Ep 300 | The History of NATWA: Unique Contributions in Leadership and Sisterhood

Talking Taiwan

NATWA (the North America Taiwanese Women's Association) has been around since 1988 and for this episode about NATWA I interviewed Elena Ling, one of NATWA’s founding members, Hui-Na Lin, a past NATWA national president, Susan Liao, two-time president of NATWA’s Toronto chapter, and Sue Kuo NATWA’s current vice president and president elect for 2025. It is impossible to properly acknowledge the unique contributions of each NATWA national president, or all of NATWA’s board and committee members, NATWA’s supporters, donors, and countless others who have made NATWA what it is.

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-history-of-natwa-unique-contributions-by-three-national-presidents-ep-300/

As I reflect on this, I’d like to share a poetic analogy that Hui-Na Lin, 2022-2023 NATWA national president shared with me to describe the essence of NATWA. It’s from a short story she wrote “Fly Together Over Mountains” which she told me was inspired by the Canadian geese’s migration down south for the winter each year. A single goose could not make the trip as efficiently alone. Several geese fly together as a group in a V formation. There is one bird that leads the group initially, but when the lead bird gets tired, it moves to the back for a rest, and another bird takes the lead. The birds all take turns leading the group to their final destination. Like the Canadian geese NATWA’s members work together to support each other in turn. It’s not about one single leader.

As you listen to this episode you’ll learn more about how NATWA meets its five point mission statement which is:

1. to evoke a sense of self-esteem and enhance women's dignity,

2. to oppose gender discrimination and promote gender equality,

3. to fully develop women's potential and encourage their participation in public affairs,

4. to contribute to the advancement of human rights and democratic development in Taiwan,

5. to reach out and work with women's organizations worldwide to promote peace for all.

Special Thanks to Elena Ling and Alvina Ling for providing useful details about NATWA’s formation and history for this episode. And a very special thank you to NATWA and its members for all of the encouragement and support that you’ve given to our two-person team here at Talking Taiwan. Thank you for making our work possible.

Here’s a little preview of what we talked about in this podcast episode:

• How and why NATWA (the North America Taiwanese Women's Association) was founded

• Annette Lu’s (former Vice President of Taiwan) connection to NATWA

• How Annette Lu was one of the Kaohsiung Eight (one of eight people arrested as a result of the Kaohsiung aka Formosa incident)

• The first meeting with the 30 founding members of NATWA

• How NATWA has a President-elect who serves as Vice President the year before becoming President

• How NATWA started off as a national organization

• The early formation of NATWA

• How progressive it was at the time to form NATWA

• How NATWA has grown from 30 to 1,000 members

• How NATWA became a 501(c)(3) organization

• How NATWA has 2 major events a year, an annual convention (in April) and a mid-year leadership meeting (in October)

• The impact that NATWA has made in the lives of its members

• How Hui-Na Lin and Susan Liao got involved in NATWA initially and later took on leadership roles in the organization

• NATWA’s early struggles in attracting members due to pressure from Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) government at the time

• NATWA’s early successful fundraising efforts

• Why NATWA avoided accepting any government funding

• NATWA’s early successful projects

• NATWA’s charitable fundraising efforts

• How NATWA’s members are aging

• How NATWA’s membership and programs grew during the pandemic

• What made NATWA’s WebEx programs during the pandemic successful

• What types of WebEx programs NATWA offered during the pandemic

• Major activities organized by NATWA Toronto

• The first NATWA event that Felicia Lin, the host of Talking Taiwan was invited to attend

• How Hui-Na and her team got NATWA’s members to attend the first in-person mid-year meeting and annual conventions that took place after restrictions on COVID were eased

• How NATWA addresses women’s issues and promotes women’s dignity

• The formation of NATWA II an organization for second generation Taiwanese American women

• Questions about the future direction of NATWA

• What Elena, Hui-Na and Susan have each gotten out of their involvement with NATWA

Related Links:

https://talkingtaiwan.com/the-history-of-natwa-unique-contributions-by-three-national-presidents-ep-300/