Today we’d like to introduce you to Hudson Liao.
Hi Hudson, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m what most people would consider an accidental activist.
Born and raised in San Franciso, I’ve lived a typical and a-typical Asian American childhood. I lived a little bit in Chinatown where my family had a convenience store and restaurant. I was enrolled in a Chinese school and told to focus on my studies like most other Chinese kids my age. Although I always did decent in school, I prioritized other experiences as well.
I played football and wrestling in high school and then got into combat sports and firefighting in college – all things not typical for an Asian kid.
I’ve always stayed active in the community volunteering for different organizations but never focused on the Asian and Pacific Islander community because I never felt the need to.
However, the disgusting spike in violent anti-Asian hate crimes during the pandemic forced me and some friends to take action. We couldn’t sit back and ignore what was happening to our community anymore.
Most of us have practiced martial arts for decades and wanted to use our skills to help our people.
I founded Asians Are Strong on March 17th, 2021 – one day after the Atlanta spa shootings. Our mission is to protect and empower the Asian and Pacific Islander (API) community. We started by hosting a one-of-a-kind rally to empower the API community.
And have now grown to the most active grassroots non-profit based in San Francisco with national recognition.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Fighting racism and creating a movement is never easy. The issues facing the API community are extremely complex and layered.
We focus a lot on the safety of our community, especially for our seniors and women. We assume a certain level of liability and burden to provide resources for our community the best we can – but we’re inventing it at the same time because it’s never been done before.
Dealing with the subject itself is already mentally and emotionally taxing enough without all of the internal and external parties, making it more difficult for you to pursue your authentic mission.
Ideologies, politics, and division make fighting for a common goal surmounting difficult – especially for young non-profits that do not have strong financial support.
Getting the rest of the world and ‘allies’ to support us and not gaslight our challenges has been depressingly difficult.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I currently work as the Head of Growth for a health tech startup called Genomelink. I’m largely responsible for all of the marketing and user acquisition for the company as well as user engagement and retention.
I’ve worked with startups for most of my professional career. I find it extremely rewarding to help small, mission-driven companies disrupt the incumbents. You have to be scrappy and really focus on who your users are and how to deliver true value to them.
I’ve helped multiple startups gain market fit and have successful exits.
What are your plans for the future?
We plan to make Asians Are Strong THE most recognizable and impactful API-focused non-profit in the world!
Contact Info:
- Website: asiansarestrong.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asiansarestrong/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AsiansAreStrong
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AsiansAreStrong
