Hi everyone, my name is Vu Anh. Despite immigrating to the U.S. at a young age, I have always felt connected to and motivated by my Vietnamese roots. This past May, I graduated from Wesleyan University (CT) with a degree in Government and East Asian Studies. I am passionate about challenging Model Minority narratives and uplifting the voices of Asian Americans who are too often sidelined in politics. I became interested in AAPI advocacy when I interned at the U.S. Dept. of Labor and was on the planning committee for the inaugural AAPI Civil Rights Forum in Boston. I remember that while on my way to attend this very event, I was approached by a stranger who questioned where I was "really from" and told me to leave politics to “real Americans". Instead of deterring me, those discriminatory words led me to conduct research into factors inhibiting AAPI political participation and how to combat them. My experience as an ESL tutor and advocate for survivors of domestic abuse further fueled my commitment to expanding representation for disempowered groups.

Through working with PIVOT and the Asian American Advocacy Fund, I hope to fight misinformation and disengagement within the Vietnamese American community so that we can build political capital and be a force for progressive change. I feel so honored and excited to contribute to this important work!

My name is “Alexis” Oanh Le, I was born and raised in Dalton, GA. I am Vietnamese-American and a first generation university graduate from The University of Southern Mississippi. I have my bachelor’s degree in legal studies and minor in Spanish. I consider myself to be trilingual, but I could always practice my Spanish some more. I knew how to speak Vietnamese growing up, but like many American born individuals, I lost the language as I got older. I re-taught myself Vietnamese through Vietnamese karaoke-ing, speaking the mother-tongue with my family and immersing myself with the Vietnamese culture. My family and I have traveled back to Vietnam almost every year, so this has helped me appreciate my roots even more. Tại vì Oanh không muốn mất gốc cua minh. There is an enormous Vietnamese community in Mississippi. I created the “Người Việt ở Mississippi” group on Facebook that allows Vietnamese-Mississippians to connect with each other. Whether the connection is in regards to law, healthcare, business, news, or any factual information that can help the Vietnamese community. Understanding this demographic, I committed myself to advocate for Asian-Americans and specifically the Vietnamese community during my undergraduate years. I was heavily involved in the Vietnamese Student Association, where I held multiple positions, represented my university on different panels on behalf of VSA, and participated in hosting cultural events. After graduating, I served as a paralegal in Mississippi for Judge Willie Allen of Tupelo, MS. After working with Judge Allen, I moved back to Georgia where I became an Executive Assistant to Attorney Jenny Nguyen and Judge Ethan Pham of Nguyen & Pham, LLC in Norcross, GA. I am excited to be working with PIVOT and CPACS to help break barriers that are considered “setbacks” for our community. We as Asian-Americans influence the American culture, however our voices are not heard. I hope to help guide our community in the right direction by assisting in any way I can and providing the materials for our community to do so.

I am grateful for the opportunities I have been given and I hope to pursue my legal career further in order to continue being a resource to Asian-Americans and Vietnamese-Americans after my fellowship with PIVOT.