Linked Up: Elaine Chao

Thursday, August 28, 2008


ShanghaiDaily.com

Thought I would throw up some links and news stories on Chinese American Elaine Chao, the current US Secretary of Labor who was the first Chinese and Asian American to be appointed to a US cabinet.

The New, The Old, The Profiles

How a Chinese family beat the odds to make it big in the US

It's not everyday that an immigrant family makes it big even in the "land of plenty". But the Chao family has made it. US Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao took part in China Daily online dialogue Monday to share the story of her family's struggle with Chinese netizens.
US reassures on workers rights


The United States and China will strengthen cooperation to protect workers' rights and interests, US Secretary of Labor Elaine Lan Chao said yesterday.

Chao made the announcement in a speech at Shanghai Jiao Tong University yesterday morning where she addressed students in Ruth Mulan Chu Chao Building, which is named after her mother.
Wikipedia


Chao received her B.A. in Economics from Mount Holyoke College in 1975 and her MBA from the Harvard Business School. Chao is the second Mount Holyoke alumna to become Labor Secretary. Frances Perkins, a 1902 graduate of the College, was the first woman to hold a Cabinet post and served as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. Chao also studied at MIT, Dartmouth College, and Columbia University. She is the recipient of 31 honorary doctoral degrees from colleges and universities around the world.
White House Profile


Secretary Chao's career has spanned the public, private and non-profit sectors. As President and Chief Executive Officer of United Way of America, she restored public trust and confidence in one of the nation's largest institutions of private charitable giving after it was tarnished by mismanagement and financial abuse. As Director of the Peace Corps, she established the first Peace Corps programs in the Baltic nations and the newly independent states of the former Soviet Union.
TIME's 10 Questions for Elaine Chao


It is perhaps fitting that an immigrant from Taiwan who once ran the Peace Corps and United Way is tasked with helping improve the labor skills of the U.S. workforce. As overseer of America's retirees and 150 million workers, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, 52, spoke with TIME's Eric Roston about the impending pension crisis, the growing skills gap and life as half of a Washington power couple.