Dr. Lily Chen - Confronting Model Minority Myth - A Silent Crisis

Dr. Lily Chen is a faculty member at North Carolina Central University and the Executive Director of UCA WAVES, a collaborative promoting youth mental health in Asian-American communities.

Born in Canton, China, she immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1980s as a nursing student. Her advocacy is rooted in two main experiences: witnessing her father’s political persecution in China, and realizing as a nurse and mother that she lacked formal mental health education, which was absent in her upbringing. Her path into specific mental health advocacy began around 2016, when fellow parents highlighted the rising rates of youth suicide and pressure. This led her to organize the first "Asian Parents American Children" conference in Chicago in 2017, revealing a desperate need for services across the country.

WAVES: A Holistic Approach

Dr. Chen’s organization, WAVES, tackles mental health through a multi-faceted strategy represented by its acronym:

• Wellness: Promoting "whole child" health, balancing academic success with emotional and physical well-being.

• Advocacy: Building scientific evidence through research (such as surveying underserved Asian populations) and engaging in community town halls.

• Voices: Amplifying community stories, notably through the documentary The Silent War: Asian American Reckoning with Mental Health.

• Education: Providing cultural competency training to schools and Mental Health First Aid training to over 1,200 people.

• Support: creating networks via book clubs and peer support groups.

Leadership Philosophy

Dr. Chen defines her style as Servant Leadership. She believes a leader must model community service and "serve by example" rather than just giving orders. She emphasizes collective action, noting that the strength of the Asian community lies in its collective nature—focusing on the family and community rather than just the individual. To navigate challenges like funding disparities and political division, Dr. Chen relies on passion as her driving force. She advises focusing on shared humanity and values to bridge divides and maintain resilience.

Empowering Future Leaders

Dr. Chen is deeply committed to mentoring young professionals. She warns against treating young staff merely as a workforce; instead, she advocates for investing time to develop them into leaders. Through programs like "Wave Makers," she pairs young professionals with mentors and gives them significant responsibilities to help them learn how to think and lead independently.