Keynote Speaker at the 2025 USF Commencement

On Friday, December 12th, I had the honor of returning to my alma mater, the University of San Francisco, to deliver the Commencement Address for the School of Nursing and Health Professions, Class of 2025, at the beautiful St. Ignatius Church.

Coming back to USF—where I earned my Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree in 2012—was deeply meaningful. Mid-career, returning to school reshaped how I think about leadership, service, and lifelong learning. Many of the projects I completed as a student later became real programs serving our communities—powerful reminders that education is not theoretical, but transformative.

In my remarks, I shared three lessons that have guided my journey as a nurse and healthcare leader:

• Seek opportunity in every crisis

• Build windmills, not walls, when the winds of change blow

• Remember that a rising tide lifts all boats

As healthcare continues to evolve with technology and innovation, our greatest responsibility remains unchanged: to lead with compassion, humility, and courage. AI and data may enhance our capabilities, but human connection is what truly heals.

To the Class of 2025: your diploma marks the beginning of your influence. Lead with purpose, lift others as you rise, and never underestimate the impact of service-driven leadership.

Grateful to USF for the invitation, and congratulations to all the graduates and their families. The future of healthcare is in good hands!

Members of the Board of Trustees, President Aceves, Provost Fung, Dean Fry Bowers, faculty and staff, families — most importantly — our remarkable graduates of 2025, good afternoon! It is such a joy and honor to be back at USF, where I earned my Executive Leadership DNP in 2012. I went to many schools in my life, but I enjoyed my DNP the most, many of my school projects transformed services at work---my business plan for school is now an outpatient center in San Mateo County, my DNP project led to the building of a Diabetes Center and many more.

Coming back to school mid-career was humbling and transformative. It reminded me that learning never ends, and that leadership, at its heart, is an act of service. This afternoon, as you stand at the threshold of your own next chapter, I want to share with you three lessons that have shaped my journey — three truths that continue to guide me as a nurse, a leader, and a human being:

Lesson 1 | Seek Opportunity in Every Crisis

When I began my career, I faced my first professional “crisis” before it even started. I was admitted to a medical school in China, imagining a future as a doctor. Instead, I, along with 14 classmates, was assigned to a brand-new nursing major — no curriculum, no designated leadership team, no clear future. We were, quite literally, an experiment. At first, I was frustrated. I asked myself repeatedly: Why me? Why now?(and yes, I cried). But then a wise professor said something that enlightened me and has stayed with me my entire life:

“A crisis — 危机 — is made of two characters: one means danger, the other means opportunity.”

That moment changed my perspective. I realized that I couldn’t change the circumstances, but I could change my attitude. So I decided to prepare rather than complain — to see uncertainty as possibility. I studied harder, learned English, and looked beyond my immediate horizon. That mindset led me to incredible opportunities — including the one that brought me to the United States to study at UCSF with a full scholarship from China Medical Board of New York in 1990, which ultimately led me to become the CEO of Chinese Hospital.

Throughout my career, I dealt with many crises and I have learned that crisis is not the end of the road; it is the curve that reveals the next one. When life feels uncertain — when fear knocks at the door — open it with curiosity, not resistance. Because every crisis, if faced with courage, can become the beginning of something remarkable.

Lesson 2 | Build Windmills, Not Walls

There’s a proverb that I follow whenever I face a challenge and need to make a difficult decision:

“When the wind of change comes, some build walls to resist it; others build windmills to capture its power.”

In healthcare, the winds of change never stop blowing — new technologies, new diseases, new policies. But the way we respond determines whether those winds will push us backward or propel us forward.

During the COVID pandemic, those winds became a storm. At Chinese Hospital in San Francisco’s Chinatown, we served one of the most vulnerable communities in the city — elderly monolingual residents with chronic medical conditions, many living in the single-room-occupancy housing, 16 residents sharing one bathroom and one kitchen. And Chinatown is the second most densely populated area in the nation, everybody thought San Francisco Chinatown was going to be a hotspot for COVID outbreaks. We could have built walls — waited for direction and hoped for the best.

Instead, we built windmills.

We prepared before we had cases in the USA; we launched multilingual education, testing, contact tracing, quarantine, linkage of care, and vaccination programs, and we delivered care to our seniors door-to-door and reached 88% vaccination rate very early on.

We turned fear into action, and action into hope. As a result, Chinatown had one of the lowest infection and death rates in the nation. That experience taught me something essential: true leadership is not about waiting for calm seas; it’s about learning how to sail in the storm. When the world changes, don’t resist it — harness it. When new technology, new ideas, or new challenges arise, let them lift you — and use that momentum to create light for others.

Lesson 3 | A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

There’s another Chinese saying that guides me every day and shapes my leadership style:

“A rising tide lifts all boats.”

In leadership — and in nursing — your success is not defined by how high you climb, but by how many people you help rise with you. Too often, leadership is seen as a competition — as if we shine only when others stand in our shadow. But the most powerful leaders are those who empower others to shine. They create environments where every person — from the front-line nurse to the cleaning staff — feels valued, respected, and inspired.

At Chinese Hospital, I’ve seen what happens when people rise together. When one nurse takes time to mentor another, when a physician coaches an intern how to listen to a family with patience, when a community volunteer holds a scared patient’s hand while the nurse starts an IV line— the whole system becomes stronger. That is what leadership looks like: not the spotlight on one, but the light that spreads to many. Be that rising tide. Lift your teams. Celebrate their growth. Share your knowledge generously. Because when others rise, they push you up.

The Bridge Between Knowledge and Humanity

As graduates of USF, you are stepping into a healthcare world transformed by technology — artificial intelligence, precision medicine, digital care. These innovations are powerful, but they can never replace the human heart. Your Jesuit education has taught you that caring for others is not just a profession; it is a calling. You are healers of bodies — and also of spirits, families, and communities. In a time when data may predict illness, it will always take compassion to restore health. So lead with both intellect and empathy. Let technology expand your reach, but let kindness define your touch.

A Full Circle

When I walked across this stage in 2012 to receive my DNP degree, I carried with me gratitude, humility, and a renewed sense of purpose.

Today, as I look at all of you, I see the same light — a generation ready to reimagine healthcare, redefine leadership, and restore faith in humanity.

Remember: your diploma is not the end of your education; it is the beginning of your influence. Your patients may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Your colleagues will remember not your title, but how you treat them when no one is watching.

In Closing, class of 2025, the world needs you. It needs your hands, your hearts, your hope. So when you face your next crisis, look for the opportunity. When the winds of change blow, build windmills, not walls. And when you rise, lift others with you — be that rising tide.

If you live these principles, you will not only have a successful career; you will have a meaningful life. You will not only heal others; you will help them see their own strength and they will help more.

Carry forward the light of USF — the light of compassion, justice, and service to others. Lead with humility. Serve with courage. And always, always choose hope over fear.

Congratulations, Class of 2025. Go forth — change the world from here.