Current Leader

John Wang

John Wang
Location: Boston, Massachusetts Cohort Start Year: 2020 Project Topics: Community/Civic Engagement, Economic Stability, Education, Employment, Environmental Justice, Food Systems and Nutrition, Leadership Development, Public Policy, Public, Population and Community Health, Racial Justice, Social Sector/Non-Profit Populations Served: Adolescents (12-20 years), Adults (21-64 years), African-American/Black, Asian/Asian American, At-Risk/Vulnerable Populations, Foster Youth and Families, Hispanic/Latino/Latinx, Immigrants and Refugees, LGBTQ+ Communities, Low-Income Communities, Southwest Asian and/or North African (SWANA), Urban Communities
Co-Executive Director
The Food Project

FOCUS
John’s vision for a Culture of Health is one that values diversity in knowledge and understanding of health for individuals and communities. It is defined by and with community, for the community. It requires collaboration of institutional and structural systems to unpack harmful practices and work toward shared values. And it fosters interpersonal connectedness that encourages and sustains a culture of resilience.

For the past 15 years, John has worked at The Food Project (TFP), to build a more equitable and just food system in the greater Boston area. As TFP intentionally brings together youth and community members across differences to do this work together, the following quote has always stood out to him, “If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound with mine, then let us work together,” by Aboriginal activists in Queensland in the 1970s. It has helped him understand the interconnectedness of our experiences and our work. And he believes this understanding of interconnectedness and building relationship across difference is essential in developing a resilient Culture of Health—one that can continually adapt and pivot while holding shared values that help guide its next transformation.

John will be working on ways to address food apartheid and siloed food systems. Karen Washington states, “’Food Apartheid’ underscores that this is the result of decades of discriminatory planning and policy decisions”. John is looking to connect more of the stakeholders in the food system overall – those who have been treated inequitably, and those who have often benefited from the current system – to imagine something different together. John will work with younger adults in these respective communities (urban, suburban, rural) to develop project(s)/initiate(s)/program(s) and meaningful relationships with people and places that could be something different than what we currently see today.

STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: Address Food Apartheid
I am looking for innovative ways to address food apartheid and siloed food systems work. Food activist Karen Washington states, “’Food apartheid’ underscores that this is the result of decades of discriminatory planning and policy decisions” in low-income communities. Also, I am looking to connect more of the stakeholders in the food system overall—those who have been treated inequitably and those who have often benefited from the current system— to build relationships and trust, develop shared language, understand food systems complexities, and imagine something different together.

MORE ABOUT JOHN
John brings a sense of curiosity and interest in hearing the wisdom of others. He believes that by participating in this program, he will gain a deeper understanding of how we might be able to support a more resilient Culture of Health by collaborating across various fields and sectors. As he wrestles with cultivating a more equitable and just food system in a city where some are facing displacement and feeling the impact of rising sea levels, he is interested in learning from others who are also thinking about “for whom, by whom” in what a Culture of Health looks like in each of our communities. John is also excited by the opportunity to have his understanding of a Culture of Health be challenged and transformed by the shared thinking, iterating, and imagination of this group.