SAN JOSE, Calif. - In common unity, they came. In community, they left. Building Local Power, the main focus and theme of the third annual Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (uNAVSA) leadership conference brought together over 200 student leaders across North America to share in their ideas, experiences, struggles and successes. Over the weekend of July 13-16, Vietnamese-American students convened in the city of San Jose, Califonia for the uNAVSA-3 conference, co-hosted by the United Vietnamese Student Associations (UVSA) of Northern California.

With over 25 staffers and over 30 speakers, presenters and performers, uNAVSA offered its attendees a wide spectrum of workshops, keynotes speakers, presentations, networking opportunities and performances over the four day conference on the San Jose State University campus.

A plethora of workshops engaged and challenged attendees. From explosive issues based workshops such as. “Vietnamese Students Studying Abroad (Du Sinh)” were discussed in friendly terms. to project management, membership recruitment and retention workshops as guides for local VSAs and regional umbrella organizations in following with the theme of: “Building Local Power.” Additionally Cultural and community focused workshops such as the “Finding Our Voices” workshop presented by Do Le Anh Dao, Ham Tran and Vu Tran empowered attendees to look into their past, reconnect it with their present and build on their futures.

Last year, the philanthropic group Vietnamese Alliance to Combat Trafficking (VietACT) was chosen, by the votes of the conference attendees, as the beneficiary of the inaugural uNAVSA Collective Philanthropy Project. Continuing into its second year, the 2006-2007 CPP campaign will benefit the Catalyst Foundation. Though Aid to Children Without Parents (AWCP) and International Children Assistance Network (ICAN) were not selected, attendees were educated about their issues and causes, helping them better understand what organizations exist to combat specific issues in the Vietnamese and Vietnamese American community.

Committed to developing the future leaders of the Vietnamese-American community, the conference closed with the election of the 2006-2007 uNAVSA Executive Board and Council of Regional Representatives (CoRR). Conference attendees voted and filled every position with qualified candidates who will serve the constituents of uNAVSA for a two year term.

2006-2007 Executive Board

President- Tôn Thất Hải
Internal VP- Trần Ngọc Huy
External VP- Nguyễn Thanh Minh
Treasurer- Aileen Phạm Hoàng Aí Liên
Secretary- Victor Nguyễn-Liêu Hữu Thịnh

2006-2007 CoRR Reps

Central- TBD
Eastern- Allison Cramer
Northern California- Ngô Thiên Bảo
Southern California- Stephanie Nguyễn-Liêu Uyển Phụng & Tiffany Nguyễn-Liêu Diểm Phụng
Midwest- Lý Lisa
New England- Lê Phương Thảo (PT) & Nguyễn Minh Thức
Northwest- TBD (Quốc An temporarily)
Southeast- Peter Nguyễn
Southwest- TBD
Southern- Elizabeth Nguyễn
Eastern Canada- TBD
Western Canada- TBD

The Union of North American Vietnamese Students Associations (uNAVSA), a non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization, was founded in 2004 as a means for Vietnamese youth organizations from across North America to network, share common resources, and collaborate with one another. Our primary members are the leaders and staff of Vietnamese Student Associations (VSAs) at college and university campuses in North America, as well as regional umbrella VSA groups, but we also draw from our network of relationships with young working professionals.

http://www.unavsa.org
http://www.norcaluvsa.org
http://www.vietact.org
http://www.catalystfoundation.org
http://www.acwp.org
http://www.ican2.org