Dennis Chin

Vice President, Narrative, Arts and Culture | Race Forward

Pronouns: he/him

Dennis Chin serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at the new Race Forward. The new Race Forward is the union of two leading racial justice non-profit organizations: Race Forward and Center for Social Inclusion (CSI).

In addition, Dennis serves as an organizational trainer/presenter, specializing in 1) the basics of structural racial inequity and 2) communicating effectively about structural racial inequity. Some of the organizations that he has trained/worked with include Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), Arcus Foundation, Kresge Foundation, The California Endowment, the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL), National College Access Network, Council of Michigan Foundations, Grantmakers in the Arts, and the United States Breastfeeding Committee.

Dennis is a member and former Co-Chair of the Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York (GAPIMNY). At GAPIMNY, Dennis grew the organization's leadership, helped launch the Asian Pride Project, and deepened volunteer engagement on issues of race, gender and sexuality. As a result of his work, he was awarded the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance's (NQAPIA) Community Catalyst Award in 2015.

Dennis also serves on the Board of Directors of CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, an organization that builds grassroots community power across working-class Asian immigrants and youth in New York City. A five-year member of the Board, he currently serves as its Co-Chair.

Presentations from Facing Race 2022

The Freedom to Learn: The Fight for Honest, Equitable, and Fully Funded Public Schools as the Foundation for a Just, Multiracial Democracy

In school districts across the United States, we have seen the results of the far-right’s relentless attacks on public education - whether through the proliferation of educational gag orders on race, gender, and sexual orientation in our public schools, the harassment of teachers who refuse to be silent on matters of equity and inclusion, or the banning of books that represent the full spectrum of experience that is essential to understanding our pluralistic world. Attacks on public education are not new; they are part of a long-term strategy to dismantle public schools (and public systems, writ large) and ultimately, undermine democracy. In this plenary, we are joined by movement leaders who are not just countering the far-right's attack on public education but are also fighting for a more just, multiracial democracy through organizing and narrative change.

Moderator(s): Dennis Chin Speakers: James Ford, Alex Ames, Bridgit Antoinette Evans, Becky Pringle

Public Education: The Foundation for Multiracial Democracy

The future of our society hinges on our ability to truly realize a just, equitable multiracial democracy and it must start with honest and fully funded multiracial public education. Neither our political nor education system were set up for this, but that is the promise of what our movements can achieve by uniting our communities across all the lines used to divide us.

Moderator(s): Dennis Chin Speakers: James Ford, Alex Ames, Bridgit Antoinette Evans, Becky Pringle