Chinese Progressive Assoc. Starts New Chapter as Leader Karen Chen Moves on

Karen Chen didn’t know too much about Chinatown as a young teen. She lived in Brighton at the time, and though her mom worked in the largely Asian neighborhood at a garment factory, Chen knew the spot as mostly place to buy Chinese foods and goods.

But that changed after joining the Chinese Progressive Association’s youth program in 1997 as a senior in high school. Chen suddenly got a crash course in the inner-workings of Chinatown and the battles — and hard-fought victories — of immigrant and low-income workers.

“I learned a lot about the struggles of the Chinese American community in Boston. I also learned about Asian American history that we didn’t learn in school,” Chen told the Sampan recently.

Karen Chen; photo by Ben Lee. Below is a gallery of photos provided by the CPA of Chen's years at the group.

During the program, she helped advocate for workers rights during a layoff at a Woolworths store, and she said she was struck by how the employees, especially the elderly women there, were ready to pick a fight over their benefits.

“I was like, Wow, these are elderly people and they were working to protest,” said Chen.

That time at the CPA made such an impression on Chen that she would return during college while at Boston University and then stay on and off for more than two decades, eventually moving up to become the executive director of the nonprofit.

Now, Chen is moving on to help out her family, which has since moved to Texas.

“My parents won’t be around forever but this work will be,” said Chen of her advocacy and activism.

Chen’s story began in Taishan, China. She was a grade school student when her family moved to Belize. There, she was enrolled in a Catholic school, sharing a classroom with students half her age, because she was learning the new language.

“I was 9 and I was put in kindergarten, because I didn’t speak the language,” she said.

Then, a year later, in 1990, her family moved to the United States.

Starting from an age most kids are immersed in play and discovering learning in elementary school, Chen had already lived in several countries and quickly took on the role of translating and interpreting for her family and taking care of her younger siblings.

“I think that now looking back, I feel like my life experience really prepared me for being an organizer and activist,” she said. “When I first came here (to the U.S.) I kind of became an adult. I became a de-facto parent for my younger siblings.”

After Chen’s return to the CPA while in college, she began working there full time. Watching workers and Chinatown residents advocate for their rights and quality of life inspired her further, she said, especially during demonstrations for the hundreds of employees let go at the Power One factory during the summer of 2001. Chen was just in her early 20s at the time, when the Chinese Progressive Association helped organize pickets and helped win a $1 million in re-training benefits for the workers. Chen said she saw something familiar in the workers — many of whom were Chinese immigrants like her parents — and was heartened by how they stood up for themselves.

“I was so moved. It defied this stereotype that Chinese people just put their head down and work hard (and don’t speak up).”

Throughout the years, Chen would see many more protests and demonstrations — of workers and of neighborhood residents trying to push back high-rise luxury housing projects. And now the group she’s been leading is looking for someone to fill her role as she transitions out of her position.

Wayne Yeh, who recently became the co-chair of the group, and CPA President Emerita Suzanne Lee, began leading the search effort last month. The hunt for a new executive director is coinciding with the 50-year anniversary of the nonprofit.

“CPA holds a special place in my heart,” wrote Yeh in a post on LinkedIn about the open role, describing how he also got involved during college. “Over the past decade, CPA has been where I learned the power of grassroots organizing, movement building, and civic engagement among working-class Chinese immigrants—and how cross-community coalitions can shape Greater Boston for the better.”

Now, as Chen looks back, on her many years with the CPA, she joked, “People expected me to stay until retirement age. “But I’m not done with organizing.”

“Karen,” said Lydia Lowe, who was executive director prior to Chen, “is a strategic and dynamic leader who has built CPA into a real political powerhouse since she took the reins 8 years ago. I know she will continue to do important work where ever she is.”

And Lowe, who has been active in the neighborhood for decades, added: “At the same time, I am confident that CPA will continue to grow and adapt; it is one of the strongest grassroots organizations in the city.”

Applicants interested in the director position can email hiring@cpaboston.org.