Jian (Lily) Chen, RN, MA

UCA WAVES Director, RWJF Clinical Scholar Fellow

Lily Chen is a nationally certified Nurse Educator, passionate community organizer, mental health advocate and mental health disparity researcher.  She started her community work in the Chicago Chinese Community more than a decade ago, promoting public health and especially the underserved mental health needs. She successfully coordinated multiple national and local programs including the UCA Youth Mental Health Collaborative WAVES (Wellness, Advocacy, Voices, Education, Support) since 2016. She served on steering committees of the 2016, 2018, and 2022 National Chinese American Conventions in her capacity as the former Executive Director of UCA, founding President of UCA Illinois Chapter, and Convention Director. She is a Robert Woods Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Clinical Scholar fellow, Principal Investigator and Project Director for Mental Health First Aid Training in Chinese Americans (MHFA – CA) funded by Service Administration of Mental Health and Substance Abuse(SAMHSA), US Department of Health and Human Services. She currently teaches at North Carolina Central University Department of Nursing, and is a PhD student in Nursing at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill.  She is Vice Chair of the Senior Advisory Board for the town of Cary, NC, and member of the Health and Human Service Board of Wake County, NC. She is married with five wonderful adult children and a beautiful granddaughter. 

Lily Chen is the Project Director of UCA WAVES Program, a UCA Board member and UCA Executive Team member.

Please see the following op-eds that Lily recently published:

Email address lily.chen@ucausa.org

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