IRIS CHEN
Iris Chen is an unschooling mom of two, parenting coach, founder of the Untigering movement, and author of Untigering: Peaceful Parenting for the Deconstructing Tiger Parent. Her work helps families — particularly in the Asian diaspora — move from control to connection by dismantling authoritarian patterns and educational models rooted in cultural conditioning, fear, control, and oppression.
Growing up in Canada and the US as a pastor’s kid in Chinese immigrant churches, Iris’ spiritual roots come from the Christian and Missionary Alliance tradition. After graduating from UC Berkeley with a degree in English and working as an editor at Ask.com, she then spent 16 years of her adulthood living and serving overseas in Asia where her faith deepened and shifted alongside her commitment to justice, intentional community, radical inclusion, and cross-cultural understanding. That experience planted the seeds for her evolving identity as a progressive Christian — one who believes that deconstruction isn’t the end of faith, but often the beginning of something truer.
As a parent coach, speaker, and author, Iris brings a justice framework rooted in anti-oppression, decolonization, and consent-based, self-directed learning for young people. Her work reaches families, corporations, schools, and community organizations seeking to reimagine power and relationships from the ground up.
Iris also serves on the board for Alcove Learning, a self-directed learning community in Los Angeles offering an alternative to conventional schooling. She is excited to bring to the PSR Board her unique perspectives and experiences of culturally contextual spirituality, co-creative and power-sharing modalities, contemplative practices, and approaches to learning that foster collective liberation.
Iris lives in the Los Angeles area with her partner, Jason, her sons, Noah and Caleb, and their beloved cat, Pancake.
