Susan Au Allen
Susan came to the United States from Hong Kong on an invitation from the White House. She received her J.D. from the Antioch School of Law and an LL.M. in International Law from Georgetown University Law Center. For 17 years, she practiced law in Paul Shearman Allen & Associates of Washington, DC and Hong Kong, and became nationally recognized for her work on immigration, international trade and investment.
In 1984, Susan founded the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation with a group of civic and business leaders in Washington, DC, and became full-time National President & CEO in 2001. A strong and effective advocate for Asian American issues in the United States Congress and in the White House, her achievements reached a new level in Washington, DC when President George H.W. Bush appointed her to the Council of the Administrative Conference of the United States (1991-1996). In 1999, A-Magazine named her one of 25 most influential Asians in America. In 2005, she was installed into the Minority Business Hall of Fame at the Harvard Club in New York. In 2008, she was named one of 50 Diversity Advocates in the United States by Diversity Inc., among notables such as President William Clinton, President Jimmy Carter and Oprah Winfrey.
Susan has served on numerous Boards, National Small and Minority Business Councils including: the Kennedy Center Community Board, the Excelsior College Board of Trustees, the Virginia Small Business Finance Authority Board of Directors, The Washington Initiative of The Washington Board of Trade, the National Advisory Board of the Women's Small Business Summits held in Missouri in 2000 and 2002; the Small Business National Advisory Committees of the Import-Export Bank of the United States, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. General Services Administration, NASA; the National Diversity Council of TimeWarner, Wyndham International, International Franchise Association, American Hotel and Lodging Association, the Premier Automotive Group (Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo and Landrover), the U.S. Marine Transportation System, the U.S. Marine Corps, and American Red Cross.
Married, with two sons, Susan resides in McLean, Virginia.
ExpatWomen's Interview With Susan
ExpatWomen: Susan, you are indeed one remarkable woman. Not only are your achievements genuinely impressive, but we only had space to list half of them. What makes you so passionate and so driven?
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Susan: I came to the United States from Hong Kong after high school because two Americans saw potential in me after observing my volunteer work for people with disabilities in Hong Kong. They invited me to the United Nations, to attend a conference in Washington, DC, and to visit the White House. Their actions opened the doors to myriads of opportunities for me – a higher education that I would not have been able to attain had I stayed in Hong Kong as I was the second of six children dependent on our father's government salary. College or university was not in the cards. My future would have been going to teachers' training college, or enrolling as a nursing trainee, or working in an office while I waited to be married, possibly to a man with a sheltered mistress some where in Hong Kong or Macau.
I have been fortunate to have found the work that I love. First, as a lawyer, I continued what brought me to the United States – helping those who need help by finding solutions to their problems. As I moved from law to not-for-profit work at US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, I continue to offer my hand – to help Asian American entrepreneurs to become competitive in their quest for sustainability and growth in the increasingly global market place – and it is seeing the positive results that keeps me so committed to this mission. |
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ExpatWomen:
How may we ask did you score an invitation to live in the US from the White House? |
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Susan: I was a volunteer for the Caritas Lok Heep Club in Hong Kong. "Lok Heep" is a Chinese term meaning "Happy to Help." The chairman was Mr. Tom Garner who was the Hong Kong Commissioner of Corrections, my father's boss. The Club used to have organized visits from ex drug addict patients from the Corrections Department's rehabilitation division. These patients could not find jobs because they were shunned as the outcasts of society and they lacked confidence returning to the community. I would take notes for the Club‘s committee meetings, play "ping-pong" ball and chess with the patients to help them feel at ease and welcomed.
There was an advertisement in the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong looking for volunteers for the 4th Pan Pacific Conference on People with Disabilities in Hong Kong. I volunteered for a week. At the conclusion of the conference, Mr. Norman Acton who was Secretary General of the SADA (I can't remember the full name of the entity) which was an affiliate of the United Nations told me he was impressed by my work attitude and would like to send me an official invitation to see the United Nations and meet some of the people whom he thought I would enjoy meeting.
Mr. William McCahill who represented President Richard Nixon at the Conference had a separate talk with me, wanting to invite me to attend a conference by The President's Committee on the Employment of People with Disabilities in Washington, DC. In February that year, two invitations came in the mail, one from the United Nations, the other from The White House.
