LYF is a 501(c)(3) non-profit with the mission to guide youth toward a deeper understanding of Taiwanese-American identity and culture and to nurture curious, open minds to actively engage in the community.
Established in 1983 as Taiwanese American Youth Leadership (TAYL), the camp originally started as a place where first generation Taiwanese parents could pass on their culture and values. Over the years, the camp has evolved to help the youth of all generations build skills to handle the challenges they might face as Taiwanese-American citizens and their everyday life.
The primary event through which we strive to accomplish our mission is through our annual LYF Camp. LYF Camp is a mashup of the typical American summer camp experience and traditional Taiwanese culture. Outside of LYF Camp, our organization also plays host to a number of community events. We proudly hold development workshops such as college admissions, and community building events such as reunions and festivals.
Meet the 2021-2022 Board of Directors
LYF is run by a board of directors who guides the overall organizational direction and oversees aspects such as marketing, fundraising, camp logistics and programming, design, and community relations.
Patrick Chenglo, President
Patrick has been involved in camp since 2004, starting off as a camper and now staff, and it has shaped him into who he is today. He graduated from UC Berkeley in Computer Science and currently works as a software engineer at Dropbox and is living in SF. His involvement in camp has driven his love for mentorship resulting in him driving the internship program for Dropbox in 2019.
patrick.chenglo@tacl.org
Jamie Lu, Internal Director
Jamie was first introduced to LYF in 2008 as a Group A camper and quickly found herself immersed in a new community. Camp has always held a special place in her heart as she fondly remembers her camp shenanigans, and more importantly, how she developed her identity, sense of self, and leadership through her involvement. She hopes to help foster a similar space where campers and staff alike can learn and grow from each other to better navigate life as Asian Americans.
jamie.lu@tacl.org
Albert Zhang, External Director
Albert joined LYF Camp in 2015 and has never looked back. Over the years, TACL-LYF for Albert has variously conjured memories of allergies, mentorship, trivia quiz tournaments, and Taiwanese bears. Outside of LYF, Albert works at Handshake, the largest early talent jobs network, in Marketing Analytics. As External Director, Albert is always looking for a new opportunity to grow the organization – please reach out if you think you’d be a match or want to contribute!
albert.zhang@tacl.org
Alan Ma, Creative Director
Alan moved to the Bay Area 4 years ago from Austin to start his journey after college. Previously involved in other summer camps as a counselor, he found LYF to continue his efforts of giving back to the community. In his spare time, he explores his creative side through drawing and photography. As the creative director this year, he hopes to bring to life the theme visually and record the timeless experiences of campers and staff alike.
alan.ma@tacl.org
Michael Shen, Program Director
Michael first joined TACL-LYF as a Group C camper in 2010. Gradually over the years, camp became a safe place to make new friends and to get away from stress. After graduating high school in 2015, he came back as a LYF counselor and has been on staff ever since. His goal as LYF staff has always been to give back to the community and to give campers the safe space he experienced when he was a camper. Outside of LYF, Michael likes to play badminton, play games, and currently works as a DevOps Engineer.
michael.shen@tacl.org
Jennifer Lee, Program Director
Jennifer has been a part of LYF since 2010, first as a camper and then as counselor. A lot of her personal identity and discovery was rooted from camp, and is the reason she keeps coming back. With a passion for education, Jennifer wants to use her time as PD to develop programming that will set young campers on a path of self-discovery and to carry their skills into their daily lives.
jennifer.lee@tacl.org
Curtis Fan, Program Director
Curtis started his experience with LYF Camp as staff in 2015. Before then, he has had several mentorship and leadership roles involving youth and service learning. His dream as a leader is to foster the growth of the next generation, so that they can find their place in the world and be able to guide those around them as well. Curtis believes people can learn and change no matter what age or walk in life, and has dedicated himself to understand the experiences of as many around him as possible.
curtis.fan@tacl.org
Karina Lin, Program Director
Karina’s journey with LYF Camp started in 2014 as a camper. Even though she had to arrive late to her first year of camp, the warm and welcoming atmosphere of LYF camp made her feel right at home, and has kept her at LYF ever since. She hopes to continue and maintain this unique safe space of LYF to allow not only campers but also staff be themselves, connect, and grow individually and together as a community.
karina.lin@tacl.org
Our LYF Officers
The LYF Officer team is an extension of the board and helps out with various on-going projects such as archive management, social media development, website, promotional design, alumni and first generation involvement, etc.
Michelle Chen
Internal Team
Josh Chiu
Internal Team
Julia Lin
Internal Team
Eileen Wong
Internal Team
Eugene Che
External Team
Christopher Lee
External Team
Sean Li
External Team
Christie Lin
External Team
Justin Pan
External Team
Maya Shih
External Team Camper Intern
Michael Chen
Design Team
Kevin Lai
Design Team
Anton Lee
Design Team
Christie Neo
Design Team
Bianca Wu
Design Team