The Power of Mentorship: Dan Hu and Suzi Kim Scott
The mission of Glen Nelson Center is brought to life through investing in promising media start-ups. A key program, launched in 2021, is the Next Challenge for Media & Journalism, a national competition that identifies and supports media founders and start-ups. In addition to the opportunity to win financial support, nearly 40 finalists are paired with a mentor – either a senior leader from the APMG team, a leader at one of our partner organizations, or a member of the Glen Nelson Center Board of Advisors.
In this joint interview, Dan Hu, editor of The Yappie, and Suzi Kim Scott, director of communications and member audience services for APMG ,discuss how they continue to benefit from the mentorship experience.
GLEN NELSON CENTER: Dan, what is The Yappie and how did you connect with them?
DAN: The Yappie is the only U.S. publication dedicated to reporting on Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) politics and activism.
I’m a journalism major at Northwestern University and wrote a piece on Midwest AAPI voters who had voted for Biden in the 2020 election. The margin between Biden and Trump in Wisconsin was about 20,000 votes. That’s a state with an AAPI population of 200,000 and 100,000 eligible AAPI voters, so any outreach to the AAPI community could really make a difference to determine an election.
I was looking for a platform to publish my story and one of my sources suggested The Yappie. I checked it out and saw they did original reporting so decided this was the platform I wanted my story to run.
Within a couple of days, U.S. congresswoman Grace Meng (D-Queens) read and commented on my story – which kind of blew my mind. That was the first time that I felt like my journalism had this kind of impact. So, I decided to stay with The Yappie, eventually moving onto the business and operations side.
“It was honestly a little overwhelming how much our horizons expanded after meeting Suzi and the Glen Nelson Center team.” - Dan Hu
GLEN NELSON CENTER: How did you learn about the Next Challenge? How did your find the application process?
DAN: Last fall, I was in Washington with a school program, reporting on Capitol Hill, and I was telling people about The Yappie. I was meeting all these great people, asking their advice about whether to go down a for-profit route or become a nonprofit newsroom. This was a big question that will determine how we go-to-market as a news organization.
Two different people recommended the Next Challenge, so it’s been on our radar since November of last year. As soon as I got home, our founder Andrew and I started pulling together our application.
I thought the application process was great. The website was easy to navigate, and the application process asked great questions. We were limited on the number of slides we could submit and wouldn’t be there to pitch it to the judges, so the presentation had to work really hard on its own. We condensed everything down into one set of really polished slides, and we still use this presentation because of how well they tell our story.
GLEN NELSON CENTER: Suzi, what did you think when you met Dan and his team?
The thing that really struck me about Dan and The Yappie team is they’ve really harnessed a unique confluence of circumstances. We were in the midst of a pandemic. The economy was tough. They attend one of the most competitive schools in the nation which gave them a great network. And they’re unafraid of the media shifts we’re seeing through technology.
They took all this and came up with a really great, unique idea to tell the story of a community often overlooked.
But what really differentiates them…besides being really, really smart…is they have a hunger for their work. Dan loves the business process as much as he loves the mission of The Yappie.
GLEN NELSON CENTER: What did you learn in working with The Yappie team?
SUZI: I come from a family of entrepreneurs, so I know how much work – including emotional work – it takes to really succeed. I was so struck by their hunger, their excitement, and their sense that this confluence of events is an opportunity – not something to scare them off. They have constant optimism which I love to be around.
Both Dan and I identify as AAPI. But I grew up at a time where being an entrepreneur was not socially acceptable – it wasn’t what my parents wanted for me and my sister. That’s why they came to the U.S. (from Korea) to get us in good schools, so we didn’t have to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps like they did. To see young, educated AAPI adults say, “I want to be an entrepreneur. I want to create something new,” is really inspiring.
GLEN NELSON CENTER: Dan, what was your biggest surprise in working with Suzi?
DAN: When I met Suzi and the rest of the APMG team, it felt like a whole new world opened for us. The APMG team has a huge network of people who have helped us think through our biggest issues. For example, if we’re going to be a nonprofit newsroom, how do we build a governance structure – a board and network that can give us great advice and open doors for us for funding. This is something APMG knows a lot about. It was honestly a little overwhelming how much our horizons expanded after meeting Suzi and the Glen Nelson Center team.
The other big surprise was how generous Suzi has been with her time, her expertise, and her network. She was – and remains – really committed to helping us. I know if I need advice, she’ll be there for us.
Suzi, what advice do you have for your APMG colleagues about being a mentor?
SUZI: Just say yes! One thing the Glen Nelson Center has done is create this venue and template for the mentor-mentee relationship, so it isn’t as difficult as creating a mentorship relationship more organically. In my experience, the best mentor-mentee relationships take a lot of work if they’re done well. There are statistics that say that most mentor-mentee relationships fail and it’s usually because they’re not set up properly. If you’re going to take this on, you need to be able to be consistent in your commitment.
Even as experienced professionals, we’ve got so much to learn. With the pandemic and working from home, our interaction with one another got numbed for a bit. Even beyond the pandemic, being able to be in a mentorship relationship, especially energetic entrepreneurs, brings meaning to your work. Most people at APMG appreciate the connection between meaning in your work and satisfaction with your work. To be able to have this experience at APMG is a gift because we have so many resources here that can help media organizations just starting out. We are a public, mission-oriented organization so helping others is in our DNA.
Stay tuned for more information and dates for the 2023 Next Challenge!
