Diane Wong is an educator, multimedia storyteller, and cultural worker, her research and work outside of academia stems from a place of deep love for community. She is an Assistant Professor and Faculty Fellow in the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University. She holds a Ph.D. in American Politics and M.A. in Comparative Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration from the Department of Government at Cornell University. As a first-generation Chinese American born and raised in Flushing, Queens in New York City, her research is intimately tied to the Asian diaspora and urban immigrant experience. Her dissertation focuses on intergenerational resistance to gentrification in New York, San Francisco, and Boston Chinatowns. Her work draws from a unique combination of methods including ethnography, participatory mapping, archival research, augmented reality, and oral history interviews with tenants, community organizers, restaurant and garment workers, small business owners, public health workers, and elected officials. Previously, Diane worked as the digital media organizer for 18MillionRising.org, a grassroots organization that brings disparate Asian American communities together online and offline to inspire systemic change. She curated content for the organization on all media platforms, sustained on the ground relationships with core partners, and spearheaded rapid response campaigns related to civic engagement, youth criminalization, deportation and detention, police accountability, and Islamophobia. Diane has also worked extensively with Asian youth and seniors through her collaborations with the Chinatown Youth Initiatives, East Coast Asian American Student Union, Chinese Community Development Center, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, Chinatown Tenants Union, and Chinatown Art Brigade. Three years ago, Diane helped to establish The W.O.W. Project, which is a community initiative located inside the oldest continually run store in Manhattan’s Chinatown that brings concerns about gentrification in the neighborhood into a space for intergenerational dialogue and grassroots action. She is also currently on the steering committee for the Chinatown Art Brigade 唐人街藝術隊／唐人街艺术队, which is a collective of Asian American artists, media makers, residents, and educators driven by the belief that addressing racial, social, and economic inequities is fundamental to the media making process. Her consultations and collaborations are driven by the desire to create sustainable and livable communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive. Diane is a member of the Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society, she has also been a participant and mentor for the McNair Achievement Scholars Program, Leadership Alliance Mellon Initiative, and the American Political Science Association Minority Fellows Program. Her work has been appeared in Urban Affairs Review, Asian American Policy Review, Push/Pull and a variety of books, journals, anthologies, and podcasts.

To learn more, click here.