Jian (Lily) Chen, MA, RN, CNE

Jian (Lily) Chen, MA, RN, CNE, is a Registered Nurse and Certified Nurse Educator by the National League of Nursing. She currently teaches community health nursing and elder care nursing at North Carolina Central University NCCU.  She practiced nursing in a variety of acute care and community settings including Naperville School District 203. She previously taught nursing at the University of Iowa and the University of Illinois in Chicago, among others.  Lily is a long-time volunteer serving in her local communities and was part of the core team instrumental in helping elect the first Chinese American State Representative. Lily helped organize two Chinese American conventions in 2016 and 2018 when she served as Executive Director of United Chinese Americans (UCA). She has also successfully coordinated multiple national and local programs, including the UCA Youth Mental Health Collaborative (WAVES) since 2016, and was founding president of UCA Illinois Chapter. She serves as project director in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar’s three-year leadership development program, and as a leader in the Nursing Student Peer Mentoring Program at NCCU. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) instructor.

Lily came to the US in 1988 from Guangzhou, China.  She received her Master Degree in Nursing from the University of Iowa in the 90s. She is married and a mother of five wonderful children ages 17-27, and she currently lives in North Carolina with her family.