Two interns joined NCAPA this week. Tiffany Chen joins us via the Taiwanese American Citizens League and Angie Tran is placed with us through OCA.

Tiffany Chen is a rising junior at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, majoring in International Relations and Sociology as part of the Global Social Change and Development track.

She is particularly interested in contemporary processes of globalization and international development, although her involvement with various AAPI organizations on campus has led her to take an interest in the inequalities and possibilities for development within the AAPI community. Outside of class, Tiffany is the current National Director of Development for the Intercollegiate Taiwanese American Students Association. On campus, she has also served as an Associate of Development for the Johns Hopkins University Foreign Affairs Symposium, Assistant Director of Asian Pacific Heritage Month for the Inter-Asian Council, and a Commissioner for the Student Activities Commission.

Tiffany is a second generation Taiwanese American from New Jersey. Given the richly multicultural composition of both her university and hometown, Tiffany hopes that her experiences can better foster recognition of the importance of cross-cultural collaboration and dialogue while promoting civic engagement. Through this internship, Tiffany hopes to be more familiar with policies that impact AAPI communities as well as better understand how AAPIs can access the federal government to advocate for their own diverse interests.

Angie Tran is a Vietnamese American, first-generation college student from south Oklahoma City and a rising junior at the University of Oklahoma.

She dedicates her time with high school students and her community to ensure they receive the necessary resources and a strong support system for pursuing higher education. Her passion lies within racial justice, education equity for students of color, AAPI issues, youth empowerment, and higher education. She has been an ally to her community in south Oklahoma City, predominately Latin@, since high school because she recognizes the dipartites in the education, justice, and immigration system. Last year, she traveled to Vietnam where she was able to reconnect with her Vietnamese culture and roots allowing her to become more active in the AAPI community; more specifically, her passions center around exploring Southeast Asian issues.

Currently, Angie is a Ronald E. McNair scholar, a TRiO program designed to prepare undergraduate students for graduate school through research and other scholarly activities. Her research will focus on preserving the oral histories of Vietnamese communities because she believes that personal narratives are powerful tools for exploring identities. Through her summer internship, she hopes to develop meaningful relationships with individuals in Washington D.C., broaden her critical thinking skills, and become more aware about the issues in the AAPI community.