Tech meets tradition: Asian American leadership thrives at Oracle
Sherwin Chan is the kind of person that makes things happen. As a business operations analyst at Oracle, he finds himself in the middle of complex consulting projects every single day. It’s a busy role, but thanks to him, everything runs smoothly.
“I support consulting projects internally from inception to close to ensure proper project set up, revenue recognition, and timely client invoicing and collection. I also support various teams in other aspects such as website management, support for software tools, running monthly team meetings, and generating content for skills development.”
Everyone is heard
And he’s been just as busy in his position as program manager for the North America Applications Consulting (NAAC) Diversity and Inclusion team. Making sure that everyone is heard is a big part of Sherwin’s job here and he often finds himself coordinating a huge web of activity, from regular diversity activities to setting strategic objectives.
“I coordinate activities between our communications, metrics, and event planning committees to meet the strategic objectives of the organization.”
This sounds complex, but Sherwin sees it all as part of a clear mission: “I work to make sure that everyone has a voice and that this is heard and valued by the organization.”
Family matters
It’s vital work, but what was the spark that ignited his interest in the field? It all starts with family. Heritage matters to Sherwin, and Chinese traditions are always a part of day-to-day life. Growing up, his family always made sure to maintain contact with Chinese culture—from food and language to entertainment and education.
“As an American Born Chinese, my parents and grandparents ensured that I grew up with exposure and appreciation for Chinese culture. This meant that I ate traditional home-cooked Hong Kong cuisine, spoke Cantonese whenever possible, watched popular TVB (a Hong Kong-based broadcaster) shows and movies, attended Chinese school on the weekends, visited Chinatown regularly, and followed Chinese traditions.”
This is something that he’s taken with him into adult life and he’s constantly seeking new touchstones and experiences that will put him in touch with Chinese culture.
“As I grew up and moved out of the house, I still maintained a connection in various ways. Prior to the pandemic I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to visit China on a trip, and visit many cities such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Nanjing, Guilin, and Zhou Zhang. I cook Chinese food at home at least a few times a month and try new Chinese restaurants when they open near me. I celebrate all the major Chinese holidays with my parents throughout the year, who work hard to ensure that I have the most traditional experience possible.”
Staying immersed in his culture this way takes a lot of dedication, but Sherwin always finds creative ways to do so.
“When traveling, I try to incorporate activities such as visiting an Asian art museum or Chinatown into my travel plans.”
Shared values
Luckily, since joining Oracle, Sherwin has met several people who share his values. The Oracle Professional Asian Leadership (OPAL) group has created a community for Asian professionals and allies at the company and naturally, he gravitated towards it.
“I got involved in OPAL during the founding of our Chicago chapter in May 2019. At the time, I was interested in learning more about my culture and the cultures of other coworkers. I quickly became friends with other OPAL members in the first few meetings.”
As Sherwin took on extra responsibility, he found himself becoming both a leader and a mentor. When the opportunity arose, he took on the role as one of the co-leads for the Chicago chapter.
“This naturally led to taking on a leadership role when it was offered to me as I was always asking myself ‘how can I do more?’. For those new to Oracle, I want to build a community that will help them navigate their career journey and become a source of new friendships which will make them delighted to work at Oracle.”
Rising to the challenge
His time at OPAL has been transformative on a personal and professional level. Not only has he built hard and soft skills, he’s also had the chance to apply them to global challenges.
“OPAL has been amazing for my professional development. Through attending different cultural events, I’ve gained a broader understanding of different traditions, personalities, and perspectives. This has helped me communicate better with my work team, especially as I have vastly improved my writing and presentation skills through assisting with OPAL events.”
His social and professional circles have flourished, too. “These events have also created amazing opportunities to network and meet people from other lines of business,” he says.
Community
Ultimately, it’s about finding even more ways to help even more people. “Though it is a lot of hard work, I find limitless energy to work on ways to help others through OPAL,” he enthuses.
It’s all part of creating that powerful sense of community that Sherwin values.
“OPAL is my work family. We celebrate each other’s successes as we achieve them and lean on each other for support whenever we face challenges. When we travel, we make time to share meals and tell stories together and introduce each other to our families.”
This strong sense of inclusion is something that he sees repeated all across Oracle.
A culture of respect
Seeing people across all specializations, levels and backgrounds were able to come together to appreciate the occasions like Lunar New Year and Diwali have been some of the standout moments for Sherwin this year.
“I was especially amazed with the support by both management and non-Asian coworkers for these events. Though people came from all different lines of business, career levels, and cultural backgrounds, we were able to respect each other and improve our cultural knowledge together.”
The theme of AAPI Month 2022 is Advancing Leaders through Collaboration. For Sherwin, being a leader at Oracle doesn’t stop at setting strategy—it asks that you be able to stand up and give voice to those that may not always be heard.
“It is important to unify everyone towards Oracle’s shared goals and utilize our unique talents to advance the organization. With this, it’s important to recognize the need for leaders to elevate the voices for those who may not always be heard, and to use this to drive the inclusion of more ideas and knowledge to support growth and positive change.”
Collaboration
As far as he’s concerned, the talent is already there—it all just needs to join up! Fostering understanding between diverse perspectives is the secret ingredient that makes that happen.
“One of the best ways to do this is to create more opportunities for everyone to collaborate with their unique knowledge, ideas, and skills which allows them to shine and thrive in the roles that best utilize their talents.”
This kind of cooperation unites everyone at Oracle and Sherwin embraces his role in it.
“I am in a unique position to promote collaboration not only within OPAL but between different ERGs as well. Though our focus is on helping the members of each of our respective communities, we share a common desire to help people develop both personally and professionally through mentorship, networking, and skills development.”
Do you want to help us build the future of technology with talented Asian American leaders like Sherwin? Visit our jobs site for a list of current openings.