Rose Pak

Rose Lan Pak (Chinese: 白兰; pinyin: báilán; Jyutping: Baak6 Laan4; November 25, 1947 – September 18, 2016) was a political activist in San Francisco, California, noted for her advocacy for the Chinatown community and her influence on city politics. Pak served as a consultant for the San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce and organizer of the Chinese New Year Parade in San Francisco. Although Pak never held an elective political office, she was known as an outspoken and well-connected "gatekeeper" figure who supported politicians by raising funds and connecting them with the city's growing Asian American community.

Pak was born in Hunan, China, on November 27, 1947. She received a Catholic education while growing up as a refugee in Macau and Hong Kong after her father, a businessman, had died in the Chinese Civil War. When she was 17, she received a scholarship to attend the San Francisco College for Women, and in 1972 earned a master's degree at the Columbia School of Journalism. After a brief stint working at The New York Times, she returned to San Francisco to work for the San Francisco Chronicle (as its first female Asian American journalist), a job that she left after eight years to become a full-time social activist.

Pak's first objective as an activist was to organize a campaign to save the San Francisco Chinese Hospital from closure. Later she worked for decades to advocate for its replacement by a new, modern building, and for the Central Subway project that is set to improve Chinatown's connection to the rest of the Bay Area. Both projects broke ground in 2013.

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