Gen studied social anthropology, documentary video, and Chinese at Harvard College. She lived in Beijing from 2010­-2013, where she worked as a translator, festival coordinator, and film programmer, and developed an interest in supporting media artists through international exchange and exhibition opportunities. Initiatives she has worked for include the Li Xianting Film Fund, Indie Workshop, NORDOX, and the Flaherty Seminar in China. She is now based in Boston where she works as Program Officer for the LEF Moving Image Fund and Outreach Coordinator for The DocYard. She's a co-founder of Crows & Sparrows, a curatorial platform committed to enhancing artistic exchange between media artists in North America and East Asia.