Francis Chau’s journey, rooted in gratitude, shaped by mentors, and strengthened through her leadership as a student, shows how one Bullpup now carries forward the same care she once received. Today, she is making the same kind of opportunities possible for students at Prep.
 
Francis Chau `11 is home. As interim director in the Office of Service and Justice at Gonzaga Prep, she leads students in the same work that shaped her as a Bullpup.

Just fifteen years ago, she recalls going hungry at lunchtime. After coming from St. Patrick School through Fair Share, “we didn’t have any money left for lunch,” she said. She and her sister could make a 5-dollar footlong from Subway stretch for a few days, but ultimately they would sometimes go without.

Longtime social studies teacher Dennis Dougherty noticed and kept food in his classroom for such students. Later, as ASB president, she recognized that other students were facing the same struggle. She brought an idea to then-Principal Al Faulkner and the School Board: a discreet on-campus pantry that would remove stigma and allow any student to grab what they needed. What stayed with her wasn’t just the program that emerged—it was the way adults at Prep believed her, listened to her, and responded. “To have people say, ‘yes, we can do that,’ showed me my voice mattered,” she says.
When food drive came around that year, at the same time Chau was enthusiastically collecting food along with her first-period classmates, Dougherty asked to deliver food from his class to Chau’s family who had asked for assistance.

While coeducation was well established by the time she arrived, the opportunities it opened shaped her in meaningful ways. Encouraged by teachers and staff—including Dougherty, Neil Kempen, Barry Barfield, Peg Haun-McEwen, and social studies teacher Taryn League ’91—she stepped into leadership as ASB president and later as a Search coordinator. She was nominated and named a YWCA Young Woman of Achievement in 2010. Her drive for service took root early and has stayed with her.

In college, she began on a premed track before realizing she was drawn to work that allowed her to walk with others. After earning her degree, she joined Act 6—the leadership and scholarship program that had made college possible for her—working to support emerging student leaders whose stories mirrored her own.

But Prep kept tugging at her heart. She reached out to then principal Cindy Reopelle and made known her desire serve at Gonzage Prep in some capacity.

She returned quietly at first, coordinating programs in Campus Ministry and later serving across the departments now housed in the Offices of Mission and Ministry. Each step drew her deeper into the work she cared about most.

“God has the playbook. My job is to listen for His call,” she said.

Earlier in November, five families affected by the government shutdown reached out to Prep even before this year’s Thanksgiving food drive began. When they called, she didn’t hesitate. She made sure those families had enough food on their tables.

For Chau, this work is personal. As she announced the record total for this year’s food drive — 227,367 pounds — she offered heartfelt gratitude, “I remember what it was like to not know when my next meal was, and thanks to you all, more than 2,000 people will be served today,” she said. Today, she leads the Office of Service and Justice and administers the Watkins Scholars program, which provides a Prep education and wraparound support for students who would be the first in their families to attend college. She calls it her dream job and is grateful for it every day.

Chau knows what it means to receive help. And at Prep—and beyond—she has spent her life offering that same help to others.