Young Asian American Storytellers (YAAS)

CERI’s Youth Leadership program has partnered with Asian Refugee United and Korean Community Center of the East Bay to reach youths from Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asian populations. Young Asian American Storytellers (YAAS) is based on three pillars: Community Organizing, Mental Health Awareness and Storytelling. We create spaces for mentorship that disrupts the cycle of violence and silence. Through Southeast Asian (SEA) studies, personal storytelling and mental health awareness, students will explore their identities and connections to SEA history and uncover how the diaspora and intergenerational trauma and wisdom impacts the community today. Young leaders are empowered to take on leadership roles, organize actions, build deep relationships, and showcase their experiences through various forms of expression.
YAAS Leaders continue to engage in several social justice actions including: letter writing to folks inside prison, public rallies at the capital, peaceful protests at ICE detention centers, signing petitions, making art, participating in political teach-ins, and celebrating the freedom of loved ones who have returned home!
We aim to provide strength-based, trauma-informed, and culturally relevant services through the lens of racial, socio-economic, LGBTQQIA+ justice. All youth leaders will have access to mental health services, care coordination, emergency funds, transportation, gift-card stipends and nutritious food.