Associate Member / Technical Adviser and Grant Writer (Non-voting member), CAC

Founding Member, Montagnard / Southeast Asian Community Disparities Research Network (formerly, Montagnard Health Disparities Research Network)

Term: 2019-2021

youngandrewjesse@gmail.com

I have a rich and varied career in education, design, technology, art and community. Because of my experience across many fields, I act as a trusted adviser, mediator, organizer and negotiator between underserved communities and entities like higher education, nonprofits and local government. I help each navigate the other’s world and implement joint projects and programs that can involve health, youth development, cultural training, community organization, community-based research, and formal partnerships. I work with Asian and minority youth, especially refugee, immigrant and newcomer communities, with an emphasis on anti-racism, social justice and community empowerment. I have worked with the Montagnard community for many years.

I was raised on Long Island, New York and graduated from Rhode Island School of Design and Yale University. I was not raised in a typical Chinese-American family since my relatives included Protestant, Catholic, Jews and other faiths, from places across the world. 

Publications

Morrison, S., Shreeniwas, S. Young, A., Dharod, J., Nie, Y., Siu, H., Adrong, H., Sayers, J., Bernot, K., Malotky, M. & Nsonwu, M. When community calls, we collaborate! Community-based participatory research with the multi-language Montagnard refugee community. Progress in Community Health Partnership: Research, Education and Action

Young, A. (Dec 2016)  The patriotic response to Trumpism. Fresh Eyes, Triad City Beat

Young, A. (Aug 2015)  Decoding a city’s colorline from the mill village. Fresh Eyes, Triad City Beat

Xin, H., Morrison, S., Dharod, J., Young, A., & Nsonwu, M. (2014).  Cross-Cultural “Allies” in Immigrant Community Practice: Roles of foreign-trained former Montagnard health professionals. Health, Culture and Society, 6(1), 62-72. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5195/hcs.2014.143

Young, A. (Jul 2014)  The Montagnard Measure. Fresh Eyes, Triad City Beat

Dharod, J., Xin, H., Morrison, S., Young, A. & Nsonwu, M. (2013). Life Style, Food and Health Related Challenges Refugee Groups Face Upon Resettlement: Do We Have To Move Beyond Job and Language Training Programs? Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition, 8: 187-199. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ 19320248.2012.761574

Interviewed

Refugee advocates call for independent experts to review city’s resettlement practices, Jordan Green (May 16, 2019), Triad City Beat.

This is My Home Now  produced by Center for Asian American Media, about the Montagnard immigrant experience. Community screening at the Greensboro Historical Museum on Apr 2015 and Sep 2015. Aired nationally on PBS April 28, 2015 on the anniversary of the fall of Saigon.

Newcomer School bridges language gap among Guilford students, Marquita Brown (Aug 31, 2015), Greensboro News-Record.

Why We Love Greensboro (Oct 2014) Feature story, 1808 Magazine, Greensboro NC. 

Cited

Report on Language Access Complaints, March 21, 2014. North Carolina Judicial Center. This report was based on complaints we filed about multiple appearances in which a refugee family repeatedly received the wrong language interpreter, a poorly skilled interpreter, or no interpreter in proceedings that could result in felony charges, long imprisonment and deportation.

Presentations

Young, A. (Aug 2017). Engaging the New Diversity: Connecting Service Learning/Community Engagement (SLCE) to Research. Campus Compact Summer Network Meeting. Pfeiffer University, Misenheimer, NC

Young, A., Rodas-Garcia, D., Stevenson, E., Mantuano, M., Premslyer, L. (Jun 2017). No Service, No CBPR.  Bonner Foundation Summer Leadership Institute, Lindsey Wagner College, KY

Young, A., Shreeniwas, S., Morrison, S., Denzongpa, K., Ksor, V. (Mar. 2017). Mentoring the New Diversity Generation in Service-Learning and Community-Engaged Research: What Must the Academy Bring to the Table? Gulf South Summit Conference, University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC

Chen, Z., Young, A., Mpang, S., James, A. (Dec 2016). Stay or Leave: Refugee’s and immigrants’ Experiences with Substandard Living Conditions and How It Impacts Millennial Retention in the City of Greensboro. City of Greensboro, NC

Young, A., Malotky, M., Swoap, A., Barber, Z., Morrison, S., Bernot, K., Mahowald, S. (Feb 2016).  High Impact Practices: Engaging with Immigrant Communities. Showcase event at Campus Compact PACE Conference. High Point University, NC

Morrison, S., Siu., L., Vang T.H., Young, A. (Feb 2016). Mobilizing the Montagnard Refugee Community and Academic Community to Address Hypertension: “We need to conquer hypertension together.” 37th Minority Health Conference, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC.

