Osler's Razor

On Wednesdays, I am profiling my classmates from the Yale Law School class of 1990. What a fascinating group they are!

Ted Wang came to the US from Taiwan, and then to Yale Law School from Reed College in Oregon (which is perhaps the smallest school in the US with its own nuclear reactor, though I don't think Ted had anything to do with that).

After graduation, Ted got right after what it is he wanted to do (and still does):  Push for social change and inclusion. Starting in 1990, he began working for non-profits in the Bay Area, litigating discrimination and voting rights cases and drafting laws that promote immigrant rights and racial justice.

Many of my heroes are community organizers like Ted; often I operate in their wake, appreciating the waves they made. His work has been recognized with a bevy of awards, but I suspect that the real satisfaction comes in knowing the unseen changes he has created.

Since 2004, Ted has been working as the US Program Director at Unbound Philanthropy, a non-profit which focuses on projects involving migrants and refugees-- critical work right now! In 2018, they made over $5,000,000 in grants in the US alone (they made additional grants in the UK).

As I get the chance to write about people like Ted, I am really taken by the wholeness of their vocation. He clearly entered law to do something for others, and is doing it at the front lines of one of the most important and contentious realms in our society. Others have gone on to have power, but it is the influence of those like Ted that I most admire.