For American high school students, gaining admission to the United States’ top colleges is a difficult process. It’s even more challenging though if you’re a high school student in Vietnam who isn’t familiar with American culture and the U.S. educational system. Khoa Pham, 23, noticed this unmet need for help in navigating the admissions process and formed VietAbroader. The organization provides information, guidance, and networking to make Vietnamese students competitive for admission and scholarships to top U.S. universities. The group also serves as a bridge linking local students in Vietnam with Vietnamese students studying overseas. Since its founding in 2004, VietAbroader has held two conferences attended by more than 1,000 Vietnamese students and parents. In the past two years, over 100 students attending those conferences have gotten admission and scholarships to U.S. colleges. To learn more about how Khoa and VietAbroader are making a U.S. college education attainable for Vietnamese students, check out this week’s Non-profit Spotlight.
Brian Gee’s company, Aragon Consulting Group (ACG), is growing at a stratospheric rate. Started in January 2006 with just seven people, the IT consulting company had expanded to a team of 60 halfway through this year. It recently raised venture capital that is expected to take it to a team of 60 by the end of next year, and possibly as many as 1,000 in four years. ACG provides clients with onsite-offshore IT consulting services by combining onsite project management with cost-effective offshore software development from its China-based engineering team. As Chief Executive Officer, Brian, 32, manages the rapid growth of his company and works with clients to map out their IT and product-development strategies. To learn more about Brian and ACG, check out this week’s Young & Professional Profile.
Some of the most eye-opening experiences in life come from immersing oneself in another culture and having long-held beliefs challenged. Such exposure to other cultures promotes cross-cultural understanding and increases cultural literacy. The nonprofit organization VIA (Volunteers in Asia) has facilitated such cultural experiences through its educational and service programs for Americans and Asians. Volunteers from the United States serve as English teachers and English resource staff in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. Students from Asian countries participate in language and cultural programs at Stanford University. VIA has intentionally kept itself small so it can provide specialized and high-quality support to the participants in its programs. Since 1963, VIA has sent more than 1,600 Americans to 15 Asian countries and brought more than 4,000 Asians to the United States. As Executive Director of VIA, Scott Sugiura, 39, oversees these cultural-exchange programs. To learn more about him and VIA, check out this week’s Nonprofit Spotlight.
Are young professionals influential in the workplace? Yes, absolutely. If you were to ask this same question a decade ago, the answer would be quite the opposite. We’re responsible for changing traditional methods of communication (think IM, text messaging, emails at odd hours), we’re bolder and more demanding than previous generations and as a population we have a ‘smarter than thou’ presence (this of course attributed to being immersed in technology since birth). More importantly, we’re adaptable to the changing times. Let’s take a closer look at the stats and psychographics around Gen Y @ work, shall we?
Many people think that TV reporters just stand in front of the camera and talk. However, crafting a polished, compelling story that lets viewers not just watch the story, but experience it, requires tremendous preparation and behind-the-scenes work — all while under strict deadline. TV Reporter Jeff Tang, 25, of Newschannel 5, CBS’s affiliate in Nashville, TN, has a keen grasp of the art of reporting, and he has already won two regional Emmy Awards to prove it. He looks for story ideas, identifies people to interview, goes out and interviews them, reviews the video, writes the stories for three separate newscasts, edits them, and then finally speaks in front of the camera. Jeff is passionate about his work of finding people and telling their stories, and as a general assignment reporter, he enjoys being able to cover something different each day. To learn more about award-winning TV reporter Jeff Tang, dive into this week’s Young & Professional Profile.
San Francisco is well known for having high housing costs. So what do you do if you’re one of the city’s lowest-income residents? If you’re in Chinatown, the person to see just might be David Ho, 29. David discovered a passion for social justice advocacy in college, and since then he has made a career for himself as a professional activist, helping some of Chinatown’s most vulnerable residents. As a Senior Community Organizer at San Francisco’s Chinatown Community Development Center, David counsels low-income people in the area on housing issues. He also provides eviction-prevention defense work and advocacy on behalf of vulnerable members of the community. For 30 years, the Chinatown Community Development Center has dedicated itself to bringing improvements to housing, transportation, and open spaces, as well as providing affordable housing and tenant services. To learn more about the organization and David’s advocacy work, check out this week’s Nonprofit Spotlight.
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