Cabinet Staff
These individuals are part of our year-round cabinet committees, including Alumni Relations, CPP, Civic Engagement, and VSAcademy. They are responsible for the general operations of UNAVSA as well as generating engaging initiatives for our constituents throughout the year.
Alumni Relations
The Alumni Relations committee will work directly with the UNAVSA External Vice President with the support of other Executive Board members. The Alumni Director position will be held by a minimum of one person and a maximum of two people. The Alumni Relations Cabinet’s listed responsibilities, but not limited to are: Alumni Mentorship Program, Alumni Directory, Leadership Conference Alumni Programming, Various forms of year-round alumni engagement
Applications Open
Alumni Relations
Director
About
About Me: N/A
Pronouns: N/A
E-mail: N/A
Applications Open
Alumni Relations
Committee
About
About Me: N/A
Pronouns: N/A
E-mail: N/A
Civic Engagement
The Civic Engagement Committee (CEC) will lead both educational and mobilization efforts of the general UNAVSA membership to promote civic knowledge and action. The committee will be in charge of researching and keeping constituents up to date on historical and current events that influence the Greater Vietnamese community, as well as on social movements in Canada, the United States, and worldwide. Lastly, the committee will collect and distribute resources to aid members in best practices of civic engagement. Civic Engagement is split into two focused sub-committees: Core and Policy.
The Core team focuses on developing resources and projects introducing constituents to various topics related to civic engagement.The Policy team researches and creates resources regarding pressing political issues facing the Vietnamese and Southeast Asian diaspora in North America. To read more about UNAVSA’s policy focuses, follow this link.
Mai Trinh Le
Northeast
Civic Engagement
Director
About
Mai Trinh Le is currently a senior finishing her Neuroscience degree at Binghamton University. Growing up, she has always been deeply connected with her Vietnamese culture and community back home, which led her to begin her VSA journey in college. She currently serves as Northeast UVSA’s Community Engagment Director and an advisor for Binghamton VSA. In her free time, Mai is always cheffing it up, eating out with friends, and trying to catch up on sleep.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education:
- Integrative Neuroscience, B.S. | Binghamton University
- Biological Sciences | Hudson Valley Community College
E-mail: mai.trinh.le@unavsa.org
Hannah Nguyen
Northeast
Civic Engagement
Committee
About
About Me: N/A
Pronouns: she / her / hers
E-mail: hannah.nguyen@unavsa.org
Kheon Louis
Southeast
Civic Engagement
Committee
About
Kheon Louis is a recent graduate of Florida Atlantic University who majored in international business. He enjoys learning new information and trying different activities. In his free time, he likes to rock climb, watch anime, and go to museums.
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: BS in Business Administration, International Business | Florida Atlantic University
E-mail: kheon.louis@unavsa.org
Thuy Hanley
New England
Civic Engagement
Committee
About
Thuy (she/her) is a recent graduate from Boston University with a B.S. in Human Physiology and a B.A. in Sociology. She served on her school’s VSA executive board for two consecutive years and was also involved with the New England Intercollegiate VSA and Tet in Boston during her time in undergrad. She recently returned to her hometown in the Bay Area and is now pursuing a career in public health.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: B.S in Human Physiology and B.A in Sociology | Boston University
Occupation: Research Assistant
E-mail: thuy.hanley@unavsa.org
Collective Philanthropy Project
The Collective Philanthropy Project (CPP) Committee is responsible for four primary objectives: Audit, Campaign, Engagement, and Selection.
Audit responsibilities include working closely with the previous year’s beneficiary to oversee that funds are ethically being appropriated according to the project proposal as presented at the UNAVSA conference, managing the project timeline and ensuring the beneficiary will adhere to the project timeline proposed.
Campaign committee members serve as the main point of contact when the Beneficiary has been chosen by the constituents at the Annual UNAVSA Leadership Conference. They are essential in raising funds to meet the goal of the proposed project set forth by the Beneficiary and to educate our constituents on the goals of said project.
