►
Description
With special guests;
Key Note Speaker - Sonia Johnston,
Arlington County Board Member Matt de Ferranti,
Comedian Vijai Nathan,
Musical performance Prakriti Deuja & Telly Tucker
A
A
A
The
theme
for
2022
is
advancing
leaders
through
collaboration
as
referenced
by
the
federal
asian
pacific
american
council.
They
cite
that
collaboration
at
its
core
requires
leadership.
It
improves
team
dynamics,
enhances
problem,
solving
and
innovation,
improves,
communication
and,
ultimately,
overall
success.
B
B
Who
then
became
long-time
mayor
of
san
jose
california,
a
longtime
congressman,
helped
our
country
acknowledge
the
misdeeds
that
we
had
done
in
world
war
ii
with
respect
to
japanese
americans
and
became
secretary
of
transportation.
So,
as
is
often
true,
we
face
continued
challenges
with
being
the
country
in
the
place
that
we
should
be.
B
B
May
22
may
2022,
as
asian
american
native
hawaiian
and
pacific
islander
heritage
month
in
arlington
county
and
call
upon
the
residents
of
the
county
to
observe
this
occasion
by
participating
in
activities
that
highlight
the
contributions
of
asian
americans,
native
hawaiians
and
pacific
islanders
to
our
society
in
general
and
to
arlington
county
in
particular,
and
to
further
encourage
and
urge
all
county
employees
of
asian
native
hawaiian
and
pacific
islander
descent
to
participate
actively
in
the
celebration
of
their
heritage
month.
In
the
spirit
of
sharing
their
cultural
diversity
and
richness.
C
D
Thank
you
han
for
the
introduction.
Thank
you
matt
mark
dave.
I
know
I'm
missing
others
for
joining
us
and
celebrating
commemorating
asian
and
hispanic
sorry,
asian
american
and
pacific
islander
heritage
month.
It's
really
great
to
see
you
all
here
great
to
see
everyone
in
person.
Thank
you
also
to
juan
and
aha
for
putting
on
this
event.
It
takes
a
lot
of
work
and
time,
and
also
just
in
general,
for
supporting
aha
year
round
and
for
the
other
ergs.
We
really
do
appreciate
it.
D
So
last
year,
at
the
same
event,
you
all
heard
me
talk
a
little
bit
about
asian
american
contributions
to
american
society.
The
continuing
challenges
asian
americans
face
such
as
backlash
and
hate
crimes,
as
well
as
a
history
of
asian
americans
in
the
united
states.
So,
as
you
all
know,
the
first
asian
americans
were
filipino
and
arrived
here
in
1765
settling
in
louisiana.
D
So
it's
interesting
then
that,
despite
that
long
history,
asian
americans
still
continue
to
feel
perceived
as
foreign
other
or
not
sufficiently
american,
and
it's
precisely
that
kind
of
thinking
that
leads
to
violence
and
backlash.
Last
year's
fbi
report
on
hate
crimes
revealed
that
anti-asian
sentiment
saw
a
steeper
increase
than
against
any
other
similar
sentiment
of
any
demographic.
D
So
we,
the
county
procured,
as
you
all
know,
a
third
party
vendor-
to
conduct
a
study
on
barriers
to
equal
employment
opportunity
within
the
workforce.
That
project
took
about
a
year
and
extensive
analysis
of
data
focus
groups
and
surveys
of
employees
from
all
different
backgrounds
at
various
management
levels.
It
resulted
in
a
report
that
was
published
last
february
and
still
available
online
on
our
web
page.
D
As
far
as
what
we're
talking
about
today,
asian
employees
in
the
work
force
revealed
that
they
felt
perceived
as
not
american.
They
also
shared
concerns
about
microaggressions
in
the
workplace
as
well
as
concerns
about
general
generalizations
about
all
asians.
Unfortunately,
this
is
not
a
phenomena
unique
to
the
county
or
even
the
u.s.
D
Interestingly
enough,
just
last
week,
nbc
news
ran
an
article
wherein
a
survey
was
conducted
by
management,
consulting
company
banenko,
they
surveyed
10
thousand
employees
across
north
america,
the
u.s
and
australia,
to
show
that
asian
employees
felt
the
least
included
of
any
demographic
in
the
workplace.
