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Project Voice

Project Voice is a podcast series is spearheaded by the voices of womxn and nonbinary folx of the Asian diaspora. As the host of Project Voice, I hope that this series will act as a digital space where members of our community can go to for guidance and resources. - Jessica Nguyen Founder and Host of Project Voice
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Aug 9, 2018

As a part of Project Voice’s rebranding movement, I’ve been reaching out to speakers outside the U.S. and putting more focus on identifying the podcast as a platform for the Asian diaspora all over the world. This time, we’ll be learning about the Asian activist community and culture in Australia. In today’s podcast, I have invited Erin Chew, who I first heard about through her work on YOMYOMF.com, will be sharing her knowledge about the history of Asian Australia as well as what’s been hot on the current agenda for the organization she founded, the Asian Australian Alliance.

Moving forward, Project Voice will be inviting from activists and content creators to share their fight against toxic Internet culture. Erin Chew will share her bit on her combat against online bullying during her active years online. 

Erin Wen Ai Chew (周文愛) is an Australian entrepreneur, policy advisor and social activist, who is just about to complete a Masters of Human Rights.

Erin is the founder for the Asian Australian Alliance, which is a grassroots advocacy based network with its primary aim of advocating for the common interests of the Asian Australian community. The Asian Australian Alliance is now a national brand and has around 20 conveners working on different areas and sectors. These sectors include: Asian Australian Alliance, Asian Australian Alliance Women’s Forum, Asian Australian Alliance Young Leaders, Asian Australian Rainbow Alliance and the Movement for Asian Australian Academics.

Via Erin, the Asian Australian Alliance has created positive change for the community and highlighted the issues of concern at a mainstream level. Examples include, running a national campaign against the changes of Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, speaking to the media against racism and discrimination, and highlighting the issues of the bamboo ceiling.

Erin has been featured in many media platforms including, The Guardian Australia, Sydney Morning Herald, SBS, ABC News, News.com.au, Daily Mail Australia, The Age, Canberra Times, The Australian and the Australian Financial Review. Erin has also written for SBS News, The Guardian and other media platforms in the USA and the UK on issues of cultural diversity and social cohesion.

Jul 22, 2018
Personal finance and self-care have been on my list of topics to cover for a long time. For those who may need some guidance on adulting, this is for you. When I graduated from college, I remember how overwhelmed I felt not knowing where to start when it came to personal finance and investing. So, when I felt like I had it down, I thought having an introductory podcast episode on financial independence would be helpful and empowering for our listeners.
 
Lucky you, all you need to do is tune in to hear some savvy real world tips that Bella and I are excited to share after experiencing our own trial and errors: from opening up a savings account, to choosing the right retirement and investment options, to finding ways to pay off credit card and student loan debts, and more! And to end our interview, we'll touch on self-care: how we take care ourselves while experiencing the stress of managing our finances!
 
Born in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma) and raised in the USA, Bella Aung is an aspiring political scientist and a Master degree candidate at Simon Fraser University, Canada. She has Burmese, Mon, Karen, and British backgrounds. Aiming to become a non-partisan political analyst, she currently is working on two research projects: Why Visible Minority Women are Underrepresented in the Minority-Majority city of Vancouver, and Immigration Policies Regarding the Syrian Refugee Crisis in French and Canadian Cities. When she’s not doing academic stuff, she loves petting cats and eating yummy Asian food.
 
Get in touch with Bella here!:
Instagram: https://instagram.com/bella_dicaprio
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bellatsaung/
 

 

Jul 17, 2018

For Angela and me, video games means more than your typical button mashing experience. In fact, video (and computer) games brought many of our nerdy selves together during dark times of the white heteropatriarchy and its systems of oppression. “Do you game?” may be the life-changing question we all need to ask as we venture through different worlds during our journey to find the people who truly resonate with our personal mission. Tune in to hear how gaming has played a huge role in helping us battle through our childhood days and how it has led us to discovering online and offline communities that reflect our need for Asian diasporic representation and solidarity. So, what do you say? Will you join us in this episode?

Angela Wu is a first-generation, Chinese-Vietnamese photographer and botanist from the Bay Area. Angela's background is in ecology and botany, and she has her own photo business as well as working as a lab technician in plant-based pharmaceuticals. Angela's work intends to provide a means to bring representation to people of color in media. When she's not working in the lab or taking photos, you can find me gaming online!

gaming links:
battlenet id: seven52am#1179
steam: seven52am
Jun 14, 2018

Content warning: trauma

On the list of topics that I wanted to cover on my podcast, dealing with trauma was one of the most challenging to do as it would require someone who would be open and ready enough to share their past on our platform. Serendipitously, I had the honor of interviewing Due Quach, author of the viral Medium piece, “Poor and Traumatized at Harvard” and founder and CEO of Calm Clarity, a program that dedicates itself to showing us “how to control negative urges, deal with toxic stress, and overcome adversity by tapping into the true potential of our brain.”

