What I believe
I am a believer that all people should have what they need to be healthy, take care of their families, feel like they belong and thrive where they live. This core philosophy describes my commitment to olam haba, the world to come.
I have dedicated the last six years of my life to this vision. I was galvanized to action in 2016 when I heard Bernie Sanders speak at a rally about how people had to choose between healthcare, food, and housing. I immediately got involved with canvassing and became a volunteer leader; I then became the social media manager of a 2016 Congressional campaign, my first job in politics.
Since then, it has been an ongoing journey to figure out my role in the movement. I have nurtured programs that created belonging for multicultural, marginalized young people; fought for the recruitment of underrepresented students of color to UC Berkeley; analyzed organizational growth data for nonprofits to make the case for critical financial support; developed racial equity curriculum for Jewish communities; translated surveys on the needs of working-class Chinese and Latine San Franciscans during COVID… The list goes on.
That sounds pretty good, but what do you actually do?
Great question! I work as a Junior Fellow at a D.C. think tank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. I was also the co-founder of The LUNAR Collective.
Through all my community organizing, relationship weaving, door knocking, numbers crunching, data wrangling, language learning, I realized I wanted my professional life to be all about helping nonprofits grow healthy systems and practices. But that doesn’t mean I don’t love my creative work – writing and teaching! So I wanted to create a webpage for those other pursuits, so anyone who’s interested in those can be in relationship with me.
My Story
Given my work, I would be remiss not to mention my identities on this page. The woman on my left is my mother, 夏荔 (Xia Li).
I am a mixed-race, cisgender Jewish woman of color who was raised upper middle class. I use she/her pronouns. My father descends from Ashkenazi Jews in Poland and Lithuania and my mother is an immigrant from 成都 Chengdu, China. I grew up in 广州 Guangzhou, China, and moved to the United States as a high schooler. Mandarin was my first language.
Growing up in China as one of very few mixed-race kids, I was frequently fetishized, tokenized, bullied and excluded. I am extremely grateful for my Chinese upbringing and cultural foundation, and the painful experiences I had in China inspires me to pursue work that helps people find belonging today.
Moving to the U.S., I began to experience exoticism and racism differently. I saw how people demeaned my mother as I translated medical documents for her; I felt embarrassed about my Chinese name and wanted to stop speaking Mandarin to my mom. I never saw any family that looked like mine on TV or social media. I learned about the Chinese Exclusion Act and the insidious history of anti-Asian racism in our country. I became politicized around my Asian American identity.
Growing up mixed-race was a lonely and confusing experience, but I am slowly processing my story and learning to feel empowered and proud of who I am!
I am lucky to have participated in a mixed-race group in college, and have access to wonderful community events for Jews of Color now. These access points allowed me to see how my story connects with systems of oppression, and how I can use my privilege as a cis woman with white proximity and access to wealth to fight for justice.
It’s an honor just to be Asian.
You shall not oppress a stranger; for you know the feelings of the stranger having yourself been strangers in the land of Egypt.