For Dottie Li, Communication Access Is Business Access

Dottie grew up in Hefei, Anhui Province, China, where she studied Journalism and Chinese at Hefei University. As a child, she listened closely to Voice of America’s Mandarin broadcasts. Those broadcasts opened a larger world to her and gave her a specific professional dream: to become a VOA broadcaster.

Years later, after working as a newspaper journalist in China and moving to the United States to study English and communication, she made that dream real. In 1991, her first job in America was with Voice of America, where she broadcast news and feature stories in Mandarin Chinese and translated English programming.

It was the start of a career built on helping people understand one another across language, culture, institutions, and power.

From there, Dottie moved into increasingly complex communications roles. She produced live and taped coverage of U.S. House and Senate proceedings, White House events, and presidential campaigns at C-SPAN. She directed media relations in health care and global public affairs. She handled media advances for presidential trips at the White House. She later held senior communications roles across corporate, nonprofit, and association settings. She also served as a corporate spokesperson, public relations executive, community leader, adjunct lecturer at the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School and the voice and voice coach for Rosetta Stone’s Mandarin-language products.

In 2009, Dottie founded TransPacific Communications with a clear purpose: to help individuals and organizations communicate without barriers or bias.

Today, TransPacific Communications is an award-winning, woman-owned prime contractor supporting federal agencies and major institutions with translation, interpretation, American Sign Language services, cross-cultural communication, and accessibility support. The company works in more than 200 languages and has supported clients including the Department of State, SBA, USDA, FDA, NIH, NASA, NIST, and the Missile Defense Agency.

For Dottie, that work is practical and deeply personal.

“Immigrant Heritage Month isn’t just about celebration,” she said. “It’s a call to action.”

That call has carried through her leadership. TransPacific’s work helps organizations reach people who might otherwise be left out of the conversation: limited-English-proficient communities, Deaf and hard-of-hearing audiences, global stakeholders, and employees working across cultural differences. In business terms, that means broader reach, stronger service delivery, better workplace communication, and more accessible engagement.

In human terms, it means people are heard.

Dottie’s own path also reflects the persistence required of many women entrepreneurs, especially those building credibility in spaces where decision-making rooms have not always reflected diverse leadership. When she launched TransPacific Communications, she said the climate for women entrepreneurs was marked by structural barriers and implicit bias. Earning trust required more than a strong résumé. It required execution, consistency, and results.

“Standard playbooks weren’t enough,” she said. “I had to build undeniable credibility and back it up with relentless execution.”

That discipline helped TransPacific grow into a resilient company. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the team had to rethink operations amid social distancing, travel restrictions, and economic disruption. Rather than treating the disruption as a pause, Dottie used it to strengthen accountability, sharpen team focus, and build what the company calls a “Pandemic-Proof” operating model.

Her leadership is grounded in a simple business principle she returns to often: culture matters. She cites Peter Drucker’s well-known point that “culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and she applies that idea through weekly accountability, high standards, and a commitment to building a team that can perform under pressure.

That discipline has produced recognition. TransPacific Communications was recently named Best Women-Owned Business in Maryland by The Daily Record. Dottie was inducted into the Circle of Excellence as a three-time winner of Maryland’s Top 100 Women, and she was selected as an American Express Ambassador in 2023.

In 2025, Dottie became WBENC-Certified through WBEC NY DMV. The decision came at a strategic moment. As federal contracting shifted and some contracts were cancelled, TransPacific needed to accelerate its growth with corporate and non-federal clients.

For Dottie, Certification was a business development tool. Since becoming Certified, she has used the credential to introduce TransPacific to corporations through supplier diversity portals, in-person meetings, and updated marketing materials. She has also engaged with WBEC NY DMV programming including SAGE Advice and Week of WBEC (WOW), as well as WBENC programming, such as the WBENC Conference and WeIgnite.

Just as important, she has found a peer network of other CEOs and founders.

“I’ve built a genuine network of support,” she said. “That kind of peer learning is something you simply can’t replicate on your own.”

That reflects the deeper value of the WBEC NY DMV network. Certification helps open the door, but engagement turns visibility into practical opportunity. For growth-minded WBEs, the value is not only in having the credential. It is in using the network to build relationships, prepare for procurement conversations, learn from other business owners, and pursue warm introductions that can lead to contract opportunities.

Dottie’s advice to other women business owners is direct: stay focused.

“When you chase too many goals simultaneously, you dilute your impact and create confusion for your team,” she said.

Her recommendation is to define the one goal that will move the business forward, build a scoreboard the team can understand quickly, and maintain a weekly rhythm of accountability. For women business owners considering Certification, she is equally direct.

“You cannot steer a parked car,” she said. “You have to get moving.”

For Dottie, Immigrant Heritage Month is a moment to recognize the contributions immigrants make to the economy, to communities, and to the workplace cultures that shape how organizations grow. It is also a reminder that heritage becomes most powerful when it is lived through action.

At TransPacific Communications, that action is clear: reducing barriers, expanding access, and helping organizations communicate with the people they serve.

For WBEs ready to grow, Dottie’s story offers a practical lesson. Becoming Certified is a starting point. Staying engaged in the WBEC NY DMV network is how WBEs build the relationships, visibility, and opportunity pathways that support long-term growth.

If you are a woman business owner ready to strengthen your visibility in the supply chain, connect with corporate partners, and engage with a serious network of growth-focused peers, explore WBEC NY DMV Certification and upcoming programs designed to help WBEs turn connections into opportunities.