Nidhi Satyagal is a first year student in the Asian American Studies Master’s program. She is a lifelong Southern California resident who graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in June 2023 with a degree in Economics and a minor in History. In the last year, she has been working in community outreach and prevention with a non-profit domestic violence agency that provides culturally sensitive services to primarily South Asian survivors. Nidhi is interested in the South Asian diaspora, particularly the ways that right wing Hindutva politics and caste are recreated in ordinary spaces and communities occupied by second generation South Asian Americans.

Amber Chong (she/her) is a second generation Vietnamese-Chinese woman who grew up on Tongva land, also known as the San Gabriel Valley. Prior to pursuing the dual MA in Asian American Studies and Masters in Social Welfare, she studied Politics and Asian American Studies at Scripps College, where she learned from and continues to draw inspiration from feminist abolitionist organizers. At UCLA, she hopes to collaborate with other Southeast Asian community members to envision decolonial and anti-ableist frameworks of health. She is interested in strategies that solidify emotional support and interdependence within communities and divest from the medical industrial complex by challenging traditional notions of care. In her free time, Amber enjoys watching films with loved ones, indulging in a sweet treat, and soaking up the sun in nature.

Angelina Karnsouvong (they/she) is a queer second-generation Khmu and Lao refugee born and raised on Chochenyo Ohlone land (Richmond, CA). They received their Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley in both Ethnic Studies and Public Health.

Angelina is currently in their second year of graduate education, pursuing a joint masters in Asian American Studies (MA) and Community Health Sciences (MPH). Their primary research focuses on de-centering colonial biomedical understandings of health and healthcare to re-center community, culture, and indigenous healing practices, with an emphasis on re-envisioning Khmu wellbeing in Southeast Asian refugee diaspora, as well as the role of critical history and community education in achieving better health outcomes. They are especially passionate about the concept of diversifying narratives and being the teller of one’s own story, which influences a great deal of their work in research, community organizing, and creative spaces.

In their free time, Angelina enjoys writing, drawing, spending time with friends, being outdoors (except in LA), building Legos, staring at bodies of water, and reading wiki articles on niche topics.

Maya Sinha (she/her) is a first year graduate student in the Asian American Studies Master’s of Arts program. She graduated from UCSB this past year with undergraduate degrees in Asian American Studies and Data Science and Statistics. Through her experiences as a mixed race person of Chinese and Indian ancestry, Maya became drawn to the identity negotiations of mixed Asian and Asian American individuals and multicultural, hybrid communities. She hopes to complete her Master’s thesis on the roles of women on either side of transnational Bengali merchandise networks in 19th century North America, especially in the communities where Bengali men were forming interracial relationships with African American women. In her free time, Maya runs, cooks (and eats), reads, hikes, and enjoys as much company as she can through it all.

Kristi Mai (she/her) is a second generation Vietnamese-Chinese American woman from San Gabriel Valley, California. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Asian American Studies and History, with a minor in Labor Studies at UCLA. She is a third-year graduate student in the dual degree program with the Asian American Studies MA and Masters in Social Welfare. Her thesis will focus on the theorizations of Vtubing and livestreaming platforms, focusing on an analysis of the body, kinship, and labor through a microhistorical approach on the experiences of an Asian American female-identifying streamer. In her free time, Kristi enjoys playing video games, traveling to visit friends, and yoga.