GABRIELLA
"ELLA" CHUANG

Leadership Minor E-Portfolio

MENTOR, PROBLEM-SOLVER, COLLABORATOR,
LEADER

Hey there! 👋

I'm Gabriella (Ella) Chuang, a recent Marketing and Human Resources graduate from the Michael G. Foster School of Business and Leadership minor. I am a self-proclaimed "Jack-of-All-Trades, Master of None"— always eager to learn the basics of any new skill that comes my way, from juggling and card magic to top rope climbing and musical instruments. You can often find me chasing after Dubs for a photo op or racing through escape rooms with my family.

As a third-generation Asian American from Southern California, moving to Seattle for college was an interesting transition, especially since it was during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the isolation I was afraid of never came as I was able to get involved in many different activities at UW— many of which helped shape my leadership perspective, skills, and experiences.

Creating this e-portfolio has given me the space to reflect on my last 4 years and draw connections between various classes, jobs, and extracurriculars I had no idea could be connected in this way. I hope you enjoy learning more about my leadership journey at the UW!

Core Values

FAITH

"For we walk by faith, not by sight."
~ 2 Corinthians 5:7

My faith is at the core of my life, and guides all of my decisions. Faith for me is having full trust in God and how He has led me thus far. Beyond just religious contexts, having faith means making decisions that align with my beliefs even though they might cause others to pause and stare. My faith guides how I behave, how I treat and serve others, and how I see the world.

DEPENDABILITY

"A man who lacks reliability is utterly useless." ~ Confucius

I have always been a busybody but one thing I've always prided myself on is my ability to deliver and follow-through on my commitments. If I say I will do something, I want you to know that you can count on me to get it done with quality and timeliness. This also encompasses my ability to understand the limitations of my time and energy and be able to set boundaries.

STEWARDSHIP

"Leadership starts with understanding responsibility, not ability. Leadership is stewardship, not a show."
~Rick Warren

Stewardship is responsibly managing your resources— for me, these resources are my time, effort, skills, abilities, etc. Being able to understand myself and contribute effectively allows me to make the most of what I've been entrusted with. I may not be the most talented leader in the world, but stewardship is being able to maximize what talents I do have.

CHALLENGE

"Our ability to handle life's challenges is a measure of our strength of character."
~ Les Brown

I chose challenge because it encapsulates many other values I hold, like resiliency, seeking diverse perspectives, and growth. I welcome challenges; challenges from others, challenging tasks, and challenges of life. Overcoming these challenges, recovering from them, and celebrating them helps me grow and become a better version of myself.

FAMILY

"Families are the compass that guide us. They are our inspiration to reach great heights, and our comfort when we occasionally falter."
~ Brad Henry

I am a mosaic of every person I've ever loved and who has ever loved me and they have influenced my behaviors, interests, and perspective. While my family has supported me, I also value supporting my family— whether they are family by blood or by choice. My family challenges me to be my best, (even if I don't like what they have to say), but always for the better.

Leadership Identities

My ABSA mentorship lineage— me and my co-mentor, our mentee, and her mentees!

Service-Oriented Mentor

I have truly come to appreciate the benefits of both being mentored and being a mentor. I've had the honor to mentor many underclassmen throughout my time at UW and I am pride myself on my dedication to supporting them through whatever it is they needed mentorship for. For some that was general upperclassmen advice, for some it was help getting into Foster, and for others it was spiritual mentorship. Being able to meet their needs and provide as many of my resources as I can has given me a lot of fulfillment and led to the development of some of my closest friendships.

Geeky Problem-Solver

I embrace the title of "nerd" or "geek" and am unafraid to apply these personalities to my problem-solving approach. If we're tackling a problem together, I'm going to make sure we figure it out while having fun. I might make references to a 2010s cartoon or an 80s movie while we're at it or draw connections between our problems like it's a murder mystery. Creative problem-solving is much more than leading a brainstorming session and crunching numbers; you can analyze alternatives, generate solutions, and determine the best path forward while being a little silly (and sometimes, this might even lead to even better, more creative solutions).

My trip to the Seattle Art Musuem to see Hokusai's "The Great Wave" on display. As you can tell, I was thrilled. (I consider this "geeky")

My co-workers at ASUW pose at the ASUW Birthday Party, an event planned almost exclusively by me to celebrate ASUW's incorporation in 1906!

Inclusive Collaborator

Despite my natural introversion, I draw a lot of fulfillment from collaborating with others, especially those who bring unique backgrounds and experiences to the table. Maybe it's from a place of seeking challenge and improvement that I place myself in situations where I need to work with others (even if sometimes at that moment I'd rather be at home), but I find joy in being able to work with different people towards a shared goal. I've had a lot of experience with this throughout my time in school clubs and student government, but also in classes—almost every Foster class I've taken has had some group-work element, which really forces us to practice being dependable collaborators. Collaboration brings new relationships and lots of learning (both from good experiences and not so great ones).

My "Why"

Why do I do what I do?

Maybe it's my people-pleaser tendencies, maybe it's my drive for achievement (it's probably a good mix of both) but a lot of my "why" draws from others. Meeting others' needs, drawing from others' perspectives for my own growth, helping others grow, being challenged by others, and serving others... my pursuit of personal growth and development through others and what experiences we can draw from each other drives me to pursue leadership opportunities and pushes me to give my all to whatever or whomever. How can I sit back when there's an underclassmen seeking guidance and fellowship? How can I ignore my own limited viewpoint when so many others experience the world in such a different way than I do? The only way to truly become my ideal self is to pursue more than my own self-interests.

Future Goals

How do I envision engaging in leadership in the future?

Entering the workforce this upcoming year will be the beginning of a whole new chapter in my personal development. While I know there will be formal opportunities for involvement and leadership such as management and mentorship, I envision my future leadership engagement to be on a more micro-scale— taking initiative at work, reaching out to that person I never expected to interact with otherwise, giving back to my community, or even just being a good roommate. While I hope to have formal leadership positions in whatever career or organizations I get involved in post-college, I understand that leadership has many forms and that it really is what I make of the role/position/opportunity and what I decide to draw from it.

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GABRIELLA "ELLA" CHUANG

MENTOR, PROBLEM-SOLVER, COLLABORATOR, LEADER