Emcees

Photo by Paul Wells

Legendary journalist Ben Fong-Torres

Ben Fong-Torres is best known as a rock journalist, but he is also an editor, radio DJ, onstage interviewer, occasional crooner, and five-time Emmy winner for co-anchoring the Chinese New Year Parade broadcasts.

He joined Rolling Stone magazine in 1969 and became its music editor. His interview subjects have included Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, the Stones, and various Beatles and Linda Ronstadt.

Since leaving Rolling Stone in 1981, Fong-Torres has published ten books. He is the subject of a documentary on Netflix, Like a Rolling Stone, and a real-life character in the film Almost Famous. Fong-Torres lives with Dianne, his wife, and Marley, their rescue dog, in San Francisco.

Youth empowerment leader Jennifer Chan

Jen Chan grew up at CCDC and is a proud product of CCDC’s youth leadership program. Jen started volunteering as a high school student in 2002 and “officially” came on staff in 2009. She has taken on multiple leadership roles at CCDC, specializing in resident and youth leadership development and empowerment. She is passionate about developing community members, young and old, to create positive, meaningful change in their community. Her motto is, “you are never too young or too old to be a community leader.” She believes that the best policies are created by the community, for the community. Her most recent projects include strategic leadership and direction for the award-winning youth programs Adopt-An-Alleyway and Chinatown Alleyway Tours and converting public housing to affordable community housing through the Rental Assistance Demonstration Program (RAD). She is deeply rooted in San Francisco. Her experience includes working on San Francisco’s first low-income equity cooperative and serving on the Democratic County Central Committee and Rose Pak Democratic Club. She also serves as the Kearny Street Broadcasting Director overseeing the community broadcasting of the largest nighttime parade outside of China. She holds a B.A. in Asian American Studies from UC Davis and a Master of Social Work from Simmons University. She attended graduate school while working full-time and having her first child. Jen is a D10 native who grew up in Visitacion Valley and continues to live there with her two daughters and husband.