The Larger Conversation

Ben Hires, CEO, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC)

Ben Hires joined BCNC as CEO in June 2020. Ben has significant experience in nonprofit leadership and serving young people and families. He held leadership positions in programs and external relations at the Boston Children's Chorus where he played a key role elevating the choir’s social justice mission to bring diverse young people and their families together. As Director of Strategic Partnerships at the Boston Public Library, he established and maintained strong relationships across education, cultural, and civic engagement sectors in order to advance the Library's mission of providing enrichment free to all Boston residents. He also worked at Boston Youth Symphony Orchestras and New England String Ensemble. Ben is currently a member of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce board of directors and has previously served as board member of Urbanity Dance and the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy and Political Science, a Master of Theological Studies, and a Master of Science in Arts Administration all from Boston University.

Mel Taing, Photographer

Mel Taing is a Cambodian-American photographer & experimental filmmaker based in Boston. She received her BFA in Film/Video at the Massachusetts College of Art & Design in 2016. Mel creates portraiture that expresses the beauty of resilience. Her personal aesthetic is rooted in creating colorful environments that are filmic, dreamy and slightly surreal. 

As a child of Cambodian refugees in America, Mel is deeply interested in visually exploring concepts of intergenerational trauma, racial identity, spirituality, and resilience in community. Mel’s notable collaborations include a project called BLACK, BROWN, OTHER -- a photo essay on the alienation of queer artists of color within their communities featured in Nylon Magazine and PREJUDICE IS A DISEASE, a photo series embodying concepts of Yellow Peril in the time of COVID-19 featured in The Boston Globe and Artscope Magazine. Mel has exhibited her photography in Brooklyn, NY, Boston, MA and Lowell, MA.

Fiona Phie, Organizer for Asian Coalition Massachusetts, Former Executive Director of March for Our Lives: Boston, and Executive Board Member of R.E.D. House (Resist. Educate.Disrupt.)

Fiona Phie, Artist and Community Organizer from Boston, MA- They have been working towards racial healing by connecting the creation of art to the imagination of a better world centering Young Black and Brown queer women. As an American raised Indonesian Chinese femme, they have visualized this reimagination via free community workshops and organizing integrating art, protest and workshops to discuss borderless liberation. Fiona has been involved in many organizing efforts via the Asian Coalition Massachusetts, March for Our Lives: Boston, Executive Board Member of R.E.D. House (Resist. Educate.Disrupt.), and many more.