The Interns
Lisa Ho
Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE)
B.A., Asian American Studies & Women’s Studies, Cal State Fullerton, Class of 2008
Masters in Asian American Studies, Class of 2010
Lisa Ho was born in El Monte, California but was raised in San Gabriel. She attended Cal State Fullerton for her undergraduate education and graduated with a degree in Asian American Studies and Women's Studies. Currently, she is attending UCLA for her Master's in Asian American Studies. Her research focuses on North Korean refugees through the framework of cultural studies. Lisa has been assigned to the Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE) in Pasadena, a community based organization that focuses on providing and expanding civic engagement in the API community. In her spare time, she works on becoming a connoisseur of Asian Cuisine and being a complete political junkie.
Leslie Chanthaphasouk
Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA)
B.A., International Development Studies & Asian American Studies
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Class of 2010
A complete Southern California product, Leslie was born and raised in Orange County and will be entering her final year at UCLA this fall. Growing up a child of refugees and a second generation Laotian American, the intersection between past and present homelands have led her to pursue a double major in International Development Studies and Asian American Studies, where she has been able to relate the collective struggles of Third World people and People of Color.
This summer she is giving back to her roots by serving as an intern for the Orange County Asian Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA), the only pan-Asian Pacific Islander non-profit in Orange County devoted to the areas of service, education, advocacy, organizing, and research. Following the internship, she will be traveling to her parents’ native Laos for the first time to work at an English school in her mother’s home province of Xieng Khouang.
After graduation, Leslie plans to utilize her experiences in public service by working toward organizational change in higher education, the common thread that has pieced together her two areas of study. Aside from doing community work, Leslie relishes the company of her family and friends, enjoys soulful solos in the shower, and is a lover of authentic ethnic cuisine and world music.
Seyron Foo
API Equality- LA
B.A., Political Science & Rhetoric
University of California, Berkeley, Class of 2009
Seyron's passion in working with the Asian Pacific Islander LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) community led him to his work at API Equality - LA, a coalition of organizations and individuals dedicated to restoring marriage equality in California, and fighting for LGBTQ rights.
After his internship, he will join the California State Senate as a Senate Fellow, where he intends to focus on transportation policy, budget and fiscal policy, and higher education policy, while serving a senator. As a former Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) fellow, he will pursue a Master's in Public Policy in Fall 2012 to further develop his skills in policy analysis to serve the public and non-profit sector.
When not relishing in being a policy work, Seyron spends an inordinate amount of time over a stove and oven, avidly cooking for his friends.
Priyanka Mantha
South Asian Network (SAN)
BS Political Theory, Minor: Theatre, Lit Writing
University of California, San Diego, Class of 2010
Born in Aurora, Colorado, Priyanka Mantha grew weary of the fresh mountain air at the tender age of two and a half, when she urged her family to pack their bags and head for smoggy Arcadia, California. Today, Priyanka thrives in this city that she calls home, where she has developed a passion for social justice, writing, and theatre. In the distant future she hopes to pursue a career in public interest law, particularly in the field of women's rights and reproductive justice, and someday enter politics. In the near future, she hopes to commit small acts of mayhem. Immediate projects include releasing lawn gnomes back to their natural habitat. Applications for potential co-conspirators are being accepted on a rolling basis.
Jen Ju
Kollaboration
B.S. International Affairs
Georgetown University, Class of 2010
Jen, a resident of Monterey Park, CA has grown up feeling empowered as an Asian American all her life. It was not until she interned for former-Assembly Member Judy Chu that she realized the struggles Asian Americans still faced. She is an International Affairs - Culture and Politics major at Georgetown University and plans to dedicate her life to social justice by pursuing a career in the non-profit sector. Jen has been involved in many non-profit organizations, including APALC and OCA, and is currently interning for Kollaboration, a non-profit whose mission is "Empowerment through Entertainment" and organizes competitions to showcase Asian American talent.
In her spare time, Jen enjoys wandering through cities, finding culinary adventures, and occasionally, chasing celebrities. She also hopes to one day become an Asian pop star or open a pastry shop.
Vi Nguyen
Vietnamese Community of Orange County (VNCOC)
B.A. Economics
Whitworth University, Class of 2009
Born in Malaysia and raised in Sydney, Australia, Vi traversed the oceans to eventually become a dweller of rainy cities in the Pacific Northwest that need a little extra lovin’. As she became familiar with the Salishan housing projects in Tacoma, WA, Vi realized community seemed more genuine in places where struggle existed. Her travels to Southeast Asia and El Salvador solidified this belief. Vi realized that she had been given a lot, and “to whom much is given, much is expected.”
With this mindset, Vi studied Economics and minored in Visual Communication at Whitworth University with the goal of finding ways in which the arts, creativity and economic development could intersect.
In the last few years she has dabbled in a little bit of everything: student government, booking concerts, multicultural recruiting, hip-hop outreach, insurance, public policy, and all-ages music organizing and advocacy. Today Vi is interning with the Vietnamese Community of Orange County and hopes to continue serving communities, eventually pursuing graduate school. Her vision is to get paid to serve others, be creative and make sustainable change.
Mary Rose Go
Tuesday Night Café
B.A., Asian American Studies, Minor: Music
Scripps College, Class of 2008
Born in Monterey Park, grown in Honolulu, and cultivated in the Asian American Studies Department in Claremont, Mary Rose is the LEAP Intern for TNKAT and the Tuesday Night Cafe one of the longest running free public art space and revitalization projects of Little Tokyo/Downtown L.A. She is also a flavorful singer, bursting with hints of jazz, mariachi, and opera, and a poet influenced by Lauryn Hill, Mayda del Valle, Ishle, Neruda, and liberation. She writes with the Undeniables, sings at open mics, and takes the wait for a table for two at Il Fornaio Pasadena.
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