Lower
scoring
were
asian
men.
D
D
As
far
as
what
what
this
means,
I
think
for
us
what
it
means
is
when
we're
talking
about
equal
employment
opportunity
and
trying
to
ensure
a
workplace
that
affords
everyone
equal
employment
opportunity,
we
need
to
focus
not
just
on
diversity,
but
also
inclusion.
So
what
that
looks
like
is,
we
need
to
look
at
our
culture.
D
A
A
A
She
grew
up
and
went
to
school
in
fairfax
county
received
her
undergraduate
degree
at
georgia,
mason
university
and
master's
degree
at
john
hopkins
university
she's
been
working
in
the
field
of
cyber
security
for
over
20
years
and
is
currently
in
cyber
security
engineer
at
the
mitre
company.
The
talent
is
full
in
this
family
tree.
Please
welcome
miss
monique
toe.
E
Hello,
everyone
first
off.
I
would
like
to
say
thank
you
and
it's
an
honor
to
be
asked
to
speak
here
at
the
asian
american
pacific
islander
appreciation
month
hosted
by
aha.
My
name
is
monique
toe
as
you
as
long
has
introduced.
I'm
here,
I'm
not
here
to
speak
about
me,
I'm
here
to
speak
about
my
aunt
sonja
johnston
to
introduce
her
and
to
share
her
story.
Her
legacy
on
how
she
became
a
true
leader
in
the
banking
industry,
particularly
in
arlington
county
throughout
sonya's
life.
E
She
has
gained
countless
qualities
of
a
genuine
leader,
as
well
as
a
loving
person
who
cares
deeply
for
her
family
friends
and
communities.
As
I
tell
sonia's
story,
I
will
try
to
highlight
sonia's
leadership,
qualities
how
she
continues
leveraging
and
collaborating
with
everyone
around
her
to
get
where
she
is
today,
a
strong,
talented
and
professional
businesswoman.
E
E
She
became
very
independent
with
the
support
of
her
family
and
the
people
that
she
knew
she
was
driven
to
be
to
do
better
in
school
and
learn
the
english
language.
She
was
not
a
traditional
vietnamese
girl
that
you
would
normally
see
she's,
not
shy.
She
would
not
stay
home
and
help
with
household
chores.
E
She
wouldn't
be
staying
home
to
take
care
of
her
siblings.
She
was
out
there
learning
more
about
the
western
culture.
She
was
more
intrigued
about
the
people's
freedom
and
independent,
especially
the
women's
rights
within
the
western
culture.
She
applied
what
she
learned
about
the
western
culture
and
adapted
it.
E
She
made
great
efforts
to
control
to
take
control
of
her
life
by
working
hard
to
support
her
family.
At
the
age
of
16.
She
quickly
became
an
independent,
outspoken,
intelligent
young
woman
with
those
qualities
she
was
mainly
responsible
for
nurturing
and
guiding
her
five
brothers
sonia's
strong,
aggressive
and
friendly
personality
gave
her
opportunities
to
meet
professionals
and
interact
with
the
americans
who
serve
her
country
during
the
vietnam
war.
E
E
Now
I
want
to
get
into
a
little
bit
into
about
her
career
at
the
age
of
18.
Sonia
started
her
career
during
the
vietnam
war
working
for
the
u.s
government.
She
was
hired
as
a
clerk
personnel
within
the
u.s
exchange
in
vietnam
and
then
later
was
promoted
to
be
an
interpreter
of
the
u.s
embassy
located
in
vietnam.
E
E
E
E
She
also
continued
to
reach
out
to
all
the
all
of
the
people
that
she
met,
while
working
during
the
war
and
a
few
of
the
people
actually
helped
her
got
her
jobs.
She
maintained
a
close
relationship
with
her
former
boss
and
his
family,
who
current
who
was
living
in
north
virginia
at
the
time
and
eventually
after
one
year
in
california,
she
decided
to
move
to
northern
virginia
to
seek
a
new
life
and
to
be
closer
to
her
sponsor
and
his
family.
E
In
1988,
she
helped
started
a
new
bank
and
then
became
the
vice
president
and
branch
manager
of
virginia
commerce
bank
1999.
