How her story began
Dr. Gina Wong is a first generation Canadian Chinese woman. She was born in Montreal, Quebec and currently resides in Alberta. At a young age, she was always curious about relationships and people, especially when they, or she, were facing with challenges. The curiosity inspired her to complete an MSc in Human Ecology & Family Practice, and then a Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology at the University of Alberta (2002). Dr. Wong became a Registered Psychologist in Alberta in 2003. That same year, she began her academic career in the Graduate Centre for Applied Psychology at Athabasca University as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to Full Professor in 2019 and was Program Chair in the Graduate Centre for Applied Psychology for two years over the COVID-19. She also qualified as a Perinatal Mental Health Forensic Expert in 2019 in the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit, Canada.
Dr. Wong founded a non-profit, community based organization, the Asian Gold Ribbon (AGR) campaign in 2021 (currently dissolved). The reclamation of her identity as a Chinese woman, recognizing and reconciling internalized racism she experienced an unearthing of power, finding her path to voicing up, fostered deep cultural connections with herself and others. She grew in tenacity and courage to speak up and rally against racial injustices. In 2021, AGR reached 38.3 million and in 2022, 52.3 million individuals across the globe who interacted with AGR. Gina felt pride in being Chinese.
Dr. Wong envisioned a world that could be different for her daughters, and others, by working to shift belief systems and enhance cultural pride for a new generation of Asian individuals and communities voicing up in they choose, without apology for their authentic selves.
She also received the 2022 Psychologist of the Year from the Psychologists' Association of Alberta.
Dr. Gina Wong was also awarded with the 2024 Canadian Psychological Association Award for Public Community Service, Human Rights, and Social Justice and Psychology.
Dr. Gina Wong is the proud recipient of the 2023 Psychologists’ Association of Alberta ‘Media Award’ for bringing Asian mental health to the forefront of provincial and national media outlets. In 2022, she was honoured with the Canadian Counselling and Psychotherapy Association Leadership Award for her work in racial justice and perinatal mental health.