Aynsley Wong is a Director at the Wongs’ Benevolent Association. She has represented the Wongs’ Association with the Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group and Cross Cultural Walking Tour. As a fourth generation Chinese Canadian descendant from a railway worker, she is passionate about preserving and sharing cultural heritage. She has BA in Economics and Certificate in Sustainable Community Development.

(Photo: Michael Schwartz, Jewish Museum and Archives)

Carmut Me 米家宓 is a member of the Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group and co-sponsor of its Culture and Heritage working group as a representative of Heritage Vancouver Society, an independent nonprofit organization helping communities understand and participate in sustaining Vancouver’s heritage. Carmut has been involved in the Chinatown community since 2012 and is an advocate for values-based approaches to heritage. As a consultant, she provides services from community engagement, planning and research, to programming and operations for the arts and culture sector. She is especially excited to work on initiatives that support racialized communities in advancing cultural equity. She holds a masters degree in Planning from the School of Community and Regional Planning at UBC and has held roles in the nonprofit sector and the City of Vancouver. Carmut was born in Hong Kong and currently resides on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ /Selilwitulh Nations.

Catherine Clement is an independent community curator and exhibition designer whose work has focused on the lesser-known or forgotten stories of Chinatown.

She has curated a number of historical exhibitions in Chinatown, a number of which were supported by the City of Vancouver. Most notably, in 2017 she directed the “Chinatown History Windows” project which installed large history murals onto 22 storefront windows in the neighbourhood.  Two years later, Catherine curated the popular exhibition “Chinatown Through a Wide Lens: The Hidden Photographs of Yucho Chow” and authored the award-winning companion book by the same name. Recently, a collection of over 600 images taken by Yucho Chow Studio has been donated to the City of Vancouver Archives.

Catherine's next project is called "The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act" and will consist of a crowd-sourced exhibition and community archive that will commemorate 100 years since the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Dr. Katie Cummer has a wide range of knowledge and expertise in the field of heritage conservation. In particular, she has researched, taught and written on the adaptive reuse of heritage assets (such as her most recent co-edited publication Asian Revitalization: Adaptive Reuse in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore); explored the applicability and adaptability of the Historic Urban Landscape approach; as well as designed and coordinated numerous Cultural Mapping studies, including most recently in the City of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Although Canadian by birth, she is also a Hongkonger having spent most of her life in “Asia’s World City,” teaching at The University of Hong Kong as part of the Architectural Conservation Programmes (ACP) for nearly a decade, prior to moving to British Columbia a few years ago to become a Heritage Consultant. She is an active researcher and writer, conducting assessments of sites to facilitate informed decision-making. She has written consultancy studies on various topics, including site analysis, area conservation planning, interpretation, policy studies and recommendations on best practice for official Government use.

She is a Professional Member of the Canadian Association of Heritage Professionals (CAHP), accredited for the Education, History and Planning specializations. She is also a Professional Member of the Canadian National Committee of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS Canada) as well as The Hong Kong Institute of Architectural Conservationists (HKICON). She is the current Vice President of the BC Association of Heritage Professionals (BCAHP), a member of Heritage Vancouver, as well as a recent Member of the Heritage Advisory Panel for the City of Victoria.

Mr. Fong obtained a Bachelor of Social Work from Caritas Institute of Higher Education and a Master of Arts in Sociology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Mr. Fong is currently the service-in-charge of “Viva Blue House” Conservation & Revitalization of Blue House Cluster Scheme for St. James’ Settlement. He has been engaged in policy advocacy and community development services for over 8 years. Before participating in the “Viva Blue House” project, he dedicated himself to improving varied housing issues of disadvantaged groups, and he is experienced in networking and organizing the neighborhood to promote their awareness of the community issues. He believes that promoting mass participation using community-led and bottom-up approaches are crucial for community development.

Ms Chau obtained Bachelor of Social Sciences (Social Work) from The City University of Hong Kong and Master of Arts in Communication from the Hong Kong Baptist University. Ms Chau was previously the service-in-charge of “Viva Blue House” Conservation & Revitalization of Blue House Cluster Scheme for St. James’ Settlement. She has been engaged in community development projects for almost 15 years and is keen on promoting local participation in community issues and community planning. Her experience includes organizing the neighborhood to design and operate community open space and exhibition space, training up local residents as docents to share the histories and development of the community. She aspires to promote bottom-up, community-led urban planning and cultural preservation.

