The Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA) ( vi, Liên Hội Sinh Viên Việt Nam Bắc Mỹ Châu) is a

501(c) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...

(3) non-profit, community-based organization founded in 2004 as a means for

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

organizations from across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...

to network, share common resources, collaborate with one another to build strong sustainable communities, and engage in philanthropic work.

History

During the Third International Vietnamese Youth Conference in 2003 in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, there were initial talks for creating a network of

Vietnamese Student Association The Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA) ( vi, Liên Hội Sinh Viên Việt Nam Bắc Mỹ Châu) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, community-based organization founded in 2004 as a means for Vietnamese organizations from acro ...

s in

modeled after the Federal Vietnamese Students Association of Australia. Through a collaboration of the

Union of Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California The Union of the Vietnamese Student Associations of Southern California (Vietnamese:Tổng Hội Sinh Viên Việt Nam Nam Cali, often abbreviated as UVSA) is a 501(c) organization, 501(c)(3) non-profit, non-partisan, community-based and youth-ori ...

along with the New England Intercollegiate Vietnamese Student Association, the first North American Vietnamese Student Associations (NAVSA) conference was held in the Summer of 2004 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and with that NAVSA was born. Only with the second conference in 2005 in Chicago, was the name of NAVSA changed to The Union of North American Vietnamese Student Associations (UNAVSA) to better reflect that nature of this organization as a union.

Regional Partners

Conferences

The UNAVSA conference attracts hundreds of undergraduates, graduates, and young professionals from around the country participate in the multi-day event to hone their leadership skills, hold discussions with distinguished speakers, and explore issues in the Vietnamese community domestically and abroad. The majority of attendees are current and future officers of Vietnamese American student groups (VSAs, VSUs, UVSAs, etc.) seeking to develop personal leadership abilities, build organizational management skills and network with other leaders from around the country.

Collective Philanthropy Project

The CPP is an initiative created in 2004 for Vietnamese-American students and community organizations to collaborate toward a common charitable cause. The CPP's goal is to further UNAVSA's mission of developing leadership, preserving the Vietnamese heritage, and creating a unified national effort to help those in need. Each year, the top three candidates are asked to present their projects at the UNAVSA national conference. After the attendees vote, a beneficiary is announced at the conference banquet. In years past, CPP has partnered with several non-profit organizations, raising over $300,000 in the last seven years.

Presidents

The UNAVSA executive board is headed by the President. The current President is Phuc Hong Phan, who took over from Thoa Kim Nguyen in 2018 and will conclude his term at the UNAVSA Conference in 2020. The President is responsible for the strategic direction of UNAVSA and is tasked with ensuring the organization is operating within the scope defined by its partner organizations. {, class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%; text-align:left;" , + style="padding-top:1em;" , List of UNAVSA Presidents ! No. !! Name !! Region of origin !! Took office !! Left office !! Note , - , 1 , , Quoc Phan , , Southern California , , 4 July 2004 , , 31 July 2005 , , , - , 2 , , Tony Ngo , , Southern California , , 31 July 2005 , , 16 July 2006 , , , - , 3 , , Hai Ton , , Northern California , , 16 July 2006 , , 3 August 2008 , , First two-year President , - , 4 , , Brian Vo , , Mid-Atlantic , , 3 August 2008 , , 1 August 2010 , , , - , 5 , , Dan Huynh , , Midwest , , 1 August 2010 , , 29 July 2012 , , , - , 6 , , Lan Anh Nguyen , , Mid-Atlantic , , 29 July 2012 , , 27 July 2014 , , First female President , - , 7 , , My-Phuong Ly , , Midwest , , 27 July 2014 , , 24 July 2016 , , , - , 8 , , Thoa Kim Nguyen , , Southwest , , 24 July 2016 , , 5 August 2018 , , , - , 9 , ,

Phuc Hong Phan Phuc ( Phúc with diacritics) can refer to: People * Phan Thi Kim Phuc * Đặng Hữu Phúc (born 1953) is a Vietnamese pianist and composer best known for his film scores * Nguyễn Phúc Luân (阮福㫻, 1733–1765) was a son of lord Nguy� ...

, , Southeast , , 5 August 2018 , , 2020 , , , - , 10 , ,

Philip Nguyen Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philips who popularize ...

, , Northern California , , 2020 , , Present , , }

External links