Angela Li ’17

Angela Li is a 2017 HCHS alum who graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Asian American Studies. She is currently pursuing a master’s in American Studies at Columbia University and also the Civic Engagement Coordinator for Immigrant Social Services (ISS). On the side, she is a volunteer organizer at Red Canary Song, a grassroots massage worker collective advocating for Asian migrant workers.

At UCLA, Angela served as the Chairperson of the Campus Retention Committee where she managed a 1.3 million dollar budget and oversaw the operations and administration of the Student Retention Center. Additionally, she directed and promoted coalition building amongst 20 different Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) student organizations with a membership of more than 1,000 students as the Director of Asian Pacific Coalition. In the intersections of her interests in advocacy and storytelling, she has done research on anti-Asian hate crimes, ethnic enclaves, and Asian migrant worker conditions. Outside of campus, she has worked as an archivist for the PBS Asian Americans Documentary Series and as a publishing intern for Kaya Press, an independent Asian Pacific American publishing firm. More recently, she has completed the Coro New York Fellowship in Public Affairs where she gained cross-sector insight on making sustainable impacts on communities in New York. For her independent placement in the fellowship, she spearheaded advocacy efforts around passing legislation to require Asian American studies in K-12 public schools. Next year, she plans on writing her master’s thesis on the underground economy of Fuzhounese American migrant workers, focusing on mahjong parlors, their open money pool system, and restaurant workers.

Angela currently resides in New York City and is excited to work with the HCHSAA board to support the Hunter community. She hopes her passion for and experience with multi-stakeholder environments, research, writing, project management, fundraising, and communications will be a great asset to the board. In her free time, she enjoys biking, making lattes, and taking care of her plants.