“Master mind-hacking with Harvard graduate, non-profit founder, and social entrepreneur, Due Quach in CALM CLARITY: How to Use Science to Rewire Your Brain for Greater Wisdom, Fulfillment, and Joy  (Penguin/TarcherPerigee; Trade Paperback Original; ISBN-13: 978-0143130970; 384 Pages/$17.00; May 15th). Part memoir, part guidebook, Due's personal healing journey from PTSD inspired her to develop the Calm Clarity program that corporations and universities across the country are now using to help stressed out employees and disadvantaged students like Due. It is chock full of science-based tips, tricks, and activities to improve your brain, and the Vietnam refugee and Philadelphia native leads readers from the destructive natures of Brain 1.0 and 2.0, to Brain 3.0, or what she defines as the ultimate calm clarity.”

A refugee from Vietnam and a graduate of Harvard College and the Wharton MBA program, Due Quach overcame the long-term effects of poverty and trauma by turning to neuroscience and meditation. After building a successful international business career in management consulting and private equity investments, Due traveled throughout Asia to study various contemplative traditions and then created the Calm Clarity Program to make mindful leadership accessible to people of all backgrounds. She’s also the author of the new book Calm Clarity: How to Use Science to Rewire Your Brain for Greater Wisdom, Fulfillment, and Joy.

Due also founded the Collective Success Network by convening first-generation college students and professionals to create innovative approaches to address the challenges faced by first-generation college students from low-income communities.

 

Follow Due and her Calm Clarity program here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/calmclarity

Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/calmclarityorg/

Instagram: https://twitter.com/calmclarityorg

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/calmclarityorg

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3ftPxJaYUNS5Mc494lHNqg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/calmclarity

 

Follow Project Voice:

facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw

instagram.com/projectvoiceaaw

projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

 

Jun 14, 2018

Last month, I had an amazing opportunity to speak with Lisa Pradhan, a fellow Smithie alum who is an active member of The Appendix Collective, “a  Bay Area collective of Asian American womxn + queer artists reclaiming personal, intimate and diasporic narratives of intergenerational memory and trauma.” In this episode, we learn more about Lisa and their fellow team members’ work on this year’s May 10th exhibit on heartbreak or </3.

“</3 embodies the unspoken heartache in relationships with family, home, lovers, work, neighborhoods and ancestral colonial trauma. The exhibition provides a space specific to the experiences of API womxn and GNC, queer and allied artists who pull from their experiences of resistance and healing to address, navigate and interrogate heteropatriarchal and homonormative forms of love, care and representation.”

What is it like to navigate through heartbreak in relationships when we never knew how to in the first place? Through the spectrum of heartbreaks that we experience as Asian disaporic femmes, we should begin to realize the importance of giving ourselves some TLC (tender loving care) as often as we can. Yes, in this episode, it’s all about showing #selfcare, love and softness to ourselves and those around us! We will cover an array of additional topics that deal with our potential to connect our bodies and movement to our lived experiences as well as our mental health and traumas. Along the way, we will learn more about many of the inspiring pieces and philosophies of Lisa’s team members as part of The Appendix (and it was so mind-blowing when I finally learned where they got their name from!).

Lisa Pradhan (b. 1992, San Diego, USA) is a Newari, multimedia artist and organizer who grew up glitched in the socal suburb of Rancho Bernardo. Conceptually obsessed with the states of living (ex. joy, illinx, hygge), Lisa looks to create the “impossible” through somatic, performance, and digital work. Lisa’s shown at the Asian Art Museum, the Pacific Heritage Museum, and AS Gallery and co-curated the Performing Arts showcase for Kearny Street Workshop’s (KSW) APAture 2017: Unravel and Appendix’s </3.

