Author Archives: Jaslene Lai

March 9, 2025 | Earlier today, the AYR Board, Board-in-Training members, and committee leads met to at our March 2025 Leadership Meeting. The leadership team discussed the upcoming Teach AAPI event in New York and upcoming Advocacy Day in April. They also planned some upcoming initiatives regarding the latest events, such as an op-ed campaign where AYR members share their opinions on the latest legislative changes. There will also be a new lesson campaign focused on civics and other similar topics, like critical race theory. After the last election, the board and leadership team have revised and realigned AYR’s current goals to match the current political climate to three main focuses: education (limiting misinformation, social media outreach, shifting lessons to short-form content, and talking about AAPI figures through the lens of current events), legislative action (immigration, language barriers, and housing issues), and promoting diverse youth voices through various mediums like our Op-ed and Art Corners.

February 17, 2025 | Only a few weeks away from the premiere of Making Waves: the Rising of Asian America at SXSW EDU! The March 5th screening will be followed by a panel including Making Waves interviewees Mohit Mehta (University of Texas) and Annie Nguyen (Round Rock High School) as well as Round Rock High School students Nari Choi and Indira Moparthi. Follow on Facebook and Instagram for the latest Making Waves updates!

February 15, 2025 | Engage with a distinguished community of scholars, researchers, and thought leaders at the Asian American Scholar Forum’s Asian American Pioneer Medal Symposium and Ceremony on Friday, July 25 – Sunday, July 27, 2025, dedicated to advancing excellence and innovation in engineering and sciences. This event serves as a platform to critically explore the unique contributions of and challenges faced by Asian Americans in academia and STEM, fostering collaborative dialogue and actionable strategies for systemic change.

December 21, 2024 | I recently went to the White House to see elaborate holiday decorations lining the halls, walls, and rooms. Each and every piece of decoration had a meaning to it, for example the first decoration, six stars stacked on top of each other, was meant to represent the six branches of the military. As we walked through the many hallways, there were frequent stops that had Christmas music playing that really set the mood. The Blue Room held the Official White House Tree. This tree had a carousel floating around that made it seem very peaceful and joyous. My favorite room was the East Wing, a room that seemed like all the ornaments were made of bubbles. Despite being the largest room in the White House, the hanging confetti made the room more friendly and welcoming. It surprised me when I walked into the State Dining Room because all the ornaments were self portraits of children. All those self portraits gave the room a relaxed, winter break energy. Even though the trees were roped off and gigantic, it still felt like a place where all the kids could take over and have a party. Another interesting thing to see while touring the White House was the collection of portraits. My favorite portrait was the one of Michelle Obama. I saw a lot of famous presidents and their families that I remembered learning about. The visit was really exciting and beautiful, it was even more incredible than I had hoped for.

December 15, 2024 | I attended the WHIAANHPI (White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders) on Wednesday, December 11, 2024.

This community engagement event focused on small businesses and ERGs (employee resource groups). There were examples about how ERGs helped the AANHPI community, like when a speaker talked about how an ERG helped to provide housing for someone who was interning at a program. Speakers also talked about how many AANHPI community members are not at the top of companies. They talked about how a lot of AANHPI community members get passed up for promotions, which makes it so there are not a lot of Asians at the top of companies (most Asians get stuck in the middle of companies). This makes me upset because I think Asians should also get a shot to lead big companies, and I think that companies might lose talent by passing Asians for promotions. Another panel talked about small business funding. One panel member talked about lunches he does to help connect small business owners.

What made this event even more interesting was the amount of people. Going into the event, I expected to see a full room, but I was still surprised when I entered the room. I was lucky enough to find an empty seat, but many people had to stand. Towards the end of the event, I was able to meet with the event organizers who flew in from D.C.

Before this event, I did not realize how many community leaders there were. I had not heard from many leaders in my area, so I felt hopeful and happy after leaving.