This week during our opening community circle to ground our youth in our space, one of our youth media producers asked, “What inspired you to start BAYCAT?” I paused as I thought about how I’ve answered that question countless times, even while BAYCAT was an idea without a name and this indescribable unrelenting feeling in my gut. My usual answer was shaped around not seeing myself represented in media, and how I wanted to bridge the digital divide and create access for those who didn’t have the same educational or employment opportunities, especially in media. A compelling left-brain answer that made people see the problems, and then if I was lucky enough, they would want to know how I was going to “fix it.”
Contextually, I shared with our youth that 20 years ago, THIS smartphone [I held up my iPhone] and YouTube didn’t exist; the internet was not what it was today and was only accessible, if at all, with a dial-up modem. As I was saying all this, I had a flashback to the first brick-sized cell phone I used and wished I could reproduce the beeps and whirring sounds to intrigue them more. I then realized to myself, I have indeed turned into that “OLD” person in the room who is talking about what seems like ancient history because none of them were born 20 years ago, and maybe their parents hadn’t even met yet.
I also have discovered over time that I could shape my answer with more of my personal story, but that did depend on who was in the room. I learned that the pitch to funders was most effective if it followed the Hollywood formula, the “rags to riches” story. So talking about my career path and leading with my credentials, allowed me to feel that I belonged in the same room: Double BA in electrical engineering and economics from an Ivy League school, to being a commercial banker on Wall Street and then a corporate lawyer, to discovering nonprofits, to becoming a SFUSD school teacher to incubating BAYCAT’s curriculum in my own classroom. Oh and the “rags” part was that my first job was working with my Mom in the sweatshops in Chinatown, NYC.
The curious raised eyebrow sideways looks of, “What, you were a lawyer?” may have gotten me another meeting, but would they really relate to why I took a leap of faith to leave the boardrooms, the briefcases, and the big bucks behind?
It has always been about the power of stories, how they shape or define us and create a sense of belonging, or sadly, othering.
I knew that the stories being told about people who looked like me, and those from communities I identified with, were not just missing or incomplete; they were harmful. I didn’t know how to explain it as I was embarking on this unpaved entrepreneurial storytelling journey as a young Chinese American female professional. Even though on the one hand, I had the business chops and law credentials, I wasn’t confident of the worth of my own story, where I belonged, and where I could make a difference.
Philosophically, BAYCAT had to be about changing the storytellers to change the world, and I was willing to be the guinea pig.
Media, with all its flaws, was my mentor, and it continues to have influence in expanded forms for us today. [Let’s put a pin in that one.] Thankfully, especially in the early days of my journey, there were other mentors and supporters whose sideways glances turned into full-body, lean-in, wide-eyed replies, “Tell me more,” and “How can I help?” conversations. Starting with earning the trust of the youth, their families and caretakers, educators and community partners from Bayview Hunters Point, to my earliest inspiration from Bill Strickland and Manchester Bidwell, to founding Board members, Herbie Hancock and Keith Kappmeyer, and seed investors, Jeff Skoll and Pierre Omidyar and support coming from Mayor Willie Brown and representatives from the City and County of San Francisco. I was and we were not alone, because, at the core, we all shared the same vision and desire to be seen and heard, exactly as we are.
My other key mentor? My Mom, Margaret Jow Wei Wang. She was an entrepreneur, fashion designer, artist, quilter, devout Christian, best cook ever, the one who braided my long hair and who berated and disowned me when I quit the law. Her sheer presence in my life and the absence of sharing the vital parts of her own story with me were at the root of my yearning to unpack our stories. Ultimately, in BAYCAT speak today, for her (and me) to reclaim our stories.
Berating me for years transformed slowly into belief. I am missing my Mom profoundly today as I look back on this ribbon-cutting photo that takes on an even deeper meaning 20 years later. She wrote her first story ever about a memory of her life in China as a young girl. Together we translated her Chinese draft into English, and it was a miracle to me that she was open to reading it aloud and having it published in a first collection of memoirs at BAYCAT. That experience bonded her to the teenagers, moms, and grandmas in her writers’ group.
She said to me after that experience in Chinese, “Now, I think I understand why you gave up the law.” 🥺
Though my Mom has passed away, here she is memorialized in this photo, standing by the window in the red jacket watching then San Francisco District Attorney, Kamala Harris, command the stage at our ribbon cutting and hearing Kamala’s powerful story. And in the far right is one of our first youth storytellers, Dominique, who was probably close to my age in the photo above, studying her future Vice President (& hopefully, our first BIPOC female future President of the United States).
What a journey we have had! From the countless people who may still look at me or us sideways, it has truly taken a village, and an infinite amount of people, who have said, “Yes! I see YOU! Your story matters!” to bring us to today.
What I have witnessed is that the power of each person’s story combined in community creates a movement toward positive systemic and social change.
As we think about BAYCAT 21.0 and beyond, our refreshed vision is rooted in the belief that media can and should be a tool for justice.
As BAYCAT turns 20, we are launching a new vision: to be the premier anti-racist creative career pathway. From education to employment, we are hyper-focused on continuing to reshape the creative career pathway for BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and women creatives so that our stories are centered, developed and seen.
Back to that pin I placed above. Technological advances have been the accelerator to expanding the reach and depth of media to the point that 20 years after I started BAYCAT, everyone with a smartphone and access to the internet can be a published storyteller. So, do we still need BAYCAT? 🤔 You tell me!
As storytelling tools like A.I. and new technologies evolve, will we use them to reshape the media landscape to be more just, or will it once again, rewrite or erase us?
We need good people who see us and get us in every part of this complex ecosystem that shapes media to continue to band together and design us into the future.
Because as the technologies, media landscapes and the world have evolved, YOU, the community of BAYCATers, have been our safety net when we have stumbled and times have been hard, and YOU have also been our trampoline to uplift us even higher to be seen in the world. More than I could have ever imagined for BAYCAT and for me. YOU see me, and my Mom. You’ve helped me be a storyteller, and your stories continue to uplift me and make me feel a sense of belonging. BAYCAT belongs to YOU. It is YOU. 🥰
With a full heart of the deepest gratitude to the growing BAYCAT community, thank you for getting us to 20 years of changing the storytellers to change the world! Happy Birthday, BAYCAT! Here’s to the next 20++ years! 🎉 I ❤️ YOU, BAYCAT.
#BAYCAT20Years P.S.: Watch our 20-year journey in this short video.