Sprouts – Priscilla Hsu
Priscilla Hsu (she/they) is a proud Californian and the first person in their family born outside of Taiwan in 14 generations! She is currently working as a full spectrum birthworker, providing prenatal, birthing and postpartum support, with a soft spot for contemporary zuo yue zi practices. They sit on the board of the Birthworkers of Color Collective and the Arroyo S.E.C.O. Network of Time Banks, a model where time is the dominant currency instead of federal dollars. Her work history features fundraising and operations for nonprofits to startups to political campaigns. When she’s not providing care or community building, you can find them surfing or forever trying to improve their Mandarin, Spanish and American Sign Language. They hold a Bachelor’s of Arts in International Relations and Asian American Studies from Claremont McKenna College. Feel free to say hi at www.IttyBittyCareCommittee.com!
Juniors – Kimberly Fang
Kimberly Fang is a 31-year-old violinist and teacher based in Providence, Rhode Island. She first came to TAF in 2014 as a Juniors counselor and has been in love with the community and its values ever since. She has always loved working with and teaching children and is very excited to be the Juniors Speaker this year. She also serves as Administrative Director for TAF. Kimberly dreams of the day when she can finally return to Taiwan after the pandemic settles down. In the meantime, she continues to hone her skills in being a cat whisperer, cross-stitching, and aerial yoga.
Junior High – Kara Chang
Kara Chang is a trans comedian and activist. Born and raised in Sugar Land, Texas, Kara graduated from UCLA with a degree in Communication Studies. She has performed standup comedy across the country for audiences upwards of 8000 people. Kara’s comedy intersects at giving a voice to communities that have been silenced and opening minds through the power of laughter. This is Kara’s 12th year of TAF, and she has served in the Junior High, Youth, and Labs programs. Kara can be seen starring in commercials nationwide.
Youth – Paul Song
Paul Song is an accomplished product leader with an expertise in driving the vision and roadmap for businesses. Currently serving as a Senior Product Manager at Amazon and previously holding the position of Product Manager at Gartner, Paul has a proven track record of successfully launching and scaling innovative enterprise products, resulting in substantial user and revenue growth. Before his career in the tech industry, Paul demonstrated his leadership abilities in the US Army, where he served as an Infantry Captain. Throughout his military service, Paul held various positions at the platoon, company, battalion, and Corps levels, showcasing his leadership skills and leading joint-military exercises in South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines. His achievements include successfully completing Ranger, Airborne, and Air Assault schools, which further solidify his capabilities as a disciplined and determined professional. Paul holds a Master of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Military Academy. His academic achievements further complement his practical experiences, allowing him to bring a well-rounded perspective to his product leadership roles. Overall, Paul Song exemplifies a professional with a wealth of experience in driving product strategies, leading teams, and delivering exceptional results. His combination of leadership, business acumen, and technical expertise positions him as a speaker to the next generations.
Labs – Andre ChenFeng
馮釋儀 Andre ChenFeng (he/him/his) is a 1.5 generation Taiwanese-American, once-undocumented, former English Language Learner, and first-generation community college graduate. Currently, he is in his final year of the Ph.D. program at Claremont Graduate University, with a focus on integrating contemplative practices and intersectional feminist theories into higher education, particularly around liberation-based healing with educators of color. He is also an adjunct faculty member at CGU in the Teacher Education Program who advocates for healing-centered conditions with pre-service teachers. Andre received his Associate of Arts in Child Development from Pasadena City College and his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master of Education in Urban Teacher Education from the University of California, Los Angeles. For twelve years, he taught seventh- and eighth-grade mathematics in the Los Angeles Unified School District. For eight of those years, he was a founding faculty member at UCLA Community School (public TK-12), located in Koreatown-Los Angeles. Before teaching at the secondary level, he taught three years of early childhood education at the Pasadena City College Child Development Center. Andre approaches his teaching and learning from a transformative perspective. His pedagogy is grounded in ethnic studies principles and “power with” rather than “power over” practices. Andre has participated in numerous professional development opportunities, including those offered by the National Equity Project, Google’s STEM outreach program, Cognitive Coaching, Transformative Educational Leadership, Institute for Teachers of Color committed to racial justice, and the Embodiment Institute. In his spare time, he watches This Is Us with his wife and enjoys shopping for deals on clothes, learning tools, and books for his son and daughter. His favorite Taiwanese foods include beef noodle soup with extra cilantro, Tie Guan Yin bubble tea with 30% sweet, pig’s blood cake, and grass jelly ice with peanut, green bean, and taro from Meet Fresh.