Minnie Chen This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. www.parnassus.com

   www.parnassus.com/presletter.h - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/18/2003   Last Visited: 5/18/2003

   PROFILE OF MINNIE CHEN
   
   From time to time, we profile a member of the Parnassus staff so shareholders can learn about the people who are taking care of your money. This time, we'll be talking about Minnie Chen who started working at Parnassus before any of our current employees except me. Minnie was born in Taiwan in 1969, but came to San Francisco when she was three years old. She attended grade school here in the city and then entered Lowell High School, the alma mater of three of my four children. My first sighting of Minnie was in the fall of 1986 when I took my oldest daughter, Tran, to Lowell High School for a freshman orientation. I didn't know her then, but at that time Minnie was a senior at Lowell and a cheerleader. The cheerleaders were at Lowell the night of the freshman orientation and one of the cheerleaders caught my attention because she was so enthusiastic in leading the yells. That was my first encounter with Minnie.
   
   After graduating in 1987, Minnie enrolled at the University of California at Davis, but didn't like being away from San Francisco in a semi-rural environment so she returned and enrolled at San Francisco City College in 1988. We posted a job notice at the City College placement center in 1988, looking for a part-time clerical person. Minnie came by for an interview and we liked her right away. She had the same enthusiasm for the job that she did for cheerleading.
   
   After almost two years of doing a great job for us, Minnie left us to go to UCLA where she studied history. She recruited her sister, Marie, to fill the vacancy and Marie has been with us ever since. (Marie is now my indispensable executive assistant and office manager who was profiled in an earlier report.) Meanwhile, at UCLA, Minnie worked as a peer health counselor and joined the Bruin Belles, a service organization involved with community service and charitable activities.
   
   After graduation, Minnie returned to San Francisco and worked in customer service for Cellular One and, then, as an accounting assistant for the Shorenstein Company. 1995 was a very important year for Minnie. She married Howard Chen and rejoined Parnassus Investments as an accountant in December. While working with us, she has taken courses in managerial economics, cost accounting, financial accounting and audit.
   
   Minnie does a great job and her wonderful personality helps to make Parnassus a great place to work. In 2000, she set a Parnassus milestone. Until that time, no one had ever had children while working at Parnassus. (Some of us, of course, had children, but before we started working here.) Rumors were circulating that working at Parnassus made you sterile.
   
   I'm pleased to say that Minnie proved those rumors false by having her first child in 2000, a beautiful little girl name Ava who is now three years old. In 2002, she and Howard had their second child, Aaron, a handsome baby boy. (Two other Parnassus babies were born in 2002 so we've become quite fertile of late.) Howard and Minnie bought a new home in 2002 so they're now happily settled into family life. It's been a real pleasure to have Minnie with us all these years. She's made a great contribution to Parnassus.