Change agent 

Yeh spent 18 years in the United States building the Village of Arts and Humanities in Philadelphia's low-income African-American community. Started in 1986, this organization is dedicated to neighborhood revitalization through the arts. Now it has grown into a successful and lively community with art-inspired programs for learning, land transformation, construction, and economic development.

After the success of the Village, Yeh set her eyes on the world's more impoverished countries and regions, traveling to Kenya, Rwanda, Ecuador, Syria, and many other places.

In 2004 she launched the Rwanda Healing Project in the country's Rugerero District. The project aids survivors of the 1994 genocide in psychological recovery and offers education  programs. Under her leadership, programs were launched to transform the Survivors' Village through art, health, community, and economic development initiatives, making it a vibrant and promising community.

In addition, with the help of the China Road and Bridge Corp., Yeh worked with survivors and volunteers to complete the Genocide Memorial Park honoring genocide victims. The change of environment has also brought in job opportunities and investors.

Now at Dandelion, creativity, learning, life skills training and psychological counseling are all integrated in Yeh's project. "Students' imaginations are awakened," said Zheng Hong. "They learn how to learn, how to cooperate and interact with others. They are more positive, [more] confident."

Yeh elaborated on this point, giving a glimpse at what motivates her. "Through participating in this project, the students became confident of their creativity, so that they will have [the strength] to pursue their dreams and create [a] bright future," she said.