Jenny Chen

Jenny Chen is an award winning journalist who has written for Reader's Digest, the Huffington Post, New York Parenting and more. She is passionate about covering underreported stories for the general public.

Asia’s Top Dating Coach Says Independence is Key In Relationships

By Jenny Chen In his earlier years, David Tian always felt like the odd one out. As he describes in his blog, DoctorAsianRake.com, Tian had gone through a couple of girlfriends, but they all eventually soured. He even went through a marriage – and a divorce. But years later, he is now the head of the successful Aura Dating Academy, …

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Jazz Musician Helen Sung Comes to DC

By Jenny Chen Helen Sung didn’t plan on being a jazz musician when she started playing the piano at five years old. Sung began playing piano and as a self-described “Asian American perfectionist” she restricted her self practicing to classical pieces. “My teacher wouldn’t let me play anything else,” Sung said. That all changed in her final year as an …

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Beauty Review: Eyelash Extensions Make Asian Eyes Pop

By Jenny Chen It comes with the territory. As an Asian American female, I have constantly been reminded about my eyes. They’re too small, they’re too slanty, my eyelashes are nonexistent. In my Midwestern elementary school, classmates would ask me, “How can you see through those eyes?” I imagined my eyes to be akin to some kind of Voldermort-like slits. …

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Vietnamese American Writer Wins PEN/Oakland Award

By Jenny Chen Andrew Lam, editor-in-chief of New America Media, a nonprofit organization that advocates 3,000 ethnic news organizations in the United States, was awarded the PEN/Oakland Award for his fictional collection of short stories Birds of Paradise Lost. The book is based on the Vietnamese refugee experience. Maxine Hong Kingston wrote about Lam: “…bask in his love of language, …

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OAPIA Supports Asian American Businesses Through New Initiatives

By Jenny Chen Washington, DC – On November 14, the DC Office of Asian Pacific Islander Affairs (OAPIA) launched a new initiative called “Connect, Build, Engage”. This initiative connects Asian American businesses with government resources such as Project BUILD, the Department of Small and Local Business Development, and the Department of Housing and Community Development. Joining the Julie Koo, the …

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Asian Americans Unaware of Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

By Jenny Chen November was diabetes awareness month and recent study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) shows that Asian Americans may be more at risk for diabetes than is popularly believed. According to the Asian American Diabetes Initiative at the Joslin Diabetes Center, despite having a lower body weight, Asian Americans are more likely than Caucasians to have …

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Alipay Brings Chinese Shoppers To U.S. Markets

By Jenny Chen In a study by Bain and Company China comprises of one of the fastest growing online markets. On Nov. 19, 2013 Chinese e-payment company Alipay, International signed a partnership with Universal Air Travel Plan (UATP). Launched in 2004, Alipay is a subsidiary of the Alibaba group – which owns China’s largest B2B online marketplace Alibaba.com as well …

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Are You Board Material?

Board 2020 vision allows more Asian Americans a chance at corporate boards By Jenny Chen In the year 2020, corporate and nonprofit boards will look very different from the ones today. At least, that’s the belief that panelists Virginia Gambale, director of JetBlue; Helene D. Gayle, director, The Coca-Cola Co. and Colgate-Palmolive Co.; Michael D. Rochelle, director, Military Officers Association …

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Conference Highlights Strategies for Marketing Health to Asian Americans

By Jenny Chen Washington, DC – Forget Asian says professors and marketing expert Bobby Kumaki of the Ronin Group. Forget Asian and think Asian American. Asians in America are very different from Asians in Asia. In his presentation Understanding the Asian Market Segment during the Multicultural Health National Conference Kumaki noted that the best way to reach Asian Americans is …

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Kollaboration DC’s Volunteers Shine

By Jenny Chen Washington, DC – It’s 2pm. The Lisner Auditorium at George Washington University seems clenched with anticipation. Nervous energy rockets from wall to wall. Young people with badges that have “Staff” stamped across them are setting up tables, organizing tickets and VIP bracelets. In the back, sound checks and light checks. A man in a dress shirt and …

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How Will the Affordable Care Act Affect Asian Americans?

By Jenny Chen Stan Tsai, a member of the board of directors of the Chinese Culture and Community Service Center (CCACC), has been following the Affordable Care Act closely – and he’s concerned about how much the Asian American community knows about what is going to happen come October 1. “I went to the information meetings [for the Affordable Care …

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Twice Exceptional: What Happens When Learning Disabilities Are Paired With Exceptional IQ?

By Jenny Chen By Jenny Chen When Bernadette Slowey’s son, Nick, was in 3rd grade, his teacher told Slowey that she might consider cognitive testing for her son. He was struggling with his reading but his teacher knew that Nick was an exceptionally bright child. As Nick progressed in school, he began getting frustrated with his differences in learning and …

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Not Your Average Cosplayer: A Look at the Overlooked in Otakon 2013

By Jenny Chen Boys in tawny hair, starched white shirts, and make-up lounged along the walls of the Baltimore Convention Center. They were accompanied with various incarnations of Totoro, and girls carrying foam daggers. Welcome to Otakon 2013 – or at least, the outside of it. All the thinly veiled warnings from my friends when they heard that I was …

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Why Asian Americans Are Turning To Green Business

By Jenny Chen Karl Huie is a 2nd generation Chinese American and the owner of Pacific Heights Cleaners, a dry cleaning company in Marin County, California. His parents started the business in 1969. But Huie is bucking tradition – in 2007 he turned his parent’s dry cleaning business to a completely water-based system called Wet Clean. Traditional dry cleaning methods …

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OCA Celebrates 40th Anniversary at National Convention

From July 18-21, OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates hosted their national convention at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington, D.C. The convention included a preliminary screening of the documentary film “Linsanity”, workshops on activism, a politics plenary session, and a star studded gala, which closed the event. — Were you at the OCA conference? Share your photos with us …

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Stay and Sip Awhile: The Medicinal Properties of Tea

By Jenny Chen The year was 2737 BC and the Chinese Emperor Shenong was drinking his bowl of boiled water. Shenong, who developed Chinese traditional medicine and agricultural traditions in China, was so health conscious that he decreed to all his subjects must boil their water before drinking it. On that one particular day, as Shenong bent down to take …

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2013 Pacific Miss Asian America Beauty Pageant Semi-finals

On Sunday, June 23, Pacific Culture International hosted the 2013 Pacific Miss Asian America Beauty Pageant semi-finals. The following finalists will be competing at Strathmore on September 6, 2013:  Vania Cao, Catherine Ho, Amy Kao, Emily Duong, Kathy Shi, Doreen Yan, Haley Bui, Rosie Zhang, Emma Li, Esther Kim, Sherri Zhang, Stella Mach, Meng Wang, Ruby Park, Chelsea Li.   …

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Ayurveda: India’s Oldest Healing Method

By Jenny Chen “The body must be credited with an immense fund of know-how,” said Deepak Chopra, one of the most famous contemporary Ayurvedic healers, and author of Perfect Health. Ayurveda is an ancient, 5,000 year old healing system originating from India, that extols intuitive and holistic health. Ayurveda has influenced many of the older traditional methods of healing including …

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