Alice Chou and Stephen Tu are this year's Co-head Counselors. They hold monthly counselor meetings between January and May each year. A counselor's retreat, in which all the workshops will be implemented in a "practice run" before the actual camp, will take place in late May 2011.
Alice Chou is a second-year neurobiology student at the University of California, Davis with a minor in education. Alice attended Taiwanese American Youth Leadership camp for many, many years before becoming a Co-head Counselor of TACL-Leading Youth Forward.
Stephen Tu is a native of Fremont, CA and has recently come off of working for a successful Congressional election campaign. Stephen holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Political Science from the University of the Pacific. This is his eighth year with TACL-LYF, and his fourth year as a member of the counseling staff. Stephen has been active in his involvement in the larger Taiwanese American community, including his leadership role as president of South Bay Taiwanese Youth and a member of the TACL Political Internship class of 2005. Stephen is an avid fan of the San Francisco 49ers and the Golden State Warriors, and enjoys lifting weights in his spare time.
Counselor Requirements:
- High school graduate
- Must love kids :)
- Be able to attend monthly meetings (either Saturday or Sunday afternoons, usually 3-6pm) to plan workshops and other camp activities. This year, meeting locations will alternate between Fremont and Lafayette.
- If you are not in the Bay (ie go to school in SoCal), we can make arrangements for you to attend virtually.
- Must be able to attend the weekend-long counselor retreat in late May/early June (Friday night to Sunday noon) for the practice run of camp.
- While at camp, you are responsible for the 10 or so campers in your group, along with the other counselor(s) assigned to your group.
*We also have "Staff" who run the behind-the-scenes during camp, such as setting up for activities, providing backup to the counselors. Staff members don't have kids to run after, so this would be an option if you chose not to have kids to run after, cannot stay the entire time at camp, or can't make it to retreat.
Interested in being a counselor or staff? Fill out this form
Brendan Lin grew up in New York, Maryland and Alabama and has been involved in Taiwanese American organizations since he was a child such as TAC/EC, TAF, SETAA, ITASA Midwest, and the University of Michigan TASA. Recently, Brendan has been a camp counselor for TACL-Leading Youth Forward (formerly Taiwanese American Youth Leadership) and now serves as the President of TACL-SF. Brendan currently lives in San Francisco and works as an IT Consultant for Citrix Systems. In his spare time he enjoys skiing, hiking, cooking, and quality couch time.
Tyson Mao, Vice PresidentTyson Mao is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and works as a trader for a hedge fund in San Francisco. As a child, Tyson participated in the local annual Taiwanese American Youth Leadership camp, and recently served as a staff member to TACL-Leading Youth Forward. He is currently serving as Vice President of TACL-SF. Tyson holds a Bachelor of Science degree in astrophysics from Caltech. He is also co-founder of the World Cube Association, the international governing body that regulates competitive Rubik's Cube and other puzzle competitions, and currently serves on the board. Tyson is an international competitor and has helped establish Rubik's Cube communities in other countries, including Taiwan. Tyson is also an avid musician who plays the violin and piano, enjoys rock climbing, badminton, logic puzzles, chess and other strategy games.
Andrew Chen, SecretaryAndrew Chen is native of the San Francisco Bay Area and works as an engineer for a medical device company. He has been involved with the Taiwanese community since 2001 when he first volunteered for TACL-LYF (then TAYL) as a counselor. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biological systems engineering from UC Davis, and a Masters of Science degree in Engineering from San Jose State University. He currently serves as Secretary of TACL-SF. He enjoys reading, practicing Brazilian Jujitsu, and doing motorsports events in his spare time.
Tiffany Chiang, TreasurerTiffany Chiang is a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science in nursing from Samuel Merritt University. She also has a Bachelor of Science in genetics with a human development minor from UC Davis. At Davis, she was a treasurer for her sorority Lambda Omicron Xi for 2 years. She has been featured on KTSF's Face of the Bay Area and has been involved with TACL-LYF camp since 2008. She is involved in leading the youth group for her church and is a volunteer with Washington hospital in Fremont.
Leading Youth Forward is a member of the Taiwanese American Citizens League, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the life of Taiwanese Americans. TACL was founded in 1985 by a group of 1st generation Taiwanese who shared a passion for Taiwan. Among the various programs TACL offers include college scholarship funds, political and journalism internships, networking opportunities for young Taiwanese Americans through TAP, and LID Summer Camp in Los Angeles. For more info, visit www.tacl.org.