Thuy Vo Dang

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Thuy Vo Dang (she/her/hers) is Assistant Professor of Information Studies and Asian American Studies at UCLA. She holds a Ph.D. in Ethnic Studies from University of California, San Diego and a B.A. in English and Asian American Studies from Scripps College. Her previous role was Curator for the UCI Libraries Southeast Asian Archive and Research Librarian for Asian American Studies. With research and teaching expertise in oral history, Southeast Asian diaspora, community archives, and cultural memory, Thuy brings an interdisciplinary approach to co-creating digital humanities and archival documentation projects with educators and community-based organizations. She is co-author of the books A People’s Guide to Orange County (2022) and Vietnamese in Orange County(2015). Thuy serves on the board of directors for Arts OC and the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association.

Othelia Jumapao

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Othelia Jumapao is a non-binary Pilipinx American who grew up in Florida while pursuing their English degree with an Asian American Studies minor at the University of Florida. After college, they worked for various non-profits, their most recent workplace being the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum where they worked as the Florida Organizer. In their organizer role, they ran campaigns surrounding reproductive rights, immigrant rights, and voting rights for Asian women and gender diverse folks. They supported the campaign for Ballot Amendment #4 in Florida which would codify abortion access in the state constitution. Othelia is passionate about disability justice and gender justice for LGBT+ people of color. Their scholarly area of interests include movement studies, liberation theology, and ethnic studies in K-12 education.

Lauren Casey Sese Ribancos

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Filipina-American born and raised in Palmdale, CA. She received her Bachelors of Arts in History Honors and minored in Asian American Studies at California State University, Long Beach.

All of her research has been inspired by Asian American experiences, taking on intersectional approaches for Filipino-Americans & Chinese-Americans regarding immigration, assimilation, and diaspora. She is passionate about Oral History and accessible resources in academia, which is reflected in her role as a community college tutor, Oral Historian, and Writer on historic Asian American communities in Long Beach.

On her free time, she competitively powerlifts, takes long walks on the beach, and finds joy in baking.

Paige Yuen

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Paige Yuen is a second year graduate student born and raised on the island of Oʻahu. She received her Bachelors at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Political Science and Sociology. Utilizing settler colonial, critical race, and Indigenous theoretical frameworks, her undergraduate thesis focused on East Asian settler colonialism in the illegally occupied state of Hawaiʻi and its impact on legislation regarding real estate, public and private land, and statehood. Going into her second year at UCLA, Paige is researching land leases utilized by the U.S. Army for training areas on the island of Oʻahu as the leases are set to expire in 2029. Outside of academia, Paige loves the beach, hiking, and spending time with her three dogs, Roy, Pete, and Jess. 

Kevin Casasola

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Kevin Casasola is a queer Filipino-American from Murrieta, Riverside County. He is a passionate educator, artivist, and mental health advocate who creates spaces where individuals can express their authentic selves. Kevin’s dedication to the Filipino/Pilipinx community was nurtured during his undergraduate years at UCLA and through his profession in youth education and development. He believes in the transformative power of education rooted in history and relevance, which he has demonstrated as a teacher, youth health educator, and teaching artist.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Kevin is an advocate for a balanced life, both physically and mentally. He enjoys dancing across Los Angeles, cooking with the community, and climbing outdoors. Kevin’s diverse interests and commitment to mastering his passions reflect his holistic personal and professional growth approach.

Kevin is pursuing a joint Master of Social Welfare and Asian American Studies at UCLA. His research focuses on developing critical behavioral health interventions to improve mental health outcomes for Filipino immigrants and their LGBTQ+ children. Kevin is particularly interested in addressing the challenges posed by religiosity and mental health stigma within these families, aiming to foster stronger relationships and better mental health outcomes.

Through his work at Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA), Kevin leads discussions with parents of LGBTQ+ children to help them reconcile and strengthen family bonds. His goal is to tailor interventions that address the unique needs of LGBTQ+ Filipino youth and their families, as a clinical practitioner of social work.

Alyssa Hemler

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Alyssa Hemler is an international, interracial, Chinese American adoptee and Disability Justice activist from Claremont, California. She received her Bachelors of Arts in English and Asian American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles, as well as a certificate in Paralegal Studies with Distinction from the University of California, Los Angeles Extension. Beyond academics, she served as the Chief of Staff: Student Affairs for the USAC Transfer Student Representative’s Office 2021-2022, an undergraduate student representative on the University Committee on Disability and the Center for Accessible Education’s Student and Faculty Advisory Committee, and a Facilitator for UCLA’s Student Engagement Workgroup. Her Master’s Thesis documents the historical and contemporary legal violence that is unique to international, interracial/transracial, Chinese American adoptees, and proposes ways that the United States (US) government, social welfare programs, and nonprofit organizations can mitigate legal violence and increase the well-being of the US’s most vulnerable individuals. Outside of school, she enjoys visiting Asian American historical sites. Alyssa works to Uplift, Empower, and Serve the People.

Linda Zhang

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Linda Zhang (she/her) is a second generation Chinese American born and raised in Massachusetts. She attended Mount Holyoke College and graduated in 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Physics and a Five College Asian/Pacific/American Studies Certificate. Prior to attending UCLA, she worked at a youth center in Boston’s Chinatown as well as in other various settings developing her research, teaching, and direct service skills. Influenced by her various work experiences, her research questions focus on the role of domestic violence shelters under the nonprofit industrial complex, primarily those serving Asian American and immigrant survivors, in policing survivors and creating conditionalities for receiving care. In particular, she is curious about the ways in which the increasing professionalization of domestic violence services has impacted access to care. Furthermore, she is eager to explore how accountability for harm can move towards a community centered abolitionist future. In her free time, she enjoys catching up on the latest anime and collecting the cutest stationery she can find.

Kelli Sakaguchi

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Kelli Sakaguchi (she/her) is a fourth-generation Japanese-American who was born and raised in Torrance, California. She graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience with a minor in History. She will be a first-year graduate student in Fall 2024.

Nidhi Satyagal

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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.

Lisa Uperesa

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Associate Professor Lisa Uperesa works with Pacific communities to understand movement and mobility, and how they shape lives, identities, families, cultures, and futures. Her past research focused on the rise of American football in Samoan communities and the navigation of sport as both labor and tautua (service). Current research projects include the globalization of Māori haka through sporting routes and digital platforms, Native mascots in Indigenous and multi-ethnic communities, decolonial and culturally sustaining pedagogies, and mapping Pacific Research Methodologies. She previously served as Head of Pacific Studies and co-Head of School Te Wānanga o Waipapa | School of Māori Studies and Pacific Studies at Waipapa Taumata Rau | University of Auckland. She has also had teaching and research appointments in ethnic studies and sociology at University of Hawai‘i-Mānoa; and in anthropology at Columbia University, The New School for Social Research, and Hoftstra University. She holds the Morgan and Helen Chu Endowed Chair in Asian American Studies and is proud to return to the University of California.