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ASPIRE+PLLUS Logo

 

Welcome to ASPIRE+PLLUS

ASPIRE+PLLUS is a student support program that helps minimize barriers in marginalized communities within the AAPI community to promote academic and personal success among students. The acronym stands for Asian Pacific Islander Resources for Excellence plus Powerful Leadership and Learning for Unified Success.

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Our Services

Career Mentorship

  • Provide students with culturally responsive one-on-one and group mentorship sessions
  • Preparation for internship, work-experience learning, and career placement opportunities aligned with students’ academic majors

Mental Health Support

ASPIRE+PLLUS is dedicated to the well-being of students, recognizing the unique challenges Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) students face in regard to mental health and wellness.

  • Workshops, discussion groups, and coping spaces.
  • Focused on AAPI Mental Health awareness and discussion.
  • Opportunities to learn and access mental health resources available both on campus/community.
  • Providing a platform for learning and sharing experiences.

Student Leadership

  • Connecting with other students at our weekly Kick-It Space
  • Student conferences & leadership trainings
  • Networking and receiving mentorship from members
  • Becoming a student ambassador
  • Coordinating student events

Digital Literacy

We're currently working on this. Please stay tune!

Upcoming Workshops/Events
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Khmer (Cambodian) New Year Flyer (1)

Khmer (Cambodian) New Year

Join ASPIRE+PLLUS and Cambodian American Resource Agency (CARA) for the Annual Cambodian/Khmer New Year Cultural Show and Celebration on Saturday, April 27th from 3-6:30 PM at Evergreen Valley College, Performing Arts Theater (VPA).

This event is FREE for EVC students and staff!

Come and enjoy performances by talented Cambodian artists and masters from the Bay Area, Lowell, and Long Beach.

The event begins at 3:00 PM with a reception offering food and drinks for purchase, and the main show begins at 4:30 P.M., featuring live traditional music, dance, and vocal performances with a 15-minute intermission. We hope to see you for an evening of cultural celebration and community connection.

Tickets Information: 

  • EVC Students & Staff (Free): Register Link
    • If you want to invite Friends & Family, or want to purchase tickets as a way to donate to the free community program, please look below for the Community Register Link
  • Community: Register Link

#IAmRemarkable Workshop w/ Shake Sulikyan

Facilitator: Shake Sulikyan (she/her)

She is a Gold-trained #IAmRemarkable facilitator and nonprofit executive with over two decades of experience in aligning talent and resources for large-scale initiative. She launched her consultancy in January 2022 to support social impact organizations and marginalized leaders. Also serving as an Executive Search Consultant and Senior Advisor with Boyden

In this workshop, you will: 

  • Learn data and research regarding self-promotion and bias
  • Participate in exercises that help you articulate your achievements and practice self-promotion
  • Have a discussion and get take-home exercises to continue working on your self promotion muscles

Date: May 6th, 2024

Location: Gullo II

Time: 12 p.m. -  1:30 p.m.

For more information, please contact kara.has@evc.edu or aspirepllus@evc.edu

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#IAmRemarkable Workshop with Shake Sulikyan 1
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Spring 2024 - Weekly Kick-It Space

Kick-It Space

Connect with peers and faculty while enjoying light snacks. No need to register, all you need to do is show up!

Time: Spring 2024 - Every Wednesday from 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Location: MS-296

  • Direction to MS-296: 2nd Floor of MS3 building. Go to Offices area across from MS-207. When you come in, turn right and walk all the way to the end of the hall, and MS-296 will be on your left. 

 

 

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Our Purpose

Throughout the duration and aftermath of COVID-19, there has been a spark of further marginalization of the AAPI community as many sociopolitical factors catalyzed an anti-Asian culture climate, especially through students living and working in Silicon Valley. 

ASPIRE+PLLUS is a federal grant under the Department of Education’s Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISI) program, awarded to Evergreen Valley College in 2022. This grant is intended to increase the capacity of student support to the ASPIRE Academic Program created in 2000, which was to support the growth of EVC's Asian student population by providing scholarships, tutoring, and academic counseling. In the past couple of years, COVID-19, anti-Asian sentiment, and remote learning began to negatively impact the AANAPI community, presenting more nuanced challenges to our EVC students. 

Because of this, ASPIRE+PLLUS strives to scale up the program's activities to not only mitigate the sociopolitical effects of COVID-19, but to also provide mental health and wellness access, technology access, and relieve the costs of education. This will allow for students from the AAPI community from all backgrounds to be successful.

ASPIRE+PLLUS is federally funded by DOE PR# P031L220022

Our Team

ASPIRE+PLLUS

Student Support Program

SC-214B (inside International Student Program, Student Services Building)

Dung Vu

ASPIRE+PLLUS Program Supervisor

SC-214B (inside International Student Program, Student Services Building)

Brandon Yanari

Director, Student Outreach & Recruitment
M.A.

First Stop Center, Admissions & Records Building

Tomoko Ha

ASPIRE+PLLUS Career Mentor
MBA

Melissa-Ann Nievera-Lozano

Chair/Professor
Ph.D.

MS-242

Kara Has

Mental Health Coordinator
PsyD

SC-117A

Thanh Bui

ASPIRE+PLLUS Program Specialist

First Stop Center, Admission & Records Building