Evelyn Yang is married to entrepreneur Andrew Yang, who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020. He formally announced on January 14, 2021, that he was running to be the next mayor of New York City.
During his presidential campaign, Yang often talked about his wife. He brought up the fact that she cares for their two young sons, one of whom is autistic. Yang stressed that he didn’t think it was fair that her work at home wasn’t valued in terms of GDP.
In her first interview with her husband on November 3, 2019, Mrs. Yang said that at first, she thought his desire to be president would “pass.” But she realized he was serious when he quit his day job to focus on the campaign. Mrs. Yang told CNN’s Dana Bash, “The Freedom Dividend and humanity-first is the reason why I let him run for president.”
In late 2019, she also began to have a more public role in the campaign. The Yang campaign released a video on November 3, 2019, in which Mrs. Yang explained why her husband decided to run for president.
In January 2020, Evelyn Yang also made headlines when she decided to speak out about being sexually assaulted by her doctor while she was pregnant.
Here’s what you need to know about Evelyn Yang:
1. Evelyn Yang Says She Was Sexually Assaulted By Her Doctor While Pregnant With Her First Child & Discussed the Experience Publicly In January 2020
Evelyn Yang recently decided to speak out about a traumatic experience that happened during her first pregnancy in 2012. She explained in an interview with CNN in January 2020 that she was sexually assaulted by her obstetrician, Dr. Robert Hadden, when she was about seven months pregnant.
Mrs. Yang explained, “I was in the exam room, and I was dressed and ready to go. Then, at the last minute, he kind of made up an excuse. He said something about, ‘I think you might need a C-section,’ and he proceeded to grab me over to him and undress me and examine me internally, ungloved. I knew it was wrong. I knew I was being assaulted. I imagined myself as someone being, you know, like I would throw a chair at him and run out yelling bloody murder. I just kind of froze like a deer in headlights, just frozen.”
Yang said she switched doctors immediately after the encounter. She later testified against Dr. Hadden, along with 18 other women who reported similar assaults. Dr. Hadden agreed to a plea deal, which included a stipulation that he register as a low-level sex-offender, and his medical license was revoked.
I’m so proud of Evelyn for sharing her story on behalf of so many women who have had similar experiences, most of whom will never have the same opportunity. She is the source of strength for our family and she demonstrates it every day.
Andrew Yang praised his wife’s decision to speak out. He wrote on Twitter, “I’m so proud of Evelyn for sharing her story on behalf of so many women who have had similar experiences, most of whom will never have the same opportunity. She is the source of strength for our family and she demonstrates it every day.”
He also said, “Thank you to everyone for the messages of support for Evelyn. She is my best friend and the bravest woman I know. I hope that her story gives strength to those who have suffered and sends a clear message that we and our institutions must do more to protect and respond to women.”
2. Evelyn Yang Cares For Their Two Sons Full-Time; Andrew Yang Talks About Her as an Example For Why He Feels GDP Isn’t the Best Measurement For Success in the U.S.
Evelyn Yang says she felt “sheepish” at first at the thought of having their family in the public eye. But she told CNN in her first televised interview that she now feels it’s important to talk about their older son Christopher’s autism because there is a “stigma” around special needs that needs to be addressed.
Andrew Yang has talked about his wife in connection to his rationale for implementing a Universal Basic Income of $1,000 per month. In an interview on the podcast Lovett or Leave It in April 2019, Yang said that his wife Evelyn stays home to care for their two young sons.
Yang explained, “Her work counts as zero in GDP, which is clearly not an appropriate reflection of the value. GDP right now is leading us off a cliff where we’re cheerleading this measurement that we made up almost 100 years ago… What we have to do is update our measurements to things that would actually reflect how we’re doing, things like mental health, freedom from substance abuse, health and life expectancy, clean air and clean water. If you have the wrong measurements, you can’t make progress. And right now GDP is going to keep hitting record highs even as our life expectancy shortens and more and more Americans get left behind. Human-centered capitalism is about updating our measurements to actually reflect how we are doing.”
Yang went on to discuss how a monthly dividend for every American adult would benefit society, stating that more Americans would have the freedom to launch businesses, attend school, and invest money in their local communities.
3. Evelyn & Andrew Met at Columbia University
Evelyn Lu and Andrew Yang met on the campus of Columbia University in New York City, according to Voices of New York. She joked to CNN that Andrew had “no game” when they first met.
Yang has kept details of their relationship very private. On his campaign website, he included that he met and married his wife when he was in his thirties, while he was working at the test preparation company Manhattan GMAT. Yang worked there from 2006 until 2011.
Yang graduated from Columbia School of Law in 1999, when he was 24. He was likely back on campus for an alumni-related event or something of that nature when he met Evelyn. Born in 1981, Evelyn is six years younger than her husband.
Evelyn’s higher education career included international studies. She traveled to Shanghai when she was a student at Columbia. That experience ended up benefiting her future husband’s career, as well. Evelyn became friends with Eileen Lee during the study abroad program. Lee became Venture for America’s Chief Operating Officer when it first launched.
Lee explained to Medium in May of 2017, “I met the founder, Andrew Yang, through his wife, Evelyn, in late 2010. At Columbia, Evelyn and I met while studying abroad in Shanghai, and she had the intuition that Andrew and I would work well together. She and I had both left corporate jobs after 5+ years, and I was in the midst of pivoting my career when I met with him.”
4. Evelyn Lu & Andrew Yang Got Married in 2011 in a Destination Ceremony
Facebook/Saul Padua Photography
Evelyn Lu and Andrew Yang have been married for more than eight years, according to the New York City Marriage Index.
They obtained their marriage license in 2010. The official marriage date is listed as January 3, 2011, according to public records.
The couple appears to have had a destination wedding. Pictures of their wedding were on a now-deleted Facebook page called CD Weddings. The bio page explains that the company specializes “in destination weddings in the Caribbean and East Coast.”
The Yangs now have two sons. According to a blog page by Evelyn’s father, their older son shares a birthday with Evelyn, on October 31. Her father appears to have taken the page down since this post was first published.
5. Evelyn Yang Previously Worked as a Marketing Executive For L’Oréal
Evelyn Yang had a career in the corporate sector before deciding to attend Columbia University. According to Voices of New York, Evelyn Yang’s professional resume included working at L’Oréal as a marketing executive. She stopped working in 2012 after their first son was born.
Andrew Yang also explained on his campaign website that his wife encouraged him to launch Venture for America. He explained that after his “education company was acquired, and with Evelyn’s support, I decided to take my earnings and committed myself to creating jobs in cities hit hard by the financial crisis. By that time I understood the power of entrepreneurship to generate economic growth.”
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