From coordinating international delegations and humanitarian exchanges to fostering arts and culture programs and events, our committee members are the backbone of CSCI. Follow along with us each month as we highlight their stories in celebration of citizen diplomacy.
This month, join us for an interview with Volunteer Spotlight, Phyllis Mitzen, Co-Chair of the Shanghai Social Services Committee. Phyllis has devoted her 40+ year career to the development and reform of long-term care for older adults. She is a consultant for the Center for Long-Term Care Reform at Health & Medicine Policy Research Group headquartered in Chicago. She also sits on three state advisory boards advising the Illinois Department on Aging and the Illinois Housing Development Authority, and is currently the Chair of the Illinois Council on Aging. Phyllis formerly developed and coordinated the Older Adults Studies Program at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. She is co-editor of the book, Ethics in Community Based Elder Care and in 2015, she received the National Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Association of Social Workers.
We caught up with Phyllis to talk about her passion for Shanghai and citizen diplomacy.
How did you originally become interested in Chicago Sister Cities International?
In 2014, Bernie Wong and Kathleen Borland invited me to participate in a newly forming Social Service exchange with Shanghai. The Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau wanted to learn about Chicago’s aging services and to share with us how they were planning for the rapidly aging population of 24M in Shanghai. Bernie and I have been friends for many years and I have great admiration for how the Chinese American Service League (CASL), the agency that Bernie and her colleague Esther Wong founded and led for decades, addressed and met the needs of Chicago’s Chinese American community. I was humbled and honored to be invited to participate.
What is your connection to Shanghai? To China?
Many years ago I was captivated by the Field Museum’s exhibit of the newly discovered Xi’an Warriors. In 2007, my husband and I took a tour of China, primarily to visit the impressive site in Xi’an, but also to visit other cities in the country. We fell in love with Shanghai and decided that we must return, again captivated by the culture of China and the beauty, size, energy, art, history and its people.
What do you wish people knew about Shanghai or China, in general?
Shanghai is vast, vibrant, and oh, so modern! On my first visit to Nanjing Road, the major shopping street in Shanghai, I wrote back to my family that it was like Times Square on steroids. The Bund stretching along the Huangpu River is breathtaking, especially at night. Across the river is the Pudong District lit up with some of the most remarkable architecture – built in the past 25 years. On the Bund side are prime examples of Art Deco. Taking early morning walks along the Bund you can see runners, bikers, kites flying, tai chi, dance. It is magical.
What has been your favorite part so far about volunteering with the Shanghai Social Services Committee and/or CSCI?
There are so many aspects of volunteering with the Shanghai Social Services Committee and with CSCI, that it’s hard to name just one. High on my list are the people, both our interdisciplinary committee including our CSCI program manager, Ella McCann, from whom I continually learn about new aspects and facets of aging services in our city and state and the Chicago Sister Cities program, and also our colleagues in Shanghai who are welcoming, generous with their time and expertise and who are deeply committed to their mission of developing services that meet the needs of their community. My participation with the committee has broadened my world view and my understanding of Shanghai and of China – the politics, history, culture and people.
What does citizen diplomacy mean to you? Why is it important?
Especially during this tense time between the U.S. and China, the cordial and reciprocal relationships we have developed with our colleagues in Shanghai feel even more important. People to people, we have so much in common, and so much we can learn from each other.
Please join us in thanking Phyllis for her dedication to promoting Chicago and Shanghai as leading global cities!
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