Born in 1999 in California, Katherine grew up in Thousand Oaks as a first-generation Chinese American in a Mandarin-speaking household, with her parents having immigrated from China. She is best known for her Mandarin-language cover of Coldplay's "Yellow," which served as a pivotal emotional cue in the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians. A former contestant on NBC's The Voice, Katherine has since lent her vocals to various film and theme park soundtracks, including "Endless Sky" from the 2021 animated feature Wish Dragon and "Parental Love" for the 2024 EPCOT nighttime spectacular Luminous: The Symphony of Us.

As a pharmacist and teacher, Samantha works on helping others share their voice to be heard.  She encourages her teams to use their voice to serve patients and to teach, educate, and mentor others to become strong advocates for health. It is one of her life goals to ensure healthcare professionals learn to use their voice so they can make the change they believe is needed in society. Today, she serves in many leadership roles, including the founding of her own consulting company, TeshRx. 

Lisa is on a mission to help more Asian women gain leadership representation. Despite not having many role models, she became the mentor she always needed and forged her own path. This led her to create Project EmpowerHER. After raising $3 million with the Asian Mental Health Collective, she embraced her mission to be the big sister she always wished she had and light the path for future Asian women leaders. By mentoring high schoolers through funding and community-driven projects, she is now creating new opportunities in leadership development. 

As a transportation engineer, Ashley works diligently to design safer futures for highway drivers. She wants to help the community avoid crashes and promote safe traffic practices. Ashley's mission is to protect the most vulnerable people on roads and create an effective transportation system which is based on safety and security. She has a strong belief that when on the road, it is everyone's responsibility to ensure everyone gets home safely to their loved ones.

Being Chinese-South African, Mekyla has experience with different cultures around the world. Her goal is to create a global community of sisterhood with women across different continents and to help empower women of all backgrounds to strive for their dreams and the growth of other women in the community.

Allison quickly learned the importance of parental support during her childhood during the pandemic.  Like many students during that time, she lost her sense of self but was lucky enough to find her way through the darkness. Today, as a high school senior, she runs a nonprofit called SYLC (Summit Youth Leadership Club), to help teenagers develop the communication and leadership skills for the future. Her mission is to help the next generation regain what was lost during the quarantine and create a future of young, confident leaders ready to make a difference. 

Born in the entertainment capital of the world, Joanna's childhood environment had a profound effect and set her on a course very early in her life. Her mission is to build her own hotel empire in Las Vegas and create one of the most amazing hotel experiences in the world. She is currently studying hotel administration at Cornell University and has already completed internships with Marriott. Joanna is already looking at positions in the near future to manage a hotel upon her college graduation. 

Celeste has a strong passion for her Chinese community—especially when it comes to the topic of their well-being and housing.  At real estate nonprofits and with the Lions Club, she has helped host panels and webinars in Chinese to inform and empower seniors within the Chinese neighborhoods. She has a strong belief that housing justice means language access, legal support, and outreach. 

AWA provides a space for Asian women, Asian-American women, and allies of all identities to gather in solidarity with one another and deepen their understanding of ethnic identity while creating lasting bonds. It is an ethnic, cultural and social organization and works to raise awareness about Asian women's identities and gender-based violence, It stands in solidarity with other women of color and aims to educate community members about cultural identity, to be of service to local women’s shelters, and host fun social events.

As a doctor, Alice has a passion for mental health, which prompted her to create a mental health program in Chicago’s Chinatown to help parents better support their children’s mental well-being. She utilized Mandarin and local community therapists to overcome cultural divides.  Now, as she is continuing her medical journey at UCSF in San Francisco, she is excited about the opportunity to recreate this program in the Bay, as well as publish her findings in a scientific journal to extend her impact not just locally, but across the country.