Jian (Lily) Chen, RN, MA, CNE

Jian (Lily) Chen is a registered nurse and Certified Nurse Educator by the National League of Nursing. She is a lecturer at the Department of Nursing, North Carolina Central University NCCU, and a PhD student at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. She has organized elder care delegations and spoke at conferences sharing best practices between China and the U.S. Lily has practiced nursing in a variety of settings including acute care, school and elder care, and served on state and local advocacy groups for older adults in addition to previously teaching at the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois in Chicago among other institutions.

Lily is a long-time volunteer serving in her local communities such as free clinics, schools, her children's sports teams and scouting activities, and served on several national, and local non profit boards. She was part of the core team who was instrumental in helping elect the first Chinese American state representative in Illinois by mobilizing the Chinese American community 2015-2016. Lily was the founding board member and steering committee member for the United Chinese Americans UCA inaugural convention in 2016. She was the founding president for the first UCA Chapter UCA Illinois. She served as two UCA convention general managers in 2018 and 2022 in Washington DC. UCA is a national 501(c)(3) civic organization dedicated to promoting civic participation primarily focusing on immigrant Chinese Americans. Lily has successfully coordinated multiple national and local programs including Youth Mental Health Collaborative WAVES (wellness, advocacy, voices, education, and support).

Lily is a strong advocate for health equity for marginalized communities. She has published multiple OpEds addressing racism and mental health. Lily is a frequent speaker for mental health education conferences and webinars, and appeared at multiple Chinese media and major news media locally and nationally.

Lily currently serves as the vice chair of Town of Cary Senior Advisory board, board member of Wake County Health and Human Service Board, member of community advisory board for Duke University Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI), and advisory committee member for Duke Cancer Institute.

Lily and her family currently live in Cary, North Carolina after living in Chicago for twenty years; she is the mother of five wonderful adult children and fond grandmother of Sophia.