The LEAP Podcast
Many are taught to keep your heads down and stay quiet. How do you lead in a society that says “speak up and be heard?” Sometimes that means taking a leap of faith, doing what hasn't been done and taking risks.
Listen in as The LEAP Podcast explores these and other life and leadership questions.
Ep. 8 Season 3 Finale Interview with Min Jin Lee
We end our Season 3 podcast with a special finale episode with our esteemed guest, Min Jin Lee. This episode was streamed from our 2023 Leadership Awards Celebration, “Finding Our Way” where the theme was designed to highlight the accomplishments of those who have defied odds to protect their culture and identity, as well as ensure our stories are being authentically told and preserved.
Ep. 7 Part 3 Multi-racial identity
In the finale of the 3 part episode, the exploration of bi-racial identity ends with LEAP’s Assistant Director of Leadership Development, Akemi Mechtel.
Ep. 7 Part 2 Multi-racial identity
This episode is a continuation of exploring bi-racial identity. In this episode, our hosts interview Curtiss Takada Rooks, Ph.D., a critical race and ethnic studies scholar in Asian and Asian American Studies at Loyola Marymount University (LMU).
Ep. 7 Part 1 Multi-racial identity
Listen to this special 3 part episode with hosts Linda Akutagawa, LEAP President CEO and Dr. Yon Na, Organizational Psychologist as they interview Karla Thomas Deputy Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC).
Ep. 6 Who Tells Our Stories: An Asian American lens
Tune in the LEAP Podcast Episode 6 with Linda Akutagawa, LEAP President CEO and Yon Na, organizational psychologist discuss with Center for Asian American Media(CAAM) Director of Media Don Young who is a longtime documentary production executive and advocate for Asian American storytelling.
Ep. 5 Shaping the Asian American Narrative - Uncovering Millennial and Gen Z personas
Tune in to the LEAP Podcast Episode 5 with Linda Akutagawa, LEAP President CEO and Yon Na, organizational psychologist as they have Kana Hammon, a narrative strategist and non profit leader, share her insights from the report on the personas and the change of narratives with time and age.
Ep.4 Living a life of cultural “in-between-ness” and a road to multi-rooted belongings
In this episode, Dr. Vishayka shares wisdom from her personal experiences and her cultural “in-between-ness” on how she changed the perception about Asian art.
Ep. 3 Pursuing an Artistic Life as an Asian American Poet
In this episode, Lee Herrick shares about his pursuit for the arts particularly in poetry and how poetry has helped him find his voice in sharing his story.
Ep. 2 Food & the Search for Home & Identity
Sunee’s identity has been influenced by her search for home through food - as both sustenance and a language of belonging. Listen to the conversation and stories that helped form Kim Sunee's identity.
Ep. 1 Get to Know Linda and Yon!
Linda Akutagawa, President and CEO of LEAP, and Dr. Yon Na, organizational psychologist and consultant, are your cohosts for Season 3 of The LEAP Podcast!
Ep. 6 Generational Leadership with CA Attorney General Rob Bonta
The Attorney General shares how he and his wife, Assemblymember Mia Bonta, instill the importance of public service in their family, how to pave your own path as an authentic leader, and action items each of us can do when feeling helpless against anti-Asian hate.
Ep. 5 Diversity in Mental Health with Anjuli Amin, Ph.D
In this episode, Tammy Tran and Catt Phan speak to Anjuli Amin, Ph.D, about the cultural mosaic of the API community, how cultural nuances affect our mental health, and how we build resilience in our communities as well as ourselves.
Ep. 4 Saying Yes to Yourself with Bo Thao-Urabe
Bo Thao-Urabe shares her experiences about the classic immigrant child struggle of being the interpreter and translator for our elders while also figuring out her own voices as the first generation.
Ep. 3 Turning Fear into Possibility with Sonal Shah
Tami Bui and Catt Phan talk to Sonal about how together we all can build community, fight against racism and hate, and create a permanent and irrevocable sense of belonging -- how to turn fear into possibility.
Ep. 2 The Power of Storytelling with ‘Alisi Tulua
In this conversation, Tami Bui and Catt Phan explore intersectional power of storytelling and answer the question of “what do we pass down when we are made to feel invisible?”
