“Permanence, perseverance and
persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and
impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the
strong soul from the weak,” is a quotation that could have been
written with Donna Ching Fang Kao in mind. A woman who is unafraid of
confronting challenges head on, a person who regards adversity as a
means by which to gain fresh experiences, and a dedicated
philanthropist unafraid to stand up for those weaker than herself,
Donna Kao is a person to be studied as much as admired.
She
was born in Taiwan to a physician father and a mother who worked as a
nurse. Unsuprisingly, perhaps, Donna Kao followed in the parental
footsteps, being awarded a Nursing Education Scholarship enabling her
to study at the prestigious University of Public Health Nursing in
Taipei, where she gained her Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing.
Her career seemed to have been mapped out for her, but, following a
meeting with two prominent Taiwanese real estate developers who were
actively involved in projects
building hospitals, clinics, physical therapy centers, and other
complementary medical facilities, prompted Ms. Kao to obtain a real
estate licence of her own and it is at this stage of her career that
Donna Kao first began to realize why real estate matters.
Her
next big step saw her emigrating to the United States. She received
her Real Estate License from the State of California and, recalling
her experiences as a newly-emigrated Taiwanese woman, establish a
number of healthcare services for the local Asian community.
But the community needed more than just healthcare facilities. Ms.
Kao had personal experience of negotiating the labyrinthine workings
of the U.S. Immigration Bureau. She established an Asian marketing
and consulting office for the Monterey Park Hospital, where she
helped clients looking to relocate to the United States.
Throughout
her extraordinary career path, Donna
Kao has maintained her ambition to build and improve on the
relationships between China, Taiwan, and the United States. As a
healthcare professional, Ms. Kao has a deeply rooted desire to help
the people around her and the people within her community. By
tackling both the domestic health-related challenges of the Asian
community, as well as the bureaucratic challenges facing those that
have just started their process of integration, Donna Kao is arespected businesswoman in her own right, and by providing such a
role model hopes to build a stronger Asian community in the United
States with the resources needed to thrive.
