VABAW honors Thao Tran
Thao Tran (left) accepts the first-ever Vietnamese American Bar Association (VABAW) of Washington Community Service Award from Thi Huynh (right). The third annual VABAW banquet was held on Nov. 1 at the Women’s University Club of Seattle. Tran of Rainier Valley Community Development Fund was recognized for his work with Vietnamese businesses and as founding member of the Vietnamese American Economic Development Association (VAEDA).

Peace Trees Vietnam
Hiep Quach (left) and Denny Dang (right) of Weyerhaeuser and Peace Trees honorary advisor greet each other during the 11th anniversary luncheon for Peace Trees Vietnam, “Building the capacity for a safe and healthy future for the children and families of Quang Tri Province” held at Washington Athletic Club on Nov. 2. The organization focuses on humanitarian de-mining and sustaining communities living with the daily threat of landmines and Unexploded Ordnance in Vietnam.

ACRS: Faces of Community, Masks of Tradition
Molly Shen, co-anchor of KOMO 4 News, addresses an audience of 500 people as mistress of ceremonies for the Asian Counseling & Referral Service benefit dinner and auction on Oct. 21 at the Seattle Sheraton Hotel Grand Ballroom. ACRS raised nearly $140,000 at the dinner. Photo credit: Vivian Hsu, Team Photogenic.
Gov. Gregoire appoints chair of Liquor Control Board

2006 Community Leaders Program Project produces “brown” paper for MEDC
The Asian Community Leadership Foundation held a dinner graduation on Thursday, Nov. 2 at Seattle Sheraton Hotel. This year, the Community Leaders Program Class of 2006 played an important role in strengthening the community’s voice by conducting a group project in service of the Minority Executive Directors Coalition (MEDC). Each year, MEDC holds a Unity Day in Olympia in which members educate state legislators on issues of concern to communities of color. The Class of 2006 developed a “brown” paper on the subject of education, focusing on curriculum content and teachers, to guide MEDC in its policy stances for future years. They interviewed and surveyed key stakeholders, including teachers, social workers, and community leaders, conducting research to create recommendations to support MEDC in its advocacy work. The Class of 2006 presented its findings to members of MEDC and ACLF on Oct. 26.

Nori Catabay, 2006 ACLF Board President, said: “With this education reform policy paper, MEDC will be able to organize more community members to voice their concerns and put forward recommendations that will advance better funding and policy changes that will result in increased success for our children. This will be a vehicle to empower more individuals to speak up for our children so a better future is attainable, and access to their ambitions is achievable.”
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