New Beginnings
By: Anderson Shih
All great journeys must start with a beginning. And this year, on August 11th, the Youth Entrepreneur Society began its second year in this kick-off meeting to mark the start of a new journey. Over 150 people showed up, excited to begin this next year of memories and experiences.
Emcee James Huang started off by introducing all of our new members to the Youth Entrepreneur Society by showing and promoting the YES promotional video. He then continued by introducing all of our distinguished guests some of which included Lily Bao, councilwoman of Plano; Tom Tong, the President of the Dallas chapter of the USCCC; Suzanne Chen, the President of the Dallas Chapter of the International Leadership Foundation; Joe Chow, the Mayor of Addison; as well as Frisco and Plano ISD board members.
Some keynote speeches included Addison Mayor Joe Chow’s speech, where he recounts his political career and how he persevered through his hardships, persisting his way through discrimination and sacrificing to reach his current position. He described his business experience and urged YES members to become more politically involved, sending a powerful message to YES members.
Plano Councilwoman Lily Bao gave a similar speech about her political career, in joining the Plano City Council, as well as encouraging Asians to participate in politics, echoing Mayor Chow’s concerns. There were other keynote speakers, including the President of the International Leadership Foundation and the US-Taiwan Chamber of Commerce as well as some others. However, they eventually surrendered the floor to the YES leadership team to introduce YES to its new members.
Past YES members explained what the Youth Entrepreneur Society is about, with some explaining that YES is all about opportunities whereas others explained that YES is all about building useful relationships and meeting new people. Members described all the fun as well as valuable experiences that they had within the last YES year and encouraged all members, new and returning, to keep attending these valuable and insightful meetings.
Incumbent President, Macy Su, welcomes new members and parents.
Incoming President, Fiona Chen, welcoming new members and parents.
Finally, the previous leadership team introduced this year’s new leadership team, one that features three new branches with three new vice presidents. The three new branches include event planning, social media, and the treasury; community involvement and journalism; and fundraising and the historians. The three branch heads include Catherine Tong, Li Shen, and James Lu, respectively. All of these branches are unified under one president, Fiona Chen, and yet staffed with staff members composed of many veteran members with previous experience. With this year’s brand new leadership team, it seems YES is off into a bright future, one full of memories and dreams.
Thomas and James Lu (left) and Diana Xiao (right) introduce themselves as well as cover opportunities within YES
Linda Shen (left), Anderson Shih (middle), and Winston Shih (left) introduce themselves to new and old members.
William Li (left) and Amy Tian (right) introduce themselves to new and returning YES members.
Catherine Tong (left) and Elaine Yao (right) introduce themselves to members and family.
Li Shen (left) and Ryan Xie (right) also take the time to introduce themselves to the audience.
The 2019 Kick-Off Meeting concluded with ice-breakers for the new and old members to get to know each other. Members were asked to either reimagine or create a logo for popular companies such as Apple, Facebook, and Instagram. YES looks forward to another great year ahead!
