The Portfolio Life
Curtis Chin wears his Asian-American heritage as a badge of honour. His passion for people, the planet and partnerships is infectious and reverberates in much that he does, his messages on key issues are conveyed appropriately, but always clearly when needed. Drawing from a diversity of experience in the private, public and non-profit sectors, he lends his voice to a portfolio of advocacies such as education, environment, social entrepreneurship, responsible business practices and other initiatives that impact people’s everyday lives.
Curtis is in the gold standard league of those who seek to pay it forward, helping to lift up others and making time to lend a hand when he can. He is a public figure, author, speaker, policy specialist and served as only the fourth U.S. ambassador of Chinese heritage. It comes as no surprise that one of his recent focus areas is a widely discussed topic worldwide—the need to address a spike in Asian hate crimes. His recent by-line published in Nikkei Asia, “Stop Asian Hate Has Relevance Everywhere, Even In Asia” has been viewed thousands of times across various social media platforms. And rightly so. It is a message that crosses borders.
He has served in leadership and operational positions in business, government and not-for-profits in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States including as the 15th United States Ambassador to, and member of the Board of Directors of, the Asian Development Bank under both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Interestingly, he once worked as an intern under US President Ronald Reagan.
Los Angeles, California, USA. 28th Apr, 2014. Curtis S. Chin, Asia Fellow, Milken Institute; Trustee, World Education Services; Former U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, in a panel during the Milken Institute Global Conference on Monday, April 28, 2014 in Beverly Hills, California. Credit: Ringo Chiu
Photo Credit: Twitter, @CurtisSChin with the The Dalai Lama
Source: Bloomberg, Curtis Chin, Milken Institute Asia Fellow
The managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group, which assists a range of start-up ventures, shares his personal and professional insights with WS.
WS: You’ve had a wide range of jobs across your successful career. What would you consider your three most interesting roles and why?
CC: I've been blessed to have been able to work across sectors—the public, private and not-for-profit. In terms of specific job roles, several really jump out. First, it's a true honour to be able to represent one's country, and I was able to do so as the U.S. Ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, a multilateral, international financial institution based in the Philippines that is focussed on fighting poverty through economic growth.
In my role as a member of the ADB's board of directors for nearly four years, I sought to put the focus on what I called more "responsible development.'' Specifically, that is "development focused on people, planet and partnership, particularly in Asia’s least developed nations." I am sure my fellow Board members got tired of hearing of my "3 Ps—people, planet and partnership—of responsible development," but there and elsewhere I felt simple, straightforward communication is key. Among the specific projects, I had the chance to visit were rural electrification projects in Bhutan, livelihood programs in the Philippines, and post-tsunami reconstruction work in India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. In each case, my focus was to understand the reality of a project's impact on people's lives—something that a board discussion paper might not fully capture.
In that regard, another role I'd spotlight is the period I took over as the Market Leader of the Beijing operations of international public affairs & communications firm Burson-Marsteller (now BCW Global). This was when China was just emerging in the mid-90s, and I had the chance to mentor and learn from colleagues as we built a business and together helped shape an evolving public relations industry in China.
Photo Credit: Twitter, @CurtisSChin with friend, former colleague & now Congressman @RepJoshG
Photo Credit: Facebook, Curtis Chin with Deepak Chopra
It was also a simpler time and one where I would still be able to ride my "Flying Pigeon" bicycle past stacks of Chinese cabbage and my local street vendor of roasted sweet potatoes on a brisk winter day.
And last, let me describe a third role that itself is composed of many facets—what I term the "portfolio life." It is not a single specific job, but one where I am able to build on all I've done to assemble a portfolio of present work, from serving as the inaugural Asia fellow of the non-profit, non-partisan economic think tank, the Milken Institute, to working with Equator Pure Nature, an entrepreneurial cleantech pioneer in Thailand, to assisting private equity funds, the Dolma Impact Fund (of Nepal) to TAEL Partners (of Southeast Asia). The common thread in all these: seeking to have a positive social impact. My advisory work with Equator Pure Nature, for example, has included working with the CEO Peter N. Wainman as the company's Pipper Standard brand has grown, both benefiting from but also helping drive the adoption of environmentally-friendly cleaning products. "A healthy environment," we say, "starts at home."
Photo Credit: Curtis Chin, Interview with Naomi Campbell
Photo Credit: Curtis Chin in CNBC, Street Signs
WS: What motivated you to get involved in the advocacies or causes you support today? Were there specific experiences that impacted your choice of advocacies?
CC: From my earliest pro bono and volunteer work with a not-for-profit called "Ashoka: Innovators for the Public" as a young 20-something-year-old, I was drawn to the notion that entrepreneurship can be applied to social causes. This concept of "social entrepreneurship" underscores also a core belief, which is that if we are going to drive change, we need to break out of our silos. The public, private and not-for-profit sectors can all drive change separately, but even more can be done together and in partnership. While my own day-to-day work and interests might have helped shape my choice of advocacies, even more important was how I learned from these organisations. From Mike Milken and the Milken Institute I have learned of the tremendous importance of not just access to education and to healthcare but also of access to capital. A great idea might just stay a great idea if it is not matched with the capital to help it develop and grow into a new venture, a new business or a new philanthropy.
My learning from the groups I support is especially true today when it comes to my ongoing efforts to actively speak up on the issue of anti-Asian discrimination in the United States and elsewhere. Many years ago, I served on the board of a non-profit group that is known today as the Asian American Federation. This New York-based not-for-profit has, for decades, played a key role at the community level supporting a diversity of Asian-American organisations. Its work in such areas as education, advocacy, research, capacity building and economic support has proved even more invaluable today and continues to inform me and others.
