Gold Chhim leads national partnerships at Education Pioneers. For years he kept his identity and his leadership in two separate lanes, and closing that gap is what he now means by authentic leadership.
In this episode of Ronderings, Ron sits down with Gold, Managing Director of Partnerships at Education Pioneers, to talk about what it costs to be the only one in the room and what changes when you stop paying it.
Gold grew up on the east side of Compton, the son of a Cambodian refugee mother who told him his job was education. His schools were roughly 65% Latino and 34% Black. The remaining 1% was him. He got into UCLA and finished year one on academic probation, wondering whether he was smart enough to be there. Two days after graduating, he flew to Detroit with two suitcases and started teaching high school math. He founded the basketball team too, which made him the winningest coach in school history by default.
Ron and Gold get into the part that does not fit on a resume. Gold's students in Detroit had never met an Asian person, and their only reference point was Jeremy Lin. The two of them compare notes on being judged by other Asian Americans for how they talk, and on why code switching eventually stopped being worth it.
Tune in to hear the question Gold uses as a north star: is he living as someone 15 year old Gold would look up to?
Chapters:
🌏
01:53 Gold Chhim and the short list of Southeast Asian leaders in education
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08:31 The hustle his mother taught him: education was the job
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10:38 Academic probation at UCLA and the fear of not belonging
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12:23 Two suitcases to Detroit two days after graduating
🔢
14:49 Growing up as the 1% on the east side of Compton
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21:23 His Detroit students had never met an Asian person before
🏙️
27:23 Teaching in a city that woke up bankrupt
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37:54 Music as a better entry point than what do you do
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39:32 Why he stopped keeping identity and work in separate lanes
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49:57 The Ronderings question: create the conditions for authentic leadership
Links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gold-chhim-94b59a9a/
Connect with Gold Chhim on LinkedIn to learn more about his partnership work across the education sector at Education Pioneers. He asked for it directly on the episode: message him, and he will look for a way to partner.
Episode 109
