Wellington Z. Chen is the Executive Director of the Chinatown Partnership. The Partnership is currently working with NYC Department of Transportation to design a wayfinding pilot project which is expected to have the first trial test prototype installed in the ground within 12 months.
As the Executive Director and with Coro’s help, he aims to create transformative projects while creating an infrastructure that can sustain and thrive to deliver meaningful results for the Partnership. Wellington has a long record of community service and civic engagement.
As a young volunteer and student studying architecture and environmental studies, he began to see his neighborhood worsening – inspiring a lifelong interest and pursuit in community resuscitation and rejuvenation. In the process Wellington became the first Chinese American to serve on a community board and local development corporation in Queens and was eventually recruited to serve on the NYC Board of Standards and Appeals.
He led numerous initiatives and co-founded a number of organizations, including a firm to offer strategic advice and insights to help shape and guide public/private policies. His work as Landmark Committee Chair helped to preserve and restore Flushing Town Hall and he designed the structure that now houses the Tonga Mission to the United Nations.