This past year, I was also able to partner with AAF and Drue Kataoka, a dynamic Japanese American, Silicon Valley-based artist and activist, to speak up on, as well as raise funds for, the Asian American community. Through the power of the social media app Clubhouse, Drue was able to help raise more than $90,000 for AAF, and we are now targeting $100,000 for the important work of the AAF and its "Hope Against Hate" initiative.
Photo Credit: Curtis Chin, with Harold Burson, Founder of Burson-Marsteller
WS: You’ve worked and interacted with some of the most famous individuals in the world. Who were the three that you found most interesting and why? Who did you find most inspiring and why?
In particular, since joining the Milken Institute, I’ve had the chance to meet a wide range of people as part of this Los Angeles-headquartered think tank's regular, major conferences, which bring together influencers to address some of our world's most pressing issues.
Three that come to mind are:
- supermodel, entrepreneur and philanthropist Naomi Campbell (she was delightful, and did you know, as she pointed out to me, that she is part Asian?!). She joined me on stage to speak about meaningful lives, including the impact that Nelson Mandela had on her life;
- actress Michelle Yeoh (she wins praise from me for helping us each get a glass of wine on stage), who spoke in part of the role that the film "Crazy Rich Asians" has played in challenging Hollywood stereotypes about what sorts of films can succeed at the box office. Michelle herself is a shining example of breaking stereotypes (whether playing a Star Trek captain, an equal to James Bond, or the formidable Crazy Rich Asians matriarch Eleanor Sung-Young, a role for which she deserved an Oscar nomination);
- author Kevin Kwan, who joined me to discuss the reality of wealth and inequality in Asia. Kevin is the author of the immensely popular, "Crazy Rich Asians" trilogy and more recently, the novel "Sex and Vanity," which while entertaining also raises important issues of race and social divides.
Yet, whether these three personalities or Al Gore, Goldie Hawn and others who I’ve had the opportunity to meet, for me the most inspiring person remains my long-time mentor, Harold Burson, who passed away in early 2020 after complications from a fall. Through his insights and his example, he showed me and others that influence, leadership and making a difference come in many shapes, ways and styles.
WS: What was the best piece of professional advice you've ever received?
CC: Building off that last answer about inspiring individuals, I return to Harold Burson. In February 2020, I returned back to the United States from Asia (and haven't been back yet due to the pandemic) to speak at Harold's memorial service at Lincoln Centre in New York. There I shared five pieces of wisdom from Harold and subsequently wrote a Japan Times opinion piece on Harold, entitled "Wisdom in the Age of the Coronavirus" […] in brief: "Be kind. Be Humble. Be Accountable. Earn Trust. Tell the Truth." That's both professional and personal advice with which you can't go wrong. [link below]
Photo Credit: Twitter, @CurtisSChin with Mike Milken, Milken Institute.org Global Conference 2021
Photo Credit: Twitter, @CurtisSChin with Laura Deal Lacey, Milken Institute.org Global Conference 2021
WS: What was the most important realisation you made in 2020/during the Covid year?
CC: No doubt, for me like so many others, the marked contrast between a relatively "safe" bubble while working from home for some 15 months in the United States and the devastating images first from Wuhan, and then Italy, New York, Brazil, the U.K. and now India of the impact of Covid-19, underscored the inequality that exists between and within nations.
Yet, given my work on the Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank and all my pre-pandemic travels and engagement across Asia, realisation of that imbalance was not new. What was new was the underscoring of the fragility of the world that we live in. That "safe" bubbles” can shrink. That "travel bubbles" can quickly burst. And that our place on one side or another of a divide—whether a health, economic or digital divide—can be quickly reversed.
Being in America during the pandemic, I saw too and learned from the diversity of experiences within the Asian American community. I saw the importance of representation matters whether in Hollywood or in business, and also the need to underscore that "Stop Asian Hate" also has relevance even in Asia. I witnessed the power of social media and of communications, and realised how my own skill sets and media connections could be used to bring attention to these and other issues. It was a year of going beyond my usual writings and communications on Asia and the United States, and on fintech, ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards, and CSR (corporate social responsibility).
In a Christian Science Monitor commentary piece, I raised a question that also applies elsewhere. Can all nations learn from their past, including how they treat their most vulnerable communities and citizens. Indeed, my Linked In post of a Nikkei Asia piece I wrote calling for introspection by all became a much engaged with and discussed article, "'Stop Asian Hate' has relevance everywhere” […]And with my buddy and videographer Jose B. Collazo, we re-focused one of my YouTube "Asia Minute" videos to highlight the issue of Asian discrimination. [links below]
That's something that each of us can take to heart, using our own unique perspectives and skill sets to share and to inform. Each of us can make a difference, even if it is in just one other person's life. When it comes to social media, I've been told, I'm relentlessly positive. (I'm ok with that! And feel free to follow along on Twitter @CurtisSChin and IG @AsiaMinute ) I've also been asked, why don't you join the haters online. My view: there's more than enough of them.
WS: What are you most excited about in the next 12 months?
CC: I’m hoping to get back to Asia and catch up with friends over some good Asian eats. These include Bhutan ema datshi and momos, Singapore black pepper crab, Thai pad krapow gai, Indonesian nasi goreng, Philippine lechon, and Japanese unaju.
Michelle | ws
Curtis Chin Insights:
https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Stop-Asian-Hate-has-relevance-everywhere-even-in-Asia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyXccmgPIcc
Tribute to Harold Burson: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2020/04/20/commentary/world-commentary/wisdom-age-coronavirus-pandemic/