Vince Ywj Pheej Moua is a queer son of Hmong refugees who was born and raised in Merced, California. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity with a concentration in Education and Health Disparities from Stanford University. He is currently pursuing his master’s degree at Teachers College, Columbia University where one of his many academic interests explores how racial interstitiality—in conversation with socioeconomic class divides, forced immigration/migration patterns, and processes of oral/aural raciolinguistic acquisition—affects interpretations of storied deservingness, belonging, and merit in undergraduate admission evaluation processes. He values greatly the importance of storytelling in transforming understandings of self and systems.

Vince has over 11 years of national and international work experience in teaching, counseling, DEI recruitment, selective admissions, student services, and AAPI outreach. His deep and intentional work with students from marginalized communities has informed the ways through which he centers lived human experiences in his approach to shaping organizational and programmatic transformation and the reimagination of schooling. He believes in culturally sensitive, equity-centered, transparent, self-reflective, and data-driven strategic career planning and college counseling that allow for the creation of justice-affirming learning environments and economically liberating pathways of success.

In his free time, Vince enjoys reading science-fiction, thrifting, chasing sunsets, watching Survivor, and hyping friends up with impromptu photoshoots!

The motivation to create AASPIRES came from my unwavering commitment to ensuring that students, especially those from minoritized and/or underserved backgrounds, see themselves represented in leaders who share similar stories as theirs and are unafraid of advocating for their rights to thrive at and beyond any institution of learning.

As an undergraduate student, I entered Stanford without the linguistic or social capital to express dialogues of hegemonic power that were intrinsic in shaping my journey through halls and classrooms never built for me. With few mentors who shared my background, I struggled with feelings that could not be fully understood unless you originate from a people who have been stripped, time and time again, of their lexicon for home. Yet, despite these challenges, I always found community in the shared interdependence that so many Southeast Asian and refugee communities value. It is in these communities that I found my amazing co-conspirators (Lilian, Sandy, Van Anh, Gaozong, Davis, and Soly) who saw and understood the vision of AASPIRES and agreed to become co-founders with me on this journey of supporting young folks who so rarely ever see themselves represented at institutions of higher learning. Their beliefs in the power of AASPIRES kept me going throughout the arduous process of receiving 501(c)3 status.

More than anything, I continue to be motivated by the awe-inspiring young people in our communities. I am continuously moved by these young changemakers and holders of knowledge who have shared their stories with AASPIRES. This work is nothing without their dedication to furthering themselves and their communities. I am also grateful to the parents and families who have entrusted their children to AASPIRES. Know that we care for them like they are our own. It’s hard to not stay motivated when I see all of the smiles and tears of happiness that AASPIRES has brought in just 3 years. So with that, I’ll end by saying that I am motivated to keep fighting the good fights!

Email: vince@aaspires.org