She
became
the
executive
vice
president
business
development
for
james
monroe
bank,
which
was
bought
out
by
pnc
bank
and
in
2008
she
became
the
founder
and
regional
president
of
john
marshall
bank.
During
her
years
with
the
three
banking
groups,
she
was
fortunate
to
have
strong
people
supporting
her
and
working
with
her.
E
She
was
genuine
and
positive,
and
her
attitude
were
radiant.
Her
group
of
loyal
friends
and
workers
eventually
grew
for
over
40
years.
She
worked
hard
and
climbed
that
corporate
ladder
to
gain
her
successful
banking
career.
She
built
professional
relationships
with
her
managers
by
being
trustworthy
and
reliable.
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
E
These
are
the
people
that
worked
alongside
her
and
supported
her
throughout
her
career.
As
a
banker,
she
was
the
key.
She
was
the
key
to
this
was
the
key
to
sonia's
success.
Her
close
groups
of
business
associates
her
family
and
her
friends.
Her
goal
is
to
make
sure
that
she
pays
it
forward
so
that
her
family,
friends
and
communities
provide
to
provide
help
and
support
wherever
she
can.
E
E
Remember
your
family
values,
your
family
is
always
the
foundation
and
the
backbone
to
who
you
are
build
your
credibility
and
maintain
it
both
in
business
and
in
life.
Like
maintaining
your
financial
credit
score.
You
want
to
maintain
your
credibility
in
how
people
see
you
and
what
what
you
do
to
to
the
people
that
are
around
you
once
you
lose
that
credibility.
E
Sonja
has
always
been
an
inspiration
to
me
my
whole
life,
and
I
hope
that
you
learned
today
some
that
everything
all
the
qualities
and
characteristics
that
I've
pointed
out
will
inspire
you
to
become
a
great
leader
yourself.
At
this
point,
I
would
like
to
invite
my
aunt
sonja
johnston
to
join
me
and
say
a
few
words.
F
F
F
F
F
They
got
me
home
a
great
opportunity
to
be
the
one
and
the
best
banker
that
I
can
be
the
greatest
motivators.
Is
you
and
yourself?
No
one
can
stop
you
from
what
you
want
to
be.
The
sky
is
on
limit.
When
I
was
a
kid
every
day
I
said
you
can
do
I
I
can
do
better,
but
I
cries
after
that.
Can
I
not
sure,
but
I'm
I
determine
you
can
do.
I
can
do
better
again.
F
G
G
H
H
Okay.
So
let
me
hear
a
round
of
applause.
If
you
had
parents
or
let
me
start
with
grandparents,
grandparents
that
were
born
in
another
country-
okay,
all
right:
how
about
parents
who
were
born
in
another
country
all
right?
Okay,
so
my
parents,
they
were
born
in
india
and
let
me
tell
you
it
is
really
difficult
to
raise
two
indian
parents
in
america.
It's
tough,
my
father,
like
a
lot
of
immigrant
parents,
my
father
that
education
was
very
very
important.
H
I've
got
hbo,
add
in
a
dui,
so
we'll
see
about
somebody
can
fix
that
dui.
For
me,
that'd
be
great,
but
I
knew
that
I
was
different.
I'm
the
youngest
of
the
three
girls,
and
I
always
knew
I
was
different
from
my
my
older
sisters.
You
know
my
dad
my
dad
would
love
to
brag
about
his
kids.
He
was
like
this
is
my
daughter.
I
H
H
I
H
I
H
They
understand
what
I
do
now
they
do.
They
do
so.
I'm
gonna
tell
you
guys
a
story.
I
started
out
with
a
little
stand-up
in
the
story
will
be
funny.
I
I
will
tell
you
that,
but
this
is
a
story
from
from
one
of
my
shows.
I
do
a
lot
of
solo
performance
shows
and
it
talks.
It
touches
a
little
bit
about
some
of
the
things
that
were
said
in
the
speeches
earlier
tonight,
but
I'm
coming
at
it
from
a
different
perspective.
So.
D
H
Said
my
parents
came
to
this
country
in
1970
and
there
were
certain
american
traditions
that
my
parents
didn't
believe
in
like
freedom
that
was
number
one.
