SFMTA Community Liaison Jessie Liang supports Chinese-speaking communities citywide.
Building trust with local communities is one of our top priorities at the SFMTA. A big part of that work is making sure language never limits access to our programs.
This AAPI Heritage Month, we’re thrilled to feature a staff member who supports this effort every day of the year.
SFMTA Community Liaison Jessie Liang connects with Chinese-speaking communities living and working all over San Francisco. Fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, Liang helps people learn about and shape our programs. Her outreach spans Muni projects to street upgrades.
Learning the latest on a range of projects
“As a communicator, I have to keep an eye on what’s going on at our agency,” Liang says. “I have to stay updated on projects and services so I can inform the community.”
And for Liang, that means reaching people in neighborhoods across San Francisco.
“It’s really citywide,” Liang explains. “I work with Chinatown, the Richmond, the Sunset, Visitacion Valley, the Bayview – the whole city.”
Liang, far right, often heads to festivals like the Richmond Night Market to share information and answer questions.
Meeting people where they are
From presentations to flyers, Liang translates information in a range of formats. “Language support is so important, especially for newcomers, the monolingual speakers,” Liang says. “That’s why we have bilingual information, because it’s critical for the immigrant community.”
Liang also makes sure community members can weigh in whenever we reach out for their feedback.
“For seniors, some don’t know how to do online [formats],” Liang says. “So, we send paper surveys to them, and I usually host a workshop that goes through the survey. They can ask questions along the way.”
Liang also runs the SFMTA’s WeChat account to share updates and connect. This social channel is very popular among Chinese-speaking community members. And on our agency YouTube channel, Liang produces a Chinese Monthly News segment. This is another way she works to reach Chinese speakers with agency updates and requests for feedback.
Since Liang’s background is in journalism, she also pitches relevant topics to Chinese media. This way, the agency can engage large numbers of people.
“This is especially helpful for big events like APEC (Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation) or the Super Bowl,” Liang says. “For these events, I went to Chinese radio and TV stations and shared the info in advance so people can plan their travel wisely through the city.”
Liang joins SFMTA Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum to speak with a media outlet, KTSF 26.
Giving community members a voice
Liang says one of her favorite parts of the job is giving community members a voice to shape our projects.
A recent example involved the first phase of the 29 Sunset Improvement Project. The project team updated proposed bus stop changes based directly on community feedback.
Liang also helps Chinese-speaking communities shape our projects related to parking and other street upgrades. Part of that work involves supporting small business owners with parking access. “Lately, we are changing loading zones based on direct requests,” Liang explains. “The Chinatown community wanted shortened hours for yellow curb loading zones. So, we heard their concerns and adjusted the hours after that.”
Building trust as part of our Community Liaison Program
Liang’s translation and outreach efforts are part of our larger Community Liaison Program. It aims to advance equity and ensure our engagement is culturally relevant.
That's why Liang and our Spanish-speaking community liaison also work closely with project teams and agency leaders. They partner to make sure our messages are meaningful for their audiences. And they also work to make sure outreach is inclusive from the start.
Liang is thrilled to hear that this approach is truly helping people.
Improving access to affordable transit
Liang says she has always enjoyed “connecting with people, talking with people.” However, she finds it even more fulfilling to help people access critical services.
“Muni is an affordable option to get around, and it’s a very good system for people living in San Francisco,” Liang says. “That’s especially true for people who don’t have cars and need public transit for work, for shopping.”
It’s why Liang is thankful to be the SFMTA’s first liaison for Chinese-speaking communities.
“People are so grateful to have this community liaison role,” Liang says. “Since I was on this role, people are now recognizing that service is better. They get information more frequently and it’s more helpful to them.”
And for Liang, that means a great deal.
“I feel very grateful and happy when people get the information they need from us,” Liang explains. “San Francisco has a lot of Chinese Muni riders, and so I think sharing the information with them is kind of my responsibility to them, so I really like this work.”
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