Hello, I'm Jenny Chen 🙂

Growing up I always had an interest in going international work and volunteering. I just naturally assumed the only way to do so was through Doctor's Without Borders, hence my early college fixation on medicine. After a few healthcare related extracurriculars and working as a medical scribe after graduating, I finally parted with medicine, realizing that I never truly enjoyed the job but rather its outcomes and possibilities.

I had been searching for ways to go abroad my junior year, either through studying or volunteer work, but of course COVID-19 hit in 2020, derailing my plans for a summer teaching in Thailand. Peace Corps had paused recruiting in that time and I had missed the deadline for Fulbright. Luckily, I stumbled upon Volunteers in Asia. The Global Community Fellowship sends several fellows from the US to partner non-profits based in Asia. This program aligned with my values of doing work only when asked or needed by local organizations and working in tandem with local populations. I applied, was accepted, quit my job, and within a month I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

As a fellow, I worked with Beam Education Foundation as a program associate and a teacher. Beam works with refugees, migrants, and marginalized communities around Thailand and Myanmar to deliver various resources and tools to help individuals access higher education. Through this experience, I not only overcame many obstacles required of moving across the world to a new country, but learned the nuances in international work and development, especially for a small grassroots NGO.

Working with students of diverse backgrounds in Myanmar amid their political turmoil while also learning about the history of oppression for smaller ethnic groups was eye opening. Seeing and hearing firsthand the obstacles placed before students to obtain higher education due to their ethnicity and documentation status solidified my interest in international work and development.

Specifically, an area of need I noticed was not only technology literacy and lack of resources, but having technology that was applicable and inclusive of non-western populations. Apps, programs, and websites that I took for granted could not function or translate well for my students, rendering them inaccessible. Even at Beam, tools for managing projects and data but require subscriptions were not used, reducing the efficiency and potential of the organization's reach and impact. Thus, I feel an area in international development and work that needs focus is on inclusivity, accessibility, and representation of technology. I believe this starts with unbiased data and with efforts to educate local populations with the tools and skills needed to build their own programs and tools as needed in the future.

I am currently looking for next steps on how to enter this field of work and promote sustainable development by advocating for work that includes and builds programs from the ground up with local populations. My most recent experiences have combined my healthcare work with data through my internship as a health policy analyst where I utilize my data skills to inform policy outcomes at the state government level around Medicaid benefits. Additionally, I am doing research at Duke with a team working to improve humanitarian aid delivery in South Sudan.

Thanks for reading 😊

🥐 In my free time, I love baking (inspired by the Great British Baking Show), hiking, running, reading, playing sports (or learning any new sport), and traveling. Usually my bakes end up incredibly experimental as in the midst of following a recipe, I tend to get creative and try substituting or adding ingredients. It's led to many interesting fails and recipe developments.

🏕️ I love exploring nature and during the pandemic I spent almost every weekend exploring Connecticut's trails and parks with my mom! In Thailand I was lucky to be based in Chiang Mai, surrounded by some of the most beautiful mountain scenery I have ever seen. Though it was quite hot and humid, I did a few hikes with breathtaking views. I would love to try backpacking or doing longer hikes though I have refrained from going solo given my lack of experience. Hit me up if you are also looking for someone to do multi-day hikes with! I'd love to give it a shot.

🏃 I was that kid who struggled to do the mile every year in gym class and consistently ranked running as the absolute worst form of movement my entire life. Somehow, though, I started running in 2024 and have since fell in love (which I literally NEVER thought I'd say). I'm by no means good and I think it so does not come naturally to me, but I enjoy it so that's good.

📖 I've been an avid reader since I can remember. Though, my mom would disagree as she usually just catches me rereading the Percy Jackson series or spinoffs at least once a year since fifth grade - but hey, reading's reading, she should be thankful that's all I'm doing with my time. As you can guess, I love fantasy and adventure books. I love the idea of exploring new worlds, ways of life, and societal systems through books, it gives so much room to think deeply about politics and social structure and more. But as a child I was blown away by the heroism, and I think that is what has stuck with me the most till this day. All of my dreams about volunteering and humanitarian work and medicine stemmed from books like these. Tales of heroes who always choose the right thing and who choose good and helping or saving others have inevitably wormed their way into my core values, inspiring me to want to be good in my own way. Of course I'll never have enough power to save the world, but I can use the tools that I do have to help someone which is what I think is at the root of those stories.

✈️ I live off of travel. But of course, I believe in traveling sustainably, and I also recognize how privileged I am to be able to travel. My fellowship was funded with a stipend which thankfully covered the cost of my living abroad and traveling around - something that I looked for in programs to volunteer abroad. I was blessed with the chance to explore Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand in my year, knocking many places off of my bucketlist. If you have any questions about my travels or want any recs - I am now a master budget traveler and know Chiang Mai like the back of my hand!

🏈 I am obsessed with football and avidly follow the NFL season to perhaps an unhealthy degree. It's not my fault that I won 9 straight weeks in my fantasy league last year (despite not winning the entire thing) which kept me hooked. I also won my March Madness bracket last year so all this to say, I am quite into following sports. I love staying active and playing anything from spikeball to pickleball and now tennis. Sometimes I will randomly shoot hoops at 6 am with people or play soccer (even if I don't actually know how to play). I think it's just fun to stay active through activities with friends rather than always hitting the gym!