Growing trend of Asian-American philanthropy

An opinion held by Ms. Yoon, a former news correspondent for Fox who was born in South Korea and moved to the United States when she was 6: “In some ways for immigrants, the better off you become, the more disconnected you become from your community needs.” The community is now redefining its “idea of success,” Yoon explained. “We grew up with this idea that success is the more distance you can create between yourself and the pack. But it’s really about how much of the pack you can bring along.”

Lulu C. Wang, a money manager and philanthropist in New York, and her husband, Anthony Wang, established themselves in the vanguard of the new wave of Asian-American philanthropy when they donated $25 million to Wellesley College, her alma mater, in 2000.

Dien S. Yuen, a philanthropy consultant focusing on Asian-American giving, predicted that the surge in philanthropic activity among Asians is “only a beginning.”  Ms. Yuen adds, “I think in the next three or four years, there’s going to be huge growth, because philanthropy has become mainstream.”

“A lot of donors, when they first come through the door, don’t even know they can do all these things,” said Ms. Yuen. “They don’t even know they can get a tax deduction for giving a gift overseas.”

[New York Times]

This entry was posted in International Cooperation, Philanthropy by Grant Montgomery.