Amy Go is the President of Chinese Canadian National Council for Social Justice. Chinese Canadian National Council educates, engages, and advocates for social justice and equity for all in Canada www.ccncsj.ca.  CCNC-SJ has been at the forefront of the movement to combat rising ant-Asian racism since January 2020.

Amy is a social worker by training and has dedicated her professional career to serving immigrants and seniors, promoting, and advocating for culturally and linguistically appropriate care and health equity for racialized communities. For over three decades, Amy has advocated for social justice and rights of women and racialized communities through her leadership role in national, provincial and local service and advocacy organizations. Amy is currently providing consulting services to facilitate organizational strategic development, program planning, development, and review as well as anti-racism/anti-oppression organizational change.

Barbara has spent over twenty five years as a community advocate for diverse representation and organizer of events to increase the profile and opportunities for Canadian Asian artists in film, television, media and music. She is the founder of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF). Co-founder of the Mighty Asian Moviemaking Marathon (MAMM) in its 16th year and founder and producer of the Asians in Movies, Music and Media Summit (AIM3).  Barbara also launched VAFF's advocacy initiative Elimin8Hate to address the rise in anti-Asian racism since the start of the pandemic.  She lived in Strathcona for almost 20 years and has been active in the neighbourhood including Chinatown where she and her family continue to enjoy shopping and dining on a regular basis.

Barbara Lee is an independent filmmaker and singer/songwriter in Vancouver, Canada. She has worked as a broadcast journalist and reporter and has received the regional and national Radio and Television News Directors’ Association (RTNDA) Award for Best Editorial for her work entitled Mother’s Day. She is also the winner of the National Film Board (NFB) of Canada’s Diversity award Pacific/Yukon and her NFB produced documentary BETWEEN THE LAUGHTER aired on CBC and PBS Northwest.

As a history professor, Dr. Yu’s research and teaching has been built around collaborations with local community organizations, civic institutions such as museums, and multiple levels of government. He is passionate about helping British Columbians unlearn the cultural and historical legacies of colonialism and to be inspired by the often hidden and untold stories of those who struggled against racism and made Canadian society more inclusive and just. Between 2009-2012, he was the Co-Chair of the City of Vancouver’s project Dialogues between First Nations, Urban Aboriginal, and Immigrant Communities (vancouver.ca/commsvcs/socialplanning/dialoguesproject). In 2015, Dr. Yu was appointed as the Co-Chair for the Province of British Columbia’s Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council implementing legacy projects following the province’s apology in May 2014 for BC’s historic anti-Chinese legislation. He also served on the Advisory Group for the City of Vancouver’s apology consultation process for Historical Discrimination Against People of Chinese Descent (HDC) from 2016-2017 that resulted in the City of Vancouver’s formal apology for its historical discrimination against its Chinese Canadian residents on April 22, 2018. Prof. Yu received his BA in Honours History from UBC and an MA and PhD in History from Princeton University. He was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012 and the Province of BC’s Multicultural Award in 2015 in recognition of his research and community leadership.

Karen Cho is a Chinese-Canadian filmmaker known for her socially-engaged documentaries that explore themes of identity, immigration, and social justice. Karen is currently shooting a documentary on endangered Chinatowns and has been filming in New York, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver throughout the past year. Karen has directed In the Shadow of Gold Mountain (2004) a documentary about the Chinese Head Tax and Exclusion Act, Seeking Refuge (Terre d’asile) (2009) a film following asylum seekers in Canada, and Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada (2012). Karen’s TV and web series work has touched on subjects like Aboriginal health, the Japanese Canadian Internment, Vancouver’s downtown east side, and artist activists around the world.  

Karen’s involvement with community organizing stems from her experience with the Head Tax Redress movement, as a volunteer with Montreal’s Chinatown Working Group, the Progressive Chinese Quebeckers and Act2End Racism Network.

Malcolm Yeung is the Executive Director of the Chinatown Community Development Center, a San Francisco based affordable housing and community development organization.  In 2011, Malcolm served as a Senior Advisor to Mayor Edwin M. Lee, during which time he focused primarily on City affordable housing policy and programs.  Malcolm practiced tenants rights and consumer protection law at the Asian Law Caucus from 2003 to 2008 and was a litigation and corporate associate at O’Melveny & Meyers LLP and Perkins Coie LLP from 2001 to 2003.  Malcolm served in the first National AmeriCorps class, teaching English as a Second Language at the Houston Chinese Community Center and is a Houston native.

