Leadership

• [Youth Stories]- From Youth to Youth Worker: Bhadon S.

  By Charles Kuo, DC Programs Manager Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff   I first met Bhadon S., an AALEAD intern at the time, during his surprise birthday party held by Tina N. (former AALEAD Mentoring and Volunteer Programs Manager).   Many staff shared how proud they were o

• Power of Youth Workshops

  By YLan Nguyen, MD Middle School Programs Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff For the past two months, AALEAD youth at Newport Mill Middle School have been planning their own workshops. Youth-led workshops are one of the ways that youth can choose what they want to learn about and how they want to learn. [caption id="attachment_15110" align="aligncenter" width="300"]

• Coming full circle…

    My first job in California was with the Pacific Asian Alcohol Program, which is a social service agency that provides counseling and referral to Asian Pacific Americans (APA) who were convicted of drunk driving and other misdemeanors. Many of our clients were recent immigrants who do not speak nor understand English. The county could not provide translators most of the time, so our clients would bring their elementary or high-school age children to do the translation. I witnessed how t

• AALEAD YEAH!

  By Yonsoo Kang, VA Middle School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff Hello again! AALEADers at Poe and Holmes Middle Schools have been working to improve their local community. We are part of an advocacy project called Youth Engagement and Health (YEAH!)Project where we try to assess and improve areas in our neighborhood to promote physical activity. Our Maryland friends at Loidermann Middle School (led by YLan Nguyen) are also doing this project while the ones at Argyle Mid

• A Cycle of Peer to Peer Mentoring

  By Keo Xiong, MD Programs Manager Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff   March was an inspiring month of youth leadership in action. The AALEAD Maryland middle school after-school program spent their March learning about high school, and had extended opportunities to meet their high school counterparts. Middle school youth learned more about life after middle school through our ‘Middle School to High School Transition Support Series,’ which included in-class workshops and guided walk

• Creating Opportunities, Gaining Experiences

  By Yuanlong D., Current DC MS/HS Program Youth Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff It all started with a simple inquiry I made to one of the AALEAD staff: “Is it possible if I interned here?”. My school, School Without Walls High School, requires every student to complete one semester of internship in order to graduate, so I spent six months searching for a place I could intern. Many of my friends chose to intern at George Washington University, since our school was right on their campus. Wh

• Stories that Envision, Create, Transform

  By Neel Saxena, Executive Director Photos Courtesy of Saadia Ahmed On March 22, 2017, AALEAD hosted the Aspire to LEAD fundraising event at Top of the Town in Arlington, VA. This was AALEAD's 4th such fundraiser and my first as Executive Director. Last year I was behind the scenes and this year I had the incredible opportunity to join our youth in sharing our often overlooked stories as Asian Pacific Americans. This year's theme was Envision, Create, Transform. For our youth, staff, mentors

• ECAASU 2017: Atmosphere Leads to Expansion

  By Charles Kuo, DC Programs Manager Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Staff     18 youth. 3 program staff. 2 vans. 1 life-changing experience. On February 17, 2017, 18 of o

• Don’t Underestimate Young People

  By Yonsoo Kang, VA Middle School Program Coordinator Photos courtesy of Yonsoo Kang Hello again! In lieu of the recent election, it is undeniable that there has been a rise in incidents of hate, bigotry, and prejudice in schools around the country. I wanted to design a lesson for my AALEADers so they could see past and current scene of people who expressed hate and how others have decided to respond. Instead of using dreaded PowerPoint slides, we decided to create a gallery made up of wo

• Safe, Supportive, Stable: The Importance of Out-of-School Time Programs

  By Keo Xiong, MD Programs Manager   Any space that serves youth and young people should be safe, supportive, and stable. Safety, both physically and emotionally, sets the foundation for youth (and all people) to thrive. Creating a culture of support allows youth to share in each other's successes, and rally to uplift others in times of difficulty. Stability ensures that youth know they will always have a place to go and trusted people to talk to. When youth feel safe and supported in