Engagement tasks focus on maintaining the relationship between UNAVSA and past CPP applicants & beneficiaries. The team works closely with each beneficiary to showcase the results of past CPP projects by providing reports of the progress, results, and impact of UNAVSA’s efforts. The team is responsible for engaging with current and past CPP prospects to build partnerships with each organization to provide direct opportunities for constituents to engage with these nonprofits outside of just fundraising.
Selection obligates the team to serve as a main point of contact for all potential beneficiaries and applicants. The committee is in charge of enacting a fair and just system when screening applications and candidates.
David Tran
Midwest
CPP
Director
About
David Tran is a Vietnamese-American born and raised in Metro Detroit, Michigan, who now calls the Bay Area of California, his second home. Coming from Michigan State University with a B.A in International Relations with minor focuses in Asian Pacific American Studies, and Business, David’s VSA journey has taken him to newfound heights and has continously ignited his inner flame to give back to the community through his involvment with regional partners, his own local community, and even his home region: UVSA-MW. David has served many roles through being a CORR, State Rep, family leader, cabinet staff, directorship, and now as the 22-24 External Vice President for UVSA-MW. During his times of relaxation, he is found exploring his newfound home in the NorCal region with newly connected friends, and the endless supply of delicious foods.
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: Bachelor of Arts, International Relations with minors in Asian Pacific American Studies & Business | Michigan State University, James Madison College
Occupation: Recruiting Coordinator
E-mail: david.tran1@unavsa.org
Nhi Tran
Northern California
CPP
Director
About
Nhi Tran (she/her) is currently finishing her undergraduate degree in public health with a minor in Asian American Studies at San Francisco State University. She first stepped into the VSA space the summer of VE-1 which led to her continuing her VSA journey. Being on many VSA committees and boards, she now resides as VSA at SFSU’s President for the ’22 – ’23 academic year. Aside from VSA, she continues her work in public health as a COVID intern in research, evaluation, and education. Some of her hobbies include hiking and cooking.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: Bachelor of Science of Health Education (Area of Emphasis: Community Health) with a minor in Asian American Studies | San Francisco State University
E-mail: nhi.tran@unavsa.org
Jason Banh
South
CPP
Committee
About
Jason is back at it again with CPP Audit. He has previous experience with the role after serving for the past two years as staff and director. He is excited about continuing the work with the current CPP’s.
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: Bachelor in Applied Mathematics with Minors in Computer Science and Economics | Texas A&M University
Occupation: Software Engineer
E-mail: jason.banh@unavsa.org
LeAnn Mai
Northeast
CPP
Committee
About
LeAnn Mai (she/her) is a third year at NYU studying English with a minor in Creative Writing and Media, Culture, and Communication. Born and raised in Lilburn, Georgia, she moved to New York for college to become more independent while still wanting to stay connected to her roots. She currently serves as her school’s VSA President and Northeast Regional Representative and recently finished up her UNAVSA CPP Fellowship with Pacific Links Foundation.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: B.A. in English with a Specialization in Creative Writing with a minor in Media, Culture, and Communication | New York University
E-mail: leann.mai@unavsa.org
Sally Chan
Northern California
CPP | Marketing & Public Relations
Committee
About
Sally Chan (she/her/hers) is a recent SJSU graduate from the NorCal region. She has been in the VSA space since 2020 and has been active in the community since. She’s currently a Property Assistant and is super excited to continue to take on MPR Director once more. During her free time, she loves to do art, hang out with friends, watch Asian dramas, and penpal.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: B.S. in Business Administration, Human Resource Management with a minor in Event Management and Global Leadership | San Jose State University
Occupation: Property Assistant
E-mail: sally.chan@unavsa.org
Community Safety
The Community Safety Committee is responsible for providing aid to regions for community responses, informing and enforcing policy changes to ensure community safety and montoring community reports. They also serve as our response team during our leadership conference.
An Vo
Northern California
Community Safety | Sponsorship & Development
Director
About
An Vo [they/them] is from Oakland, CA in the NorCal region. They are a graduate from San Francisco State University with a B.S. in Kinesiology (Exercise and Movement Science) and a minor in Athletic Coaching.
