Qinghong Wei, Ph.D.

 

Dr. Wei is the artist and educator at Starry Dreams Art Studio. Before becoming a professional artist, she served in executive roles in several esteemed nonprofit organizations including Story Bridge, an influential art organization that helps communities around the world to tell and perform their true stories, Intergenerational Schools International founded by Dr. Peter Whitehouse, neuroscientist and co-founder of the award-winning Intergenerational School, and Overseas China Education Foundation, an acclaimed grassroots nonprofit that supports rural education in China.

 

Dr. Wei is a pioneering scholar and practitioner in community development through arts. Her original research on art and its empowerment impact on communities is a significant contribution to the field. Dr. Wei also has diverse development planning experience working with governments, consulting firms and communities internationally. From 2006 to 2008, Dr. Wei was the Senior Planner for the City of Sarasota and chaired the City's Development Review Committee in 2008, managing multiple billion-dollar development proposals. 

 

Dr. Wei has presented and hosted workshops at international leadership summit, regional conferences, universities including MIT, and diverse organizations in Seattle, Los Angeles, Boston, Beijing, Shanghai and many more. Dr. Wei has co-founded multiple award-winning social innovation programs including pARTicipate and the Internet School, the first online education and empowerment program of Rural China. She is the co-producer, co-director, and playwright of Songs of Tang Hulu premiered in Beijing, China in 2016 and 2017, and the co-director of Harmony in the Hills, a youth-driven intergenerational program funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, among many prominent projects. Dr. Wei is the co-author of Open Circle: Story Arts and the Reinvention of Community.