Jia-Lin is a doctoral candidate in the International Education program at NYU Steinhardt. Her research focuses on how documentation status can create educational and institutional exclusion for the Chinese immigrant population in the US. To shed light on the experience of the undocumented Chinese and how they navigate educational institutions, Jia-Lin uses qualitative method to examine the educational decision-making processes of undocumented Chinese families. Prior to coming to NYU, Jia-Lin worked as a child welfare social worker at the Center for Family Life, based in Sunset Park Brooklyn for 6 and a half years. During her time as a social worker, she provided clinical casework counseling to around 100 Chinese, Latino, and other Asian immigrant families. In addition, Jia-Lin also ran many community groups and helped the process of starting a tutoring cooperative, Sunset Scholars, which continues to flourish in the community today. Jia-Lin has also done a variety of volunteer community work that has taken her to India, China, Japan, and her home Taiwan. Jia-Lin received her M.S.W from Columbia University and her B.S. from Vanderbilt University. This is her third year working with MIAS.