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The Sacramento Bee and Nehemiah Leaders Programs are celebrating this year’s 60 Change Makers. Join them at our gala at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at the Grand Sheraton in downtown Sacramento. Buy tickets at sacramentochangemakers.com.
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Shelton Yip didn’t plan on becoming an educator.
Initially, after moving to Davis from Stockton to pursue a degree in Asian American studies at the University of California, Davis, he hoped to be an artist. But that career path didn’t seem like a viable way to support his young family. Not knowing what he would do after graduating, Yip talked with a mentor who encouraged him to fill out an application for a teaching credential program.
More than 50 years later, Yip recalled, “I had my credential by the time I was 22 and never looked back.”
Yip, 75, has since had a storied, multi-decade career in education, working for several school districts in the Sacramento region. He’s held nearly every position in education: classroom teacher, counselor, vice principal, principal and district-wide administrator.
Now retired, the longtime educator still serves as a trustee on the Yolo County Board of Education — a position he has held for more than a decade — where he continues helping support students, educators and families.
When Yip works with educators or administrators across the state, he starts those conversations by asking them: “What is your ‘why’?”
He asks this question to understand what drives educators and why they work with young people.
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“My ‘why’ is about changing for greater good,” Yip said. “I want to make sure that our students, and our families, and our community through my actions have something that will change, make life a little bit better for them.”
Throughout his nearly three decades with the Dixon Unified School District, Yip wore a number of different hats. He helped develop new ways of working with students with disabilities as a special education teacher, he coached soccer for 10 years and he stepped up to serve as the principal of one of the district’s high schools when the former principal died unexpectedly.
One of Yip’s lasting contributions to young Californians is his work with Breaking Barriers, a collaboration between youth-serving organizations and leaders, like Yip, which has helped expand mental health services for young people. This work was part of Yip’s broader efforts advocating for initiatives focused on supporting foster youth and students in alternative educational and juvenile justice settings.
Yip is a longstanding champion of student advocacy and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community in the region, which has won him deep respect in the Davis region where he has lived for many years. His ability to connect others is reflected in the number of former students he still communicates with and his regular presence at Davis-area events.
“I’m a connector,” he said. “I’m not the one with all the answers, but there are people out there with the answers.”
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This story was originally published September 1, 2026 at 6:57 AM.