Chen uses movement as a vehicle to heal wounds, share stories and better understand our human existence. The visceral experience of witnessing a moving body can elicit a profound sense of empathy and she believes that empathy is vital in navigating today's cultural landscape. In 2013, Jessica made a miraculous journey back to the stage after suffering a horrific car accident, which rendered her in a coma for 13 days after eight hours of brain surgery. She shares her story and fight to live through her work as a choreographer, speaker, and Artistic Director of J CHEN PROJECT. She holds a B.A. in Global Studies from the University of California Santa Barbara and continued her dance training at The Ailey School and Earl Mosley Institute of the Arts. Her work has been supported by LMCC, Taiwan Ministry of Culture, Gibney Dance Center, and Jerome Foundation. Her choreography credits include The Portal at Minetta Lane Theater (Off-Broadway), INTERSTATE at New York Musical Festival (Off-Broadway), Cliché at The Cutting Room (NYC), The Kennedy Center’s ‘Voices of Change’ (D.C.), Fiddler on the Roof at Timberlake Playhouse (IL), Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (NYC), and Ai Weiwei: The Seed for Brooklyn Museum (NYC). She has taught master classes, workshops and seminars at institutions such as Semester at Sea, Yale, Boston University, Rosie’s Theater Kids, Do-One (Japan), Jazz DU Funk (China), Mt. Holyoke, and Orange County School of the Arts, as well as her alma mater. Chen was honored as Keynote Speaker at Cornell University’s 2011 Celebration of Asian American Women for her work empowering female leadership within the community. She presented “If I Can Dance It, Then It’s Possible”” at the 2014 TEDx organized by Semester at Sea. Chen’s choreography has been presented throughout NYC including NY Live Arts Studio Series, HERE Arts Center, Dixon Place, Ailey Citigroup Theater, DUMBO Dance Festival and Ars Nova. International and National credits include 2010 World Expo USA Pavilion in Shanghai, China, and the Amnesty International Arts Festival in Washington D.C. Chen includes her thoughts on "Identity and Marketing in the World of Social Media" as a featured chapter contributor of a new book called A Life In Dance: A Practical Guide. Jessica is a Proud Member of SDC.