Malcolm is a member of the San Francisco Airport Commission, Board of Directors of Chinese Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco, and the Rose Pak Community Fund.  He also serves as a member of the Steering Committee of the API Council, a coalition of over 50 non-profit organizations serving San Francisco’s Asian American community.  In 2011, Malcolm Yeung was President of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area, the Bay Area’s largest minority bar association with over 1,000 members.  He has previously served on the Boards of the Community Housing Partnership and Non-Profit Association of Northern California.  

Malcolm graduated with a J.D. from the Berkeley School of Law in 2001, a Masters in History from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1997, and from undergrad at Duke University in 1994.  Malcolm has been a member of the State Bar of California since 2001.

Shawn Tse 謝兆龍 (he/him) is a father, multidisciplinary artist and community organizer living in ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (amiskwacîwâskahikan/Edmonton). His practice centres around community engagement, social justice and storytelling from underrepresented voices. He is a video director at Fallout Media, creator of the intergenerational cooking show, Seconds, Please!, member of aiya哎呀 who dream new futures for Chinatown, actor for Thirdspace Playback Theatre, and the community growth consultant for the CanAsian National Digital Platform.

Henry earned a Masters of Environmental Studies (urban planning) from York University in Toronto. He had worked for more than thirty years as a principal in a small privately held real estate development and construction firm specializing in multi-family residential projects before retiring in 2019.

Henry has either lived or worked in Vancouver’s Chinatown for most of his life. His family had lived and worked in a small retail barbeque meat store for four generations. He and his brothers helped at the store from a very young age. Henry helped his parents with the store until their retirement in 1995. Henry kept the offices of his development company in Chinatown until 2017.

Henry had been an active Board member in a number of community and national cultural organizations including the City of Vancouver Heritage Commission, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Gardens, Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization Committee, Chinatown Historic Area Planning Committee, the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa and the VanDusen Botanical Garden.  Henry currently serves on the Vancouver Chinatown Merchants Association and the Vancouver Chinatown BIA Society.

Kevin Huang 黃儀軒 (he/him) is the co-founder and executive director of hua foundation, an organization – based in Vancouver – with the mission of strengthening the capacity among East Asian diasporic youth, in solidarity with other communities, to challenge, change, and create systems for a more equitable and just future. His work has ranged from scaling culturally sensitive consumer-based conservation strategies through a project called Shark Truth, advancing municipal food policy to address inclusion and racial equity, to providing supports for youth from ethnocultural communities to reclaim their cultural identity on their own terms. Kevin serves on committees with Vancity Credit Union, Vancouver Foundation, and the City of Vancouver as a member of the Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group. Over the past year, Kevin has been spending his time directing community based COVID-19 response projects that address language and cultural gaps including culturally appropriate emergency food relief projects.

Photo: Christina Lee

Kim Tran was born in Edmonton, shortly after her family escaped the Vietnam post war conflicts in the 1980's. She later moved to Vancouver to study at SFU and in 2012, would open DD Mau; a family owned Vietnamese sandwich shop in the heart of Yaletown. After having travelled to Vietnam for the first time in 2015, Kim opened a second location of DD Mau in Chinatown (2018) with the goal of introducing a new cultural experience of dining in Vietnam to the Vancouver market. She is also a director at the Chinatown BIA.

Lorraine Lowe is the Executive Director of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.  Born and raised in South Vancouver with ancestral roots from Toishan, Guanghai, China, Lorraine is an experienced professional and holds a B.A. in Criminology from Simon Fraser University.  With a passion for arts & culture, community engagement, heritage, conservation and a diverse background ranging from film production finance, tourism and the non-profit sector, Lorraine currently sits as an advisor on several working committee groups in Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown as well as on the Board of the Chinese Community Policing Centre.

Tom Wanklin is Senior Planner for the Downtown Eastside Planning Group with the Community Planning Division, in the Planning, Urban Design and Sustainability Department at City of Vancouver. He holds a degree in Planning from the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He has worked for many years in senior level planning positions in municipal and provincial government where he has grappled with complex planning and development issues related to housing affordability for low-income citizens, land use and development policy and community economic development. Tom also has extensive experience in private sector planning environments as a consultant and a part time lecturer in tourism development planning and events management.

Wilco van Bemmel is the CEO of Dunefield, a cross-disciplinary urban development group specializing in development through the lens of community and culture. His strength and passion is to build partnerships between residents, businesses, community groups and cities to achieve what would otherwise be impossible. Wilco has over 18 years of experience in community development in both the Netherlands and Canada, including the transformation of industrial districts along the North Sea coast and revitalization projects in Vancouver’s Strathcona and Chinatown. He brings an international perspective to local challenges and provides a holistic understanding of what makes communities work.

