About Us
Amanda Chen - Youth Programming Coordinator
Amanda Chen is a senior majoring in Philosophy and minoring in Middle Eastern Studies and English (Creative Writing) at Dartmouth College. She started Pen to Paper Education, a tutoring company that focuses on teaching elementary to high school students how to write, her sophomore year of college. On top of classes, she teaches students one-on-one on how to write for creative writing competitions and how to apply for colleges. She is extremely passionate about Asian American issues. She has spoken at the Chinese School Association in the United States’s (CSAUS) 13th National Convention and Chinese Education Conference about the generation gap amongst the Chinese American community and the power of writing to heal in 2021. She is also the Youth Program Coordinator at the nonprofit United Chinese Americans (UCA) and has interned at places like the New Hampshire Supreme Court and the Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.
William Li - President
Will is a student at Swarthmore College where he studies Economics and Political Science. He is passionate about Asian-American advocacy and loves working with younger students to develop their skills as advocates themselves. Will has experience working on political campaigns, and he has also published research on AAPI voting patterns and data disaggregation. During his free time, he can be found playing the saxophone or pickup basketball at the park.
Billy Zeng - Vice President
Growing up in Malden Massachusetts, Billy realized the disconnect between local government and its community. His exposure to community advocacy began during his time on the Greater Malden Asian American Community Coalition’s Board of Directors. Serving as the inaugural “Youth on Board”, Billy was able to collaborate with Greater Boston organizations and local community organizers to advocate for implementation of ethnic studies in public K-12 schools, speak out and organize against incidents of anti-Asian hate, and help bridge the gap between Malden’s government and its residents. Much of Billy’s visions for a better world originate from Malden and his on-the-ground experiences fighting alongside other excluded communities. As Vice President of UCAYLC, Billy hopes to bring his community organizing experiences from Malden to the Youth Council. His goal is to work towards building a powerful and influential young Chinese American community nationwide with the rest of the Youth Councillors.
Janice Peng - Secretary
Janice is a rising freshman at Pomona College in Claremont, CA. As a part of the UCA Youth Council, they hope to spur their fellow Chinese Americans into action and self-actualization. Outside of civic or academic activities, Janice enjoys literature, art, creative writing, and TV (The Good Place is an amazing show). Their current fixation is Chinese webnovels!
Gordon Li - Fundraising
Gordon is a rising first-year at the NYU Stern School of Business. A graduate of Ridge High School in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, Gordon served as a senator, class president, and student body president, tirelessly advocating for more diversity and transparency in the student government and school administration. Outside of school, Gordon enjoys music, reading books, watching documentaries, hiking, biking, and playing piano and trumpet. Gordon hopes to use UCA as a platform for educating others about Chinese-American culture and history as a way of fostering open discussion and increased understanding among individuals of diverse backgrounds.
Sophie Zheng - Programming
Sophie decided to join the council because she wanted to be a part of a movement that advocate for Chinese youths and bring more awareness to our community.
Virginia He - Marketing
Virginia (she/her) is the current Marketing Director for UCA Youth. She is a current junior in high school and has a passion for communications and youth activism. Outside of UCA, she is involved in local and national organizing managing marketing, social media, and press for a variety of other groups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, drawing, and scrolling through Twitter.
Alinah Liu - Website
A high schooler from California, Alinah enjoys spending time with her friends and surfing the internet. She joined the UCA Youth Council to make a change in the world and help others. When she's not listening to aespa or watching episodes from Pripara, you can find Alinah doodling and watching live streamers.