Liana Adrong was born into a family of nine children in Daklak, Vietnam. She arrived in Greensboro, NC in 1996, years after her father served with the U.S. Special Forces during the Vietnam War and was imprisoned for seven years. Coming from a refugee family, she values her Montagnard-Êđê heritage. It is extremely important to her to know her own community’s history and culture, and she is very passionate about the Montagnard Dega Association’s mission to unite and strengthen her community through traditional arts programs. Adrong is fluent in Vietnamese, English, Rhadê/Êđê, and had served as a Chair for the Greensboro’s International Advisory Committee. Adrong earned her master’s degree in social work from the University of North Carolina Greensboro and the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She is a mental health first aider, and has an associate licensed in clinical social work and is a public notary.

As a social worker, she wears multiple hats: community liaison, researcher, interpreter, and advocate for elders and families to help them navigate social services and healthcare systems. She has experience in a community-engaged research project that found high rates of hypertension in her community, including young adults. Adrong is a cofounder of the Montagnard American Organization (MAO) and served as its president. MAO merged with Montagnard Dega Association (MDA), one of our state’s oldest refugee community-based organizations, where she serves as its executive director. At MDA, they assisted and referred hundreds of community members towards their journeys to becoming United State citizens.

Adrong plans to continue to advocate for social justice for those experiencing challenges in accessing healthcare and housing, and work tirelessly to help them overcome those challenges. Her life and work experiences have fueled her passion for social work and serving as a mentor to the youths in her community.

Nghieng Nay is Jorai, a member of one of the indigenous Montagnard tribes of Vietnam. She is currently living in Greensboro, NC where she earned a BS in Finance from UNCG. Her current role is a case manager/community health worker at Montagnard Dega Association where she helps community members with needs such as civic engagement, interpretation, and community education in order to promote equal access to healthcare. As an immigrant herself who has experienced how hard it is to navigate life in the U.S., she has a passion for helping others and giving back to the community.

One of her goals is to uphold MDA’s mission to unite and strengthen her community because she feels strongly about lifting up the refugees and immigrant communities through solving their challenges and problems. Outside of work, she volunteers as a youth program assistant for MDA, where she assists youth in developing skills for personal and professional growth and embracing their origins and cultures. Growing up in a family that does farming for a living in Vietnam taught her to appreciate what she has, to respect her tribal traditions, and to respect other cultures. It means a lot for her and future generations to keep their traditions and culture and to know their languages because it makes up who they are. She is proud to work with the MDA youth and share her stories with them.

Sachi Dely is an indigenous Asian American artist based in Greensboro, NC. Shei was born in Dak Mil Province in southern Vietnam on October 12, 1998. Sachi is from the Bunong tribe, one of Vietnam’s many indigenous tribes. At the age of two, she and her parents fled Vietnam due to religious persecution and other human rights violations against Indigenous people. She and her parents spent a year and a half at two separate refugee camps in Cambodia before migrating as refugees to the United States in 2002. 

Mica is a Mental Health First Aider and NC Public Notary, and always has the passion to help others — and did just that while growing in his community. He is keen to use his language, culture, and professional skills such as public speaking, marketing, salesmanship, management, communications, networking, customer service, and real estate to influence, mentor and promote the health and wellbeing of Montagnard youth in North Carolina. 

Being raised in an immigrant household with four other siblings, it was very difficult for his parents to provide for them when they were young. His parents did not know much English so the responsibility of handling paperwork, bills, food stamp applications, etc. fell into his hands at the age of 8 years old. But he didn’t mind because he loved his family and appreciated all the hard work his parents put into bringing them to the United States.

After high school, Mica started working right away. He has 8 years of work history in many different fields, with 4 of those years equipped with a real estate license he’s used to help over 40 families. He believes God’s purpose for him has been to help lift up the Montagnard community and all of those who have helped them. His passion and work ethic helps others while he grows professionally.

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Marthalenar Rose Nya Mar currently resides in Winston Salem, North Carolina. She is originally from the Karenni refugee camp 'Ban Mae Surin in Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand. She resettled to the United States with her family in 2010. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Educational Studies from Belmont Abbey College in 2019. She is a Mental Health First Aider and a Multilingual Learner Parent Engagement Coordinator at Winston-Salem Forsyth County School, working closely to build a partnership among parents, families and schools. Previously, she worked as a Community Health Worker/Youth Director at Montagnard Dega Association. She also works as a freelance interpreter.

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