Identity

• Getting in Touch with Our Roots

  By Pallavi Rudraraju, VA Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Pallavi Rudraraju   As you may know, AALEAD’s theme for this 2017-2018 school year is “AALEAD Origins: Rooted in Our Past, Creating Our Future.” Our goal is to learn about our past and use it to create the future we want to see in the world. For the past few weeks in the VA MS After School Program, we have been focusing on just that!  

  19 going on 20

  By Neel Saxena, Executive Director Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff The title of this blog pays homage to the film, “13 Going on 30” which is the story about a girl who makes a wish on her thirteenth birthday, and wakes up the next day as a thirty-year-old woman. The story of AALEAD began 19 y

• Do You Know Who You Are?

  By Ha Nguyen, Development and Communications Associate Photos Courtesy of AALEAD staff As 2017 starts to wrap up and give way to 2018, we begin to reflect back on how our life has progressed throughout the year. It is essential to not just dwell on mistakes that you have made along the way. It is also about rejoicing for what you have accomplished and drawing lessons on what disappointed you. 2017 has been a roller coaster for me, but I would not take it any other way. Hello eve

• Winter Nostalgia: Making Meaning from Winter Reflections

  By Ari Pak, MD Programs Manager Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff This winter season, AALEAD youth in Maryland chose "Winter Nostalgia" as the theme for our 2017 AALEAD Winter Holiday Party. Following the lead of our AALEAD youth, Maryland AALEAD staff wanted to provide a chance for us all to slow down, take pause, and reflect on our journeys. Winter can be a time of celebration, hards

• Capturing The Essence Of Our Elementary School Program

  By Saadia Ahmad, DC Elementary School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Saadia Ahmad They say a picture is worth a thousand words; so when I was asked to do this blog at a time where AALEAD participated in the Lights On Afterschool campaign, I wanted to capture the essence of our DC Elementary School Program through

• Giving Tuesday 2017- AALEAD Cultivates Young Leaders

  By: Fahduma Majid, Communications and Development Intern and Charles Kuo, DC Programs Manager Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff What is defined as charity? Can “giving” only be defined as a monetary value or is there merit t

• Grateful for AALEAD

  By Neel Saxena, Executive Director Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff It’s Thanksgiving week and this marks the 1 year anniversary of my transition to Executive

• Unmasking Identity: Supporting Asian American Youth

  by Neel Saxena, Executive Director Photos Courtesy of Neel Saxena & Bitmoji Today is Halloween, one of my favorite “holidays” because it was a time in my life as a youth to be able to define for myself how I wanted the world to see me and emulate a favorite character and see someone I did

• How the AALEAD Community Supports Youth

  By Stephanie Lim, DC Middle and High School Program Coordinator & AALEAD DC Middle and High School Youth Photos Courtesy of Stephanie Lim The beginning of another cycle of after-school programming is an exciting and busy time for staff and youth. Staff have been hard at work preparing lesson plans and act

• AALEAD Origins: Rooted in our Past, Creating Our Future

  By Neel Saxena, Executive Director Photos Courtesy of Various Staff Logo Courtesy of DC Programs Manager, Charles Kuo Asian American LEADs orgins are rooted in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, DC where Sandy Dang, AALEAD’s founder, saw the unmet need in low-income Vietnamese refugee youth and made supporting th