The Committee of 100 is a membership organization of Chinese Americans dedicated to the spirit of excellence and achievement in America.
Current members include I.M. Pei, master architect; Yo-Yo Ma, renowned cellist; Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube; Leroy Chiao, NASA Astronaut; David Ho, AIDS researcher and 1996 Time Man of the Year; and Michelle Kwan, figure skating champion. Membership to the Committee of 100 is by invitation.
The Committee of 100 is registered as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit headquartered in New York City, and has active regional chapters in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Beijing.
MISSION
The Committee’s purpose is to provide leadership and act as a constructive force in the dual mission of:
- Promoting the full participation of all Chinese Americans in American society and acting as a public policy resource for the Chinese-American community
- Promoting constructive dialogue and relationships between the peoples and leaders of the United States and Greater China.
BACKGROUND
Established in 1990, the Committee of 100 has a rich legacy of harnessing the power of its distinguished membership to address significant, complex issues pertaining to Americans of Chinese descent and U.S.-China relations. Our members actively work in partnership with each other as well as high-level policymakers and preeminent civic leaders to advance three core program pillars:
- U.S.-CHINA TRUST-BUILDING
- CHINESE AMERICANS FOR GREATER INCLUSION
- NEXT-GENERATION LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
The concept of founding the Committee came from renowned architect, I.M. Pei, who was inundated with calls from reporters seeking his reaction, as an influential Chinese American, to the Tiananmen Square events in June 1989. Pei felt that no single individual could adequately represent the Chinese American perspective, and instead envisioned a group of prominent Chinese Americans joining together to serve as a strong forum for the Chinese American community. By the end of 1990, the core group of I.M. Pei, Yo-Yo Ma, Shirley Young, Oscar Tang, Henry Tang, and Chien-Shiung Wu had recruited other distinguished Chinese Americans from the arts, business, academia, public service, and the sciences to serve on the Committee of 100.
The founders determined that the Committee would not be politically driven and at the same time, not shy away from taking a stance in the political arena. Many of the issues addressed by the Committee have strong public policy implications, including foreign relations, trade policy, civil rights, and social justice. As a non-partisan organization, the Committee’s stance on these issues is independent and does not align with any political party in the United States or with any government in Asia.
With more than 20 years of impactful action, the Committee is respected as a strategic adviser to government leaders in both the U.S. and China and has received public and media recognition for its involvement in issues affecting the advancement of Chinese Americans and the progress of U.S. -China relations.