Ep. 1 Building an Equitable World with Bing Chen
Bing is an impact entrepreneur and new world builder, leveraging storytelling and systems to deliver greater socioeconomic equity.
Ep. 7 Pride in Leadership with Stacia Kato & Erik Takayesu
Stacia Kato-Takayesu and Erik Takayesu, the dynamic wife and husband duo, recall the moment of being called out by their transgender child which experience transformed their relationship as a family and their perspectives as leaders at work.
Ep. 6 Empowerment & Impact with Melanie Ramil
Melanie Ramil is a Filipina-American who participated in LEAP’s Leadership in Action summer internship program as a student in 2005. She now runs Emerge California, an organization committed to helping women get elected to political offices.
If in your culture, you are taught to keep your head down and stay quiet, how do you lead in a society that says speak up and be heard? Sometimes that means taking a leap of faith, doing what hasn't been done and taking risks.
The LEAP Podcast explores these types of questions in the context of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics. LEAP is a nonprofit organization and committed to developing people, informing society, and empowering communities.
Two Tami/my’s explore with fellow API leaders and allies about their journeys, leaps they have taken in life, and how at the end of the day, they stay faithful to their values and bring others along with them. API women have often been taught to shrink and silence themselves - but our collective voices are powerful and deserve to be heard on our terms. We are telling our stories for ourselves and for our communities.
About the Team
Hosts
Tammy Tran & Tami Bui
Tammy Tran and Tami Bui explore with fellow Asian American leaders and allies about their journeys, leaps taken in life, and how at the end of the day, they stay faithful to their values and help others to embrace their cultural identities along the way. Asian American women have often been taught to shrink and silence themselves - but their collective voices are powerful and deserve to be heard on their own terms. As the hosts, they are telling their own stories as well as uplifting others to share their stories for our communities.
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The two Tami/my both have day jobs in the private sector, but also have a passionate side-hustle volunteering with a number of nonprofit organizations, particularly those that advance the voice and visibility of Asian and Pacific Islanders. Both are involved with LEAP (Tami is on the Board) and both are also on the board of directors for CAUSE (Center for Asians United for Self Empowerment). They are both first generation Vietnamese American women, first in their families to go to college, first to do lots of things that they never dreamed they could do! Their bios can be found here.
Podcast Producer & Editor
Catt Phan
Catt Phan was born in Vietnam, but immigrated with her family to the U.S. 20 years ago. Raised in Orange County by resilient women, she grew up in equality and income disparities that strengthened her resolve to advocate for marginalized communities.
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After graduating with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Catt worked in fund development and mental health care for older adults at the same nonprofit that helped her family when they first came to the U.S. With the Union of Vietnamese Students Association, she was a program lead for their student development camps, involved in public relations for Tet Festival, and was voted Miss Congeniality 2019 in the Miss Vietnam of Southern California scholastic pageant.
With over 5 years of community relations, strategic communications, and storytelling in the public sector Catt is passionate about giving back to the community that helped raise her. She has been featured in MTV News, LAist, Engineered Careers Podcast, SBTN, and Netflix for her cultural expertise. During the historic 2020 election cycle she coordinated field strategy and direct voter engagement for Congressional and State races. As the only Asian and one of the youngest staffers on the Coordinated Campaign, she managed the Southern office in the biggest battleground county in the United States.
Currently Catt is pursuing her Master of Public Administration at the University of Southern California while working full-time at a social impact communications agency.
About the Producer
LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics) is a national, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 with a mission to achieve full participation and equality for Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) through leadership, empowerment, and policy to support a vision of diverse leaders shaping communities for the benefit of all. LEAP works to achieve its vision and mission by: Developing People, because leaders are made not born; Informing Society, because leaders know the issues; and Empowering Communities, because leaders are grounded in strong, vibrant communities. Guided by the philosophy: “Keep Your Values. Develop New Skills.®”, LEAP is focused on “uncapping talent” and filling the pipeline with Asian and Pacific Islander leaders across all sectors. The LEAP Podcast explores questions of leadership in the context of Asian and Pacific Islander life, work and community.