William Liu is co-owner of Kam Wai Dim Sum on E. Pender Street in Vancouver's Chinatown. Originally opened by Liu's father in 1990, Kam Wai Dim Sum went through a renovation and transformation as part of a project by Dunefield Consulting with funding support by the City of Vancouver.

Photo: Jason Payne

Daniel Chen 陈丹宁 (he/him) is an aspiring documentary journalist and is currently completing his BA in Asian Studies and Asian Canadian and Asian migration studies at the University of British Columbia. He has moved between Los Angeles and Beijing and currently calls Vancouver home. His involvement in Vancouver Chinatown includes producing content for the A Seat at the Table exhibition, Speak My Language radio documentary, and Suzhou Alley Women's Mural.

Doris Chow 周慕怡 and her sister June 周慕慈 are co-founders of the Youth Collaborative for Chinatown 青心在唐人街 that practices, shares and celebrates the living culture and heritage of Vancouver’s Chinatown. Their award-winning programs, “Hot+Noisy” Chinatown Mahjong Social and Vancouver Chinatown Cantonese Saturday School, connect people and place across generations in experiential ways. Doris has been working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Chinatown neighbourhoods for the past 10+ years in the areas of social enterprise, neighbourhood food (in)security, seniors care and public space. Doris has been serving on the Board of Directors at the Hoy Ping Benevolent Association since 2012. Her inspiration, motivation and approach is rooted in her experience of having been a primary caregiver to her grandmother who lived in Chinatown.

Photo: Jonathan Desmond Photography

Jeffrey Wong was born and raised in Vancouver and is a passionate history buff. He is Vice-President of the Wongs’ Benevolent Association and a volunteer archivist for the association.

Kimberley Wong | 黄壯慈 (she/they) is a queer Chinese Canadian femme whose work mirrors the intersections of her identity. They have been recognized by the city and the province for their accomplishments in climate justice and multiculturalism, and their work continues to evolve beyond this. Since 2019, Kimberley has served as the Co-Chair of the City of Vancouver's Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group. She also works as the Race and Equity Program Manager with the local non-profit, hua foundation [huafoundation.org], and is an elected Organizing Committee member of OneCity Vancouver [onecityvancouver.ca]. Kimberley's work is deepened through their experiences of living as a renter, a cyclist, and of being a fifth generation descendant of ancestors who have long histories organizing for equity across communities on this land.

Tesicca Truong 張慈櫻  Trương Từ Anh (she/elle/她) is a community engagement innovator, an anti-oppressive facilitator, and a serial changemaker. She co-founded CityHive, a non-profit transforming the way young people shape their cities and communities. She also started the Vancouver School Board Sustainability Conference, currently in its ninth year and kick-started Vancouver Youth4Tap, a city-wide campaign which led to the installation of new water fountains in every public high school in Vancouver. She currently serves as a Ministerial Advisor for BC's Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery, and Innovation. She grew up visiting Vancouver's Chinatown with her Mama and Popo to shop and eat.

Tesicca has served on Vancouver Mayor's Engaged City Task Force, BC's Climate Solutions and Clean Growth Advisory Council, and SFU Senate. She was awarded the SFU President’s Leadership in Sustainability Award and Vancouver’s Greenest City Leadership Award. Tesicca has also been named on Top 30 and Top 25 lists by Corporate Knights, North American Association for Environmental Education, and Starfish Canada. You can find her cruising through the city on her longboard, swimming in the ocean, or hiking in the woods.

William 刘学谦 (he/him) was fortunate to grow up with strong ties to his Chinese heritage as a Chinese-born-Canadian; he averaged 2.5 hours of Cantonese dramas five nights a week, enrolled in the Mandarin Bilingual Program where nearly all his classmates were Chinese, and even started learning to play the Erhu and joined a Chinese Orchestra when he was 12. However, he didn’t get involved in the Chinese Community until he was encouraged to do so by the Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors at the University of Alberta during his term as President of the University of Alberta Students’ Union in 2014. He now lives in Edmonton’s Chinatown, facilitating exports to Asia as a day job while volunteering on evenings and weekends with the Chinatown Transformation Collaborative Society of Edmonton (@ctcyeg).