 

Follow Lisa and The Appendix on social media!:

@lisepie | lisapradhan.com

@appendixcollective |  http://cargocollective.com/appendix/

 

NEW MUSIC by the super talented Joanne Nguyen:

Check out more of her work here!:

http://soundcloud.com/joannemainguyen

 

Follow Project Voice:

facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw

instagram.com/projectvoiceaaw

projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Apr 29, 2018

"Empowering Voices: AAPI Power Through Media, co-hosted by Smith College Asian Students Association, Vietnamese Students Association, and Pan Asians in Action, provides a platform on campus for Asian American and Pacific Islander voices, bringing light to issues about identity. Content creators Sahra V. Nguyen and Jessica Nguyen use various mediums to raise awareness of AAPI identity and how it intersects with traditional cultural values. They will speak on how to challenge stereotypes, break away from a minority status, reclaim individual identity, and redefine what it means to be Asian American."

 
On March 31st, 2018, I was invited to speak with Sahra Vang Nguyen at my alma mater. For those of you who were not able to come see the event in person, here is the recording of my speech and our Q&A session! For the Q&A session, you can skip to 11:12! Our first question pertained to how we as digital content creators approach the sharing of narratives in an ethical manner. My response to this question was about being aware of how I framed my questions. By being careful about how I phrase my sentences, I am able to avoid sharing narratives based on my own preconceived notions.
 
Watch the video here: 
 
To follow Sahra Vang Nguyen, check out below:
@oneouncegold on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
 
"Sahra V. Nguyen is a writer, director, and filmmaker currently based in Brooklyn, New York...
 
Mid-2016, Sahra sold her second documentary series to NBCNews.com, 'Deported,' which follows the grassroots fight to end deportation of Cambodian Americans from the U.S. to Cambodia.  Under her own production company, One Ounce Gold, she filmed the doc in Seattle, Philadelphia, New York City, and Cambodia. You can watch “Self-Starters” and “Deported” on NBCNews.com, Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire, YouTube, and Facebook."
Apr 13, 2018
Jumpstarting a career in the entertainment industry is a terrifying decision you could make in life, especially if you are a woman of color. But who says that you have to make a big, scary move in order to reach your dreams when deep down, all you really care about is being able to showcase your work to the people who matter to you? Whether it's acting, writing, or something else, I believe that there is little stopping you from sharing your story - it's just as a dramatic life-changing decision to start small and to start creating. In this podcast, I had the amazing opportunity to invite Paget Kagy of "Kat Loves L.A." to share her journey with us on how she went about starting a webseries on her own, learning to juggle between acting, writing, and producing, and yet, still staying true to herself and her visions while facing all the demanding challenges that came with the project. And as for me, to finally have found a romantic comedy starring and written by an Asian American woman was my hopeless romantic teenage girl dream coming true!
 
Season 1 just ended, but I'm impatiently waiting for more!
 
Here's an IMDb Synopsis of "Kat Loves LA:" "Kat Park finds herself fresh out of a relationship and in a quarter-life rut where seemingly nothing in life is going her way--she's jobless, loveless, and generally stuck in life. When she's set up on a blind date with Andrew Park, an unlikely friendship develops as they team up to take on adulthood together, helping each other overcome the struggles of career, dating, and finding the beauty in an otherwise ordinary life."
 
To watch the first episode, click here!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2zEJLiaIi0
 
Paget Kagy is the writer/producer/actor of "Kat Loves LA", a new romantic comedy webseries now available on YouTube. She hopes to continue her journey in representing Asian Americans on screen in ways that progress multi-dimensional narratives, and showcase new emerging talent.
 
Apr 5, 2018

Let's do a little throwback and talk about how we all had a time in our lives when we wanted to be the Yellow Ranger. Now, many of our awesome selves have become one. In today's episode, YLWRNGR's Lauren Espejo will share her personal experiences of how she has fought against the Model Minority Myth through her involvements in the world of social media, the digital arts and Asian American activism. 

Lauren Espejo is a Filipino-American graphic designer and blogger based in New York City. Lauren's fine art has been featured in 9 exhibitions including the Greenpoint Gallery, Dr. M.T. Geoffrey Yeh Art Gallery, and the Angel Orensanz Foundation. Her design work for Liberty Mutual has been featured on Inc. BrandView. In 2016, she created the Asian-American blog and social media accounts, YLWRNGR (Yellow Ranger), to create a safe space where Asian-Americans share their culture and experiences.

Check out the blog & socials to join in on the convo!

Blog:https://ylwrngr.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ylwrngr/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ylwrngr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ylwrngr/

 

Mar 19, 2018

We're back after a brief hiatus with season 4! After giving time to how I wanted to steer forward with Project Voice, I realized how there are still so many changemakers out there who are giving back to our community through their own projects and initiatives that I'd like to help raise awareness for.

My vision for Project Voice has been to turn the podcast into a safe space for Asian women to share their narratives growing up in the U.S. While many of these narratives had been about our past experiences, I want to switch gears to focus on the present, what we're doing now to keep our community moving forward.

