My name is Serena Zhang, a student at 91ËżąĎĘÓƵ studying East Asian Studies and Political Science. I will be entering the Fall 2025 semester as a U4 student. This summer, due to the generous support of the Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund Internship Award (AUIF), I had the incredibly opportunity to intern at JIA Foundation, a registered non-profit organization in QuĂ©bec with a mandate to protect and promote the cultural heritage of MontrĂ©al’s Chinatown.
JIA Foundation was an organization that I had been long aware of for their mobilization and activism efforts within Montreal’s Chinatown. It is a registered non-profit organization in Québec with a mandate to protect and promote the cultural heritage of Montréal’s Chinatown. JIA plays a significant role in Chinatown’s community organizations, but I was unsure of what exactly that consisted of. As such, I was incredibly eager to intern with them, to learn about both their organization’s activities as well as Montreal’s nonprofit sector overall. Furthermore, as a student that has been living in Montreal for nearly four years but remains lacking in my knowledge of the city’s history, I was keen to immerse myself in learning more about the history of Montreal’s immigrant communities.
As aforementioned, my research interests focus upon how public policy and legislation impacts Asian diaspora communities, and the political behavior of said groups. JIA is an organization that coalesces those two key factors in their mandate and operations, so I was able to gain incredible insight on the history of Montreal’s Chinatown and multi-generational Chinese families this summer. JIA Foundation achieves its mandate through education, space activation, and community-driven approaches to real estate. As such, this summer I was able to work closely with the organization’s members and the neighborhood’s residents to utilize community spaces in creative and educational ways and actively fight against gentrification.
Preparations of the press release kit given to the media, publicized on Chinatown Day.
Namely, my primary duties entailed acting as full-time staff for their latest exhibition titled “Maison Yep-Riopel: A Layered History of Resistance & Belonging”. This exhibit details the rich history of the very building it occupies- the story of the building’s various residents, and how they deeply tie in with Montreal’s history. Throughout the course of working there, I had the opportunity to learn the contents of the exhibit inside and out, taking various groups of visitors on guided tours. I helped in all daily operations and activities of this exhibit. A highlight of this experience was being able to interact with both local and international visitors, many of whom expressed how deeply they resonated with the message of the exhibit. I even had the pleasure of taking some 91ËżąĎĘÓƵ staff on tour! Furthermore, I played an administrative role in supporting JIA Foundation on various event programming they held throughout the summer. As part of a greater ecosystem of community organizations operating in Chinatown, JIA frequently cooperates in joint events with said organizations. Though every event was fascinating and informative, the most memorable of the bunch was my role helping with Chinatown Day. In commemoration of the anniversary of Chinatown’s designation of heritage status, Chinatown Day is an entire day of community organizations coming together to celebrate the rich heritage and culture of Chinatown with various activities. I was able to join the entire JIA Foundation team in preparing for the activities of this day, and most importantly the press releases the foundation gave concerning their plans for the equitable development of land in Chinatown.
From the opening ceremony for the Kahéhtaien Lumb Garden, an Asian/Indigenous collective garden working in close collaboration with JIA Foundation.
It cannot be understated how crucial the financial support of the Arts Internship Office was in allowing me to pursue this opportunity. As an Anglophone living in Montreal, I have been trying to learn French to supplement my studies, but it remains difficult for me to live in the city while financially support myself as such. In covering my living expenses for the summer, the scholarship granted by AIO allowed me to live in Montreal and wholeheartedly focus on my internship. Furthermore, I was able to utilize the opportunity of working in a trilingual environment to improve my language skills in both French and Chinese. My deepest gratitude for all the support of the Arts Internship Office generous donors and the Arts Undergraduate Society.
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