A descendant of Cumberland and Vancouver’s Chinatowns, Dr. Imogene Lim [wordpress.viu.ca] is an anthropologist at Vancouver Island University.  For the past two decades she has focused her research interests on Vancouver Island—primarily, ethnicity in Canada and Asian Canadian history, including food and culture.  She codeveloped the exhibit, 150 Years and Counting: Fighting for Justice on the Coast (2017).  She actively serves her community, which includes/has included, in part, the Coal Creek Historic Park Advisory Committee (Cumberland, Vancouver Island), BC Legacy Initiatives Advisory Council, Premier’s Chinese Canadian Community Advisory Committee, and Chinese Canadian Museum Society of BC. For her community service and activism, she has received a Ruth Master’s Hero Spoon, 2002, and the BC Medal of Good Citizenship, 2020.  Currently, she is collaborating with Nanaimo Museum on a virtual exhibit.

Dr. Lee Ho-yin is a co-founder of the postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in the Division of Architectural Conservation Programmes (ACP) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU).  He was instrumental in amalgamating the conservation programmes to establish the ACP Division in 2015, and became the Founding Head of the Division.  Before joining HKU in 2000, he was an Associate Director of an architectural practice, and had been involved in architectural projects in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Mainland China and Singapore.  As a well-published academic and an experienced practitioner in built-heritage conservation, he has been appointed by government agencies in Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas as an expert advisor or a consultant for conservation projects and the designation and monitoring of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  In 2017, he was cited in the award certificate for the highest UNESCO conservation award for the “Blue House Cluster” revitalization project.

Fred Mah is the president of the Chinatown Society Heritage Association of Vancouver. He is also a co-sponsor for the Cultural Heritage Working Committee for the city of Vancouver’s Legacy Stewardship Group for Chinatown.

He served on numerous government agencies and community organizations as chair, vice-chair and other important Board positions. These include the Fraser River Port Authority, Vancouver Centennial Commission, British Columbia Social Planning and Research Council, BC-Guangdong Business Council, Vancouver International Dragon Boat Festival Society, Vancouver Chinatown Revitalization Committee, Chinese Benevolent Association of Vancouver and CBA Housing Society. He chaired the committee for the city of Vancouver to recognize Chinatown as a National Heritage Site by the federal government.

At present he is very involved with the city of Vancouver and other community members through the Legacy Stewardship Group to seek federal support for Vancouver Chinatown to apply for UNESCO World Heritage Site status.  

Michael S. Tan 譚聖祐, is a finance and operations executive with a strong track record of building global scale technology companies under hypergrowth conditions, including Hootsuite, Unbounce, and Damon Motors.  He has led finance teams through multiple financings totalling over $200 million USD and has managed $100 million operating budgets

Tan is also a strong and impassioned community advocate. He is the Co-Chair of the City of Vancouver City Council appointed Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group, a 40 person committee tasked with advising Council and staff on community actions to conserve and protect Chinatown's unique intangible cultural heritage while working towards a potential UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. He is also a member of the City of Vancouver’s North East False Creek - Chinatown Working Group and the Andy Livingstone Park and Chinatown Memorial Plaza Redesign Working Group.

Tan is the Vice-President of the Chau Luen Society, a non-profit organization that manages a non-market housing complex for 100 low income seniors, located in the heart of Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Sandra joined the City of Vancouver as General Manager, Arts, Culture, and Community Services in April 2018. Her portfolio spans a wide-range of City priorities, including cultural services and civic theatres, social policy and development, affordable housing delivery and supportive housing strategy, homelessness services, and social operations such as the Carnegie Centre.

Sonny is president and creative director of Hamazaki Wong Marketing Group, an award-winning allcultural marketing-communications agency. Sonny is also co-founder and producer of the LEO AWARDS, BC’s awards program for the film and television industry; and Feast, Asian Dining Festival. As a marketing entrepreneur, he has also led projects in media, live events and exhibitions, sustainability, arts and culture, and social justice.

He is a committed community steward with a strong record of engagement and leadership. He serves as a governor of Capilano University, Chinese Canadian Museum, Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Foundation of BC, Daryl Duke Foundation, and BC Entertainment Hall of Fame. He is a City of Vancouver appointee to the Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group. Recently, he founded, led and produced the national grassroots anti-racism movement, #HealthNotHate. Previously, he was Chair of the community advisory board of Seattle-based KCTS 9, and a founding member of the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival serving as its General Manager for a decade.

Sonny is a published writer and thought leader having contributed to Adweek, Business in Vancouver, Huffington Post, and Strategy; he has spoken at many conferences and events. Sonny has been recognized as a Business in Vancouver 40 Under 40 recipient. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from UBC. In his spare time he is an avid road cyclist always trying to ride faster than he did the last time.