Shreeniwas, S., Morrison, S., Young, A., Adrong, H’Y. (Mar 2016). Mobilizing and Mentoring the Next Generation Through CBPR: The Montagnard Refugee Household Hypertension Project. Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC

Malotky, M., Nsonwu, M., Mayes, K., Smith, G., Young, A., Mlo, H’., Siu, L., Ksor, V., Lee-Brown, M., Shreeniwas, S., Morrison, S., & Bernot, K. (Oct 2015).  Design of a Course based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) Focused on Health Disparities in Immigrant / Refugee Communities. SENCER SCI South Regional Meeting. Asheville, NC

Young, A., Puih, T., Gurung, M., Dew, S., Mpang, S., Nhan (Dec 2015). Charrette for Community: How to design a living space for a refugee family. Guilford College, Greensboro, NC

Mayes, K., Smith, G., Beveridge, J., Mlo, H’., Siu, L., Ksor, V., Young, A., Lee-Brown, M., Nsonwu, M., Bernot, K., Maltoky, M. (Apr 2015). Analyzing Disparities within the Montagnard Community using Community-Based Participatory Research. North Carolina A&T State University Undergraduate Research Symposium. Greensboro, NC

Morrison, M., Nsonwu, M., Young, A. (Aug 2015). Montagnard Health Disparities Research Network: Health Gaps and Strategies for Empowerment.  Gillings School for Global Health, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, NC

Young, A., Bailey, R., Rosales, M., et al (Sep 2015). Human Flotsam: Refugee Crisis. Panel discussion, Guilford College, Greensboro, NC

Morrison, S., Mulberry, B., Halderman, L., Flores, K., Hinshaw, K., Siu, H., Young, A., Nsonwu, M.B. (Nov 2013). Panelist: Immigrant Health Issues. Healthcare Faith Summit, Mt. Zion Church. Greensboro, NC

Young, A. Siu., D., Siu, J., Siu, H W. (Oct 2014). Interpretation Problems and Refugee Civil Rights: Documenting Civil Rights Violations with the Montagnard Community. 4th Annual Association for Refugee Service Professionals National Conference. University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC

Young, A.. Bhutanese Learning English (Aug 2013). Community Service Institute, Bonner Center for Community Service and Learning,,Guilford College. Greensboro, NC. 

Young, A. (moderator), Siu, L., Lumbu, A., Owensby, K., Ksa, K., Xiong, D. (Feb 2013). Farming Opportunities for Immigrant and Refugee Communities. Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI USA) Come to the Table Conference. UNCG Greensboro, NC

Morrison, S., Dharod, J., Sills, S., Nsonwu, M., Young, A., Xin, H. (Oct 2012). The Montagnard Health Disparities Network: Workable Solutions for Community Empowerment. 2012 National Refugee and Immigrant Conference, Chicago, IL.

Morrison, S., Young, A., Dharod, J., Xin, H., Nsonwu, M., Sills, S., Bailey, R. (Apr 2012). Empowering Underserved Communities. University of North Carolina Greensboro, NC

Young, A., Khin H, Ksor, K. (2012). Montagnard Women’s Learning Group grant report. Moses Cone Foundation. Greensboro, NC

Young, A. (May 2010). Lessons Learned from the Serious Game Group. WIRED Capstone Event. Koury Center, Greensboro, NC

Young, A., Dharod, J., Morrison, S., Walton, L., Woodham, D. (2010). World Food in the Triad. Design, Arts, Technology Symposium (DATS) 2010, Milton Rhodes Art Center, Winston-Salem, NC

Video Presentations

Sustainability For Everyone: Rethinking Piedmont Ideas About Green, Living, and Local (2012). Ha H, Lek Siu, Jeo Y, Gelly Long, Andrew Young, with music by Rmah Dock and Y Suk Buonkrong. Sustainability redefined to include the Montagnard community and other refugee-immigrant groups who remind mainstream Americans how far off the mark they are when in comes to community building, economic development and environmental preservation.

Montagnard Women’s Lay Community Health Team at AHEC (2011). Voices of community health workers who explain the desperate conditions faced by their neighbors following the Great Recession.

Spring Roll Recipe: Interview with Kwol (2011). Documentation of preparation of traditional food in which a refugee community health worker explains a traumatic episode from childhood.

Montagnard Reporters at Mosaic Festival (2011). Refugee youth were given Flip cameras and interviewed native born English speakers, some of them refugee service providers and academics involved in refugee resettlement, Where did they learn English? and How do you like America?

Rice Harvest by Montagnard Community Members (2011). A short documentary of the harvest of a small patch of land by local Montagnard refugees at North Carolina Agriculture and Technology University Demonstration and Research Farm.