Jennifer Chan
Director of Programs
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Jennifer Chan joined the Chinatown Community Development Center in 2009. She has over 10 years of experience in community development and is an advocate for community and social justice issues. Prior to her role as Youth Program Manager, Jen oversaw CCDC’s 434 units of public housing units as the RAD Resident Services Manager. Jen is a graduate of CCDC’s youth programs. She is deeply passionate about empowering Asian American youth. Her motto is, “you are never too young or too old to be a community leader. She believes that the best policies are created by the community, for the community. Jen holds a B.A in Asian American Studies from UC Davis and Masters in Social Work from Simmons University. Growing up, Jen wanted to be a veterinarian. Her favorite board game is Avalon. Jen’s favorite experience as a young person was going on camping trips hiking, playing board games and hanging out around the camp fire.
Contact: [email protected] |
Kewei Jiang
Senior Project Coordinator for Chinatown GOES
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Immigrated from Zhuhai, the southern part of China, when Kewei was in middle school. She was a graduate from CCDC's youth programs including Youth for Single Room Occupancy (YSRO) and Chinatown Alleyway Tours (CATs) where she developed her passion working with the community in Chinatown. Kewei received her BA in Psychology at UC Berkeley and her MS in Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences (SLHS) at San Francisco State University. During her free time, she likes to explore some craft ideas and do some embroidery, watercolor, and journaling. Grow up as youth leader Kewei enjoyed grabbing dinner with her fellow CATs tour guide and YSRO peers.
Contact: [email protected] |
Aaron Dong
Senior Community Organizer for Adopt An Alleyway (AAA)
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Born and raised in San Francisco, Aaron graduated from San Jose State University, majoring in Justice Studies with a concentration in Criminology and minoring in Forensic Studies. Aaron first got involved with CCDC and its youth program Adopt-An-Alleyway as a high school freshman. Over the course of his high school career, he participated in everything CCDC youth programs had to offer. Growing up, Aaron like to create smiles and laughter on people through jokes and puns and wanted to be a comedian growing up but achieved already that in another way by having his life turn into a joke. Aaron’s favorite board game is Catan as it can make or break friendships but also form relationships through bargaining and bartering. Aaron’s favorite experience as a youth is the afterschool walk with his friends from Galileo high school to 665 Clay, the old youth center to either hang out with friends or to participate in volunteer service programs.
Contact: [email protected] |
Jonathan Jimenez
Community Organizer for Campaign Academy
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Jonathan Jimenez (any pronouns) was born in San Francisco, CA but raised across the bridge in Richmond, CA. Both of his parents are from El Salvador and he is the oldest of 3. They graduated from Richmond High School in 2014 and went to San Francisco State University from Fall 2014 - Spring 2019 where they majored in Latina/Latino Studies in the country’s first and largest College of Ethnic Studies. In his college years he found himself fostering a chosen family with fellow queer and trans people of color that found themselves in the same position he was in as a low-income, first-generation college student. As a young child they wanted to be a veterinarian due to their fascination with animals which later expanded into an interest in environmental science as they grew older. They don’t play many board games so they feel obligated to say their favorite board game is Codenames. His favorite experience(s) as a young person were his family visits to El Salvador growing up. These trips helped foster an interest in and care for his culture and relationships to his ancestors and the environment.
Contact: [email protected] |
Chao Zhang
Community Organizer for Chinatown Alleyway Tours and Fast Track Program
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Born in the Guangdong province of China, Chao immigrated to the states in elementary school. He grew up in San Francisco and went on to receive his BA in Psychology at San Jose State University. The first involvement he had with CCDC was during his time as a resident at one of the CCDC buildings, where he participated in the youth group within the building. During his high school years, he volunteered with the CCDC youth programs like Adopt An Alleyway youth and did advocacy work with Campaign Academy. He went on to become a tour guide at Chinatown Alleyway Tours during his later years in high school and into freshmen year of college. In his free time, he enjoys playing board games and online games, going on walks, and trying new food places with his friends.
Contact: [email protected] |
Michelle Wong
Community Organizer for Youth for Single Room Occupancy
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Michelle (She/Her/Hers) was born in New York City, New York but grew up mostly in Fremont, California. As a child, she would spend two months every summer with her family in Hong Kong except for the two years in elementary school when she lived in Hong Kong. Michelle wasn’t allowed to eat junk food as a kid, so her favorite childhood memory would be the small bag of Cheetos her dad would bring home in a brown paper bag for her and her two sisters to share on Christmas Day. After graduating high school, Michelle studied Design and English at UC Davis before receiving her Masters in Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. When she was a child, Michelle wanted to be a teacher because she loved to create little homework handouts on Microsoft Word (that she sometimes forced her little sister to do) and loved the idea of decorating her own classroom one day. During her free time, Michelle enjoys gardening, knitting, watching anime, and spending time with her bunnies. Contrary to the majority of her colleagues, Michelle’s activity of choice would not be playing board games, but she will occasionally opt in to play Sushi Go with her husband and his friends.
Contact: [email protected] |
