Meet Wynne Chan, Golden Thread's New Managing Director

Please join us in welcoming beloved Bay Area administrator and artist Wynne Chan (she/her) as Golden Thread’s new Managing Director!

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company devoted to the Middle East, is proud to announce Hong Kong-American administrator and theatre artist Wynne Chan (she/her) as its next Managing Director. Chan was selected after a rigorous nationwide process, and brings with her more than ten years of experience in nonprofit management, with a focus on defining and upholding nonprofit best practices. Most recently, she was the head of Candid’s Seals of Transparency program and managed the U.S.’s largest self-contributed nonprofit database with over 100,000 nonprofit participants. Before helping coordinate the formation of Candid (from Guidestar and Foundation Center), Chan led GuideStar’s revenue budgeting, strategic planning, and impact evaluation, and facilitated cross-organization workstreams on strategic vision and culture and change management. Along with her operations work, Chan also directs, vocal directs, produces, and performs regularly in the Bay Area. This hire moves Golden Thread to a dual leadership model with Chan sharing executive duties with Executive Artistic Director Sahar Assaf under the Board of Trustees.

“I am thrilled to welcome Wynne as my co-leader for this exciting new chapter at Golden Thread. As we deepen our political and social justice engagement and align our programming with our strategic plan, Wynne’s partnership is invaluable,” says Executive Artistic Director Sahar Assaf. “Her expertise in the nonprofit world, her artistic sensibilities as a director and performer, and her lived experience as a child of immigrants from Hong Kong bring a vital perspective to our community-focused mission.”

Board President Babak Sani adds: “Through an extensive nationwide search process, Wynne distinguished herself as a thoughtful and confident leader with more than a decade of relevant financial and strategic planning experience. Her unwavering commitment to uplifting the voices of underserved communities both as an administrator and as an artist make her an exceptional partner to Executive Artistic Director Sahar Assaf.”

Chan follows outgoing Managing Director Michelle Mulholland who has left an indelible mark on Golden Thread through her 13 years of service. Chan started her duties last month, and will be overlapping with Mulholland through the end of the year to allow for a healthy transition.

We asked Wynne a few questions to learn more about her in her own words.

Welcome to Golden Thread Productions. You’re a month in — how are you doing? Any surprises?

It’s been wonderful! Everyone I’ve met has been extremely welcoming and I feel right at home already. Michelle has done such a wonderful job growing this company and setting up processes and platforms to get things in order. I would say I’m very pleasantly surprised at how systematically data has been managed. I know it’s kind of a nerdy topic, but it feels really nice coming into such a massive role knowing there are systems in place to support the work, and it’s easy to pick up the different pieces.

Can you tell us a little about your background in administrative leadership and work?

Sure, for the last ten years I’ve been with Candid, formerly GuideStar and Foundation Center. During my time there I wore a lot of different hats – Finance, strategic planning, grant writing, product management, culture and change management, impact evaluation, and more. For the last few years, I led the Seals of Transparency Program and product, which promotes nonprofit transparency and having all nonprofit information in one place. And I’m really grateful I got to work on so many aspects of nonprofit work because that wholistic picture of how different departments work together translates pretty perfectly into this role.

Where did you grow up? What brought you to theater and performance?

I grew up right here in San Francisco. I came to theater because I felt disconnected to a lot of pop culture as a child of immigrants. My parents listened to Cantonese pop music, watched Hong Kong TV programs, and I always struggled to catch up to what other kids were listening to or watching. I also never quite saw myself in mainstream media. Musical theater was a way for me to feel connected to American culture and an excuse to not know pop culture while not seeming “less American”. As I dug deeper into it, I grew to love theater and the way it can speak to you like no other art form can.

What drew you to Golden Thread Productions?

I was drawn to Golden Thread Productions because of the unique topics Golden Thread shows touch on. No other theater company centers Middle Eastern stories like Golden Thread does, and it really speaks to me because I always seek out theater told through a non-white lens. Through my interview process, I also learned how tightknit this community is, and it gave me confidence that Golden Thread is a great company set out to do good and unique work.

You come to us with decade-long experience in non-profit transparency and best practices. What are some of the ways you see your role at Golden Thread, and any priorities for your first year or two on the job?

A lot of my work focused on advocating for changes in the sector that help nonprofits improve efficiency. Internally, I also helped improve efficiency by implementing systems and adding ways to communicate. For my first couple years in the role, I will look for ways to bring some of these processes and systems to Golden Thread. The more time I can free up for myself and our staff, the more time we get to do focus on the important work.

You have worked all over the Bay Area. It’s a challenging time for the theater field. What’s the biggest change you’ve noticed in the industry, and how do you think Golden Thread is positioned to respond?

I think the biggest challenge is that the industry really hasn’t fully bounced back since the pandemic. SO many theater companies have shut down in the last few years, and many are now afraid to take risks on what they choose to produce. Theater is meant to be provacative. What I appreciate most about Golden Thread is our willingness to take risks and tell stories that need to be told. Our audiences have responded extremely well to this.

You are a child of immigrants – from Hong Kong. How does that come into your leadership?

As a child of immigrants who spent a lot of my youth in Hong Kong and balancing my identity between the two worlds, I think I share a high level understanding of the many difficulties hyphenated Americans and immigrants face. In a leadership context, that means I’m willing to fight for producing shows that center that experience that may seem less relatable to some folks. It also means being mindful of cultural contexts as we work with people from around the world.

My identity itself is political. I have chosen to put my identity as Hong Kong-American front and center because of all the political movements that have been happening in Hong Kong in the past 10+ years. I’m grateful to have Golden Thread as a home because we have always been unafraid to produce theater that explores oppression.

You’re someone who balances a very healthy artistic career with your administrative and leadership work. Can you speak about your artistry, and what you are specifically interested in?

I’m interested in telling stories about immigranthood. Specifically, stories that center the joy and nuance of bridging cultural traditions of home countries and America. Much of my directorial work centers Asian American experiences. Sometimes these are comedies, sometimes they touch on heavy topics. One thing that’s been important to me is to find joy and moments of lightness in each piece. There’s often a lot of trauma in shows about immigrant experiences because this country has never been kind to immigrants. But as humans, in order to survive, we always find the lightness and beauty even in times of distress. That balance is what I’m interested in the most. I especially love exploring the journey a character takes to come to terms with their new identity in a new place.

What is a surprising fact that folks might not know about you?

I’m one of those people that dabble in a lot of different art forms. I paint, I sing, I do theater, but the most recent one that I’ve been taking more seriously is cooking. I started throwing occasional supper club dinners when I’m not super busy with theater. There’s an art to cooking, but also an art to plating, to curating a menu, and to presenting each dish. It’s been really fun!

ABOUT WYNNE CHAN:

Wynne Chan (she/her) is a Hong Kong-American director and theater artist with ten years of nonprofit experience. Most recently, she was the head of Candid’s Seals of Transparency program and managed the U.S.’s largest self-contributed nonprofit database with over 100,000 nonprofit participants. Previously, she led GuideStar’s revenue budgeting, strategic planning, and impact evaluation. She helped coordinate the formation of Candid (from Guidestar and Foundation Center) and facilitated cross-organization workstreams on strategic vision and culture and change management. Wynne also directs, vocal directs, produces, and performs regularly in the Bay Area. She is the co-founder and artistic director of SDC Productions, a collaborative theatre and cabaret group. As a director and performer, she’s worked with various theater companies around the Bay Area, including San Francisco Playhouse, Shotgun Players, The Pear Theatre, Hillbarn Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, Plethos Productions, and 3Girls Theater. wynnechan.info