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HOUSTON, October 27, 2022 — Launching the eighth year of its signature Bank of America Women’s Leadership Series, Asia Society Texas welcomed outstanding Houston philanthropists Mandy Kao, Leigh Smith, Stephanie Tsuru, and Dr. Asha Jamal Virani, for a luncheon conversation. Moderator Dr. Anne Chao, adjunct lecturer at Rice University and manager of the Houston Asian American Archive, led a discussion on the motivation to give as well as the love, passion, and transformative leadership that women are able to bring to the fields of the arts, healthcare, entrepreneurship, social services, and more.

In addition to their successful professional careers, the four women have dedicated their time in service to various social causes and organizations. Kao is the founder of the Mandy Kao Foundation, which helps underserved and marginalized communities, while Smith is a board member of numerous social services and art and culture organizations. Tsuru is the founder of SheSpace — a female-focused work, meeting, and programming space to support, unite, and mentor the women and girls of Houston — and Dr. Virani founded the Faris Foundation to support the advancement of the innovative and creative endeavors in pediatric cancer research to improve quality of life for children affected by cancer.

Why a path in philanthropy?

Dr. Chao introduced the topic, grounded in her experience of serving on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations. She noted how women tend to outnumber men in philanthropy involvement, inviting a reflection on what compels women to give not only financial resources, but time and dedication as well to a cause.

In front of a sold-out audience of nearly 200, the four speakers shared what has motivated them to be involved in philanthropy. In most cases, personal experiences prompted them to go beyond donations by creating a foundation, becoming a board member, or advancing a project. Nevertheless, it was clear, as each speaker explained, that they always had a passion to create positive societal change.

Smith shared that important aspects to consider in philanthropy are self-awareness and enjoyment. She noted that because individuals’ unique perspectives can benefit social causes, each person can contribute different ideas to enrich a project.

For Tsuru, passion is also an essential part of selecting a cause to champion. As she stated, women need to know they are capable of accomplishing whatever they desire. Boldness, according to her, is one of the skills that can help a woman to succeed in philanthropy and any other aspect of life. 

Navigating challenges

The path of philanthropy can be as rewarding as it is daunting. All speakers agreed that passion helps them in the face of hardships.

According to Dr. Virani, various skill sets are needed to succeed in the nonprofit world, and competent teams are required in order to execute multiple projects at the same time. Citing spirituality and art as factors that play a healing role in her life, Dr. Virani promotes these tools through her foundation.

Acknowledging that Asian-centered nonprofits may occasionally lack “mainstream funding,” Kao said her reasoning for giving is not solely based to the organization's connections to Asian communities, but also to its mission. She also highlighted the many possible paths for contributing to organizations besides funding, such as volunteering. 

Advice for the next generation

In their final remarks, the speakers shared advice, relevant skills, and reflections for the next generation.

Tsuru said she considers listening to be a remarkable skill, believing that active listening can help create exceptional teams and build relationships.

Smith shared her experience with organizations that closely work with people who have lost everything. Highlighting how crucial it is to know how to navigate through these distressful situations, she said this experience motivated her to create an online resource toolkit, helping to spread awareness and knowledge of this issue.

Kao also reflected on education and the need to guide the next generation on creating a better world. In her view, it is likely that the next generation will have many resources available to them, but the moment to provide them with quality education is now.

Finally, Dr. Virani expressed the need for maintaining hope and expressing empathy and compassion, even in adversity. She emphasized the value of volunteerism, advising the audience to constantly ask themselves, "How can I bring more kindness into the world?" 

About the Speakers

Mandy Kao and her husband William are co-owners of Titan Management, a real estate investment, management, and development company. Mandy believes in giving back to the community and formed the Mandy Kao Foundation in 2009 to further her goals of helping those in underserved and marginalized communities. The foundation serves as a “bridge,” leading those in need to better opportunities. It supports outreach and education programs specifically for girls and funds after-school programs in apartments and elementary schools in low-income neighborhoods. It also supports scholarship programs for students to attend college as well as offers small matching grants for new projects which promote leadership, entrepreneurship, and self-sufficiency for women and children.

Mandy also believes in the importance of engaging the younger generation to give back to the community. She helped her sons, Tyler, Ethan, and Ashton, start their own charitable fund, The Awesome Fund, as well as helped create the largest Asian American Youth Giving Circle in the U.S. AAYGC has contributed thousands of volunteer hours and has donated substantially to support organizations that serve the Asian youth in Houston. While developing many personal business pursuits, in her “spare time”, Mandy mentors women both formally and informally. She actively promotes youth & family philanthropy as well as Asian equality.  Her family co-founded the Center for Family Philanthropy at the Greater Houston Community Foundation where she serves as a board member. She is currently helping them start the Houston Youth Philanthropy, a monthly program that teaches high school students how to be youth philanthropic leaders.   

