Going into 2025, I promised myself I’d share more about what’s happening behind the scenes at AZN AMERICANA. Since February is the new January… here we go!
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In 2023, Connie Chweh and I founded AZN AMERICANA because we felt there weren’t enough dedicated spaces and programs for Asian women & femmes to celebrate community, connect, and permit themselves to explore their personal and professional dreams in fun (not stuffy) relatable spaces.
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In 2024, we became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with the support of our fiscal sponsor Global Day of Unplugging, which focuses on human connection and bringing people together in person. We also received our first major grant from the incredibly impactful Hinge One More Hour Fund led by Ebele Onyema, giving us the resources to host more in-person gatherings for our Asian women and femmes to connect, grow, and have fun.
We’ve now hosted >18 sold-out events ranging from smaller intimate gatherings to 1000+person festivals—all fostering new relationships from friendships to creative collaborations and beyond.
In its first 6 months, our Mentorship Program has received 550+ applications from Asian women & femmes seeking guidance. We’ve matched ~10% with incredible mentors like Medha Jaishankar Mana Yamaguchi, MBA Mina Park and many more.
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We impact-produced NEW WAVE, a documentary feature film directed by Elizabeth Ai. The film premiered at Tribeca Film Festival, and we’ve proudly supported it through a launch campaign, festivals, screenings, Q&As, a book release party, and even an official afterparty celebrating Vietnamese creativity.
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?? ???????????????? (??????) – Two community events:
A sold-out Lunar New Year celebration with The Standard Hotel on Feb 8.
A Corporate-to-Creative writing workshop led by lawyer-turned-novelist Kat Tang — her book Five Star Stranger recently published by Simon & Schuster —to support fellow creative dreamers on Feb 25.
Our Spring 2025 Mentorship Cohort will launch!
?? ?????????? (????????, ????????????) – AZN AMERICANA is heading to SXSW for the first time to host an official Asian Women’s Meet-Up on March 13. We’ll also have additional programming for non-badge holders, so stay tuned. Evelyn Rude Anh Lan Pham
?? ?????????? (??????????) – We’re bringing NEW WAVE to Texas as part of its 50 for 50 campaign in partnership with Elizabeth Ai Rachel Sine and their KILLER team.
As a native Texan (hence the AMERICANA in AZN AMERICANA), these last two are extra special—I’ve always dreamed of bringing these community efforts back home. Stay tuned for more here.
Transparently, I was VERY tired at the end of 2024, but I'm resting as hard as I'm working, so we are ready and excited to go ??????
If you’re in NYC or Texas these next couple of months, come join us! Let’s connect, collaborate, and celebrate together. ??
