Our Team
Gary Yu
Gary Yu is Founder and Chairman of Boston International Media Consulting and Boston Chinese Radio and TV. He currently serves as a Vice Chair of Commissioner of Asian American & Pacific Islanders Commission of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Director of Asian Community Liaison at the Massachusetts State Auditor's Office, and a member of the Community Engagement & Community Reinvestment Grants Committee Member of the Suffolk County Attorney's Office.
In addition to his work, he is passionate about community service and has served as President of APAPA-Boston Chapter, President of NECAA, President of the Boston-Hangzhou Sister City Association, and President of the UCA-MA Chapter. He has been awarded many times by the federal, state and City governments with certificates of honor in recognition of his outstanding contributions.
Recognizing the need for Asian Community to be more active in politics, he joined Michelle Wu's campaign for Boston Mayor in 2020 as the Chief Asian Community Liaison Director, helping Michelle Wu to be elected Mayor of Boston. Gary Yu has served on the campaign teams of several Massachusetts officials.
On February 15, 2023, Gary Yu along with his colleagues proposed to the Boston City Council that the Lunar New Year be made an official holiday, and the proposal was passed.
On May 17, 2023, he proposed to the Massachusetts State Government that May be designated as Asian Pacific Heritage Month in Massachusetts, which was passed, and on May 20, he hosted the first-ever AAPI Festival.
On February 10, 2024, Gary was commissioned by the City of Boston to organize the city's first Lunar New Year Festival.
On May 1, 2024, he made history as an Asian representative by throwing the ceremonial first pitch at Fenway Park during the game between the Boston Red Sox and the San Francisco Giants, at the invitation of the Red Sox.
In 2024, with support from the City of Boston, he established the Boston Urban Forum, a monthly event held at Boston City Hall. The forum invites officials and professionals from political, academic, and business sectors to discuss municipal policies and livelihood issues.
Yi Zheng
Dr. Yi Zheng is an Associate Professor with expertise in sustainable energy and clean technology and Faculty Fellow of D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University, ASME Fellow, NASA Faculty Fellow, and Founder and President of Planck Energies.
He is a Vice President of APAPA-Boston and Tsinghua Alumni Association at Greater Boston. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. from Columbia University and B.S. from the Tsinghua University. He has published over 100 journal papers, filed 9 patents, and secured research grants over $4.5M from diverse sources including NSF, NIH, NASA, DARPA, ONR and US Air Force.
His achievements are reflected in some prestigious honors and awards including BBJ 40 Under 40 Award, Raymond Viskanta Award, Constantinos Mavroidis Research Award, NSF CAREER Award, NIH RI-INBRE Early Career Development Award, NASA Glenn Faculty Fellowship, ASTFE Early Career Researcher Award, Soleeva Energy Innovation Award, NECAA Year of the Scientist, UCA Outstanding Community Service Award, and Massachusetts AAPI Commission Leadership for Inclusion and Diversity Award.
Shanshan Zheng
Secretary General of Boston Urban Forum,
Peking University Guanghua EMBA,
serial entrepreneur
Contact Us
BostonUrbanForum@gmail.com
5 Congress St,
Boston, MA 02203
Boston Urban Forum is a 501 C3 Nonprofit Organization.
EIN 99-4974269