2023 Global Chinese Philanthropy Training Workshop

Global Chinese Philanthropy Research and Training Program

Thursday, June 8, 2023
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM (Pacific Time)
Click here to register

Online via Zoom webinar

Thursday, June 8 at 5:00-6:30 PM (Pacific Time)

Friday, June 9 at 8:00-9:30 AM (Beijing Time)

The goal of the Global Chinese Philanthropy Research and Training Program is to integrate networking building, research, and training to bridge intellectual inquiry and professional practice in the field of Global Chinese Philanthropy. The program also seeks to foster passion and interest in volunteerism, stimulate innovative research ideas, and encourage the sharing of best practices related to Global Chinese Philanthropy.

The 2023 Global Chinese Philanthropy Training Workshop will feature a panel of philanthropists, scholars, and practitioners who will discuss and share their experiences from a variety of perspectives.

• Chair: Professor Min Zhou, UCLA Asia Pacific Center
• Moderator: Dr. Marina Tan Harper, UC Davis
• Panelists:
  • Mr. Leo Chu, Chairman of the Morning Light Foundation
  • Ms. Vivian Long, Executive Director of the Long Family Foundation
  • Mr. Peter Ng, CEO of Chinatown Service Center (CSC) Los Angeles
  • Professor Jiangang Zhu, Nankai University

Leo Chu is a Chinese American entrepreneur with decades of business experience in Los Angeles. Mr. Chu and his wife immigrated from Hong Kong to the United States in 1975. They started an apparel company, California Ivy, Inc. that became one of Los Angeles’s largest private clothing companies. Shortly after, Mr. Chu became the owner of Hollywood Park Casino and Crystal Park Casino, as well as the co-owner of Lucky Derby Casino. These achievements earned him distinction as the first and only Asian American to own casinos in California. Chu contributes to his community by serving on the boards for Special Olympics and Morning Light Foundation and has also served as the President of Los Angeles Shanghailander Association.

Marina Tan Harper has been Senior Director for International Development at UC Davis since 2016. In this role, she has customized giving platforms for alumni, parents, and friends of UC Davis to give from abroad: Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Canada. Understanding local giving traditions, propensity to give, affinity, connectedness, and readiness of varied constituents on the ground, she knows this is not one-size-fits fundraising. Marina was also the Founding Director of the Development Office at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. During her tenure from 2005-2014, $500 million of private support was raised, she made a deep and transformational impact on students, faculty, and the university through public support with the naming of: Wee Kim Wee School, Rajaratnam School, Lee Kong Chian School, Lien Ying Chow Drive, Tan Chin Tuan Lecture Theatre, Toh Kian Chui Annex, Margaret Lien Centre for Professional Success, and Sembcorp Marine Lab. Marina Harper earned her PhD in Philanthropic Studies from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University. Her research is focused on diasporic Chinese philanthropy.

Vivian Long is the Executive Director for the Long Family Foundation, an intergenerational, private nonprofit organization that funds religious, educational, cultural, and research endeavors. Vivian works closely with members of the family and values-aligned nonprofit leaders to promote the Foundation’s core principles of faith, compassion, and commitment to strengthen future generations’ philanthropy. Vivian received both her MPA and BA from New York University. She currently serves on the boards of Asian American Futures, China Institute and Asia Society Southern California and the Generosity Commission’s Faith and Giving Task Force.

Peter Ng is Chief Executive Officer of the Chinatown Service Center (CSC), which began as a small group of community volunteers who recognized the need to address the problems of Chinese immigrants. In 1971, the Chinatown Service Center became an established nonprofit organization, and now assists over 30,000 unique clients each year through 150,000 touch points, providing services such as healthcare, financial planning, and as well as care for youth. Chinatown Service Center’s mission is to provide outstanding services and advocacy that promote better quality of life and equal opportunity for immigrants and other communities.

Dr. Min Zhou is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Asian American Studies, Walter and Shirley Wang Endowed Chair in US-China Relations and Communications, and Director of the Asia Pacific Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Zhou’s main research areas are in migration & development, race and ethnicity, Chinese diaspora, and the sociology of Asia and Asian America. She has published widely in these areas, including the award-winning book The Asian American Achievement Paradox (with Lee, 2015), The Rise of the New Second Generation (with Bankston, 2016), Contemporary Chinese Diasporas (ed., 2017), and Beyond Economic Migration: Historical, Social, and Political Factors in US Immigration (eds., with Mahmud, 2023). She is the recipient of the 2017 Distinguished Career Award of the American Sociological Association (ASA) Section on International Migration and the 2020 Contribution to the Field Award of the ASA Section on Asia and Asian America.

Dr. Jiangang Zhu is an anthropology professor from the Department of Sociology at Nankai University, Tianjing. He has been the professor at the School of Sociology and Anthropology at the Sun Yat-sen University for thirteen years. He teaches anthropology and social work and has served as Executive Dean of the School of Philanthropy at SYSU since 2011. He was a visiting scholar at Harvard University in 2007–2008 and Fulbright Scholar at the IU Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI. Dr. Zhu has been researching a range of fields including civil society and philanthropy, community development, non-profit management, and social movements. His major publications are Between the Family and the State: Ethnography of the civil associations and community movements in a Shanghai lilong neighborhood and Power of Action: Cases studies of private volunteer organizations. Besides his academic positions, he has also served as Director of the Center on Philanthropy of Nankai University, and as the vice director on the board of Guangdong Harmony Foundation, the first community foundation in China. Besides his academic positions, he serves as Director of the Center on Philanthropy of Nankai University, and as the vice director on the board of Guangdong Harmony Foundation, the first community foundation in China.

This workshop is part of the Global Chinese Philanthropy Research and Training Program and made possible with the support of the Cyrus Tang Foundation.

Sponsor(s): Asia Pacific Center, Center for Chinese Studies