The Board: Guardians of Our Story
The story of Asian and Chinese pioneers in Santa Cruz and the greater Bay Area is rich, inspiring, and too often overlooked. Our board was brought together to reconnect these narratives, educate communities, and celebrate contributions across generations.
Board members
Rui Li
Rui Li is a community leader and educator dedicated to fostering international academic exchange and cross-cultural understanding. A graduate of Beijing University's School of International Studies, she also studied economics and business at UC Santa Cruz and holds CPA certification. Since 2009, Li has supported students from China in achieving success in American education and most recently founded Flex Kids Culture, a nonprofit promoting Chinese culture, academic enrichment, and international connections.
George Ow
Born in 1943 in Santa Cruz's historic Chinatown, George Ow, Jr. is an entrepreneur and philanthropist dedicated to preserving Chinese American history and supporting his local community. As a developer and business leader, he has contributed significantly to the region's growth while championing projects like the Santa Cruz Chinatown Memorial Archway to honor the city's forgotten Chinese heritage. Through his storytelling, public talks, and decades of community engagement, Ow continues to inspire pride and awareness of the Chinese American experience in Santa Cruz and beyond.
Sandy Lydon
Sandy Lydon is a historian, educator, and author who has dedicated his career to exploring the cultural, ecological, and social histories of California's Central Coast. His landmark book Chinese Gold is the first modern interpretive history of Chinese immigrants in the Monterey Bay region, uncovering their pivotal role in the area's development and challenging long-held myths and stereotypes. A longtime Cabrillo College professor, Lydon is also known for his community tours, columns, and storytelling that bring local history vividly to life.
Ru-shan Wu 吴如山
Ru-shan Wu is a distinguished geophysicist whose research on seismic wave scattering and Earth's inhomogeneities has advanced global understanding of geophysical processes. A PhD graduate of MIT and Professor Emeritus at UC Santa Cruz, he has served on international scientific committees and as a Corresponding Member of the European Academy of Sciences. Wu is recognized worldwide for his influential contributions to geoscience.
Zhang Tongdao 张同道
Zhang Tongdao is a leading documentary filmmaker, author, and professor based in Beijing. A graduate of Beijing Normal University, his work focuses on Chinese society, culture, and human relationships, often with a deeply humanistic lens. His films, including The Residents' Committee and Post-00s, have been recognized internationally and honored with awards such as Best Director at the Canada China International Film Festival. Zhang's storytelling brings rare insight into contemporary Chinese life and generational change.
Yuanyi Zhang
Yuanyi Zhang is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, pursuing an M.S.E. in Computer Science. His academic focus spans algorithms, quantum computation, and artificial intelligence, where he explores both theoretical foundations and practical applications. He earned his B.S. in 2024 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematics.
Yingjin Gan
Dr. Yingjin Gan is Head of Index Research at Bloomberg, where she leads the development of fixed income risk models and analytics for global investors. She has over 15 years of experience in quantitative research, risk modeling, and portfolio analytics, with previous roles at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. Yingjin earned her Ph.D. in Applied Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
L.S. Kim
L.S. Kim is a scholar of television history, race and representation, feminist criticism, and Asian American cultural production. She is the author of Maid for Television: Race, Class, Gender, and a Representational Economy and has published widely on media, culture, and social change. She serves on the Ms. Committee of Scholars and has juried for the American Film Institute Television Awards.
Xiaohong “Iris” Quan
Dr. Quan is a Professor of Entrepreneurship in the School of Global Innovation & Leadership at the Lucas College and Graduate School of Business, San José State University. Prior to joining SJSU, she was a SPRIE Fellow at Stanford University. Her research focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology management, with many publications in these areas. From 2017 to 2019 she served on the IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) Administrative Committee, where she co-organized flagship international conferences such as TEMSCON, and she serves on the editorial boards of several prominent innovation journals, including Technovation. Beyond academia, Dr. Quan is an investment partner at TSVC, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm, and Director of the Center for Global R&D and Innovation (GLORAD) Silicon Valley.
Student volunteers
Jaden Qian
Jaden is a student volunteer from Pacific Collegiate School, Santa Cruz. He has been developing the website for Flex Kids and updating it.
Jolene Qian
Jolene is a student volunteer from Pacific Collegiate School, Santa Cruz. She has been designing digital art material for Flex Kids.
Share a story, a photograph, or an afternoon
If your family has roots in the Chinatowns of Santa Cruz, Watsonville, Salinas or Monterey — or you have photographs, letters or objects that belong in this record — we would be glad to hear from you.
