By: Sharon Rajadurai, VA Summer Programs Intern and AALEAD Virginia Youth Program Coordinators (YPCs) Photos courtesy of AALEAD staff Virginia Summer programs have been two weeks filled with fun, learning, and growth. Our days begin with ice breakers and team building activities led by our eager Youth Program Coordinators (YPCs). YPC is an opportunity for our high school AALEADers during the summer to develop their leadership skills by participating in the
By: Alani Fujii, MD Summer Program Intern
Photos courtesy of Various Sources
Nice to Meet Again, AALEAD!
Hi everyone, my name is Alani Fujii, and I am the Maryland Summer Programs Intern at AALEAD! I am entering my senior year at Barnard College pursuing an Urban Studies and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies degree. I am also a former AALEAD youth! From 2011-2015, I was in the Maryland afterschool and
By: Yuanlong "Yung Dragon" D., AALEAD Youth; Yingzhi D., AALEAD Youth; Ellen G., AALEAD Youth; and Charles Kuo, AALEAD DC Programs Manager
Photos Courtesy of AALEAD Youth, Staff, and Parents
This past year, the AALEAD DC Middle and High School program graduated 13 seniors from our program. We are proud of the
By Ha Nguyen, Development and Communications Associate
Photos courtesy of AALEAD Staff
Every seven minutes, there is an occurrence of bullying. Every day, youth of all ages experience bullying in schools across the country. Bullying may inflict dis
By Saadia Ahmad, DC Elementary School Program Coordinator
Photos courtesy of AALEAD Staff
This picture represents joy
By Shaima Ahmad, Virginia Programs Manager Photos courtesy of AALEAD Staff Over the past few weeks, our youth at Annandale High School have worked hard to research, prepare, and facilitate workshops for their peers. Youth are given the opportunity to generate ideas for topics that they find interesting. This year we covered a variety of topics such as: <
By Stephanie Lim, DC Middle & High School Program Coordinator Photos Courtesy of Stephanie Lim What happens when two youth-serving organizations come together? Recently, a group of AALEAD’s DC Middle & High School youth had an opportunity to lead a joint program with youth from P
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
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
By Neel Saxena, Executive Director Photos: Various Sources As the month of May comes to a close we mark the end of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. We continue the journey of a collective identity that began in the 1960s. As we celebrate the diversity of a unified APA identity, we continued to be mired in the monolithic perspective of APAs that ignores our individuality, particularly for our youth. APA youth voices have played a significant role in shaping APA history and at Asian Ame