Pronouns: they / them / theirs
Education: Bachelors of Science, Kinesiology and Exercise Science with a minor in Business Administration and Athletic Coaching | San Francisco State University
E-mail: an.vo@unavsa.org
Feon Lai
Northern California
Community Safety
Committee
About
Feon Lai is the co-founder of VSA at SFSU. They were the secretary and acting IVP for my term before they graduated. Feon serves on the board of directors at Asian Health Services; a community health center serving over 50,000 community members in over 14 different Asian languages. On this board, they serve on multiple committees: patient consumer, adovacy, quality assurance/quality improvement and the executive committee. Feon helps co-author two board resolutions focusing on becoming an Anti-Racist organization and condeming both Asian hate and racism againt the Black community. At their day job, they are a business administrator providing group and direct support to a global sales team.
Pronouns: she / her / hers / they / them / theirs
Education: B.A. Communication Studies | San Francisco State University
Occupation: Business Administrator
E-mail: feon.lai@unavsa.org
Mira Curti
Northeast
Community Safety
Committee
About
Born and raised in the cold and distant streets of New York City, Mira Curti is glad to have found a home with VSA. Coming from the Northeast region, where she currently serves as Secretary. Mira is excited to get more involved with the external community. On her days off she can be found making lame jokes or hanging out at home with her pets: Peppa, Tom, Mozart, and Quack.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: Major in Environmental Studies – Concentration in Conservation Biology and Physical Anthropology | Stony Brook University
E-mail: mira.curti@unavsa.org
Richy Thach
Midwest
Community Safety
Committee
About
Richy Thach is a senior at Wichita State University working towards a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences. They hope to pursue further education in regards to culture in healthcare to spread awareness of illnesses that have a higher effect on different races and ethnicities. Richy has served in UVSA-Midwest’s space as the previous Kansas State Representative and 19th VIA-1 Hospitality Director. Being from Kansas, Richy hopes to bring in novel community safety ideas that stem from the hospitality and experiences that Wichita is so well known for to the entirety of UNAVSA and the many communities that it encompasses. In their freetime, Richy can be seen hosting dinner parties, traveling, and being lost in the world of music.
Pronouns: they / them / theirs
Education:
- Bachelors of Science, Health Science | Wichita State University
- Associate of Fine Arts, Music Performance | Coffeyville Community College
E-mail: richy.thach@unavsa.org
Marketing & Public Relations
The Marketing & Public Relations (MPR) Cabinet is a year-round operating committee. MPR oversees all official publications, announcements, and releases from UNAVSA while creating our branding and marketing strategies. MPR provides support across all of UNAVSA’s various projects, including cabinet, CPP, and our annual leadership conference. Committee projects include: Spearheading monthly newsletter series/regular announcement system, Annual Sponsorship Packet, Conference Programming Booklet
Sally Chan
Northern California
Marketing & Public Relations | CPP
Director
About
Sally Chan (she/her/hers) is a recent SJSU graduate from the NorCal region. She has been in the VSA space since 2020 and has been active in the community since. She’s currently a Property Assistant and is super excited to continue to take on MPR Director once more. During her free time, she loves to do art, hang out with friends, watch Asian dramas, and penpal.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: B.S. in Business Administration, Human Resource Management with a minor in Event Management and Global Leadership | San Jose State University
Occupation: Property Assistant
E-mail: sally.chan@unavsa.org
Hoang Tran
Northern California
Marketing & Public Relations
Committee
About
Hoang Tran, hailing from the NorCal Region, is a 4th year from San Jose State University with a major in Public Health and a minor in Child Development. He first stepped into the VSA space in Fall of 2019, which ricocheted him into his concurrent VSA journey filled with many accomplishments. Having done leadership positions in both SJSU VSA and NorCal UVSA, he’s stepping his first few steps into the light of the UNAVSA community. Outside of VSA, he works as a Teacher Assistant taking care of children.
