Aakash is a current J.D. Candidate at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. Prior to starting grad school, Aakash was a Communications & Research Fellow at the South Asian American Policy & Research Institute. Aakash is also a graduate of the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, & the Arts with a B.S. in Biopsychology, Cognition, & Neuroscience and a minor in History of Law and Policy. During his time at Michigan, he was largely involved in social justice-centered work and various research opportunities centered around immigrant populations. In his free time, Aakash enjoys playing tennis and watching Hindi movies.

Alina Cyriac is a senior at the University of Central Florida, double-majoring in Political Science and Finance. Over the past few years, Alina organized the first UCF legal empowerment brigade to Greece, which was committed to providing legal aid to refugees. Before that, she worked as a legal assistant and interned at Lockheed Martin. This past summer, Alina worked as a field intern for APIAVote. She organized another refugee support service trip to Barcelona before participating in the TFAS program on the public policy and economics track in D.C. She hopes to attend law school, continuing her passion for advocacy.

Eliana Massey is an emerging public historian of Kanaka ʻŌiwi (Native Hawaiian), Mexican American, and European American descent. She was born in San Antonio, Texas, grew up in Wichita Falls, Texas, and currently lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. She currently works with local environmental nonprofits and Native nations as a community engagement and outreach coordinator for the Environmental Humanities program at the University of Utah. For over two years, she has worked for the Utah Historical Society to conduct community-engaged research on the history of AAPI communities in Utah and produce educational resources for statewide distribution.

Erika Braun is a senior at George Washington University majoring in Sociology with minors in Statistics and Japanese. Having grown up across the U.S., Japan, and Malaysia, she brings a transnational perspective to research and advocacy. Her work bridges people, systems, and strategy, focusing on how data can advance equity and amplify underrepresented voices. Erika has conducted research with the Japanese American Citizens League and in applied social-health psychology labs. Through the fellowship, she hopes to advance technical skills for culturally responsive, community-centered research. Outside of research, she enjoys exploring cities, reading, dancing, and listening to music.

“Gremarianne “”Grey”” Mosquera is a rising senior at New York University’s Shanghai campus pursuing double majors in International Relations and History with a Global China Studies minor. Her academic interests span decolonial translation theory, linguistic hierarchies, and comparative ASEAN economic and political development – particularly examining US and China influence on the Philippines. Her current thesis analyzes how visa classifications create legitimacy hierarchies within AAPI community organizing. Through this fellowship, she aims to address immigration misinformation harming Filipino families in Queens by conducting community surveys and creating targeted educational resources that counter specific myths preventing family reunification. When not serving as a Research Assistant or working as a Global Ambassador, she’s likely teaching friends tongue twisters in Tagalog or attempting to convince people that rice is better than noodles and that noodles is better than bread.
“

Jacob P. Wong-Campbell (he/him) is a PhD candidate in Higher Education and Student Affairs at The Ohio State University with research interests in multiraciality, monoracism, and the quantification of race in higher education. He recently completed an internship with The Ohio State University’s Office of Institutional Research and Planning, with a focus on race-conscious approaches to data visualization, and his dissertation critically examines how Institutional Research professionals make meaning of multiracial data. Jacob previously served as a data analyst at California Polytechnic State University, where he earned an MS in Higher Education Counseling and Student Affairs.

Born in Thailand and raised in Fresno, California, Kalue Yang is a proud Hmong scholar and first-generation college graduate. She earned her B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Student Affairs and College Counseling from California State University, Fresno. Kalue currently serves as the academic/career advisor at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College’s Marinette campus. Beyond her role, she contributes nationally as community engagement co-chair for the Asian Pacific American Network within ACPA’s Coalition for Multicultural Affairs. Her research centers on Southeast Asian American college student success, with a particular passion for advancing equity, access, and success for Hmong students.

Maia Eng is a senior at Brown University studying International and Public Affairs on the Policy and Governance Track. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Maia harnesses her passion for social change to uplift underrepresented communities through service and advocacy. On campus, Maia is an analyst for Brown Initiative for Policy’s Mental Health Team, an editor for the Brown Undergraduate Law Review, and a Staff Artist for multiple student magazines. Her academic interests lie in social welfare policies and international law. In her free time, Maia enjoys art in all its forms, from painting and scrapbooking to film and literature.

Maya Koka is a Foundation Scholar studying philosophy in the Dual BA Program between Columbia University and Trinity College Dublin. Maya’s work with domestic violence survivors has taken her to seven major cities: Rio de Janeiro, Dublin, Houston, New York City, Philadelphia, Hyderabad, and Washington D.C. She currently serves as the Executive Assistant to the Board of Directors at the Asian/Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project. In March 2025, Maya represented Honoring Irish Victims of Domestic Abuse as a Youth Delegate at the 69th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. She is dedicated to documenting survivor stories and using narrative as a tool for resource-based action.

I investigate how digital materiality and sensory perception shape the ways we experience presence across physical and virtual environments. My practice spans interactive installations, VR, and speculative design, with a focus on touch as a mediator between material and immaterial spaces. Rather than replicating physical reality, I aim to challenge conventional ideas of immersion and open new ways of inhabiting the digital.

I’m Nikka Reyes, a Communications and Psychology major at Irvine Valley College. Although I earned my first bachelor’s in the Philippines, I’m pursuing another degree for a career in Speech-Language Pathology. I serve as a Peer Mentor for IVC’s ELEVATE AAPI Program and as president of the AAPI Club. I love research and meeting new people, while recharging through quiet moments in nature, tea, and books. I’m currently exploring ASL, which has opened a new world of understanding about the deaf community. My dream is to someday travel the world for work and pleasure, appreciating the diversity of human experiences.

Shivani Parikh is a racial justice and civil rights advocate for South Asian Americans. She is committed to trauma-informed movement lawyering that expands immigrants’ rights, curtails the War on Terror’s surveillance project, and provides legal strategic support for working-class Desi families who are building power. This especially includes households led by taxi drivers, delivery bikers, street vendors, domestic workers, and line cooks. She was recognized in this year’s City & State Queens Power 100 list for her impact. Shivani’s work builds durable civic and legal infrastructure so South Asian communities can thrive with dignity, visibility, and self-determination.

Sunny is committed to building Asian American Studies curriculum for youth in New York City. Drawing upon her previous teaching and mentoring experience, she focuses on curating an accessible and holistic toolkit for high schoolers to learn about Asian America. She aims to gather existing initiatives regarding K-12 AAPI curriculum and partner with local non-profit organizations in New York City.

Thiên Thanh Nguyễn is a fourth-year student at Emory University, studying Sociology and Economics. He is a 1.5-generation Vietnamese American, having been born in Vietnam and then raised in Seattle, Washington. Thiên is interested in pursuing his Ph.D. in sociology after Emory and then eventually becoming a university professor. As a first-generation, limited-income student, he is deeply aware of the educational inequalities students face within our current education systems. Thiên’s current and future research will aim to uncover the mechanisms driving these issues, with the goal of informing policies that positively impact students.

Tony Shen earned a B.S. in Government and Politics from the University of Maryland, where he developed a strong interest in the intersection of technology and public policy. He worked on fair housing reform, accessible housing demand, and civil rights enforcement at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. He is currently pursuing an M.S. in Analytics at the Georgia Institute of Technology, focusing on statistical methods, data visualization, and computational tools for policy research. His work is driven by a commitment to using rigorous, data-driven approaches to better understand emerging technologies and their implications for governance and national security.