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Andrew Yang facts for kids

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Andrew Yang
Andrew Yang November 2023.jpg
Yang in 2023
Chair of the Forward Party
Assumed office
July 28, 2022
Serving with Christine Todd Whitman and Michael S. Willner
Preceded by Position established
Personal details
Born (1975-01-13) January 13, 1975 (age 50)
Schenectady, New York, U.S.
Political party Forward (since 2021)
Other political
affiliations
Democratic (1995–2021)
Spouse
Evelyn Lu
(m. 2011)
Children 2
Education Brown University (BA)
Columbia University (JD)
Occupation
  • Businessman
  • Politician
  • Attorney
  • Lobbyist
  • Political commentator
  • Author
Signature
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 楊安澤
Simplified Chinese 杨安泽
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin Yáng Ānzé
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ Iûⁿ An-te̍k

Andrew Yang (born January 13, 1975) is an American businessman, lawyer, and politician. He is also an author and a political commentator. Yang ran for president in 2020 as a Democrat. He also ran for mayor of New York City in 2021. Today, he is a leader of the Forward Party.

Early Life and Education

Andrew Yang was born on January 13, 1975, in Schenectady, New York. His parents moved to the U.S. from Taiwan in the 1960s. His family is of Hoklo Taiwanese background.

Yang's father earned a PhD in physics. He worked at big companies like IBM and General Electric. He even created over 50 new inventions! His mother got a master's degree in statistics. She worked with computers at a university before becoming an artist. Andrew also has an older brother named Lawrence, who is a psychology professor.

Andrew grew up in Somers, a town in New York. He went to Phillips Exeter Academy, a special boarding school in New Hampshire. After finishing high school in 1992, he went to Brown University. There, he studied economics and political science. He graduated in 1996. Then, he went to Columbia Law School and became a lawyer in 1999.

Business Career

After law school, Yang started working as a corporate lawyer in New York City. In 2000, he helped start a website called Stargiving. It was made for people to raise money for good causes. The website closed in 2002. Yang then worked at a healthcare startup for a few years.

In 2009, Yang began working on a new idea. He wanted to create a nonprofit group called Venture for America (VFA). He officially started VFA in 2011. This group aimed to find and train young business leaders. These leaders would then start new businesses in cities that needed economic help. VFA started with $200,000. It trained 40 graduates in 2012 and 69 in 2013. VFA grew quickly and even got attention from the Obama administration.

Andrew Yang talking about urban entrepreneurship at Techonomy Conference 2015 in Detroit, MI
Yang speaks about starting businesses in cities at a conference in 2015.

On March 5, 2020, Yang announced a new nonprofit group. It was called Humanity Forward Foundation. This group works to promote ideas like Universal Basic Income (UBI), ranked voting, and data privacy. Yang also announced that Humanity Forward would give $500,000 in UBI to people in Hudson, New York. This was to show how UBI could help people.

Later, Humanity Forward spent $1 million to give $1,000 each month to 500 low-income families in the Bronx. This was during a time of crisis. Yang's group also partnered with The $1K Project. This online group helps find families who need financial support.

Political Career

Andrew Yang became a well-known candidate in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries. His main idea was a universal basic income (UBI). This means giving every adult $1,000 a month. He suggested this as a way to help people whose jobs might be lost to new technology. Many people say Yang helped make the idea of UBI more popular.

News reporters called Yang a "dark horse candidate." This means he was not well-known at first. But he became a major competitor in the race. Yang took part in seven of the eight main Democratic debates. His supporters were called the "Yang Gang." This group included many famous people. Yang stopped his presidential campaign on February 11, 2020.

After his campaign, Yang became a political commentator for CNN. He also started the Humanity Forward nonprofit. Then, he ran in the 2021 New York City Democratic mayoral primary. He finished fourth in that race.

On October 4, 2021, Andrew Yang announced he was leaving the Democratic Party. He decided to become an independent. He said he felt "more comfortable trying to fix the system than being a part of it." Later in October 2021, Yang started the Forward Party. This is a new political party that aims to find common ground.

Personal Life

Evelyn Yang (49453150641)
Andrew Yang's wife, Evelyn Yang, speaking during his presidential campaign.

Yang married Evelyn Yang (née Lu) in 2011. They have two sons together.

The Yang family lives in an apartment in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan. They also own a home in New Paltz, New York.

Awards and Recognition

  • In 2015, he was named a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship.
  • In 2011, Yang was honored by "Champions of Change." This White House program recognized people doing great work in their communities.
  • In 2020, Yang received the 2021 Vilcek Prize for Excellence in Public Service. This award is given by the Vilcek Foundation.

Andrew Yang Quotes

  • "Overnight successes are generally years in the making. And most progress is made in isolation, far from the public eye."
  • "Mistakes are acceptable if they’re the result of moving forward."
  • "I’ve always believed that talking about something is not the same as doing something about it."
  • "People can grow from adversity as much as they do from prosperity."

Images for kids

See Also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Andrew Yang para niños

  • Taiwanese Americans
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