The concept of an organization like the Northwest Chinese Alliance was first discussed in December 2010 between Cathy Chinn and Michael Zhang, then presidents of Northwest China Council and Chinese Friendship Association of Portland, on how to jointly promote the understanding of Chinese culture in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, and to showcase Oregon and the Pacific Northwest to the global community. This discussion then evolved into a solid plan of involving Portland metro Chinese community organizations to work together and showcase Chinese culture in the Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade.
In late 2010, phone calls went out to the different Chinese community groups. The first meeting, held in December 2010, drew many participants with high level of interests and commitments. Things just snowballed from there.
Over the next six months, we discussed and developed performance ideas. The team members then followed through by stepping into roles as directors, performers and volunteers. We planned, rehearsed and learned to work together. Our 2011 entry was successfully performed and our spirits high! We were rewarded with self-satisfactions and the newly formed friendships with other team members.
By the time we performed in the 2011 Portland Rose Festival Grand Floral Parade in June 2011, we represented 16 major Portland Chinese community groups. Our team had a superior performance and was featured in the Rose Festival Edition of Oregonian newspaper. We were all very proud of our achievements, but above all, we were proud that we could put this together in such a short time and with very little money.
After a decade of serving the Portland community, the founders agreed in late 2019 to transition leadership to a new team with skills in dance creation and performance, as well as in development, marketing and volunteer recuritment. Unfortunately, this transition was delayed by the COVID 19 Pandemic and was not fully achieved until the June, 2022 Grand Floral Parade performance. Cathy Chinn, Founding President, and Michael Zhang, Founding Vice-President, successfully worked with the new leaders for the transition: Claudia Chai, President; Jennifer, Vice President; and XiaoHong Lu, Secretary. They are very experienced with cultural performance as well as being capable leaders.
We are deeply indebted to the 16 founding organizations that contributed our initial seed capital. Over the years, we have had multiple performing partners, supportive sponsors, committed artistic and performance directors, lovely dancers and many parade day photographers and volunteers. We could not have done this without the support of our community. Thank you vey much.