Leigh Smith recently joined the Board of Asia Society Texas after having served on its Advisory Board and the Exhibitions Committee. Leigh is passionate about social services issues (primarily homelessness) and promoting the arts. Leigh was a long-time board member and President of the Board of Trees of Hope, which raises funds for Star of Hope, Houston’s largest organization serving the homeless, and then also served on the Star of Hope Board. Currently, Leigh is Board Chair of Houston Ballet, and is the immediate past chair of the Houston Arts Alliance. She also chairs the national council of Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Aspen, Colorado, and serves on the Modern and Contemporary Subcommittee at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. Leigh recently helped launch a new Patron Group for Buffalo Bayou Partnership and Park and is a co-chair for the 2023 Hats in the Park Luncheon for the Hermann Park Conservancy.

Leigh has received multiple honors for her philanthropy work including the Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame, Gold Honoree for St. Jude, the Houston Chronicle/March of Dimes Best Dressed List, and Woman of Distinction at the Winter Ball (raising funds for Crohns and Colitis research). Leigh and her husband have been honored for their contributions to the arts by Art League Houston and by Fresh Arts Coalition. Before moving to Houston in 1995, Leigh was a trial lawyer, practicing in Atlanta, Georgia.

Stephanie Tsuru spent 25 years in the health care industry before receiving her MLS at Rice, which redefined and changed the trajectory of her life. Today, she dedicates much of her time empowering and advancing women. Empowered by the strength and potential of women and disappointed by their frequent circumstances, she founded SheSpace a female focused work, meeting, and programming space to support and bring all women together while mentoring both women and the girls of Houston. Drawing on more than 35 years of experience, she brings her wisdom and passion to a space which advances women’s relationships, social and professional networks, and the power of the co-working effect.

Stephanie is passionate about philanthropic work, specifically literacy efforts co-founding Houston’s state-of-the-art mobile library fleet. Among her accomplishments is recently being named a 2020 Woman to Watch by the Houston Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Awards, being admitted to the Greater Houston’s Women’s Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame and an ABC/Channel 13 Women of Distinction in 2018 and Best Dressed Honoree for March of Dimes in 2019. With a background in classic dance, she is a committed supporter of the Houston Ballet along with many arts organizations in our robust cultural community. An avid runner and defender of public spaces, she is co-chairing the Hermann Park Commons Capital Campaign. She recently indulged in her fondness of life-long learning by completing the Rice Leadership Accelerator and for fun is currently enrolled in a class at Cornell.

Dr. Asha Jamal Virani is an internal medicine physician who combines her medical expertise with her passion for art, education, children, and service through her work at The Faris Foundation. Inspired by the shimmering light of her son, Faris D. Virani, Asha started the Foundation in 2018 as a way to support and advance the most innovative and creative endeavors in pediatric cancer research and quality of life for children affected by cancer. She is deeply involved in raising awareness and education around childhood cancer at the national level, through the Let There Be Gold campaign. The foundation also believes in the healing and transformative power of the arts as being not only integral but essential to the care of the whole child and family while undergoing treatment. Emboldened by her son’s words “Art is my life”- the foundation embeds art and music therapists to children’s cancer centers. 

Asha serves the wider community with her longstanding commitment to KIPP schools as an active board member, as well as board positions at the Kinkaid School, and the Asia Society Texas where she also serves on the Special Advisory Council for the Education Project. The family’s commitment to serving the community includes their founding support for the Ibn Sina Children’s Clinic, which serves all children regardless of insurance status or ability to pay, and the Faris D. Virani Ewing Sarcoma Center at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, the world’s only comprehensive research center devoted to the study and treatment of pediatric sarcomas. Asha leads her life guided by inspiration and follows the wisdom of her beloved son who taught her to always “go with the flow.”  

About the Moderator

Dr. Anne Chao graduated from Wellesley College and received her master's and doctoral degrees from Rice University, where she is currently an adjunct lecturer in the Humanities. She is also manager of the Houston Asian American Archive. She serves on multiple advisory boards at Rice University, and sits on the boards of Wellesley College, the Cooper Union, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, the Houston Ballet, and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center Advisory Board, among others. She is a modern Chinese historian who works on digital humanities research. 

About Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas believes in the strength and beauty of diverse perspectives and people. As an educational institution, we advance cultural exchange by celebrating the vibrant diversity of Asia, inspiring empathy, and fostering a better understanding of our interconnected world. Spanning the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy, our programming is rooted in the educational and cultural development of our community — trusting in the power of art, dialogue, and ideas to combat bias and build a more inclusive society.