So, we're going to kick off the new season with Elizabeth Yang and her global virtual summit, Hmong Women Take on the World (HWTOTW). After discussing with Elizabeth about how despite having no country, Hmong women continue to stay strong and thrive all around the world, I could see why she is so passionate about supporting the resilient tribe that she chooses to represent. In this podcast, we will learn about Elizabeth's inspirations behind taking action and visions for HWTOTW.

Elizabeth Yang was inspired by a conversation with her 7-year old daughter to ignite the Hmong Women Take on the World movement. She believes in bettering the world and amplifying those in pursuit of better.
 
Elizabeth brings 10+ years of experience in Fortune 50 companies driving innovative new growth businesses in R&D, product development, and leading and coaching teams. From ideas to concept to marketplace launches, she brings a convergence of experience in generating value in products, services, and business models that tap into her background across healthcare, education, staffing, and retail.
 
She enjoys the challenge of being a Research & Development Innovation Program Strategy Director at a top Fortune 10 global healthcare IT innovation company alongside being the founder and CEO of her own company, Better With Company, which is where Hmong Women Take on the World sits as a global social brand experience platform. She also advises startups and is passionate about mentoring emerging leaders, women, and girls. Elizabeth believes this new way of co-creating global social brand platforms -- the fusion of social media, marketing, technologies, and experiences -- amplifies specific messages into the world faster than ever before. 
 
Curiosity and making an impact drive her continuous learning. Her sweet spot is Human Factors in Behavior Economics, Design Thinking, Emerging Technologies, and Productivity in High Performance.
 
She enjoys traveling, reading and a good laugh. You’ll find her mostly embarking on life adventures with her amazingly, handsome husband and adorable minions — her two kids —  in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
 
Follow Elizabeth Yang & Hmong Women Take on the World:
Twitter: @hmongwomenday (to follow HWTOTW) or @elizabethyangix (to follow Elizabeth Yang) 
Feb 3, 2018

I have decided to take a break from Podcasting. Project Voice will be on an open hiatus until further notice. I think it’s time for me to leave some time out to re-prioritize what I want to do next in my life.

I think I’ve reached a stage where the majority of the conversations that I wanted to put out in the world has been done on Project Voice and although I know that my curiosity and passion for social justice is never-ending, I feel what needed to be said has been said for now.

To my each and every one of my listeners, thank you for listening and keep your eyes out for a few potential bonus episodes on our Podcast. Otherwise, I hope to see you soon in season 4 (or on another project under my name!).

Thank you for tuning in to the finale of season 3.

Much love,

Jess

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Jan 21, 2018

For my final interview of season 3, I had the honor of interviewing Cherisse Datu, the co-designer behind the upcoming video game, The Girl Who Sees in this episode. Both Cherisse and I quickly connected over our passion in designing and creating content through digital media. Not only do we hope to encourage our listeners to let go of their feelings of guilt and discomfort from navigating in such White/ignorant spaces, we also hope that our experiences shared in this episode will inspire others to find their own means of disrupting these kinds of spaces as well.

Cherisse Datu is a video producer and game designer. She received her Masters in Game Design from American University and was a JoLT (Journalism and Leadership Transformation) Fellow studying the Intersection of Game Design and Journalism with a grant from the Knight Foundation. She's worked with ESPN’s The Undefeated, Al Jazeera’s The Stream, Extra Credits, and Fusion. She’s a game designer for The Girl Who Sees, a Filipino fantasy-adventure game. She was chosen as Google Jump Ambassador and is currently working on a VR project on Asian-American experiences and identity.

 

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Jan 9, 2018

Full disclosure: my friend Fatema and I decided to redo our first take because we wanted to make sure that you'll be able to take away everything that we've had planned to share for today's episode topic: how we as loved ones can support those who have been diagnosed with depression.

Like many other mental health disorders, depression goes on a spectrum and the issue of being diagnosed with it is interrelated to a number of factors, including one's own cultural background. Simply put, we can't deny the fact that being raised as an Asian woman makes it more challenging to initiate dialogues about having depression. Although we've touched upon the topic of depression before, I wanted to readdress it from a more third-person perspective. How do you as loved ones keep yourself engaged in these discussions of depression?

After hearing about Fatema's interest and involvements in depression prevention research, I invited her to share her findings as well as her personal accounts of how she carefully navigates within the field of research. In the research field, one cannot apply their own personal observations so easily. However, on Project Voice, we'll have the exciting opportunity to hear Fatema share her personal connections and observations about depression as well.

