Donor Q&A: Albert Chan

Léonore Haskell:

Hi, I’m Léonore Haskell, the Senior Director of External Relations at New Classrooms. And I’m so glad to be in conversation today with Albert Chan, who recently joined our Board of Advisors. Albert has held numerous sales leadership roles over the years and is currently the Head of Sales for North America at Meta. Hi Albert, and welcome.

Albert Chan:

Thank you so much. I’m very, very excited to be doing this and share a little bit of my perspective and background. Thank you for having me.

Léonore Haskell:

Of course. So to start, tell us what first drew you to New Classrooms? What aspect of our work most resonates with you?

Albert Chan:

Absolutely. I think the vision of New Classrooms which is, “To create a world where every student can attend a school that caters to their individual needs and learning styles.” That’s really what attracted me to the organization. Personally as an immigrant from Hong Kong and a father of two, I understand the importance of having a very solid foundation in order to build habits that lead to long-term success. I have been thoroughly impressed by the efforts of Joel and the rest of the team. And New Classrooms to develop and advocate for innovative approaches that meet students where they are and guide them towards where they need to be. I hope I can contribute to that mission by sharing my own experience and passion in this area.

Léonore Haskell:

Well, tell us, what was your experience like with math in school? And you just mentioned you have two children, would love to hear how their experience might have differed from yours, or how is it the same?

Albert Chan:

Yeah, I have always enjoyed and loved math because it was a subject matter that I could excel in. And even though I faced language barriers as a child integrating to the US at that young age, math really served as a universal language that allowed me to demonstrate my academic abilities. And additionally, my parents encouraged me to pursue a career in pre-med, which as we all know required a strong foundation in math. And so although I ultimately did not become a pre-med graduate, math still played a crucial role in my development, I believe, of analytical thinking, linear processing skills, et cetera. And both my children also have a fascination with math, even though they are very different. For different reasons, my son is interested in coding and relies on a thorough understanding of math to do well while my daughter really finds enjoyment in discovering patterns and solving math problems as a way to feel accomplished.

Léonore Haskell:

That sounds really nice. But would you say the pandemic impacted their experience in school at all? Has it impacted your perception of the education system as a whole?

Albert Chan:

Absolutely. I truly believe the pandemic had a significant impact on my children’s education. While the shift to remote and hybrid learning was necessary for everyone’s safety, it was disruptive to their learning process. Both my kids struggled, I felt like, with distractions and lost motivation to learn because their environment had changed drastically. But the teaching methods remained largely unchanged, and even to an extent, seemed a bit worse without the personal interaction and in-person instructions. So I began to wonder if there was a better way to adapt to the current situation because the pandemic has had significant impact on the education system and has highlighted the need for flexibility and adaptability in the face of unexpected challenges.

Léonore Haskell:

Thank you. Across the country, we’ve seen the pandemic really put a spotlight on the education system. There’s been recent national test results showing steep declines in student performance, particularly in math. And a recent article in EdWeek, our CEO, Joel Rose, writes that, “To address these issues, it’s really the fundamental education paradigm that needs to be reimagined.” Curious, what are your thoughts about that?

Albert Chan:

Yeah, I 100% fully support Joel’s call to rethink the way we approach education. The pandemic highlighted the need for innovation and flexibility in all areas, including education. And to quote a very famous author on Professor Peter Drucker, I think he said, “The greatest danger and turbulent times is not necessarily the turbulence itself, but to act with yesterday’s logic.” And if we want to inspire kids to be lifelong learners and make a positive impact on the world, we really need to be innovative in education. That’s why I’m so excited to be part of this mission that prioritizes the needs of our children.

Léonore Haskell:

Well, speaking of innovation, we’ve seen most industries experience significant innovation in the past 100 years, improving products, services, in countless ways. Do you think there are innovations in other sectors that we could apply to education. And also what’s role do you see business leaders such as yourself in redefining what’s possible in education?

Albert Chan:

Absolutely, yes. There are many innovations from other sectors that I think could have application in education. For example here at Meta, virtual reality technology really could be used to create immersive learning experiences for students, allowing them to explore virtual worlds and learn more about concepts in a more interactive and engaging way. Artificial intelligence could be used to personalize learning experiences for students, adapting really to their individual needs and learning styles. And then things like cloud computing could be used to store and manage educational data, allowing teachers and students to access resources and collaborate on projects really from any part of the world. Overall, there are many innovative technologies and approaches that I believe have potential to transform the education space and enhance the learning experience for students.

And to answer your second part of the question, or I think business leaders can play a significant role in redefining what’s possible in education by providing financial support and resources, collaborating with educators to really develop innovative educational initiatives and advocating for education reform. For example, they can partner with educators to develop new approaches to teaching and learning, such as using technology or experiential learning methods. Business leaders like myself and my colleagues, can also advocate for education reform by advocating for policies, and initiatives that support the development of well-educated workforces, supporting teacher training, professional development, or just promoting STEM education as a whole.

Léonore Haskell:

Here’s our final question for you today, Albert. From the perspective of an employer, how do you see the role of math and preparing students for the future workforce? How does a strong math foundation change student career trajectories?

Albert Chan:

Absolutely. Again, as a person and a father who loves math and children that love math, I think math teaches a variety of skills such as problem-solving, abstract thinking, persistence, and definitely attention to detail. I think all of these are important in any field a student wants to pursue over their career. And so if a student has a strong math foundation, it can set that student up for success more than potentially the next student who may not have such a strong foundation.

Neil deGrasse Tyson actually, I think explains it perfectly why math is useful. He once said that when kids learn math in school, they may say to themselves, “I’ll never really use this for the rest of my life, like trigonometry, Pythagorean theorem, et cetera.” But that misses the fact that the act of learning how to do those math establishes a new kind of problem-solving brain wiring in your mind. So it’s not necessarily what you learn, it’s about what methods, tools and tactics you had to develop to solve the problem you may never see again in your life. But you will see other problems where these tools will become immensely important to you. So math is definitely that building block foundation for one’s success over time.

Léonore Haskell:

Albert, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us and for your time. We’re so glad to have part of the New Classrooms family.

Albert Chan:

Thank you again for your time as well.