ORGANIZERS
Pictured clockwise from top left: Christine Yến Tran-Phan; Lisa Le Ha; My Nguyen; Julie Vo
Christine Yến Tran-Phan (she/her/hers) is passionate about telling stories - whether they're about businesses or the Vietnamese-American experience. Currently, she is a core organizer for commongroundoc, an open mic space organized by Viet progressives, where she helped pave its 2020 virtual workshop and open mic platform. Her poem and art piece, “Was It Dark?” was exhibited in VAALA’s Generations: 40 Hues between Black and White in 2015, pictured here. Christine volunteered with Viet Film Fest as its Events and Marketing Director since 2018. She’s interested in revealing stories and overarching themes of the human experience through the topic of food, and has done so as the Project Director for the Illuminated Recipes Project by VAALA. Her love for the art of storytelling and narratives is rooted in listening to her great-grandma's stories as a child. Now, she is serving as the Managing Director for the Vietnamese Arts and Letters Association (VAALA).
Christine rebranded two technology networking companies and planned over 25 trade shows since 2012 as a digital marketing manager. She co-owned a small business in aquariums and tropical fish for five years. During that time, she volunteered for the World Pet Association to raise funds for the Pets in the Classroom grant at the America's Pet Expo annually. As a copywriter lead for Forge54 for the last three years, she helped rebrand nonprofit organizations like Ocean Institute of Dana Point and DreamsforSchools within a 54-hour time frame.
Julie Vo (she/her/hers) was born in Long Beach, California and raised in LA's South Bay where her acetone-scented dreams were conjured in her mom’s nail salon. She values the use of artistic expression to build community with intention and with an intersectional lens. Julie was a part of common ground open mic's founding organizing team in 2010 and can hardly believe common ground will be celebrating 10 years. Julie works in nonprofit fundraising & development for public schools in South Los Angeles. In her role. she works to develop and build partnerships while overseeing fundraising, marketing, grants and communication activities. She also serves on the Board of the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA), is the Advisory Board Chair of Orange County Environmental Justice, is a Steering Committee member of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and organizes with VietUnity-SoCal, National Progressive Viet Gathering and Hai Ba Trung School for Organizing (Los Angeles). Julie has taught at the Vietnam National Academy of Social Sciences and holds over 15 years of experience in community arts, journalism, non-profit development and fundraising. Her writing was awarded Best Advocacy Voice by The New American Media. She is continuously in awe of the community spirit and connectedness that is so palpable within the common ground space and looks forward to experiencing this fullness in a new (virtual) way.
March through July 2020 Cohort:
Lisa Le Ha (she/her/hers) ”Before attending my first common ground, I never knew of a space that provided a platform for Vietnamese Americans to share their love for art, healing, and the community. I discovered a hidden gem! Ever since then, it’s held a special place in my heart and I’m so excited to be back to help organize it in the virtual space!” Lisa first began organizing with common ground in 2012 and enjoys spending her free time baking, cooking and making fabulous videos. Follow her YouTube Channel here.
My Nguyen (he/her/they) was born in Vietnam and grew up in Kansas City. His mission is to build strong communities and to continue the work of sustainable advocacy by empowering marginalized communities. He began organizing in 2011 after his attendance at Youth Leadership Institute where he learned about institutionalized oppression and social issues. Understanding the power of advocacy and after hearing the stories of his inspirational undocumented friends, he began advocating for Undocumented Students with KSMODA (Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance) for In-state tuition within Missouri. As a homeless teen himself, he became a proponent of homeless youth while holding a Missouri Ambassador position in Youth Service of America. He moved to Orange County in 2018 in which he serves as the Citizenship Volunteer Coordinator at OCCORD continuing his advocacy within the immigrant community providing Free Naturalization services in the hope of OCCORD's mission of expanding our electorate. Today, he serves as the Community Organizer at OCCORD fighting for policies such as housing, labor, and economic development. He is also a Board member of Viet Rainbow of Orange County (VROC) a local Vietnamese LGBTQ+ organization working with marginalized LGBTQ+ community members in building a safe and visible space.
Christine rebranded two technology networking companies and planned over 25 trade shows since 2012 as a digital marketing manager. She co-owned a small business in aquariums and tropical fish for five years. During that time, she volunteered for the World Pet Association to raise funds for the Pets in the Classroom grant at the America's Pet Expo annually. As a copywriter lead for Forge54 for the last three years, she helped rebrand nonprofit organizations like Ocean Institute of Dana Point and DreamsforSchools within a 54-hour time frame.
Julie Vo (she/her/hers) was born in Long Beach, California and raised in LA's South Bay where her acetone-scented dreams were conjured in her mom’s nail salon. She values the use of artistic expression to build community with intention and with an intersectional lens. Julie was a part of common ground open mic's founding organizing team in 2010 and can hardly believe common ground will be celebrating 10 years. Julie works in nonprofit fundraising & development for public schools in South Los Angeles. In her role. she works to develop and build partnerships while overseeing fundraising, marketing, grants and communication activities. She also serves on the Board of the Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA), is the Advisory Board Chair of Orange County Environmental Justice, is a Steering Committee member of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative and organizes with VietUnity-SoCal, National Progressive Viet Gathering and Hai Ba Trung School for Organizing (Los Angeles). Julie has taught at the Vietnam National Academy of Social Sciences and holds over 15 years of experience in community arts, journalism, non-profit development and fundraising. Her writing was awarded Best Advocacy Voice by The New American Media. She is continuously in awe of the community spirit and connectedness that is so palpable within the common ground space and looks forward to experiencing this fullness in a new (virtual) way.
March through July 2020 Cohort:
Lisa Le Ha (she/her/hers) ”Before attending my first common ground, I never knew of a space that provided a platform for Vietnamese Americans to share their love for art, healing, and the community. I discovered a hidden gem! Ever since then, it’s held a special place in my heart and I’m so excited to be back to help organize it in the virtual space!” Lisa first began organizing with common ground in 2012 and enjoys spending her free time baking, cooking and making fabulous videos. Follow her YouTube Channel here.
My Nguyen (he/her/they) was born in Vietnam and grew up in Kansas City. His mission is to build strong communities and to continue the work of sustainable advocacy by empowering marginalized communities. He began organizing in 2011 after his attendance at Youth Leadership Institute where he learned about institutionalized oppression and social issues. Understanding the power of advocacy and after hearing the stories of his inspirational undocumented friends, he began advocating for Undocumented Students with KSMODA (Kansas Missouri Dream Alliance) for In-state tuition within Missouri. As a homeless teen himself, he became a proponent of homeless youth while holding a Missouri Ambassador position in Youth Service of America. He moved to Orange County in 2018 in which he serves as the Citizenship Volunteer Coordinator at OCCORD continuing his advocacy within the immigrant community providing Free Naturalization services in the hope of OCCORD's mission of expanding our electorate. Today, he serves as the Community Organizer at OCCORD fighting for policies such as housing, labor, and economic development. He is also a Board member of Viet Rainbow of Orange County (VROC) a local Vietnamese LGBTQ+ organization working with marginalized LGBTQ+ community members in building a safe and visible space.