We hope that you find the information and advice provided to be helpful and applicable to your lives.

Fatema is a project coordinator at the Youth Emotion, Development, and Intervention Lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she manages a depression prevention study for teens. Fatema is interested in becoming a therapist, researcher, and advocate for youth from diverse cultural backgrounds who are struggling with eating disorders, depression, and anxiety. In her spare time, she loves to bake, kickbox, and travel.

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Dec 26, 2017
Project Voice is going to be a bit unconventional here with our topic of the day: how to blend into the White world as an Asian woman. This interview wouldn't be a success if it wasn't for the creative thinking of Ashley of @angryfeministworkouts. Episode 32 definitely has a head-turning title - and that's really what Ashley and I wanted at the end of the day. The question and central message here is, how do we convert super White dominant spaces into POC friendly spaces? To answer this, we thought that we could have a little fun listing all of the sh*t that's been said to us Asian women on a day-to-day basis and all of the sh*t that we're expected to regurgitate to make ourselves more palatable to White society; we've split up what we wanted to share into four categories: travel, friends and family, food, and general cultural faux paux. Trust me, we could've had more.
 
 Ashley Hermosura is the founder of Angry Feminist Workouts, an Instagram community created because “after you get hit on, sometimes you want to hit back.” It’s ideally for folks who would like a safe space after they feel mistreated from living in the misogyny of the patriarchy (which can also come from women too!) She believes in taking back white spaces (finance, politics, media, beauty, etc.) and is dedicated to creating workshops and classes to break down the collective makeup of these industries and allow for more marginalized communities to enter and thrive and revolutionize these spaces. While a huge advocate of Asian American art and artists, she still thinks Asians have a lot to learn when it comes to community and the goal of Angry Feminist Workouts is to allow a place for healing, growth, and development, unlearning and empowerment of anyone who has ever felt their power taken away from them.
 
 

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

 

Nov 3, 2017

There is always something to share about when it comes to growing up as children of immigrants, especially when it comes to stories of adversities that have helped shape us to who we've become today. So, I thought what better person to talk to than Amy? Amy Huang credited her experiences working at her family's Chinese restaurant and struggles with assimilating to the American culture that led her to be the independent, strong woman that I am proud to call a close friend of mine. One lesson that I would like to highlight as you dive into this episode - which was also what peaked my interest in interviewing Amy is: if you are fortunate enough to have family who has been supportive to you throughout your life, stick up for them when they have no one to support them.

We don't just stop there, though. At 41:07, I had the privilege of having Amy share the current challenges that she's faced working in Corporate America, one of them in which includes the seemingly never-ending microaggressions that we still continue to receive from our fellow colleagues as Asian women in the workplace. Not only that, we also will explore and critique the meaning of what it means "to fit in the work culture" and "to be professional" in work environments that to begin with, already lack diversity.

Amy is a 23-year-old Chinese-American originally from Phoenix, AZ. She currently resides in Boston, MA, where she is completing pharmacy school. Growing up working at a restaurant, Amy has cultivated an ambition to make the most of her opportunities. As a first generation Chinese-American, Amy tells stories of her experience as part of an immigrant family with humor. She is also a working professional and an advocate for more women and diversity in the workforce. As a close friend who hears her stories, I believe that her unique perspective on life should be shared with the world. (To me, Amy is the true meaning of grit)

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Oct 20, 2017

Today, I have the pleasure and honor to interview Emiko of Her Confidence Her Way, a Podcast series with a mission to guide Japanese women towards having self-confidence and living a meaningful life.

So, for every episode, I aim to make the topic applicable to the Asian/Asian American community but for this one, I wanted to tune into a more specific audience and that is, of course, the Japanese/Japanese American women listening out there. Despite the fact that Japan is one of the most technologically advanced countries of our time, like many other countries, it still has room for improvement for gender equality. We will be discussing on Japan's current state and progress in its agenda for women empowerment.

Emiko Rasmussen is a Confidence Building Coach, Virtual Mentor, Host of Her Confidence Her Way Podcast, Speaker and Leader of the Her Confidence Her Way Community. She helps Japanese women who don’t feel confident because of their self-limiting beliefs and language/cultural barriers. Emiko empowers Japanese women to be more confident by helping them break through their fears and discover their gifted talents so that they can do what they really want to do and live a meaningful life without worrying about someone else’s opinion.  

