New York, NY (May 19, 2023) — Committee of 100, a non-profit organization of prominent Chinese Americans, today released the following statement mourning the passing of former member Carolyn Chin, passing at the age of 75.
Carolyn was an active Member of Committee of 100 until 2011and served on the Committee of 100 Board of Directors from 2004-2007. Carolyn will be fondly remembered as a loving mother and grandmother to her family, a great convener of family, friends and colleagues; as a trailblazer in business, technology and engineering, and as a passionate and outspoken voice on issues of women, diversity, Asian Americans and U.S. – China relations.
In addition to a prolific career, Carolyn was also a medical wonder and ‘warrior,’ who was told she would die before her 20s, yet who insisted on seeking multiple doctors’ opinions if it meant finding one who would think differently. Her persistence paid off, and she was one of the earliest kidney transplant successes. Carolyn had 3 kidney transplants, several near-death scares, a child she was told to abort if she wanted to survive. This fueled her pursuit to leverage ‘borrowed time’ to build a memorable career in corporate strategy, business, marketing and public service, and a legacy of impact.
Carolyn was Valedictorian of Eastern High School in Washington, D.C. She studied management engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, NY), where she served as the first coed (woman) on the student council. She attended Harvard Business School before on-campus housing for women was offered. Carolyn’s early career included management roles at Macy’s, AT&T and Citibank. One of her greatest roles was a pause from private sector to serve as a White House Fellow, Class of 1979, as Special Assistant to Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the Carter administration, then subsequently as Assistant Secretary/Chief of Staff/Chief Regulations Officer of Health, Education and Wealth (HEW).
At AT&T and then as Vice President of Corporate Strategy/External Development; Director, Strategic Development; General Manager, E-Commerce at IBM (1994-1998), Carolyn rose as a tech and corporate strategy leader, taking on projects in videotex, internet services, cybersecurity, and e-commerce. She was recruited to Reuters America in 1998, as Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, and Executive Board Member. Other subsequent roles were for startups in finance, pharmaceuticals and tech, including Executive Vice President of Marketing, Sales and Business Development for MarketXT, a NY-based startup pioneering extended hours securities trading for individual investors; Chairman of the Board and Interim CEO of KindMark, a Mill Valley, CA-based software and services company; Chairman of the Board of Commtouch, a NASDAQ-CTCH anti-SPAM and security services company in California and Israel; Board Director and CEO of Singlepoint, a provider of software products and services for digital security and authentication; CEO of LarasanPharmaceuticals, an analgesic pharmaceutical startup.
Carolyn always found time to give back. She served on more than 30 non-profit, for-profit and advisory boards. Non-profit involvement included the Committee of 100, where she spearheaded the design and framework for our report that revealed unexpected ongoing perspectives affecting Chinese Americans, and which subsequently evolved as a leading thought piece guiding strategy.
“On behalf of the Committee of 100, I would like to extend our deepest condolence and sympathies to the family and friends of Carolyn Chin,” said Zhengyu Huang, President of Committee of 100. “Carolyn was a wonderful contributor to the Committee of 100, donating her time, energy and expertise to advancing our dual missions. We are all grateful for knowing Carolyn and honored to have had her be a part of the Committee of 100 family.”
Carolyn is survived by her daughter Patricia, grandson Kayden, ex-husband and long-time friend Gerald Sweeney and sister Marilyn.
About Committee of 100
Committee of 100 is a non-profit U.S. leadership organization of prominent Chinese Americans in business, government, academia, healthcare, and the arts focused on public policy engagement, civic engagement, and philanthropy. For more than 30 years, Committee of 100 has served as a preeminent organization committed to the dual missions of promoting the full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life and constructive relations between the United States and Greater China. Visit https://www.committee100.org/ or follow Committee of 100 on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for more information.
# # #
Committee of 100 Contacts:
Charles Zinkowski
Senior Director of Marketing & Communications
czinkowski@committee100.org
Sam Jones
Manager of Public Relations & Social Media
sjones@committee100.org
