Check Out Gwinnett Asian American Student Association (GAASA)’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gwinnett Asian American Student Association (GAASA). They and their team shared their story with us below:

Officially established in 2018, the Gwinnett Asian American Student Association is a collective of 20 Gwinnett Schools and their individual AASAs (Asian American Student Association) who all aim to preserve and educate the youth about Gwinnett’s Asian American and Pacific Islander culture, empower young leaders, and foster bonds between Gwinnett’s AAPI community and those interested. Though these AASAs run independently, GAASA becomes a platform of connection and interaction where the AASA officers and their members can participate in county-wide events.

At its establishment, GAASA already had over ten schools that were united under their common goal. Throughout the years, our influence on the Asian-American youth through our widespread events and diverse board of leaders across the county supported more schools in establishing their own AASA, doubling the size of our organization. Additionally, several other Asian cultural clubs have consistently joined our events, despite not being in Gwinnett. We now consistently have 100-200 students joining every event of ours!

We plan to continue to expand GAASA, starting with contacting schools from other counties that show high interest in our events. Our goal is to be able to rebrand as the Georgia Asian American Student Association and create subdivisions where each county can follow our lead in creating a community where culture is celebrated, and county-wide interaction is encouraged.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Very shortly after GAASA was established, COVID-19 greatly altered our daily way of life. Many events in 2020 and 2021 were canceled and we had high safety regulations for months after. GAASA lost some momentum because of that, and we had to heavily adjust to continue our mission while following safety regulations. GAASA began doing online game tournaments and was consistently active on social media as a way for our community to feel connected and involved from home.

Additionally, though the 2021 Atlanta Spa Shootings and the subsequent Stop Asian Hate movement did help us in bringing attention to discrimination towards the AAPI community, it became difficult for us to figure out how we could navigate and discuss serious, ongoing issues to teenagers as teenagers ourselves. With the support of our advisors and board, we were able to encourage our members to educate themselves and donate to charities.

GAASA is also completely student-run and therefore cannot be registered as a non-profit. It can sometimes be very difficult to organize events since we don’t have the assets a nonprofit typically has and have limited capabilities as minors. However, we have a wide network of people who help us, such as our adult sponsors and business sponsors.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
GAASA holds events at least once a month year-round that all involve supporting and connecting our community. Our monthly event is Foodie Friday, where we support a local Asian-owned business and allow Asian youth across the community to make new friends. We also have festive seasonal events, such as Summer Picnic and Winter Celebration, and fundraisers that allow us to have almost every event free of charge. Our most major events are Field Day and Banquet. Field Day is in the latter half of the calendar year where we emphasize teamwork and leadership in a free, county-wide Field Day with traditional Field Day games, such as relay races and tug of war, but with a cultural twist. Banquet is our GAASA signature and occurs in April as an end-of-school-year celebration. The GAASA Banquet focuses on cultural celebration and recognition of achievements by providing food, games, prizes, raffles, awards, and, most famously, student performances. These huge events are organized by our GAASA Executive Board (a selective team of individuals from across the county), supported by our GAASA Board (representatives from each of our 20 schools), and are welcome to anyone interested, disregarding ethnicity or county.

GAASA is not only known for our free events and leadership opportunities but also for being 100% student-led and therefore, well-catered to students. Because our board and executive board are made up of only students, we can work year-round, holding events in the summer, winter, and everything in between! These events always consist of activities, incentives, and opportunities that high school students are interested in and often incorporate today’s trends. Our social media are very up-to-date and attention-grabbing because, as teenagers, we understand what other teenagers would focus on most. Thus, we are proud to say we strategically use our advantage in understanding our audience to create enticing and realistic events and opportunities that foster cultural awareness and community for AAPI youth in Gwinnett.

However, just because GAASA is a student organization does not mean we are unable to expand our horizons. GAASA has worked with countless businesses for both fundraisers and sponsorship and frequently works with nonprofit organizations to host events that we would not be able to do by ourselves. Through our wide network, we are truly able to involve our entire community in empowering our youth to become advocates for their culture and enrich our cultural experiences.

Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
If you would like to support GAASA, you can follow our Instagram (@gwinnettaasa) or donate to us using the link on our website. All donations go directly towards GAASA events and GAASA scholarships. If you would like to partner with us by becoming a sponsor or would like your donation to go towards a specific cause, please contact us!

GAASA just launched our Monthly Newsletter, a platform where we can share upcoming GAASA events, recaps, and any announcements to members of our community. If you would like to receive a monthly newsletter, whether you are a student, business, organization, or just a curious community member, please email us ([email protected]) with the email you would like to receive the newsletters from!

We welcome any student or school who is interested in joining GAASA! You can contact us if you would like more details on how to do so.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://gwinnettaasa.wixsite.com/gwinnettaasa
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwinnettaasa/
• Other: Donation link: https://shorturl.at/xyET7