Follow The Emi Style:

Podcast: http://apple.co/2hMg5Iz

http://www.theemistyle.com/

https://www.facebook.com/TheEMIStyle/

https://twitter.com/theemistyle

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Oct 6, 2017

Intersectionality is probably one of my favorite words of all time. In this episode, we will be covering some aspects of our identity that we may forget and overlook now and then when we're initiating dialogues about our struggles. Originally, I wanted to talk about how solely class plays a role in our lives, but my friend (who will be remained anonymous during this interview) and I learned that you just can't talk about class without talking about other identity x-factors (i.e. citizenship status and education).

 

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Sep 22, 2017

In season 1, I have released an episode about what it means to be a part of the mixed Asian experience; this season, I wanted to add on to our discussion by exploring the intersection of Black and Asian identities as it is crucial to be aware of the fact that there is also a diversity of narratives of not just within the Asian/Asian American community but within the mixed Asian/Asian American community as well. Feeling inspired after watching Blasian Narratives, I invited Mieko Gavia to speak and share about her perspective and journey with self-identity as a Blasian American and the politics behind being labeled as mixed race, especially when it comes to mixed identities that don't center on whiteness. If there's anyone who would like to share their narrative as a non-white mixed Asian woman on Project Voice, please let me know!

Mieko Gavia is a writer, actress, and all-around oddball from Indianapolis, Indiana. After graduating from Oberlin College with a degree in Theater, Mieko followed the classic scenario of a small-town girl with big-city dreams and hightailed it to NYC. When she’s not acting or writing, Mieko can be spotted foraging in used bookstores or wherever cheap food abounds. You can catch her at http://www.blackrevolutionarytheatreworkshop.org and www.miekogavia.org 

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Sep 8, 2017

Welcome to another episode of Project Voice! Today, we will be discussing about a topic that surprisingly, is not brought up as often as it should be and that is disability! In this episode, Maya Ghorpade, Doris Jung, and I will be sharing our personal, intersectional experiences on growing up as Asian women with disabilities. Whether they are physical, mental, or intellectual, disabilities deserve to be included in every platform of discussion for marginalized communities. Tune in to learn about how having a disability affects every aspect of our lives, why more attention needs to be put forth on disability support services, and what kinds of efforts we can make to engage others in discussions on disability.

Maya is an 18 year old first generation Indian-American. She is a student at New York University's College of Nursing, and has plans to help revolutionize access to healthcare for People of Color. She enjoys making art, visiting museums, trying new foods, and taking naps. Her goal in life is to be at a place where she feels at peace with all of her intersecting identities.

Doris is a tiny 20-something year old full time paralegal by day and fashion illustrator and content creator by night! She runs a blog called "I Wear Shirts as Dresses" (iwearshirtsasdresses.com) to share her life as an individual with dwarfism and a lover of fashion. As a second generation Korean-American, she aims to bring awareness of disability and dwarfism in the Asian-American community, as disability is often a topic kept hidden in the dark.

 

Follow Project Voice:

www.projectvoiceaaw.com
facebook.com/projectvoiceaaw
twitter.com/projectvoiceaaw
projectvoiceaaw@gmail.com

Aug 25, 2017

***Content warning

We can dedicate an entire mini series on mental health issues, but today, we'll be hearing Terra Hoy's personal hardships of mental health. This interview is the second episode of a 2 episode special on Project Voice. If you haven't listened to our first one, please check it out (we covered transgender identity issues, he-he)! Content warning: we will be diving into questions about anxiety, depression, and suicide. We will be listening to Terra's take on how mental health has played a role during her transition during the past couple years.

Terra is a queer, transgender womxn of color who is passionate about intersectional feminism. She intends to tackle institutional oppression, primarily focusing on healthcare for minority populations, including the socially and economically displaced, those LGBTQ+, people of color, and many more who are mis- or underrepresented. She is excited to share a bit of her perspective on Project Voice and hopes to utilize this platform to inspire other womxn and femme people of color. In time, she will lead in a policy-oriented career and education. She has the privilege of attending the University of Washington's School of Public Health to pave way towards a career reflecting her values and possibly enroll in the Evan's School of Public Policy and Governance. Check out her blog post on She Has Drive, a collective of authors that explore the issues facing women - it is titled "A Letter to my 12-Year-Old Self:" https://www.shehasdrive.com/home/2017/6/27/a-letter-to-my-12-year-old-self

9.15.18: Project Voice has rebranded!

