WAC Lighting co-founders Tai and Tony Wang were honored at Selfhelp’s 2023 Gala recently at Pier Sixty in New York City. The couple are renowned for their tremendous professional accomplishments in the lighting industry as well as their philanthropic endeavors. For many decades they have shown exceptional integrity and commitment to bettering the community and world at large, with a special focus on enhancing the vibrant Chinese community of New York.
Through their Glow Foundation and Glow Community Center, Tai and Tony Wang give back to the Chinese-speaking community, providing opportunities for people of all ages to learn, grow, and become self-sufficient. Tai has served as an active Board member of Selfhelp since 2015, and is the founder and Chair of Selfhelp’s Chinese Advisory Council.
Founded in 1936 to help those fleeing Nazi Germany, Selfhelp is the oldest and largest organization in North America providing comprehensive services to Holocaust survivors. Since then, Selfhelp has expanded its work to aid other vulnerable populations. Today, Selfhelp serves more than 5,000 older Chinese immigrants, many of whom live in one of Selfhelp’s 17 affordable residences, attend Selfhelp’s robust senior centers, and are helped by competent and compassionate Chinese-speaking social workers whose work enables them to live independently with dignity. The Wangs have made it their mission to do their part in supporting those who came to America seeking a better life.
Tai has received numerous awards including 2021 Woman of Distinction Honoree from the Speaker of the New York Council; Ellis Island Medal of Honor as Distinguished Civic Leadership Award; President’s Volunteer Service and Leadership Awards from International Leadership Foundation; Humanitarian Service Award and Sponsor Recognition Award from Gift of Life; the Honoree Award from Queens Botanical Garden, and Recognition Award from Selfhelp’s Chinese Advisory Council. She also received the North Hempstead Woman’s Role of Honor Award, Innovative Leadership Award from LaGuardia Community College, and Honoree Award from the Hofstra University Celebration of Suburban Diversity. Furthermore, she has received honors from New York City Councilman Corey Johnson, New York Senator Anna Kaplan, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, among other officials. Under her leadership, WAC received the prestigious HEARTS Award for demonstrating outstanding leadership, empathy, and service during the COVID-19 pandemic by providing 500,000 surgical masks to U.S. hospitals and healthcare centers.
Forty-two years ago, Tony and Tai Wang came to the U.S., chasing their dreams. With little money, they purchased a grocery retailer in Queens, N.Y. and in 1984 established WAC Lighting, which has evolved into a global company with a vertically integrated design, engineering, and production operation.
Currently serving as Chairman of WAC, Tony was nominated Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young and has received many other accolades. He is a seasoned business executive/owner and possesses a strong commitment to loyalty and generosity over the past three decades while motivating, managing, and inspiring employees to deliver the best lighting products, technologies, and service available. Technical innovation is central to what people have come to expect from the WAC Lighting brand. Advancements in LED light sources, materials engineering, electronics, creative optical design, and architecture have allowed WAC to push the boundaries of engineering and inspired designs. On the corporate level, WAC believes that a key part of being a Responsible Lighting company is to provide a product offering that is progressive in both design and technology.
As a second-generation owner-operated company, WAC designs and builds a wide range of intelligent and integrated LED luminaires and ceiling fans across renowned brands such as MODERN FORMS, WAC Lighting, SCHONBEK, dweLED, LIMITED, WAC Landscape, and AiSPIRE.
