A ccountin’ for Faith
NEW FOUNDATION DIRECTOR SHARES HIS EXPERIENCES
BY THE CLACKAMAS PRINT ,
John Chang wants to give yon money* As the
new executive director of the Clackamas
Community College Foundation, Chang’ s job
is to raise money and give it away to students
- in the form of scholarships. The Print sat
down with the new direcor to discuss his
background in accounting, how he drinks his
coffee and the best donations.
The Clackamas Print: You’re an.Oregon native,
right? !
John Chang: I grew up in Portland.
My parents immigrated here,
then I was quickly born right after
that. In every way I’m first gen.,
if that makes sense. I didn’t come
from the college cultured home. I
really‘grew up' with very little, even
though my parents in Taiwan, in
China, actually had great careers.
They were in education. But
when you come over
to the States and
you don’t know any
English, they had to
start over:
'
*. ' - i 1
TCP: What exactly
does the Foundation
and how did that work in the world. Trying to
understand what was the base assumption behihd, .
beliefs and values was really the precipice for why I
decided this would be good for me, notnecessarily
for my professional career.
actually going to buy me my cup. And as we were
waiting there, he was just describing his business
to me ..And so we sat and had a cup of coffee and he
ended up giving us $i million for our program onC
year later.
TCP: Do you think that study has helped you in
yout career?;
TCP: That’s fantastic.
JC: What I’ve realized is that when you have an
open worldview, you actually become better at
whatever it is you’re doing. ^wouldn’t say it
elevated my career in my professional life as much
>as it allowed me to be more holistic in my approach
to reaching people from different backgrounds.
TCP: Was there an experience in your past or
something about your upbringing that instilled the
idea of searching out a spiritual equality?
■
lS | jC : I think because I’m a person of color,. I r
>:*;
definitely could say that I had a rough
go growing up here in Oregon. And
ft was faith that allowed me to find
• *7 ,
-
. both a.sense of purpose, but also a
sense of value and that skin color
couldn’t possibly be what defined
4* .
t
JC: What the
foundation does
is raise money
for .scholarships
and emergency
|
funds. It helps
with transportation
issues j students, can
get textbooks. We
also raise support for
programs here.
_ _ _
JC: Some of the greatest success
&BBP stories have been you just Were-in
■ ■ t h e right place at the right time.
JjJljF And one of the great, great stories
I B was just having a conversation with
■ f somebody who was in a coffee shop.
■ T I was in Central Oregon. I’m waiting
r in line too long for a^cup of coffee
F because the. person in front of me is
1 spending hours trying to describe this
| drink that they want. And all I want is
I a black cup of coffee. This gentleman
| behind me, he must have been in his
70s, is alsowaiting in line. He just like,
i heavy sighs. And so l tell him, hey, let'
I me buy your cup cause you have been
I waiting as long as I have. And he was
TCP: You have worked in
accounting and banking,
but you also have a
master’s in theological
studies. .
- ’
JC: I always wanted to
explore religion and faith
Clackamas Print
TCP: In your past, experience
[ fundraising, have you ever had
a day where you’re like, I can’t
I believe I just got that much
I money?
Photo by Jonathan Villagomez
theclackam asprint.com
JC: Sometimes we define success as we were in
the right place at the right time. But you know
opportunity dbes come your way, but you do have to
be there.
TCP: Would you say that was your largest success?
JC: The greatest success stoty M when a widow gives
you $5, because they just believe in what you’re ;
doing. And that $5 versus the $1 million for that .
probably multimillionaire is nothing. The $5 for
the widow who gave you everything they have is
probably a meal for them.
This interview has been edited fprclarity and space.
“Sometimes w e define
success as we were in the
\right place at the right time.
But you know opportunity
does come your w ay bu t
you do have to be there.”
-John Chang
October 23, 2019