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Aug 11, 2017

A womxn is not defined by her body. On this episode, I had the honor of inviting Terra Hoy to share with us her narratives of growing up as an Asian American and coming out as transgender. Key topics that we will be covering today will include trans-legitimacy, gender dysphoria, self biases and expectations from loved ones and society. This is the first interview of our 2 episode special - tune in in a couple of weeks for another episode with Terra! Next time, we will be refocusing on the importance of mental health.

Terra is a queer, transgender womxn of color who is passionate about intersectional feminism. She intends to tackle institutional oppression, primarily focusing on healthcare for minority populations, including the socially and economically displaced, those LGBTQ+, people of color, and many more who are mis- or underrepresented. She is excited to share a bit of her perspective on Project Voice and hopes to utilize this platform to inspire other womxn and femme people of color. In time, she will lead in a policy-oriented career and education. She has the privilege of attending the University of Washington's School of Public Health to pave way towards a career reflecting her values and possibly enroll in the Evan's School of Public Policy and Governance. Check out her blog post on She Has Drive, a collective of authors that explore the issues facing women - it is titled "A Letter to my 12-Year-Old Self:" https://www.shehasdrive.com/home/2017/6/27/a-letter-to-my-12-year-old-self

9.15.18: Project Voice has rebranded!

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Jul 28, 2017

What does it mean to be an activist in this day and age? In today’s episode, my awesome friend, Jennifer Li, and I will be covering topics ranging from how you can be involved as an activist for your Asian/Asian American community - whether it’s through social media, on the ground protests, or something else, why it’s important to support the Black Lives Matter movement, what it means to be a “good white ally,” and what we should do as a community under the Trump presidency.  Besides listening to this Podcast episode, we’d greatly encourage others to take the time out to learn the history of Asian America so that we can better understand how we got here and where we can go from here.

Jennifer Li is a digital advocacy strategist and social justice activist. She comes up with creative campaigns and tackles her projects with unparalleled passion and efficiency. Jennifer is currently the California State Director of Rise, multi-sector coalition of sexual assault survivors and allies working to empower all survivors with civil rights.
 
She launched the #takedownjulienblanc campaign in 2014 that got a pick-up artist banned from several countries. Her personal work has been covered by CNN, Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post, BBC, Japan Times, Tokyo Vice, The Independent, The Washington Post, Salon, Gawker, Jezebel, Think Progress, The Daily Beast, Al Jazeera, and more.
 

9.15.18: Project Voice has rebranded!

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Jul 14, 2017

Last year, I had a life crisis that threw me into a whirlwind of questions for me - and I have to say, subconsciously trying to live up to the model minority myth made the experience worse: What do I really want to do with my life? Am I really happy with sticking to this one path? Is the 9-5 city work lifestyle really for me? So, I sought out the advice of someone who I looked up to since I was a girl, my older cousin, Thanh Ho (she also goes by Jenny or Clementine). Her words actually changed my life since. In this week’s episode, you’ll have the opportunity to hear her story after her decision to quit Corporate America. This Podcast episode isn’t meant to criticize those who’ve chosen the traditional, stable 9 to 5 work life, but it’s more to critique our fears and our society and family’s perception of what success means. Screw the model minority. What other people think about you do not define you. Start living the life that YOU want.

Thanh is a 1st generation, 27-year-old Vietnamese American - born in Vietnam and grew up in the United States.  She graduated from the University of Southern California, majoring in International relations. Currently, she's working as an artist in New Zealand. Her interests include permaculture, hiking, singing, acting, and dancing. Her life goal is to grow and give to the best of her ability.

9.15.18: Project Voice has rebranded!

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Jun 30, 2017

I didn’t think releasing one episode on the queer Asian American experience could be justified as having enough content that’s representative of the LGBTQIA Asian/Asian American community, so I’m making a return to share more of such narratives  - this time, the interview will be from perspectives of two fellow Smith College alumna friends of mine: Samantha and Shay. As you can tell from the title, we’ll be sharing our thoughts on why we need to break down heteronormative expectations from romantic relationships and and begin normalizing queerness instead.

Sam is a 1.5 generation Taiwanese-American who recently made it to her third decade. She isn’t into labels which is why if she had to pick, it would be some all-encompassing one like “queer” or “depends on the day”. She’s currently a professional student working on her Ph.D. at Tufts University in neuroscience. Her hobbies include fantasy football, drinking bourbon and making lists. Her life goals include feeling like an adult one day.

Shay is a Boston transplant originally from Long Island that is currently working in the fast paced world of Digital Marketing. She enjoys trying new restaurants, bringing in baked goods for her coworkers, planning elaborate themed dinner parties and hanging out with her nieces and nephews as much as possible. A current activity is wedding planning which is both equally exciting and anxiety inducing. Her goal in life is to have a happy home with lots of space and nice things that serves as a central point for friends and family to flock to.

