Raised primarily by his grandfather, a first-generation Chinese immigrant, and his grandmother, a Native American, in Canada and in Washington state in the Nooksack tribal community, Gong spent the bulk of his adolescence straddling cultural lines and contemplating his own racial identity.

"On a daily basis, I was forced to move back and forth between multiple worlds. I'd wake up in the morning and eat a piece of bannock, a traditional (Native American) fry bread. After school, I ate Chinese food. My dad, a martial arts instructor, would pick me up and take me to Kung Fu class, then bring me back to the tribal community at night," Gong says.

As a result, Gong underwent a tremendous amount of "probing" from people who didn't understand his racial mix. Probing, says Gong, are those classic questions: What are you? Where you from? Where are your parents from? 

"On their own, those questions sound pretty (innocuous). But when you consider the cumulative effect of hearing those questions every day year after year, it can cause someone to internalize the idea and think that they are peculiar," Gong says. 

Last year, Gong posted a short video clip on YouTube challenging members of the mixed-race community to define on their own terms who and what they are. The clip received 16,000 views and 23 response videos of mixed-race people debunking stereotypes and embracing all of their identities.

As a first-generation college graduate, Gong is committed to engaging Native American students in education.

"My grandma despite her 12 years of schooling at a Catholic boarding school had about a second-grade education," says Gong, who has worked as a teacher, family therapist and counseling program coordinator. "When we would go to the grocery store, she would sign the check and I would fill out the check for her. She did not have access to a real education. I want to give Native people access to real education."