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Arriving from Hong Kong with her parents at four years old, Cal State East Bay alumna, Judy Mei Ling Huey, immediately felt at home in the bustling city of Oakland. What helped was the warm welcome she received from her grandfather, uncles, aunts and cousins.

While her parents worked in the family’s laundry business to get their footing, Huey, as a teen, helped her grandmother navigate local bureaucracies to get the resources she needed. One of her fondest memories was accompanying her grandmother, a seamstress, on bus rides downtown and helping her manage unemployment matters. 

These early experiences guided Huey’s path to becoming a community changemaker, leveraging success in the financial services industry to help others experience the world with the same hope, optimism and compassion that motivated her.

Honoring her community service over the years, including helping students at Cal State East Bay, Huey was recognized with the university’s Distinguished Alumni Award for 2024.

But starting on her path toward business success and philanthropy wasn’t easy. 

“When I graduated from Oakland High in 1975, I wanted to attend university, but faced a lack of guidance. There were no counselors to inform me about college choices,” remarked Huey to the university’s graduates upon receiving her award last May. “I chose Cal State Hayward, as it was called at that time, because it was close to home and affordable. As it turned out, the education I received couldn’t have been better.”

Diversifying her knowledge in college immediately helped her land work-study jobs that supported her education and living expenses. It wasn’t easy, especially with gigs that required 100-mile round-trip drives, but she persevered.

“Cal State encouraged me to explore a wide range of subjects: anthropology, art, history, business,” she said. “I have used almost everything I learned in each of these different fields.”

Having lost two of her grandparents, who were in their 60s and 70s, to incurable illnesses while she was still in high school, Huey felt that more should be done to support the elderly. Cal State East Bay offered the opportunity. “I became especially interested in the field of gerontology — the study of aging — and chose to study human development as well as business.”

Like many Cal State East Bay students, she worked part-time and took classes part-time. After eight years, she completed her B.A. Before graduating, she held a long conversation with one of her professors that would ultimately underpin her mission to help others.

“I was interested in going into public administration because I wanted to change public policy for elders,” said Huey, citing federal budget cuts that affected elderly access to food, medical care, housing and social services during the Reagan Administration. “And [the professor] said something like, you’re not going to make a dent. The system is too big.”

“I considered his perspective, and it really focussed me,” added Huey. “So I went into the private sector. I thought, ‘I could earn a bit of money and make a little difference.’ ” 

Since their conversation, Huey has stuck to her new strategy and her values, but the difference she has made has been anything but small.

Today, she is senior vice-president at Wells Fargo Advisors in Palo Alto, guiding client investment strategies. Her financial services career has been both fulfilling and rewarding, giving her opportunities to support the communities for which she cares so much.

Among the many generous financial gifts Huey and her husband, Leland Levy, have given Cal State East Bay is the Huey-Levy Internship & Aging Population Endowment, inspired by her grandparents who shared their love and wisdom in a household where her parents — typical of immigrant families — spent every ounce of time and energy improving their basic financial and living conditions.

Philanthropy to her alma mater also includes helping Project Rebound, a program supporting formerly incarcerated students committed to changing their lives through Cal State East Bay. When she discovered the opportunity, she knew right away that it was an important cause for social justice. She spread the word about Project Rebound, encouraging others to support the program.

“I've talked to other people and to some of my clients about it. They said, ‘Oh, can you get me information on that?’ I'm now about to put out a flier and maybe get more donations,” said Huey.

Huey and Levy also give to the Cal State East Bay Leadership Fund and the Human Development Department Fund, and are members of the Heritage Society. 

Her philanthropic efforts also include creating inclusive spaces, as well as learning, growing and bonding opportunities for those with emotional, mental and physical challenges.

For AchieveKids, Huey’s donations support programs that deliver special education, mental health, and family support services for students aged 5–22 who have complex and severe developmental, emotional, and behavioral challenges.

Huey and Levy also support Magical Bridge Playground, formed by a local mom whose child is disabled. Its mission is to create multigenerational parks and playgrounds designed for all ages and abilities so families can play together, make community connections, and feel a strong sense of belonging. Kids with cognitive and physical challenges play freely with kids without them, and parents with disabilities have access to all park areas to be fully present with their kids and family no matter where the fun is.

Huey and Levy are all in. “We both became very excited. And then we said, ‘Here's some seed money,’ ” she recalled.

With Huey and Levy’s contribution, plus those of others, the organization steadily built momentum that led to a land grant from the City of Palo Alto, which motivated local corporations and foundations to help bring the park to fruition.

Because of folks like Huey and Levy, Magical Bridge Playground received the jumpstart it needed. Today, Magical Bridge Playground parks can be found across the Bay Area and in New Zealand, with more on the way.

Looking back at the many communities she’s been able to help with her philanthropy and her energy, she is quick to credit her time at Cal State East Bay for preparing her to succeed in her lifelong mission. Said Huey, “This esteemed institution has supported and nurtured me.”

With a firm eye to the future, Huey remains committed to her lifelong mission. “It is my strong belief that giving to the community is and always will be an essential part of who I am.”