I didn't know the significance of these invitations and ignored them, leaving them on the coffee table in the living room. That was Chinese New Year. As a tradition, Mr. Garner paid his courtesy visit to his valued staff and their families, so he visited our flat. He saw the invitation, "The White House" printed in Raised Gold on white, with Miss Susan Au written in calligraphy. He was on the International Interdiction of Drug Trafficking Task Force and recognized the meaning of the invitation, asked my father how did his daughter get that invitation, and said, "Sanjo, in the United States, if they do not frame this invitation for their wall, they would put it in a photo album; and not leave it on the coffee table to be used as a coaster." So I decided to accept the US invitations. |
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ExpatWomen: How did you feel about leaving Hong Kong and how did you adjust to your new life in the United States? |
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Susan: When I landed in Hawaii, then to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, New York, and finally Washington, DC, I was awed by how vast this country was. I felt like the frog that had been living at the bottom of a well. Each time she looked up the top of the well, she saw the big blue sky, as big as the opening of the well! Then she jumped out of the well, and saw the real sky, from one end of the earth to the other.
I was touched by the warmth of the people who received me, and the generosity of the Americans I met. I was mesmerized by the opportunities that surrounded me. I met Labor Secretary Elliott Richardson at a White House event, was introduced to him as a young volunteer from Hong Kong who cared about people with physical disabilities and this tall American asked if I would like to stay in the United States. I politely said yes and my life was never the same again.
There was a lot to adjust to. Hong Kong was a British Colony. They practice "ladies first" and I carried that notion to America. I used to get upset when my date, now my husband, would take me to dinner at the restaurant and went directly to his seat while I stood in front of my chair waiting for him to pull the chair out for me. One time, I was so mad that I just stood there; he looked up and asked, "What's wrong?" I gave up. I missed the "ladies first" culture. |
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ExpatWomen: What inspired you to start the USPAACC Education Foundation? |
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Susan:
In 1984, when I founded the USPAACC and its affiliated Education Foundation in 1987 – that has grown to six regional chapters in California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Georgia, opening doors to the 1.3 million Asian American-owned businesses in the United States and their business partners in Fortune companies and governments in the federal, state and local levels, people talked about Asian American business owners only as restaurant owners, dry cleaning shop keepers and grocery stores merchants.
I saw a gap in knowledge in mainstream America about who we were: an incomplete but stereotypical view of the diverse and complex community that was Asian America – a community that grows good students, hardworking employees and loyal soldiers whose contributions to the country in the arts, education, science and technology, sports, and public service were not recognized by the mainstream society. Remembering the lessons that my father taught about unity in numbers equals strength, I thought an organization that would bring all the disparate Asian ethnic groups together could bring change to how Asian American would be seen, recognized and treated. I wanted to bring business people together as I believe if we are successful economically, we could contribute to political campaigns and help to effect change. It did. Money talked. |
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ExpatWomen: What is the USPAACC Education Foundation's purpose and core activity?
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Susan: Organization's purpose is to open doors of business, educational and professional opportunities to Asian Americans and their business partners in corporations and governments at the federal, state and local levels. Our annual conference, CelebrAsian Business Opportunity Conference, is the largest Asian American business conference in the United States, designed to connect Asian American entrepreneurs to buyers in Fortune companies and the various agencies in the U.S. government. Through our six regional chapters, our Procurement Connections also bring Asian American suppliers together with buyers from the regional offices of Fortune companies, the federal and state governments. |
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ExpatWomen: Can you share with us any success stories from the USPAACC Education Foundation? |
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Susan: MSL Express of New York met PepsiCo's Vice President for Global Procurement and became PepsiCo's transportation supplier. Discovery Medical of Los Angeles met the Hilton hotel group at our conference and now supplies US$1 million in hand soap to the Hilton hotels. AECSoft of Houston met Wells Fargo Bank through US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce and became the Bank's supply chain management contractor. |
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ExpatWomen: Susan, what would be your top five pieces of advice for business women migrating to the US? |
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Susan:
1. Learn the culture of the business you will be entering into.
2. Find a niche for your product(s) or service(s) and become the expert.
3. Be articulate and to the point.
4. Network, make connections, follow up, and
5. Keep up with the news about the economy, the labor force, national and local politics – read a variety of publications to get different points of view – and keep an open mind.
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ExpatWomen: Thank you very much for your time and insights, Susan. We stand in awe of your achievements and we wish you every success for the future. |
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US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce (USPAACC) Education Foundation
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February 2009 |
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