Assunta Ng
Assunta Ng is Chinese-American community organizer and the publisher of Northwest Asian Weekly and Seattle Chinese Post, based in Seattle's Chinatown/International District.
Biography
[edit]Ng was born in China and raised in Hong Kong.[1] Ng got her first name, which means ascension, from an Italian priest when she was baptized.[2]
In 1971 at age 19, she immigrated to the United States from Hong Kong to attend the University of Washington (UW).[3] Ng wanted to relocate to the U.S. because her parents had low expectations for daughters and Ng did not want to become a housewife, which was what was modeled to her as she was growing up. At that time, she had the perception that only in America could a woman be free. After the first year, Ng supported herself for the rest of her college education. Her first job was as a dishwasher in a school cafeteria, and it paid $2.50 an hour. Ng also baby-sat and worked in restaurants to keep afloat.[2][4] She wrote for the Daily newspaper while at the UW, and she earned a bachelor's degree in international studies and education from the UW in 1974, a teaching certificate in 1976, and a master's degree in communications in 1979.[5]
Post-college, Ng taught social studies to children of immigrant families at Mercer Junior High School. She observed that many were lost in a strange new system. It was during this time that she became aware of the lack of information available to the local Chinese community. In 1982, Ng started with $25,000 of her own seed money and founded the Seattle Chinese Post. A year later in 1983, Ng founded the Northwest Asian Weekly, a Pan-Asian English-language weekly.[6][4]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 “Remarkable People: Making a Difference in the Northwest; Assunta Ng,” produced by Jean Walkinshaw in 1993. |
In 1986, Ng was one of 15 women who joined the Seattle chapter of Rotary International, before the parent organization allowed women to join.[6]
In 1996, Ng founded Women of Color Empowered, a tri-annual networking luncheon series that honors women of color who have made an impact in their local communities.[7][6] Through her nonprofit, the Northwest Asian Weekly Foundation, Ng has organized programs and scholarships to help disadvantaged youth and women, and she has raised more than $3 million for various charities and scholarships for foster children, University of Washington, Washington State University, Seattle University, and Seattle Community Colleges.[1]
In January 2023, Ng closed the Seattle Chinese Post after her husband was diagnosed with cancer a year earlier and she decided to retire. The Northwest Asian Weekly ceased its weekly print edition and became online-only. In September 2023, The Post was donated to the Tacoma-based Asia Pacific Cultural Center. In May 2024, the Asian Weekly was sold to four investors.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "Assunta Ng, Board Member | Ethnic Business Coalition". ethnicbusinesscoalition.org. Retrieved 2017-03-27.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Liu, Wen. "Wen's Interviews - Assunta Ng". www.wenspages.us. Archived from the original on 2016-08-19. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ "Living | Making headlines: Assunta Ng goes after what she wants". community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ a b "Business | Assunta Ng -- Series Of Unusual Challenges Helped News Editor Thrive". community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ Curry, Kai (2023-02-13). "A night to remember — Celebrating 41 years of Assunta Ng and George Liu's community service". Northwest Asian Weekly.
- ^ a b c "Assunta Ng Named 2011 Charles E. Odegaard Award Recipient | Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity". www.washington.edu. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ "Women of Color Empowered honors 'Rising Stars'". Northwest Asian Weekly. 2014-04-24. Retrieved 2017-03-27.
- ^ Roberts, Paul (2024-05-29). "New chapter for Northwest Asian Weekly after decades of community coverage". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2024-05-30.