Please visit the official conference website for more information.What is the UNAVSA Conference?
The UNAVSA conference is considered to be one of the premier youth conferences in the country. Hundreds of undergraduates, graduates, and young professionals from around the country will participate in a multi-day event to hone their leadership skills, hold discussions with speakers, and explore issues in the Vietnamese American youth community.

Who will participate?
Undergraduate and graduate students as well as young professionals will participate in the conference. We expect the majority of attendees to be current and future officers of North American Vietnamese student groups (VSAs, VSUs, UVSAs, etc.) seeking to develop personal leadership abilities, build on organizational management skills, and network with other leaders from around the country.

What is UNAVSA’s vision?

Despite over thirty years of history in North America, there have been few opportunities for emerging Vietnamese American leaders to develop concrete leadership skills and work on specific community projects together. Meanwhile, campus and regional student organizations everywhere continue to battle with common issues of executive board turnover, improper project management, and membership recruitment and retention, among many others.

UNAVSA empowers constituent organizations and their leaders by helping them learn from the experiences of professionals and each other. In addition to educating members about issues, building relationships, and inspiring activism, UNAVSA provides a network of resources for attendees to gain the requisite leadership and management skills to better contribute to the communities in which they live.

This development process begins with UNAVSA’s annual conference. Through workshops, interactive exercises, and panel discussions, attendees learn the conceptual components of effective leadership and organizational management. In addition, they increase their awareness of various social issues affecting the Vietnamese American community. But most importantly, attendees select a charitable cause for which they will devote an entire year to support.

In the twelve months following each conference, constituent organizations collaborate with one another in the Collective Philanthropy Project (CPP) throughout North America. UNAVSA coordinates with regional groups to help share common resources and instill best practices in leadership and management. In the CPP process, UNAVSA helps leaders give back to their communities more effectively than they would otherwise be able to.

How can you get involved?
You can become involved and be hands-on with the conference by applying to be on conference staff as a director or a committee member. If you can’t make that type of commitment or would like to become involved in another way, please contact the Executive Directors at conference.executive@unavsa.org, and they will be more than happy to work with you to find the best way you can be involved.

What is the application deadline?
Conference Director applications will be open from Sunday, October 23, 2011 until 11:59pm on EST Sunday, November 6, 2011. General Staff applications will be open from Sunday, November 20, 2011 until 11:59pm EST on Sunday, December 4, 2011.

What staff positions are available?
Director and member positions are available for the following committees*:

  • Entertainment
  • Finance
  • Hospitality
  • Information Technology
  • Logistics
  • Marketing
  • Media
  • Programming
  • Registration
  • Sponsorship

*subject to change

I heard there is an annual staff retreat that CoRR and conference staff are encouraged to attend, when is it?
It is crucial in ensuring the success of conference planning that all conference directors and committee members are available the weekend of January 13-15, 2012 to attend the UNAVSA-9 Staff Retreat in Minneapolis Minnesota. This weekend falls on Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend so for most of you that means the Monday holiday gives you an extra day for travel. If you plan on being on staff, please keep this weekend open.