Yi Yihang Sun (孙逸航), she/her.
I am an advocate, social worker, and fifth-year PhD candidate at the Columbia University School of Social Work. My research centers around the interconnected areas of stigma, mental health, and sexual health among minoritized populations globally. I am particularly passionate about adopting arts- and community-based participatory approaches to engage minoritized children and young people in the co-creation of interventions that are grounded in local political, sociocultural, and moral contexts to address social stigma and health disparities. I draw on diverse qualitative methodologies, with a particular emphasis on ethnographic inquiries, to understand how marginalized communities navigate and make meaning of oppression and discrimination in their everyday lives, as well as their health needs.
I believe in the power of knowledge co-production between community members and researchers to foster collective action against inequality and health disparities. I am committed to empowering minoritized communities in owning their voices to challenge stigma and inform systemic changes.
My work is grounded in more than a decade of practice experience and commuinty initiatives with minoritized children and families in both the US and China. My research is also deeply rooted in my personal background as an ethnic minority, queer researcher, and first-gen scholar who feels immensely blessed and privileged to make it out of a rural town in the mountainous regions of China to pursue higher education.
I hold an MSW from the University of Michigan and a BA from Shandong University.
My kids.
My passion and research are grounded in my commitment to Yi-Nuosu children and families in Liangshan, China. Over the past decade, with the support of my colleagues and countless volunteers, I was able to launch education aid and emergency fund programs, as well as school- and community-based services for Nuosu children and families living in the mountainous region of Liangshan.
The way home.
The way to the village where the left-behind Nuosu children reside. The only way in and out of the village is by climbing the wooden ladders along the side of a cliff. We initiated a project there to support early childhood education for young children living in this isolated village.
When I revisited the village in 2023, I was excited to learn that the villagers had relocated to an area at the foot of the mountain, where they now have access to education and health care, as part of the national poverty alleviation act.