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: Majoring in Public Health with a minor in Child Development | San Jose State University
Occupation: Teaching Assistant
E-mail: hoang.tran@unavsa.org
Jonathan Pham
Southwest
Marketing & Public Relations
Committee
About
Jonathan Pham is a recent graduate at Arizona State University. His studies were Film Media Production with a Post Production/VFX focus. He seeks to work in the film/episodic side of the industry and eventually obtaining a position within Marvel as a Compositor!
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: BA in Film Media Production | Arizona State University / Sidney Poitier New American Film School
E-mail: jonathan.pham@unavsa.org
Kristin Hoang
Northern California
Marketing & Public Relations
Committee
About
Kristin Hoang is a Vietnamese-American woman who grew up in an environment where her culture was not something to be celebrated. As a child, she did not have many friends who looked or talked like her. Kristin had to make herself less Vietnamese to fit in with her American peers. It was not until her senior year of high school that she started to view her Vietnamese side differently. A Facebook post about VSA at SJSU piqued her interest, and as soon as she got onto the SJSU campus, Kristin joined VSA. Kristin would have no idea how she would grow as a person and be proud of her Vietnamese heritage, thanks to joining SJSU’s VSA.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: B.A., Humanities; Double Minor in General Business and Public Health | San Jose State University
E-mail: kristin.hoang@unavsa.org
Sophia Trang
Gulf Coast
Marketing & Public Relations
Committee
About
Sophia is from the Gulf Coast region. She has been part of the VSA community for 3 years. She has been part of the Gulf Coast cabinet and still is. She also has been on eboard for her local VSA. Her favorite thing to do is creating and she loves making new friends. She’s excited to be working on marketing and public relations and helping UNAVSA expand for future generations!
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education: Bachelor of Arts: English Writing | Loyola University
Occupation: Operations Coordinator
E-mail: sophia.trang@unavsa.org
Theresa Huynh
Northeast
Marketing & Public Relations
Committee
About
Theresa was born in Monterey, CA and graduated from University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA, with a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy, and minors in Psychology, and Health Exercise Sports Sciences. Their VSA journey began at the beginning of their college career at UOP VSA where they became ICC Representative in their second year. After connecting with VSAs outside their own university, she decided to attend UNAVSA-VE1 and other out of region VSA events, as well as serve NorCal UVSA’s MPR cabinet staff.
Pronouns: she / her / hers / they / them / theirs
Education: Bachelor of Music in Music Theory with minors in Psychology and Health Exercise Sports Science | University of the Pacific
E-mail: theresa.huynh@unavsa.org
Sponsorship & Development
The Sponsorship & Development cabinet is responsible for securing funds for UNAVSA various initiatives year-round. This team will be divided into three different objects based on the needs of our organization. Team member will be assigned to each team, but are still expected to complete the general committee responsibilities listed above. It is comprised of the following: Conference Sponsorship, Donor Relations Management, and Grants Writing
Edwin Ma
Northeast
Sponsorship & Development
Director
About
Edwin is a software engineer just trying to make a small change upon the world. He is a graduate from Stony Brook University with a Bachelor’s of Science. He was introduced to the VSA community at his alma mater, and further delved into
the Northeast Region and UNAVSA in the 2021 – 2022 term. Edwin is a casual enjoyer of lifting heavy objects at the gym along with spending hundreds of hours playing indie rogue-like games. You can catch him singing Bridgit Mendler’s “Hurricane” at karaoke.
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: Bachelors of Science | Stony Brook University
Occupation: Software Engineer
E-mail: edwin.ma@unavsa.org
An Vo
Northern California
Sponsorship & Development | Community Safety
Director
About
An Vo [they/them] is from Oakland, CA in the NorCal region. They are a graduate from San Francisco State University with a B.S. in Kinesiology (Exercise and Movement Science) and a minor in Athletic Coaching.
