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

Dec 19, 2024

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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.

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