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Backgrounder

Hua foundation is a non-profit based in Vancouver’s Chinatown on unceded territories, including the lands belonging to the three title-holding Nations: xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh).

Hua foundation’s mission is to strengthen capacity among Asian diasporic youth, in solidarity with other communities, to challenge, change, and create systems for a more equitable and just future.

Our work began in 2009 with Shark Truth, a project that worked with Chinese wedding couples to go Fin Free, effectively stopping 80,000 bowls of shark fin. In the years since then, we have evolved from our initial focus on environment, culture, and heritage towards supporting youth, leading systems change work, and building capacity in our communities.

Our current active portfolios include the Race & Equity Project, Language Access Project, and our consulting work.

Media Contact

Kevin Huang
Executive director
kevin@huafoundation.org

For photos and live updates, connect to our social channels:

Pronunciation

The word ‘hua’ can seem daunting to pronounce, for those unfamiliar with Mandarin Chinese pinyin. Believe us, we’ve heard it all – ‘how foundation’, ‘hoo-wah foundation’, and everything in between. The vowel sounds don’t translate clearly into standard English vowels, but we’ll try our best here.

In IPA: /hwa/

Hear it spoken.

Broken down:

The vowel sound in ‘hua’ is very similar to those used in the words ‘suave’ or ‘guava’. Now, imagine you take only the middle vowel sound (‘wah’) and add a soft ‘h’ before it.

When in doubt, ask us!

The full history and meaning behind our name can be found on our About page.