Chung To
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Chung To (; born 1966 or 1967) is a Chinese AIDS activist. He founded the Chi Heng Foundation (CHF) in 1998, which primarily serves AIDS orphans in Hong Kong and mainland China.


Early life and education

Chung To was born in
British Hong Kong Hong Kong was under British Empire, British rule from 1841 to 1997, except for a Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, brief period of Japanese occupation during World War II from 1941 to 1945. It was a crown colony of the United Kingdom from 1841 ...
. His family was originally from
northern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling, Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone ...
( Hebei province ), with his grandfather working in the railroad industry. They fled to Hong Kong in 1937 under threat of Japanese invasion. As a child, his family moved to the United States, in hopes of giving To and his sister, Wing, a good education. As a result, he has dual American and Hong Kong citizenship. In the 1980s, To came out to his friends as gay. He received his bachelor's degree in engineering from
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, and a master's degree in East Asian studies from
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 1991. After graduating, To worked as an investment banker for a decade, first working on
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
for
Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...
and then in Hong Kong for firm UBS beginning in 1995.


Activism

To first became involved in AIDS activism in the 1980s, when he participated in the AIDS walk and campus events at Columbia. He then became introduced to ''tongzhi'' and AIDS activism in Hong Kong after beginning work there in 1995. In 1997, he decided to use his business skills to further activist work. To co-founded the Chi Heng Foundation (CHF; Chi Heng meaning "wisdom in action") in 1998, and had devoted himself fully to the foundation by 2001. In 2002, after meeting some AIDS orphans, he shifted the foundation's focus to serve AIDS orphans in China, through programs offering "tuition and school aid...psychosocial support, art therapy, summer camps, and vocational training". In 2005, CHF's Henan office was briefly shut down by local officials. To has publicly focused on child welfare and diplomatic language to avoid being targeted for his role as an AIDS activist. In 2006, To was invited to speak at the Central Chinese Communist Party School in Beijing, one of only a few NGO leaders to do so. By 2011, CHF had expanded to have branches in
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
,
Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...
, and
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
, and the provinces of
Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...
and
Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...
. In 2015, CHF received the China Charity Award from the
Ministry of Civil Affairs The Ministry of Civil Affairs ( zh, 中华人民共和国民政部) the cabinet-level executive department of the State Council of China which is responsible for social and administrative affairs. It is the 10th-ranked department in the State C ...
.


Recognition

To was awarded the 2007
Ramon Magsaysay Award The Ramon Magsaysay Award (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Gawad Ramon Magsaysay'') is an annual award established to perpetuate former Philippine President Ramon Magsaysay's example of integrity in governance, courageous service to the people, ...
for ''Emergent Leadership'' (shared with Chen Guangcheng). (Retrieved on February 7, 2008) In 2010,
BNP Paribas BNP Paribas (; sometimes referred to as BNPP or BNP) is a French multinational universal bank and financial services holding company headquartered in Paris. It was founded in 2000 from the merger of two of France's foremost financial instituti ...
presented him with an award for individual philanthropy.


References

1960s births Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century Hong Kong businesspeople 20th-century Hong Kong LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American people 21st-century Hong Kong LGBTQ people 21st-century Hong Kong people American gay men American HIV/AIDS activists American LGBTQ businesspeople Chinese HIV/AIDS activists Chinese LGBTQ businesspeople Columbia University alumni Gay businessmen Harvard University alumni Hong Kong gay men People from British Hong Kong People of Cantonese descent {{China-activist-stub Ramon Magsaysay Award winners