Pronouns: they / them / theirs
Education: Bachelors of Science, Kinesiology and Exercise Science with a minor in Business Administration and Athletic Coaching | San Francisco State University
E-mail: an.vo@unavsa.org
Web Development/Management
The Web Development/Management committee manages all information systems, communications, and databases for UNAVSA year-round (including conference IT needs). Committee projects include maintaining and/or redesigning UNAVSA websites, developing internal tools for staff, and developing external tools for public use.
Applications Open
Region
Web Development & Management
Director
About
About Me: N/A
Pronouns: N/A
E-mail: N/A
Applications Open
Region
Web Development & Management
Committee
About
About Me: N/A
Pronouns: N/A
E-mail: N/A
VSAcademy
VSAcademy Cabinet (VSA) exists to create and promote year-round online programming and learning resources that supplement programming from the annual Leadership Conference and One Day Seminars. VSAcademy’s main mission is to educate constituents with original content in the form of articles, videos, podcasts, etc., forming a centralized resource hub. Many topics are best taught in collaborative workshop environments that allow members to discuss and apply learnings. Other topics, where are more valuable when presented in expository and authoritative approaches. VSAcademy will take lead in topics exclusive to the committee as well as cross collaboration topics with other committees that span across cultural, personal, professional, organizational development and civic engagement. At VSAcademy, we are all about the love of knowledge and delivering a beautiful learning experience. VSAcademy offers curated and created content targeted to the Vietnamese American & Canadian experience. We encourage our constituents to experience the world of knowledge through – videos, podcasts, playlists, articles, etc. Every production is about reinvention and pushing boundaries – I guess you could say it’s knowledge done a little differently.
Katie Bui
Southern California
VSAcademy
Director
About
Katie is a graduate student at San Francisco State University in the Asian American Studies MA program. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 2020, and when her mind isn’t occupied with her MA thesis, she splits her time between various nonprofit organizations, research projects, and personal interests. A creative at heart, if she’s not doing something for her community, she’s probably on some new creative outlet that’ll last about 2 weeks before it gets put on pause in favor of something new. But hey, now she knows how to make bread and crotchet half a cardigan.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education:
- MA in Asian American Studies | San Francisco State University
- BA in Asian American Studies| UC Santa Barbara
- BS in Psychological and Brain Science | UC Santa Barbara
E-mail: katie.bui@unavsa.org
Alvin Pham
Southern California
VSAcademy
Committee
About
Alvin is a 4th year at San Diego State University majoring in kinesiology. He has been involved in VSA for 4 years and has had all been a fantastic time and experience, which he hopes to continue doing.
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology | Bachelor of Science, Kinesiology
E-mail: alvin.pham@unavsa.org
David Nguyen
Southern California
VSAcademy
Committee
About
David is an early graduate from USC and a proud member of UVSA SoCal. He has been involved in the community with USC VSA, UVSA SoCal, NorCal UVSA, UVSA South, and UNAVSA. Outside of VSA, he works in financial services at TD Ameritrade. David hopes to become a leader who makes his mentors proud and to leave a positive impact in the VSA space.
Pronouns: he / him / his
Education: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration | Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
Occupation: Relationship Manager
E-mail: david.nguyen@unavsa.org
Mindy Phan
Northern California
VSAcademy
Committee
About
Growing up in the Bay Area gave Mindy the opportunity to grow up in such a diverse and culturally enriched community. This motivated her to keep in touch with her culture and give back to the Vietnamese community. Throughout the years, she has taken on roles in the community such as being a leader for her Temple’s youth group (Gia đình Phật tử), teaching the Vietnamese youth fan, hat (nón lá), ribbon, flag, lion dancing and the Vietnamese language/culture. Going into high school and college she continued her passions through positions in the VSA community such as President, Culture Chair, ICC, Cabinet staff, Events Director, Camp Master, Entertainment Director, and Council of Regional Representatives for the United Vietnamese Student Associations of Northern California and VSAcademy cabinet for UNAVSA.
Pronouns: she / her / hers
Education:
- B.A. Sociology | UC Irvine
- A.A. — Communications | De Anza College
E-mail: mindy.phan@unavsa.org