Asians in Advertising at the White House’s 1st Lunar New Year Celebration

By Bernice Chao & Jessalin Lam, Co-founders of Asians in Advertising

It has been a surreal experience to be invited to the White House’s inaugural Lunar New Year celebration that took place on Thursday, January 26. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that we confirmed our attendance for Asians in Advertising to be represented at The White House. 

After a few security checkpoints, we walked into the East Room of the White House, and we were met with secret service and people in uniform saying, “Welcome to the White House,” making it feel so real for us to step inside and be greeted by a beautiful string quartet. When we proceeded up the stairs and crossed the hall, there were beautiful Lunar New Year decorations, red lights, lanterns, and another live ensemble. It was an incredible sight to see the presidential seal and President Barack Obama’s portrait in this area and many guests wearing their cultural clothing to this celebration. 

We are grateful for being able to attend in person and we captured some of our highlights from this memorable experience to share with all of you.

1- Asian Americans Belong Here in the United States of America 

This was the first time Lunar New Year has been celebrated at The White House, and seeing so many Asians in The White House was heartwarming. We could see our culture represented in the apparel in the room, decorations, and a lion dance on stage. As Asian Americans, we often flip from our Asian culture to our American culture, and to see it at the highest place of government symbolically shows that Asian American culture does have a place in this country. 

As Asian Americans, we both were full of joy and gratitude to feel seen and that we belong. It means more than words to describe this sense of belonging, especially when we are often treated as perpetual foreigners. This is also important to both of us as mothers of young children. We are hopeful the future will improve, so they do not go through what we have experienced growing up in America. We love that the Biden-Harris Administration advances equity and opportunity for Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. 

One of our favorite ways to celebrate the Lunar New Year is to watch a lion dance which represents wisdom and power in Chinese culture and brings good fortune to welcome the new year. It was so exciting to see this take place from the Choy Wun Lion Dance Group and to witness our Chinese cultural heritage on a White House stage of this magnitude. We felt so proud to be Asian Americans watching this live. 

2- Recognizing the Courage of Brandon Tsay 

When President Biden and Dr. Biden entered The East Room, they were joined by Elaine Tso, CEO of Asian Services in Action. They gave remarks about the recent tragedy in Monterey Park, Half Moon Bay, and called for the ban on assault rifles. President Biden also recounted his conversation with Brandon Tsay, who disarmed the Monterey Park gunman in a physical altercation. “Sometimes we underestimate these incredible acts of courage — someone shooting has a semi-automatic pistol aimed at you, and you think about others. That’s pretty profound,” President Biden said. We appreciate recognition for Brandon Tsay, a genuine hero for our community. 

3- Standing in Solidarity with the Asian Community 

We received our invitation on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, for this celebration hosted the following Thursday, January 26, 2023. We were wondering why it was so last minute, and we had to figure out our travel plans to make it into a one-day trip for Bernice flying in from California and Jessalin driving from New York. During the celebration, President Biden explained that Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and former mayor of Monterey Park, urged him to move forward with hosting this Lunar New Year celebration to stand in solidarity with the Asian community and not to give into fear and sorrow. We needed this event, which meant more than a one-time celebration to us as we will now reflect on how powerful this was to support our community. It is truly meaningful for us to be inside the White House for the first time and be welcomed by President Biden, saying, “Jill and I are honored to welcome you to the first Lunar New Year reception of this scale held in the White House, your home…This is your home.” 

We are so grateful to deputy White House Social Secretary Liz Hart for inviting us to this event. We would not be here without her extending the invitation to us, and we are incredibly grateful for this opportunity to be part of this historical event where Asian Americans are visible and share the grieving process with the community. 

4- Moving Closer to Preserve the History of Asian Americans 

During the White House's celebration, President Biden gave shoutouts to guests, including 3-time world champion figure skater, Nathan Chen, and the first Asian American woman of color to serve as U.S. trade representative, Katherine Tai. Remarkably, we are one step closer to preserving the history of our Asian American community through the National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture led by Debbie Shon, who was also an important guest attending this celebration. We are proud of Bernice for collaborating closely with Deb to help design their brand identity. 

We support their mission to acquaint all Americans with the contributions of Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders to our nation. This celebration will now be part of history as the inaugural Lunar New Year event at The White House, and we want to be able to continue to share these stories with everyone.

5- Connecting with Inspirational Asian Leaders  

A mutual friend we both know who has been to the White House is Jerry Won, CEO of Just Like Media, an Asian American storytelling company and podcast host of Dear Asian Americans. Last year, he interviewed Vice President Kamala Harris on his podcast episode 174: Get Loud, Stay Loud. We saw that Jerry went to last year’s AAPI heritage month celebration at the White House, and Bernice reached out to ask him about this Lunar New Year invitation. We are thankful for Jerry sharing tips with us from his past White House experience. 

This moment was a reflection point for us to celebrate the work we are both doing to serve the Asian community through our efforts with Asians in Advertising and our book, The Visibility Mindset: How Asian American Leaders Create Opportunities and Push Past Barriers. It was great to be connected with so many inspirational Asian leaders attending this celebration with us including Robecta Ma, Howard Ou, Catherine Chao, Gabrielle Nguyen, Henry Ong, Dottie Li, Ted Lieu, Bing Chen, Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, Philip Wang, and Floyd Mori.

It is a magical memory we will never forget, and we are happy to be able to share these reflections with you. For anyone who wants to watch the recording of the event can here and also read the speech remarks here from the Lunar New Year celebration.