9.15.18: Project Voice has rebranded!

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Jun 16, 2017

On May 7th, 2017, I was invited to speak as a spring speaker for the Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) at Northwestern University. I'd like to thank everyone who had helped organize this event. Speakers included Olivia Park of Sad Asian Girls, Jessica Nguyen of Project Voice, and artist and writer Larissa Pham. "They will be discussing how they use art and media as outlets for political and social activism. Come through to meet these RAD ASIAN GIRLS." - APAC

The Asian Pacific American Coalition (APAC) is a student-organization at Northwestern University that strives to raise Asian/Asian American awareness and community-building on campus. This recording was taken by a video recorded and edited by Northwestern University student Seri Lee.

Olivia Park is a graphic designer and the co-founder of Sad Asian Girls, an alias used by her and Esther Fan to make social/political work that surrounds their identities as East-Asians who are living in western spaces.

Olivia Park is a Korean-American woman born in Queens, NY and raised in Metro-Atlanta, GA. Her partner, Esther Fan is a Taiwanese-Canadian genderqueer femme raised in Vancouver, CA. Their studio practice is currently based in Providence, RI.

Sad Asian Girls have been featured on multiple platforms such as PBS, Huffington Post, NowThis, Dazed Digital, Nylon, i-D, Milk, Elephant Mag, Gal-dem, and Banana Mag. Currently, Olivia and Esther are touring around institutions, such as Princeton, Yale, Wellesley, Duke, and Columbia, in the United States to share their SAG story.

View their work here: http://www.sadcontent.com/work/

Jessica Nguyen is the host of Project Voice, which is a Podcast series dedicated to increasing visibility on narratives from Asian America and spearheaded by the voices of Asian American women. As the host, Jessica hopes that this series will act as a digital space where members of her community can go to for guidance and resources. Jessica is also a freelance content creator working on numerous projects such as blogging, photography, video and copywriting.

Jessica is a Vietnamese-American woman who grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, but is currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. She used to have a hard time sharing her voice since she was not able to communicate in English in the beginning. It held back her confidence to speak her voice. After learning to express herself through writing and creating her podcast, Jessica is now more confident on sharing her voice and mission to the world.

Visit her work here: http://www.projectvoiceaaw.com

Larissa Pham was born in Portland, Oregon and graduated from Yale University in 2014 with a degree in History of Art and Studio Art with a concentration in painting.

"Her art and writing has appeared or is forthcoming in The Paris Review Daily, Guernica, The Nation, Rolling Stone, Adult Mag, Nerve, New York Magazine, Maxim, ELLE, Dazed, Salon, Adbusters, GOOD, The Rumpus, The Hairpin, Gawker, VICE, The Intentional, Packet Bi-Weekly, The Yale Literary Magazine, and elsewhere.

She is the author of Fantasian, a New Lovers novella from Badlands Unlimited, out October 25, 2016. You can purchase Fantasian here, or in stores worldwide."

View her work here: http://larissapham.com

Read our transcript here!: https://www.projectvoicepod.com/blog/2018/8/9/episode-21-rad-asian-girls-a-panel-on-art-race-and-gender

9.15.18: Project Voice has rebranded!

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May 31, 2017

I’m starting off the season with a topic very close to my heart: growing up as a child of refugee immigrant parents. My friend, Saroeun, and I will be sharing our personal struggles growing up as first-born children of immigrant parents who moved because they didn’t have t choice - from overcoming barriers with the English language to helping our parents translate in day-to-day situations to guiding our younger siblings to a better life as Southeast Asian Americans. I hope that this 2-episode special will help people understand better where we’re coming from and why today’s immigration issue should hit close to everyone’s heart. Here is part 1. Look forward to next week for part 2!

Here is part 2 of our 3rd season episode premiere. I made the conscious choice to not omit any parts of the conversation because I thought some of the emotional value would be lost if I had. I apologize for the length of the conversation but I do hope you understand why I’m leaving the conversation uncut.

Saroeun Moungyiv is a 1st generation Cambodian American. She has a cosmetology license and is a nail technician at her mother's shop. Her ambition is simply to help her parents' dream of becoming business owners come true and hope to have people understand the value of true happiness in themselves and in life.

Read our transcript here!: https://www.projectvoicepod.com/blog/2018/8/15/episode-20-im-proud-to-be-a-child-of-refugee-immigrant-parents-part-2

9.15.18: Project Voice has rebranded!

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