Irene Chen is the Executive Director of the Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation, an international non-governmental organization that deals with issues related to youth education in Taiwan and around the world.
Prior to joining the Fubon Group, Ms. Chen worked as a market researcher for advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather before finding success as a journalist and news anchor at Taiwan Television Company from 1985 to 1990. In recognition of her accomplishments in the media industry, she received the award for “Best News Anchor” at the 1988 Golden Bell Awards.
Ms. Chen joined the Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation as its Executive Officer when it was launched in 1990, having already held the same position at the Fubon Charity Foundation since 1988. The Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation’s many outstanding productions and its efforts in advocating media literacy helped her earn a “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the CIFEJ (Centre International du Film pour L’Enfance et la Jeunesse) in 2009. The award recognized her own and her foundation’s dedication to promoting excellence in audio-visual media for young audiences. In 2021, she received a Taiwanese Cultural Collaboration Medal from the Ministry of Culture in recognition of her contribution to cultural and artistic development.
Ms. Chen has championed media literacy and film education through NPOs for decades and founded the Da-Win Media Group in 2015 to produce content, but she has also been a strong advocate for many other issues. They include the transition to clean energy, climate change, and food and nutrition education, with a particular commitment to vegetarianism in recent years. She helped found the Mom Loves Taiwan Association against nuclear power in 2013, and the group was rebranded in August 2022 to highlight its vision of a creating a safe, clean, sustainable and beautiful Taiwan through improvements in energy, transportation, architecture and daily living. In 2018, she set up the Douceur Network to promote healthy school lunches.
Ms. Chen is also an accomplished writer, having published four books over the past two decades – “Young, Individualistic, Few & Freedom-Minded” (1991), “How to Make Your Dreams Come True” (1993, Crown Culture Corporation), “Love is Everything” (2005, China Times Publishing), and “Be Media-Smart” (2006, Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation). She has also been the publisher of “Career” magazine since 1989.
Ms. Chen graduated from National Chengchi University in 1983, and received her Master’s degree in Communication Arts and Science from the University of Southern California in 1985.