There
was
no
freedom
for
me
or
my
sisters.
No,
my
father
was
the
dictator,
his
word
law,
his
opinion,
the
absolute
truth.
So
we
had
to
follow
everything
that
he
said
and
one
of
the
biggest
rules
was.
We
were
never
allowed
to
cut
our
hair.
My
mom
was
very
clear.
She
said
vijay.
I
H
Because
having
long
beautiful
hair
was
a
sign
that
you
were
a
good
indian
girl,
but
it
was
difficult
because
I
was
in
america
and
I
would
go
to
school
and
I
would
see
all
the
other
kids
with
these
little
bit.
Pixie
cuts
these
little
bangs
and
feathered
hair,
and
I
just
wanted
to
be
more
like
them
and
less
like
me,
and
I
would
beg
my
parents
to
cut
my
hair,
but
they
would
never
never
listen
to
me
and
it.
H
You
know
it
would
always
frustrate
me,
but,
as
I
got
older,
the
one
thing
that
always
made
me
feel
better
was
my
birthday
and
for
my
12th
birthday,
because
the
reason
I
would
feel
better
was
because
I
would
have
to
oh
wait
a
second.
Let
me
go
back
for
a
second,
so
my
parents
always
thought
that
my
hair
was
stunning
and
was
beautiful
and
was
very,
very
special.
H
And
so
I
had
to
accept
that.
But
it
became
really
difficult
when
we
moved
from
gaithersburg
maryland
to
potomac
maryland,
and
I
was
the
new
kid
at
my
school
and
that
was
when
I
met
jill
green,
the
richest
and
meanest
girl
in
third
grade
now,
jill's
first
day
of
school
outfit
was
a
ralph
lauren
polo
with
the
collar
popped
up.
She
had
on
calvin
klein
jeans
and
she
was
wearing
matching
pink
heads
and
her
hair
was
was
feathered.
H
H
D
H
Well,
actually,
I'm
not
that
kind
of
indian
and
honestly,
I'm
kind
of
a
bad
dancer.
Whatever
pocahontas
gosh,
your
hair
is
so
long.
I
bet
it
falls
in
the
toilet
when
you
poop
and
from
that
day
forward,
my
new
nickname
at
my
new
elementary
school
was
pocahontas
poophead,
and
I
wanted
to
cut
my
hair
more
than
ever.
I
begged
my
parents.
Third
grade
they
wouldn't
listen.
Fourth
grade
lewin
was
fifth
grade,
so
they
never
listened
and
my
parents
would
just
say
anytime.
I
would
complain.
H
Now
that
didn't
cheer
me
up,
but
my
birthday
always
cheered
me
up,
because
I
was
always
allowed
to
get
new
clothes.
I
didn't
have
to
wear
hand-me-downs
from
my
sisters
and
for
my
12th
birthday.
I
got
this
glittery
purple
dress
with
the
word
pizzas
on
it,
because
we
were
going
to
chuck
e
cheese
and
yes,
I'd
be
eating
some
pizzas
when
I
came
home
and
I
modeled
it
for
my
sister-
she
said
you
idiot,
it
says
pizzazz.
H
The
other
reason
I
loved
my
birthday
was
because
it
was
the
one
day
that
my
mom
wouldn't
force
my
hair
into
those
two
long
nerdy
pocahontas
braids,
and
I
was
allowed
to
wear
my
hair
out.
It
was
long
it
was
flowing,
it
was.
It
was
long.
It
was
long
well
past
my
butt
and
I
was
a
preteen
indian
goddess.
H
H
So
I
sauntered
into
chuck
e
cheese
and
I
played
a
little
skeet
ball
and
oh
played
little
miss
pac-man
and
I
shot
some
skeet
ball
and
then
I
zoned
in
on
this
kiddie
ride.
It
was
a
ferris
wheel
for
one
it
was
a
seat
that
would
just
rotate
up
and
down.
That's
all
it
did,
but
somehow
I
couldn't
resist
the
pull
of
this
wheel.
So
I
put
my
token
in
and
I
squeezed
my
pizza,
loving
buns
into
that
seat
and
as
the
ride
would
go
up,
I
could
survey
all
of
chuck
e
cheese.
