On March 23, 2009, NADC will celebrate its 12th birthday. It is a milestone for us to come this far! NADC experienced a lot of “growing pains” that are typical for a young organization. We have learned much through “trial and error.” The birth of this organization was created by a series of monumental events that began in 1994.

An asian deaf conference, “Access Silent Asia” was hosted at San Francisco, CA. The Co-Chairs were Judy Ho and Cheryl Wu. John Yeh was the Keynote Speaker and Dr. Steven Chough was the Plenary Speaker. Several workshops were offered, the majority of them enjoyed by families. The conference empowered several people who were devoted activists for Asian Deaf people in their respective communities. Having experienced years of hardships and denied opportunities in education and employment, they were ready to accept the challenges. They decided to create a powerful group to make a stand. They knew a lot of work needed to be done first; their passion for their colleagues were encouraged and inspired by the conference. They were determined to make a difference.

These people formed an Ad Hoc committee, the majority of whom initiated the creation of future Chapters: BAADA, GWADA and SCADA. These committee members were: Don Chan, Raine Cheng, Dr. Steven Chough, Sharon Gough, Sin Yi Ko, Mark Tao, Poh Teh, William Wong, Dr. Cheryl Wu, and John TC Yeh.

In keeping the spirit of empowerment in their hearts, leaders created BAADA in June, 1995 and GWADA in July, 1994. The Ad Hoc Committee worked closely with a group of individuals in the Los Angeles area to coordinate the 1997 Asian Deaf Conference, “Let’s Break Down the Walls of Silence.” It was at this conference that history was written in the books. During a General Meeting, the draft of the Bylaws were discuss and approved.
On March 23, 1997, after a very heated debate, an organization of, for, and by, Asian Deaf Americans was formally recognized; its name was National Asian Deaf Congress. The first Board of Officers were elected to be the stewards of the newly created organization: William Wong, President; Mark Tao, Vice President; Thao Cook, Treasurer; Andy Lowe, Secretary; Dr. Steven Chough and John TC Yeh, Senior Board members; Cynthia Plue and Karen Tong-Bregman, Junior Board members. Later on, under special circumstances, George Sing, Jr. stepped in as Treasurer and Lisa Ann Tom filled in the Secretary position.

There was a Gala that evening, filled with a buffet, asian festivities, an oath ceremony for the Board, and closing remarks by the Co-Chairpersons Sharon Gough and LisaAnn Tom. There was a wonderful feeling of something new in the air. An awe among the participants experienced regarding their identity as Asian Deaf. A renewed pride of being a community. A sense of accomplishment. A brighter future ahead. The labors of the 3 year old Ad Hoc Committee had bore fruit.

Since then, we’ve had national conferences at Virginia (2000), Hawaii (2004) and San Francisco (2007). At the San Francisco conference in 2007, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of NADC’s birth and the origin of our organization’s inception. The next National NADC conference will be at Flushing, NY in 2010.

Pictured from left to right: Dr. Cheryl Wu, Dr. Steven Chough, Sin Yi Ko, William Wong, Poh Teh, Mark Tao, Sharon Gough, Raine Cheng, Don Chang, and John TC Yeh.