Zach Anderson

Zach Anderson (he/him) is a CHamoru/Pinoy writer and journalist who was born on ‘Amuwu land (Lompoc, CA) and raised on Nisenan land (Sacramento). Before joining the Asian American Studies department, he was a contributor to AsAm News where he covered Pacific Islander communities both on the islands and on the continental United States. He was also the managing editor of the BIPOC literary collective Think in Ink and briefly served as a communications consultant for the 2022 Kylie Taitano congressional campaign. Zach’s research and capstone thesis focuses on the collaboration between Asian American studies and Pasifika studies in critiquing the American Empire. When he is not reading or writing, he enjoys gardening, birding and outdoor grilling. His writing can be found in Eclectica magazine as well as an anthology of new CHamoru literature which was published by the University of Hawaii.

Trinity Gabato

Trinity Gabato (she/her) is a third generation Filipina and Vietnamese American from Alameda, California. She received her Bachelors in Sociology and Film with a minor in Asian American Studies from Claremont Mckenna College. While in the UCLA Asian American Studies program, Trinity hopes to research the ways in which institutional racism, classism, and sexism affects Southeast Asian women who participate in intimate labor. Trinity likes to eat ice cream (Jeni’s is my fave), binge watch reality T.V., and skateboarding on the beach boardwalk! 

Kristi Mai

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 first-year graduate student in the dual degree program with the Asian American Studies MA and Masters in Social Welfare. Her current research interests are on examining sexual and gender violence in Southeast Asian communities, along with the intersections of abolition and education. In her free time, Kristi enjoys playing video games, experiencing the joys of food with friends, and yoga.

Mady Thuyein

Mady Thuyein (she/her) is Burmese American and grew up in New Jersey. She received her BA in Psychology from Bard College. She will be beginning her first year of the concurrent Asian American Studies M.A. and Master of Social Welfare program in the fall of 2022.

Prahas Rudraraju

Prahas Rudraraju (they/them) is a non-binary Telugu performer, activist, and non-profit professional from the DMV. They are a second year graduate student in the Asian American Studies M.A. program. Prior to their Master’s program, Prahas worked for 5 years in D.C. and Virginia as a youth practitioner at Asian American LEAD serving low-income AAPI youth and at the Human Rights Campaign as a nonprofit program manager advocating for LGBTQ+ youth and educating youth-serving professionals on intersectional LGBTQ+ inclusion nationally. They graduated from The College of William & Mary in 2017 with dual self-designed degrees in World Performing Arts & Cultures and Asian Pacific Islander American Studies, the latter which they alongside a coalition of faculty and students established as an official academic program, now department, at the institution. Prahas is driven by an innate sense of justice and the belief that a world full of joy and free of suffering is possible. Outside of their professional and academic work, Prahas is a lover of anime, singing, dancing, and lifting.

Richie Chu

Richie Chu (he/him) is a first year graduate student in the dual Masters of Public Health and Masters of Arts in Asian American Studies program He is a University of California, Berkeley Alumnus with a Bachelors of Arts in Molecular and Cell Biology and minors in Global Public Health and Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies. Through his experiences as a second-generation Vietnamese American, his coursework in Asian American Studies, publishing UC Berkeley’s inaugural Asian American research journal, and organizing Southeast Asian youth programs, he felt repeatedly disappointed by the lack of studies and programs that failed to disaggregate and focus on Asian American health issues. Thus, his desire to research Asian American health comes from an intrinsic motivation to address the health disparities that continue to affect his family and community. In his free time, Richie enjoys cycling, running, music, and trying new foods.

Wyatt Wu

Wyatt Wu is an MA student in the Asian American Studies Department. He was born and raised in the San Gabriel Valley and currently works as a nonfiction filmmaker and video editor. He received his Bachelor’s degree in documentary journalism at the University of Missouri. As a proud Taiwanese American, Wyatt hopes to be able to take his studies and research as an AAS student at UCLA to further progress the Asian American community through filmmaking. Prior to pursuing his masters degree, Wyatt worked as a video editor and producer for Marketplace, Little Dot Studios, Jubilee Media and the LA Phil.