Irene is the Executive Director of the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA). The daughter of immigrant workers, she began organizing as a teenager, and her parents’ experiences shaped a lifelong commitment to building power with immigrant workers, women of color, and working-class families. She spent six years organizing domestic and care workers with the National Domestic Workers Alliance in New York, later serving as New York Director, and went on to hold national leadership roles at United for Respect supporting low-wage retail workers. After relocating back to the Boston area where she grew up, she began consulting for CPA and served as the Interim Organizing and Political Director in 2023. She holds an M.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Stanford University.
