2017

• Follow The Need!

  By: Neel Saxena, Executive Director Photos Courtesy of Multiple Sources Hi Everyone. I’ve been thinking about getting more active on the AALEAD blog to share information and my perspective on the Asian Pacific American (APA) community and youth. Of course the name of my blog entries was the next thing on my mind and I thought I�

• Summer in a Flash: A Day in the Life of an AALEAD Summer Intern

  By: Tyler Lin, DC Elementary School Program Summer Intern Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff At the DC Elementary School site, Barnard Elementary, the average day is hectic as it comes. Well, you probably wouldn’t think that if you cam

• Mic Check MD: Youth Exhibitions

  By: YLan Nguyen, MD Middle School Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff AALEAD Maryland ended its five-week summer program with exhibition walks and presentations. Youth were split into five “houses” or teams for the entire program. In these groups, youth participated in meaningful team-building activities and worked on their final art exhibition project.

• MIC CHECK VA: The Weekly Play By Play

  By Vi Bui, Mentoring & Volunteer Programs Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff It feels like summer programs have just started but our Virginia youth have already closed out their program by giving their final MIC CHECK presentations. Here’s a recap of what they’ve been up to this summer! Week 1 Our Youth Program Co

• Let’s Keep Going, Together

  By Mecca McPherson, DC Middle & High School Summer Program Intern and Stephanie Lim, DC Middle & High School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff It’s been such a fun summer for us in the DC Middle & High School Summer Program. We’ve visited museums, gotten the ball rolling on some dope summer projects, staff and youth have facilitated activities and workshops, and we’ve survived through some very contentious rounds of Uno. We accomplish this by spending ne

• The Joy of Giving

  By Gina Inocencio, Development & Communications Manager Photo courtesy of AALEAD Staff I love birthdays! When I was little, I counted down the days to my birthday in anticipation of the party and the gifts I was hoping to get. My childhood best friend have always given me gifts on my birthdays since we were in elementary until we graduated in high school. Her mother owned an accessories shop and she would give me small figurines, hair bows, cute purses, and my favorite gift:  embroide

• Who Tells Your Story?

  By Diane Bui, MD Middle School Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Sanctuaries DC Storytelling is a skill each person has, but often goes unnoticed. This summer, Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) wants to focus on youth stories and storytelling skills. AALEAD wants to empower our youth to take control of their own story in order to provide a safe space to be open about who they truly are. Our summer theme MIC CHECK focuses on just that: highlighting individual experiences and using a creative outlet t

• Feels Like Home

  By Pallavi Rudraraju, VA Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Pallavi Rudraraju Hello, everyone! This is Pallavi, the new VA Middle School Program Coordinator. You might remember me from a couple years back, when I interned for Asian American LEAD (AALEAD) as the DC Elementary School Intern for Summer 2015.

  Meet Our Summer Interns!

  By Freidricka Camille, Community College and Internship Programs Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff It’s that time of the year again! The sun is shining, the A/C is running, and new interns are diving in as part of our team for summer programs. We are delighted to welcome four new interns. In addition to their bios, we wanted to learn a few fun facts about them. So, we asked them questions such as:

  • If you lived on any other planet in the solar system, which planet woul

  • Farewell AALEAD

    By Yonsoo Kang, Previous VA Middle Schools Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff My dear AALEADers, During my interview for the VA Middle School Coordinator position, then executive d