including the OCA president-elect Susan Chong Wong, city councilpersons Rod Tam (District 6) and Romy M. Cachola (District 7), and the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism business development program manager Steven R. Lee.

I was definitely impressed with the enthusiasm these guests and all the others raised for the organization: the fundraising from just the lucky ticket sales alone topped $2500.

The Organization of Chinese Americans was founded in 1973 to advance the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) in the United States, and there are currently 80 chapters throughout the country.

[picture of Ginny Gong and Claudine Cheng from ocanational.org] 

The group recently completed a campaign to buy a building in Washington DC to serve as the main center and home for APAs nationwide: OCA is the first organization of its kind to make this kind of purchase. The importance of having a physical structure is very high to Asian Pacific Americans: it signifies that the group has arrived and is here to stay.

OCA plans to start a new Asian Pacific American Policy Institute and to provide other services from the Washington building.

[picture of new OCA building in Washington, DC]

What warmed my heart about this event was the members' emphasis on giving back to the community, especially to young people. OCA Hawaii sends young adults to Washington on a fellowship so they may learn more about how the government works. There's also a new Jessie Cheng Scholarship that sends young people to intern at the city, county, or state level to get a sense of how public service works.

 

I took away two ideas from the dinner:

1)  Being a part of a community helps smooth business connections.

Perhaps you've heard of the term guānxi (wikipedia entry) , which loosely translates into "social capital." The basic premise of this is just like whuffie (SistersinBiz article: Where is whuffie?), where you as an individual operate within a large network of people who help each other with mutual assistance, contacts, and support. In business, personal reputation means everything, and referrals and recommendations are extremely important in some cases.

From attending the dinner, I see the obvious benefits (friendship, connections, business opportunities, charitable giving) that come with being a part of a large network of people. When you tend to others, they tend to you.

2) To whom much is given, much is expected.

The honorees at the dinner were all leaders in business, government, and community organizing. I realized that it's so important to share back with people, groups, and associations who help you along the way. The OCA event honorees were all extraordinarily successful, and they all have the capacity and willingness to give back much in the way of time, treasure, and talent to help support the organization's mission.

I realized that part of the obligation and the benefit of being in a leadership position is you do have the ability to make policy changes or to create a reality out of an idea. I think all of us, especially women of color in business, may strive for even greater responsibility and even more opportunities in whatever situation we find ourselves.