Leadership & Community
Communities I've helped build
The organizations and events where I've tried to turn what education gave me into something I can pass on.
Co-President · since 2020
Tutors for a Cause
Tutors for a Cause is an international education nonprofit that teaches English to underserved students in Vietnam, including at Phu Hai School in Huế. I joined as a remote tutor in eighth grade; today, as Co-President, I direct an international team of 15 tutors serving more than 200 Pre-K through 7th grade students. Over shared classroom monitors and unreliable connections, our students travel to a school computer lab just to get online — and keep showing up anyway.
This past summer I went beyond the screen, interviewing my students about the physical, economic, informational, and relational obstacles between them and an education — and wrote a feature article, with photojournalism, about what I found.
Curriculum expansion
Working with local educators, I diagnosed the systemic obstacles in our classrooms — unreliable technology, few books at home, and students too nervous to speak up. Then I designed and compiled an original suite of gamified lesson materials to make practice feel like play and keep students engaged between sessions.
Leadership initiatives
As Co-President, I've helped grow Tutors for a Cause from one eighth-grade volunteer into an international team of 15 tutors. I also tell our students' stories: my feature "Beyond the Screen," photographed by Rocco Ho, is being pitched to national and diaspora outlets to raise awareness and support for the program.
Photography by Rocco Ho, Huế, Vietnam.
Organizer · Asian & Asian American Association
Asian American Footsteps Conference
As President of our school's Asian & Asian American Association, a 100+ member affinity group, I organized the regional Asian American Footsteps Conference for more than 200 students from over 20 schools — managing the programming, marketing, and logistics.
For a girl who is often "the only one from Vietnam" in the room, AAFC is the rare space where the quiet parts don't need explaining. I wanted every student who came to feel that too.
Event recap
The day was full of stories that sounded like mine, from students who had turned that in-between feeling into art, activism, and leadership. I ran a dumpling workshop myself, and it became the conference's first session to sell out.
AAFC — with friends
Workshops
CommunityDirector · fall 2026
Special Olympics
I direct the regional Special Olympics event run by our campus's largest student-led organization, mobilizing more than 300 high school volunteers. I coordinate volunteer schedules, resources, and venue logistics, and partner with regional coaches to keep the day safe, inclusive, and high-energy for every competing athlete.
What the athletes taught me
A personal reflection on the experience, coming soon.
Event photos
Photos from recent Special Olympics events, coming soon.
With the athletes
More moments from volunteering days.
More ways I lead
- Peer Advisor, Mental Health Advocacy GroupCoaching underclassmen through academic and social stress, facilitating panels that destigmatize mental health, and organizing campus wellness events.
- Captain, Varsity Girls TennisTwo years leading warm-ups, drills, and team culture · Team MVP (2025) · ISL Sportsmanship Award (2024)
- Dorm ProctorPeer mentor for freshman boarders, mediating roommate conflicts and organizing common-room events.