Nd cultural improvements in their respective fields and beyond
Alexander Lê, 23, vice president of community health programs for the Vietnamese Culture & Science Association
Lê, who will start his medical school journey at Texas A&M University in the summer, organized COVID-19 vaccines for more than 2,500 Vietnamese community members.
You’re very involved with public health efforts in Houston. Why are you passionate about this work?
Working with the community, finding out their issues and working alongside others to address these issues gives me purpose. As Asian Americans, it’s become pretty apparent we face lots of structural issues and barriers. For example, language and technology really kept our committee members from being able to access the vaccines when they were first released. My family members all had issues accessing the vaccines. So it was up to me and my sister, the younger generation, to help our elders get vaccinations.
How have your identity and upbringing shaped your ambitions?
My parents are both refugees from Vietnam. They were boat people who came over in the ’80s. Over the years, they were able to make a life for themselves here. For me, recognizing the struggles they went through to self-actualize and make a life here in Houston. I still recognize those struggles here today.
As a Vietnamese American, that’s why I want to continue serving my community members. As an Asian American, it’s a little bit different. I don’t really view that as a cultural identity. It’s more so a political one. The way it was formed in the
’60s, student activists came up with the term “Asian American” because they were inspired by the Black and brown liberation movement happening at the time. They realized that coming together as Asian Americans was the best way to unify ourselves, despite having different experiences to achieve social equality. I identify as an Asian American broadly because I understand the best way forward is if we all come together and champion true equality despite our differences.
In Buddhism, one of the things we’re taught is compassion. Learning about compassion and putting it into practice is one of my tenets. The compassion extends to all community members regardless of background.
How do you think Asian American leaders are going to shape Houston’s future?
It’s that quote — “nothing about us without us.” Having people who understand your background because they come from your background, that means when they’re in places where they make decisions, they won’t think of you as an afterthought. They’ll prioritize you from the beginning, so people won’t have to overcome obstacles to ask to be included.
Diane Yoo, 39, entrepreneur, founding managing partner of Medingenii Capital
Yoo, a pageant winner and venture capitalist, co-founded Identity Unveiled, a national media platform that amplifies the voices of female Asian American pioneers.
How has your identity shaped your ambitions?
I was 5 feet, 8 inches at 13 years old, so I got scouted to model. I was so embarrassed. In college, I was scouted again, and I went full time; I started getting booked. Because I was born into an entrepreneurial family and I’m very competitive, I looked around, left and right, and it was all white people. Not that it’s a bad thing, but how do I stand out from the crowd? How do I make it so I can advance in the middle of this competition? When I was doing runway, I was the only Asian, tall, lanky model. It made me really fierce, internally. You know, the glittering lights and in front of thousands of people on the runway — I had fierce focus to say that I am going to overcome and continue to forge my own success.
As an entrepreneur, we need to provide more opportunities for Asian Americans. Period. That’s why I started IU. That’s why I do what I do — focusing on women and diversity in (venture capitalism). In my life right now, it’s so pertinent. I just think growing up in Katy, being one of maybe five Koreans in the entire high school, growing up with a lot of cultural identity.
What barriers have you needed to overcome to claim a position of leadership in venture capitalism?
In venture, I didn’t realize it when I first started out; when I saw a challenge, I loved it. They told me, “You probably can’t get a job with venture.” It logistically doesn’t make sense — there’s not enough jobs at the time. I knew that was a challenge,
and I was going to be a founding partner or general partner. I was able to do that, starting from scratch as an intern, continuing to advance, evolve and pivoting until I made it to the top. And now I’m at the top 1 percent in the U.S. as an Asian woman.
What do equality and representation mean to you?
I live in New York as well, and I see firsthand the crime. I see the fear in people’s eyes. I see Asian women that I walk by — they won’t make eye contact. Because one wrong eye contact, and boom — you might get hit. The fear people live in because of the rise in this violence is horrific. I feel like this is truly a monumental, historic time, where a movement is really happening for Asian Americans across the U.S. because of these horrific crimes.
The best thing we can do is get our stories of success out there, to show people the trailblazing success in uncharted territories that we’ve created. That’s a powerful representation of who Asian Americans are. They shouldn’t be going through these hate crimes just because of this racism and discrimination. We should paint the real picture of how successful Asian Americans are. The most powerful thing we can do in the movement is representation.
Jenny Wang, 37, clinical psychologist, founder of Asians for Mental Health
Wang, who runs a private practice, launched both the popular Asians for Mental Health Instagram account and the Asian, Pacific Islander and South Asian American (APISAA) Therapist Directory.
Why did you choose to focus on Asian Americans with your Instagram account?
The drive is realizing that mental health is so stigmatized within our community. The hope is that it creates space for people when they are struggling, when they feel as though they’re alone in their mental health struggles, that they’re able to understand that it is normal and natural to have times where we need to ask for help. The goal is to help others find culturally relevant resources.
Knowledge about a culture is not quite enough. It’s understanding how the nuances of our community and how we show up in our relationships, work environments and families (are) impacted by our Asian American identity as well as our experiences with racism in this country. That’s why a lot of my work focuses on the intersections of mental health, Asian American identity and social justice issues because we can’t make light of how oppression and white supremacy impact us.
How have you felt providing those resources during a time of need?
I feel really lucky people are open to the idea that mental health is the foundation to health. Being able to speak on these issues comes from a very intimate part of who I am, as somebody who has lived through an immigrant experience, as somebody who has experienced racism and hate, as a minority in this country. A lot of Asian American mental health professionals are experiencing the same type of trauma or retraumatization, experiencing the same level of fear for our elders and children going to schools and, at the same time, having to find strategies to help ourselves while also helping our clients. And I’ll be honest, it’s been very tricky.
I’ve always stayed grounded to my thought that if one person feels less alone, if one person reaches out to seek out therapy for the first time, if one person feels seen and heard, then I’ve done my job.
How do you see Asian American leaders shaping the future?
I am very hopeful Asian American leaders in Houston especially, since we have such a high Asian population, will feel emboldened to amplify and pursue causes that really improve the lives of not just Asian Americans but people of color in general.
Ashish Hamirani, 30, board trustee of Stafford Municipal School District
Hamirani, a new father, is the first South Asian and youngest person ever elected to the Stafford school district’s board of trustees.
Tell me about how growing up South Asian in Fort Bend County shaped your ambitions.
Coming from a different country where everyone looks like you to come to the United States where there is no average way America looks, it was a really great place to grow up and meet people you would normally not interact with from around the world. When I moved to Stafford and introduced myself to a few of the city council members, most were so excited to see someone young and someone who represented a different facet of society. They were very willing to take me under their wing and allow me an opportunity to get involved.
You just had your first child. How do you envision leaders like yourself making the future better for kids like your son?
My son is the first to be born in the United States in our family. His upbringing is going to be very different than what my wife and I had. I really want to create a place where he feels like he can be a leader, where he sees people who serve the community that look like him and represent similar backgrounds. Traditionally, my parents’ generation didn’t understand. There was a sense of intimidation. They didn’t get involved in that — hopefully, we change the discussion. A lot of things that are negatively associated with politics and local government don’t exist here as much as they do in other countries.
To you, what do representation and equality look like?
Often, people think about it as just meeting a quota system where if we have this many, we need this many. I don’t think that really captures true representation. True representation is having your voice heard and having a seat at the table. Changing this perception that Asian Americans only do these things, or are only allowed to do these things really succeeds in these endeavors by changing the narrative to say, “No, they can do what everyone can do.” And this is truly the United States, where you can achieve whatever you choose to achieve.