Loretta Chen

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title: "Loretta Chen" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["chen-family-(singapore)", "singaporean-stage-actresses", "singaporean-people-of-hokkien-descent", "singaporean-theatre-directors", "singaporean-women-theatre-directors", "anglo-chinese-junior-college-alumni", "singaporean-lgbtq-writers", "living-people", "21st-century-singaporean-actresses", "national-university-of-singapore-alumni", "1976-births", "20th-century-singaporean-businesswomen", "20th-century-singaporean-businesspeople", "21st-century-singaporean-businesspeople", "21st-century-singaporean-businesswomen"] description: "Singaporean technopreneur, actor and theatre director (born 1976)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Chen" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Singaporean technopreneur, actor and theatre director (born 1976) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Loretta Chen
image	Loretta Chen on ThinkTech Hawaii.jpg
caption	Chen interviewed in 2019
birth_name
birth_date
birth_place	Singapore
death_date
alma_mater	Anglo-Chinese Junior College
National University of Singapore
Royal Holloway, University of London
University of California, Los Angeles
occupation	director, presenter, executive, author
spouse
parents
mother
father
relatives	Edmund Chen (brother)
Eric Chen (brother)
Xiang Yun (sister-in-law)
website
::

| honorific_prefix = | name = Loretta Chen | honorific_suffix = | image = Loretta Chen on ThinkTech Hawaii.jpg | alt = | caption = Chen interviewed in 2019 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Singapore | death_date = | death_place = | other_names = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = Anglo-Chinese Junior College National University of Singapore Royal Holloway, University of London University of California, Los Angeles | occupation = director, presenter, executive, author | years_active = | era = | employer = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = Edmund Chen (brother) Eric Chen (brother) Xiang Yun (sister-in-law) | website = Loretta Chen (born 2 December 1976), is a Singaporean technopreneur, investor, theatre director, television presenter, radio personality, academic and author. She was Co-Founder, Group Business Development & Creative Director of The Activation Group, a regional creative agency and production house. She is currently based in Honolulu but is visiting professor at the School of Leadership and Organisational Studies at the University of Southern Maine. She is also visiting professor in Stanford University, Dartmouth College, Carnegie Mellon, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and University of Hawaii.

She is currently Founder and CEO of Smobler, a metaverse architecture firm backed by Brinc and The Sandbox, the world's biggest open metaverse platform and a portfolio company of Animoca Brands.

Education

Chen studied at Anglo-Chinese Junior College and graduated from the National University of Singapore (NUS) with a degree in English Literature and Theatre Studies. She completed her master's degree at Royal Holloway, University of London. She began doctoral studies at the University of California, Los Angeles but transferred to NUS, graduating with a PhD in Theatre (Critical Theory).

Career

Chen was a prolific theater director and the Treasurer of the Association of Singapore Actors (ASA). In 2008, she was selected by the Mayor of the Northwest CDC to sit on the Arts and Culture Committee. In 2009, she was shortlisted as one of the Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) candidates for the Arts in Singapore, though an outspoken gay and human rights activist.

Writing career

Chen published her first book in 2014 with an autobiography, Woman on Top, about her family life and business career.**

In 2016, Chen wrote The Elim Chew Story: Driven by Purpose, Destined for Change, a biography about Elim Chew, a female entrepreneur who started the streetwear retail chain 77th Street.

In 2017, Chen published a book, Madonnas and Mavericks: Power Women in Singapore, about 17 Singaporean women who have reached the peaks in various fields such as business, politics, advocacy, sports, lifestyle and the arts. The book includes Jennie Chua, Olivia Lum, Ivy Singh-Lim, Halimah Yacob and Sylvia Lim.

Chen published her fourth book, Mana Wahine: Power Women in Hawaii in 2019.

In December 2022, Chen published M/OTHER, a book inspired by her mother who survived a brain tumor, which explores the concept of motherhood and features interviews with parents who have faced challenges or have themselves challenged the norms. The book is a winner in the Singapore Book Awards.

Personal life

Chen has two older brothers, the elder of whom is former actor Edmund Chen, the other brother, Eric Chen, manages The Activation Group alongside her.

Chen is based in East Honolulu, Hawaii.

Bibliography

References

References

1. (26 July 2014). "Rant and rave: Loretta Chen". [[Today (Singapore newspaper).
2. Chua, Charlene. (2014-07-14). "Theatre director Loretta Chen says family support saved her during darkest days".
3. Chua, Charlene. (14 July 2014). "Theatre director Loretta Chen says family support saved her during darkest days".
4. Leong, Wee Keat. (15 May 2009). "Three NMP hopefuls come under fire".
5. "Power women".
6. (28 October 2017). "WP's Sylvia Lim talks about romance with boyfriend in new book on power women in Singapore".
7. (15 November 2017). "New book pays tribute to 'power women' in Singapore".
8. (1 December 2017). "Madonnas and Mavericks: Power Women in Singapore".
9. (15 March 2023). "Inspired by her own mother, Loretta Chen wrote a book about the mums who fall between the cracks".
10. Migration. (2014-07-13). "Theatre director Loretta Chen tells all about suicide attempt and $1-million debt in memoir {{!}} The Straits Times".
11. Lee, Lynn. (3 June 2005). "POLITICS To HOUGANG with LOVE ...from THE CHENS". [[The Straits Times]].
12. (9 February 2023). "My Perfect Weekend with entrepreneur, professor and author Loretta Chen".

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