About Us
Virginia He - Executive Director
Virginia (she/her) is the current Marketing Director for UCA Youth. She is a current junior in high school and has a passion for communications and youth activism. Outside of UCA, she is involved in local and national organizing managing marketing, social media, and press for a variety of other groups. In her free time, she enjoys reading, drawing, and scrolling through Twitter.
Esther Luan - Vice Director
Esther Luan is a senior at Saratoga High School and rising freshman at UC Berkeley who for the last three years has worked in youth organization Young American Policy Advocates to empower and educate Bay Area student advocates and the causes they believe in. At school, she is involved with advocacy regarding sexual violence and mental health, is a student journalist, and founded a submissions platform for student outreach with thousands of published entries. She is passionate about cultural identity and community, and hopes to help mobilize and inspire Chinese American youth of all backgrounds through her involvement in UCA.
Samuel Cao - Coordinator
Sam is excited to be a part of this convention. Sam joined UCA because he wanted to connect more with his heritage as well as advocate for the civil rights of our community. Outside of UCA, he is the youngest candidate to ever run in Ohio. He is running for the Ohio House of Representatives, and Sam is hoping to bring change, common sense, and representation of the youth and Asian-Americans to Columbus.
Stephanie Luong - Coordinator
Stephanie Luong is a marketing/communications coordinator for UCA. She is an upperclassman in high school with an interest in business. Stephanie enjoys watching Asian dramas and trying new food places in the city. She is excited to connect with other Chinese members who share similar experiences to her.
Daniel Ma - Coordinator
Daniel is a rising senior from Naperville, Illinois attending the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. Apart from his passions in mathematics and economics, Daniel has always been fervent about advocating for Chinese culture and rights in the U.S., joining UCA to further bolster youth voices on the topic. In his free time, Daniel loves to listen to music, collect vinyl, and read about the latest news in the financial world.
Elizabeth Tian - Coordinator
Elizabeth Tian (mainly goes by Liz) is passionate about AAPI representation in media, politics, and inclusivity and growth of Asian youth. She is also working on a podcast addressing and raising awareness for various issues in society! Liz is interested in business, economics, and in her free time, loves eating, MMA and kickboxing.
Edward Zhang - Coordinator
Edward Zhang is a senior from Peoria, Illinois and he attends the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. He is passionate about topics in business/entrepreneurship and spreading awareness of these skills in the Chinese-American community. His hobbies include digital media production, golf, and robotics. He is excited to be the social media manager on the UCA youth council to support the activism for Chinese Americans and to continue his passions in graphic design and video editing.
Jenny Deng - Volunteer
Jenny (she/her) is a rising high school junior from Chicago currently living in Texas. She joined UCA to become more involved in the Chinese-American community, shine a light on the unique cultural and generational struggles faced by AAPI youth, and gain valuable experience and applicable skills in the process. She is also a huge proponent of Les Mis, impressionism, and dark chocolate.
Shirley Lin - Volunteer
Shirley is currently a high school junior at Kent School, CT. She appreciates and takes pride in her cultural heritage, and she hope to raise awareness to celebrate and share our cultural differences. By joining UCA Youth, Shirley strongly believes that we could empower the young Chinese generation to improve our representation in social engagement. In her free time, she is passionate about dance (I do mostly k-pop & jazz), pipa, and basketball!