The Story of Vincent Wong
Vincent Wong was born in Vancouver from parents who immigrated from Hong Kong via Montreal in the 1960s. Wong grew up in North and West Vancouver in the 80s and 90s and was shaped by a desire to understand where he fit in. He says, “Despite the official notion that Canada was a cultural mosaic, the North Shore at the time was very culturally homogenous – more of a melting pot than a tapestry.” Like many second-generation Canadians, Wong has navigated his life cross-culturally, grappling with the challenge of never fully fitting into either his heritage culture or mainstream Canadian society. “There’s a certain commonality of experiences between 1.5-gen, 2nd-gen, and other Asians from cross-cultural diaspora backgrounds that sets us apart from non-diasporic folks around us, or those living overseas, but can also be a source of solidarity and community.”
Wong’s lived experiences sparked a lifelong journey of community-building and self-definition, consistently seeking out spaces where Asian diaspora identity could thrive. He says, “I first found community with other Metro Vancouver diaspora kids in my regional summer orchestra, in kung fu clubs at university, later working at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, and at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival (VAFF).” Today, Wong works as the Marketing & Communications Director at the Arts Club Theatre Company, one of Canada’s largest arts nonprofits.”
Wong's path has never been conventional, especially when he was a student. After nearly two decades of classical music training in his youth, his parents strongly encouraged him to steer away from the performing arts toward gainful higher education. In university, he was fascinated by cognitive science and philosophy of mind but despite doing well, he struggled to find mentorship from faculty with vital academic connections. Wong often felt dismissed and underestimated as an Asian Canadian in his predominantly White field. In graduate school, he was once mistaken by a faculty professor for being an undergraduate, weeks into a course, based on appearances. He says, “The academic environment was overwhelmingly Eurocentric, colonial in its outlook, and culturally stifling, defined by wine-and-cheese gatherings and debates over deeply insular traditions of thought (entirely to the exclusion of the rest of the world).” Although he was passionate about the pursuit of knowledge, years of academia in analytic philosophy led Wong to recognize a deep need for creativity and self-expression in his life and career. Diasporic spaces were ones in which he felt welcomed and empowered to express his cross-cultural identity.
During his student years he thrived on fostering community with others from a diaspora background, joining the executive leadership in UBC’s Kung Fu Club, helping it to grow to over 100 members, and expanding it to SFU. Still, that experience came with hard lessons. When an instructor used the club to bolster his own status in Chinatown, the group fractured. “As cross-culturals, we are constantly deciding what influences inform our identity. It made me realize how important it is for second-gen kids to intentionally choose which traditions we keep, and which ones we must reform,” he says.
“Sometimes the route isn’t upward, but lateral. That’s where you can find unexpected growth.”
Wong’s influences eventually guided his professional trajectory towards arts administration and culture –making, which for a cross-cultural meant gaining experience in both Asian and non-Asian cultural spaces. After completing his MA, he found self-expression within the local vintage dance community, connecting with his musical background and where he gained entrepreneurial experience as dance event organizer for nearly six years. Meanwhile, through jobs in the nonprofit museums, events, fundraising, advocacy, and arts fields, he found opportunities to merge his analytical and creative instincts through marketing, events, and the business of the arts. Finding mentors and allies along the way within or associated with the Asian community through organizations like VAFF and the Chinese Garden uncovered chances to thrive and to excel.
This journey was often a fight in mainstream institutions; at times, Wong felt sidelined in still-predominantly white spaces. He shares “In a former role, I was the only person of colour in the room during a conversation about making programming more culturally diverse, and I was being talked over, even though I had considerable experience in cultural advocacy as a cultural programmer at the Chinese Garden and within the senior leadership of VAFF.” These moments made him question traditional hierarchies and prompted him to seek environments that honoured collaboration, authenticity, and inclusion. Where they did not exist, it was up to leaders to create these environments.
“At my last marketing job, I kept the department running through a revolving door of directors, yet I hit a glass ceiling,” Wong says. “I needed the right credentials to support my abilities.” To advance in mainstream spaces, he needed credentials that could open doors in larger mainstream institutions where his body of cultural work did not. It was this drive that led him to pursue an MBA during the pandemic. Wong’s MBA created new opportunities, most notably an interview with Howard Jang, former Executive Director of the Arts Club Theatre Company, who encouraged him to apply for an open leadership role. Months later, Wong became Marketing Director at the Arts Club, balancing his new role with completing the rest of his coursework.
Today, his work is deeply rooted in storytelling, not only to sell tickets, but to build bridges across communities. He’s led marketing and engagement campaigns at the Arts Club for plays that spotlight underrepresented narratives, including Forgiveness (2023), a play by Hiro Kanagawa about the Japanese Canadian internment, and Lauren Yee’s play Cambodian Rock Band (2025), telling the story of Khmer refugees in collaboration with local artist Sophea Heang and her business Angkor Harvest. He also helped bring attention to the history of Cantonese opera in Vancouver juxtaposed with early Western Orientalism through a lobby exhibit during Vancouver Opera’s 2017 production of Turandot. He is proud to have worked with the city of Vancouver to activate Chinatown’s Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Plaza by planning the Chinatown Movie Night & Culture Fair in 2018. The event was a market festival and public outdoor screening of Mina Shum’s film Meditation Park (2017) translated into English and both Traditional and Simplified Chinese by VAFF, which filled the cultural vacuum left by the Chinatown Night Market and paved the way for the advent of many of Chinatown’s more recent annual festivals. He is also particularly proud of VAFF’s 2019 marketing campaign “NO LIMITASIANS,” that promoted Asian diaspora representation in film and television in a groundbreaking year of wins across the industry and saw VAFF reported on as far away as Japan. Beyond the Asian diaspora community, he continues to support Indigenous reconciliation efforts within arts programming.
Wong believes that leadership for Asian Canadians often comes through passion and persistence. “Don’t listen to the model minority voice,” he advises. “Break the mold, find your allies, and show up.” His career has taken him through events, fundraising, film marketing, and now arts leadership, each step informed by a willingness to leap sideways when needed. “Sometimes the route isn’t upward, but lateral,” he explains. “That’s where you can find unexpected growth.”
For young professionals, Wong emphasizes the importance of self-awareness. “Never stop growing as a person,” he says. “Being grounded in your values, and knowing you’ll sometimes fail, gives you strength.” His advice to the next generation of leaders is clear: cultivate communities, embrace hybridity, and tell the stories only you can tell.
In doing so, Vincent Wong has not only found his voice, but he is also helping others find theirs, too.
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This video captures the spirit of “Moving Beyond Borders,” a powerful celebration of Asian Canadian voices, resilience, and community through storytelling, dialogue, and culture.
