Spotlight on Diversity October 2026
ALC Book Club
“David [Seok from The Lighting Practice] was my mentor in the IESNYC Guiding Lights Circle mentorship program, and we talked about a book club a lot,” recalled Yun-Hsuan Tsai of HLB Lighting. “We both enjoy reading and thought it would be a great way to meet more friends who share that interest.” Tsai has taken the idea and run with it. She and Shelly Lin (One Lux Studio) are both members of the Asian Lighting Community and now run the kind-of-monthly ALC Book Club. Lively in-person meetings prize frankness, individual perspectives and backgrounds, and bonding through personal experiences and memories that bubble up.
ALC Book Club has met a half dozen times at showrooms, offices, restaurants, and even at members’ homes. People bring snacks relevant to the book, and sometimes small gifts to share. Meetings are open to anyone interested in reading and discussing books with a diverse community of readers.
House of Sticks, a memoir by Ly Tran, was a crowd pleaser. “The author's narrative was so parallel but also vastly different to my own,” said independent lighting consultant Carrie Chang. “I grew up around the same time in Queens/NYC with immigrant parents as well.”
ALC Boardmember Seok agreed: “Reading through it brought up so many suppressed memories of growing up in an immigrant household in NYC. It was a cathartic trip down memory lane that made me take a really hard look at where I came from and how far I’ve come in my career. Following up the reading with a lively conversation and sharing with the group was especially healing.” Ani Nguyen (HLW) asked the group how their parents showed their approval. Did they hug or show affection? “I’d say it was a unanimous ‘no’ for the people who grew up in Asian households. Then Jacqui [Cacan from i2Systems] said, ‘This all makes sense now!’ ”
Pachinko, a novel by Min Jin Lee, was the favorite (so far) of independent lighting consultant Carrie Chang: “It completely swept me away into a vastly different world, and it was such a beautifully described universe of history and characters and culture that I never really knew much about.”
Insight and connection
The ALC book club has introduced a fresh rhythm of reading and connection outside the demands of daily work. “We’ve created a thoughtful, welcoming space to explore social, political, cultural (and sometimes very personal) stories together,” explained Cacan. “Before joining the book club, I rarely paused to consider the impact of someone’s unique heritage. Now, I value the family stories that shape a person’s perspective. This insight feels especially important as a creative professional shaping spaces and experiences through lighting.”
The group is generally a fair mix of Asians, Asian Americans, and non-Asian members. “We’re all quite different, but also surprisingly similar, especially when it comes to family relationships. It’s funny how everyone’s stories with mothers/fathers-in-law are always so similar,” Lin said with a laugh. IESNYC Equity Committee Board Liaison Brigid Hardiman invites parties interested in reading and discussing the next book to reach out to the Asian Lighting Community via LinkedIn or @asianlightingcommunity on Instagram; also [email protected].
Or you can start your own book club!
