Mandy Yu, Senior Chinese Community Liaison

As a first-generation Chinese American who immigrated to the U.S. at 14 from Guangdong Province, China, Mandy knows first-hand the struggles of being limited English proficient. Her experience growing up in a monolingual community and exposure to the pervasive language and social inequality around her spurred her to pursue a career that uplifts more equitable opportunities for non-native English speakers. Mandy helps mitigate language barriers on InterEthnica’s projects and is proud of her work leading workshops, moderating focus groups, and engaging with the community on behalf of projects like San Francisco’s Climate Action Plan, the City Survey, SFMTA’s front-facing staff equity research, and many more. 
 
As a well-known and trusted consultant for Chinese communities throughout the Bay Area, Mandy is often a successful inroad into communities for our clients. Mandy works incredibly hard with the community and our clients to ensure the cultural relevance of projects and that trust is the center of engagement. She leads her projects with authenticity, respect, and works diligently to ensure community-decision making informs project outcomes. 
 
Mandy has a Master of Arts degree in Education from San Francisco State University and has received the IAP2 Certificate in Public Participation. She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, Taishanese, and English. In Mandy’s spare time, you can find her in the community, teaching bilingual youth, and her life motto is “sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.”