The Importance of Cultural Literacy: an Interview with Maki Hsieh, CEO of Asian Hall of Fame
Maki Hsieh is President & CEO of Asian Hall of Fame in Los Angeles, and CEO of its founder Robert Chinn Foundation in Seattle. A classically-trained violinist and 14-language vocalist, Maki is a Recording Academy Voting Member and donates concerts to UNICEF and Asian Hall of Fame. Previously, she launched diversity programming as Executive Director of the Arcadia Performing Arts Center, created a multinational executive communications platform at The Walt Disney Company, and directed investor relations for Fortune 500 companies.
Along with her countless accomplishments, Maki is also a fierce advocate for cultural literacy. We had the opportunity to interview Maki about the importance DEI has played in her life and what it means to be a member of the Asian American community.
Can you tell us a little bit about how you got to be where you are today?
My journey is very global in scope, and I think it will help a lot of people understand how important cultural intelligence is to success. I was raised as an American citizen in Asia. I grew up in Tokyo and Taipei.
My mom came to the United States in the ‘50s where she got her Bachelor’s and Master’s, and eventually she opened up a small business in Little Tokyo in San Francisco. When she met my dad, they both moved back to Asia, and that’s how my little sister and I grew up as American citizens in Asia. We went to American schools, American grocery stores, we were part of the American club and we were members of the American community. Regardless of race or ethnicity, we were American, and we experienced many benefits because of it.
I thought I was ready to come back to the US, so when I was 15 I moved to Massachusetts to go to boarding school. I came by myself with two suitcases. To my surprise, I wasn’t treated like an American. I was placed in a diversity dorm, asked to dance in the parade in my cheongsam (my Chinese dress), and I was co-chair of the Asian society. All because there really wasn't any other support system. It became clear to me that Asians weren’t fully accepted as Americans in the U.S.
After boarding school, I went to Johns Hopkins because I wanted to explore what it meant to contribute to a global system like healthcare, and medicine is a very big part of the Asian community as well. Again, I saw that twenty-five percent of Ivy League students are Asian, yet only 5% make it to the Fortune 500 C-suite status. Looking at this inequity instilled a desire in me to break the system. I wanted to change the language surrounding diversity and the landscape of equity. So, I went into industries that were predominantly not Asian and male-oriented, the first being investment banking, following in my father’s footsteps. Out of 126 financial analysts in my class, six were women, two were Asian and one was Black. Within two months, there were only four women left. I was always aware about the inequity Asian people faced, but for the first time, the inequity against women became glaringly apparent to me.
My mother instilled cultural literacy in me from a young age, but as I advanced in my career I realized all the big corporations around me had no understanding of it. The greatest impact we can offer as diverse executives is to go into areas where there’s not a lot of us. There’s power in diversity, and if we leverage it correctly we can create safe spaces and unity - rather than division.
How do you navigate the fine line between being the beacon of diversity and facing tokenism?
To me tokenism means placing somebody in a situation to check a box, rather than recognizing the character and the qualities of the individual. I think we need to change the language around tokenism. It should be more of a cultural ambassadorship than anything else. If we look around at the DEI representatives around us, a lot of them are token black women because they check two boxes at the same time. They haven't been given the support or the funding they need, but with all the social justice movements coinciding around us, it’s putting the spotlight on these individuals more than ever before. It’s giving them a seat at the table. As we move out of the archaic idea of tokenism into this place of ambassadorship that’s going to give all of us a lot more power to amplify our voices.
When did you decide you wanted to make a transition in your career to focus on developing the Asian Hall of Fame?
Up until this point, I was very busy with my corporate life and personal life. I’m an EDM violinist, and I auditioned for America’s Got Talent and performed at many music festivals. My sister passed away in a really freak accident of a brain stroke. Suddenly, I was an only child and responsible for my mother. It made me dive deeper within myself and think what can I do to honor her - with my talent, with my passion, with society.
I wanted to take my performances and localize them to support charities. I caught the attention of California State Senator Susan Rubio, and I was honored as the California Woman of the Year in 2019. This showed me what I did with my talent, my energy and my focus really did make a difference. I got a call from Karen Wong who was in charge of the Asian Hall of Fame. She was seeking my guidance on making a statement about diversity, equity and inclusion. She wanted to transition the brand from regional to national, and she asked me if I would come on board to make that happen.
You sit at the intersection of many aspects of diversity, how has this impacted your view on the world?
The AAPI community is very insular, and always has been. It dates back to imperialism. Until Stop Asian Hate there really wasn't an opportunity for everyone to come together. It was more competitive than anything. We were all pitted against each other. Covid has shown us that we are all connected in more ways than you might think – take the global supply chain for example. Black Lives Matter, the Me Too Movement and Stop Asian Hate all have one thing in common: they’ve shown that we’re stronger together. If you look at people of color as a whole rather than individuals, we’re actually the majority. That’s something I don’t think a lot of people realize until they take that step to realize we’re better together.
Can you tell us about how the colonization and oppression AAPI communities have faced in the past impacts them today?
There’s a movement right now in the U.S. to focus on one America, and everyone should conform to that one idea of America. I compare that to football. If you say I’m a football fan, everyone asks what team? You can’t just say no team, just a fan! A Dallas Cowboys fan has a different culture than a Ravens fan or a Packers fan. You can’t just put them together in one room, and expect them to conform to one identity. It’s the same thing with Asian countries, nationalities and races. We have our own unique culture and identity.
The same principles Asian communities fell back on during colonization are prevalent today: keep your head down, learn English, only do the jobs that will get you hired in America, that will get you a visa - doctor, scientist, researcher, engineer. One by one the oppression and structure of inequity gave us a bond with other groups of color who faced similar challenges and were forced to have those same conversations.
How do we make cultural movements more than a moment in time or month of the year?
I was just on a panel with Major General Antonio Taguba. He was the first Filipino general, and was at the White House for an AAPI celebration. He said it’s just one day out of the whole year. There’s a huge gap here. It should be integrated in everyone’s everyday life. Cultural literacy needs to be taught in schools, communities, companies and board rooms. Military and law enforcement lead the example for American safety, security and leadership, and there’s a huge lack of cultural literacy there too. It needs to be integrated within every level of our system which creates respect. When you meet a Black woman you need to recognize and honor she carries centuries of oppression on her shoulders, and the same goes for any other minority.
How do we move the needle with cultural literacy from awareness to action?
That’s why agencies like Titanium Worldwide and the media in general are so important. You need pressure from social media for people to move. A tidal wave has to happen in order for the media to move – think about Stop Asian Hate and Black Lives Matter. Collaborating with leaders behind closed doors is important, as is money. Capital makes movements, and we have to hold these big corporations and organizations accountable. One of the most underrated ways to make that happen is to vote. We have so much more power than we realize when we all come together. You can be young or old. We all play a part.
Do you have any final words of wisdom for us?
What you’re doing is so important. DEI for the AAPI community is vital. The highest good of any entity should be our soul intent. If that’s our soul intent, nothing can take us down.