H
I
tried
to
pull
myself
out,
but
I
was
just
getting
closer
and
closer
until
finally,
I
just
said:
hey
can
someone
help
and
this
kid
who
had
been
playing
space
invaders
came
over
and
he
pulled
the
plug,
and
now
I
was
truly
trapped,
like
a
rat
in
this
ride,
and
at
this
point
my
entire
birthday
party
had
surrounded
me.
Well,
quite
frankly,
every
other
birthday
party,
a
chuck
e
cheese,
had
surrounded
me
and
the
room
was
completely
silent,
except
for
my
mother.
H
I
couldn't
take
the
humiliation
anymore,
and
I
said
daddy-
please
just
get
me
out,
so
he
took
a
pair
of
scissors
and
he
cut
me
free
now.
Half
of
my
hair
is
cut
in
rough
chunks
around
my
shoulders
and
the
other
half
is
still
long
still
well
past.
My
bottom
and
I
realized
that
I
should
always
have
listened
to
my
mom.
I
never
should
have
worn
my
ir
out.
I
never
should
have
tried
to
be
something
that
I
wasn't.
I
never
should
have
tried
to
be
american.
H
H
H
J
Thank
you,
hello,
hello,
hello,
thank
you
so
much
this
was
so
much
fun
and
being
an
indian.
I
can
totally
relate
to
this.
My
name
is
tina
modi.
I
work
for
arlington
economic
development
office
and
I'm
the
co-vice
chair
for
aha
today,
I'm
here
to
announce
the
last
performance,
which
is
going
to
be
a
showstopper
performance
by
none
other
than
our
ad
folks,
prakriti
de
huja
and
telly
tucker.
J
J
K
Yeah,
I
think
so
yeah.
This
is
fine.
I
completely
forgot
to
mention
that
or
the
song
that
we're
literally
playing
it's
called
universe
by
twee.
She
is
a
vietnamese
r
b,
independent
singer-songwriter
from
the
bay
area.
So,
if
you're
looking
for
a
new
asian
american
artist
to
support,
we
is
awesome
and
I'm
obsessed
with
her
and
listen
to
her
every
day
of
my
life,
so.
L
A
Amazing
talent
also
thank
you
to
all
presenters
sonya
johnston
and
our
comedian
storyteller
vijay
nathan.
Thank
you
all
so
much
wonderful
program
for
today,
so
we're
winding
down,
but
I
must
give
out
a
shout
out
to
all
the
amazing
folks
who
have
worked
behind
the
scenes.
The
accounting
manager's
office,
communications,
cable
program
producer
and
the
aed
cultural
affairs
sound
technician.
Without
them
we
would
not
be
able
to
hold
this
outside
and
have
everyone's
comfort
and
enjoyment.
A
Thank
you
very
much
also
give
it
up
to
the
department
of
wrecks
and
creation,
recreation
services
and
des
staff
trade
staff
for
setting
up
the
chairs,
the
tents,
the
tables
and
also
breaking
them
down
later.
We
appreciate
you
so
much
kudos
to
the
cmo
communications
specialist,
with
a
wonderful
special
edition
highlighting
aapi
month
and
last
but
not
least,
our
aha
family
and
members.
Without
you,
we
would
not
have
today
or
any
of
the
programs
we
have
throughout
the
year.
Thank
you
so
much,
I'm
so
very
proud.
A
So
as
we
wind
down,
there
are
several
programs
that
we
want
to
remind
employees
of
the
importance
of
health
and
well-being.
So
this
month
to
celebrate
the
aapi
theme,
we
have
collaborated
with
arlington
county's
health,
smart,
to
bring
holistic
healing
from
easter
from
eastern
medicine
perspectives.
A
I
also
want
to
encourage
our
residents
and
businesses
who
are
watching
to
engage
in
arlington.
There
are
many
things
that
we
want
to
hear
your
voice.
Aha
erg
can
be
a
resource
to
help
bridge
that
communication,
and
we
are
here
to
support
employees
and
residents
and
businesses.
So
with
that,
I
thank
you
for
joining
us
today.
Please
help
yourself
to
some
asian
cuisine
that
have
been
prepared
by
aha
members
and
thank
you
all
so
very
much
see
you
next
year.