Vietnamese American Youth Alliance

Background

The Vietnamese American Youth Alliance (V.A.Y.A), a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan, community-based organization, was founded in 2004 as a means for Vietnamese American youth to organize socially and culturally within the local communities.

VAYA Mission

At VAYA, we work to promote youth leadership, cultural awareness, social activism, and community development. This is our mission. Everything we do reflects this mission and the values that make it possible.

Our Values

As an organization, and as individuals, we value:

• Integrity and honesty.
• Openness and respectfulness.
• Taking on big challenges and seeing them through.
• Constructive self-criticism, self-improvement, and personal excellence.
• Accountability to our constituents, partners, and members for commitments, results, and quality.
• Passion for youth empowerment, for our friends and supporters, for community development of San Diego, and for a better future of Vietnam.

Our Organizational Goals

• Bringing together young professionals and students from different colleges and high schools to build unity and solidarity among Vietnamese American youths in San Diego
• Encouraging and recognizing the growth of leadership and services among Vietnamese American youths
• Creating and maintaining a network of established Allied Organizations to share common resources, cross-promote local events, and learn from one another
• Empowering Vietnamese American youths in activism and social justice
• Promoting Vietnamese American culture, language, and history

Our Activities

• Annual conferences and retreats to educate youths on leadership , organizational management, and community development issues.
• Annual Common Charitable Project(s) that unite San Diego youths and allied organizations behind a common charitable cause. Among these include the VAYA Tet Festival, the Street Cleanup, and the Commemoration of April 30, 1975.
• Other immediate, unspecified projects to support community issues.

Staff