Our Team

We are a grassroots group of parents, community members and educators committed to promoting comprehensive U.S. history to be taught in Georgia K-12 schools.

Staff

Weonhee Shin

Weonhee Shin Executive Director

Weonhee Shin
MPR

Melissa Paa Redwood Operations Associate

Melissa Paa Redwood

Board Members

Ruth Youn

Ruth Youn Chair

Ruth Youn
Jeanie-Duque-Dizon.jpg

Jeanie Duque Dizon Secretary

Jeanie Duque Dizon
Asif

Asif Jessani Board Member

Asif Jessani
Linda

Linda Hinh Board Member

Linda Hinh

Advisors

Tracey Alviar

Tracey Alviar Education Resources & Curriculum

Tracey Alviar
Sohyun An

Sohyun An Education Resources & Curriculum

Sohyun An

Special Projects Volunteers

Justine-Chung.jpg

Justine Chung Marketing & Graphic Design

Justine Chung
Jackie

Jackie Kwun Student Ambassador

Jackie Kwun

The history of the United States is complex, composed of overlapping experiences, voices, and stories that have shaped our nation. When these layered perspectives are taught, students learn to value not only themselves, but all people in society.

At AAVEd, we promote the teaching of comprehensive U.S. history as a path to fostering understanding and relational connection in the classroom and beyond.

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AAVEd is a non-partisan 501(c)3 non-profit recognized by the IRS. Your contribution to AAVEd is tax-deductible for Federal tax purposes, to the extent provided by applicable Federal tax laws.

EIN: 92-05303665

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Weonhee Shin

Executive Director

Weonhee was raised in Virginia and now resides with her family in Decatur, GA. Although she attended public K-12 schools, she didn’t learn of America’s diverse history until adulthood. She is now advocating for a different educational experience for students here in Georgia. Learn more about her perspective and experiences here.

Melissa Paa Redwood

Operations Associate

Melissa joined AAVEd in the fall of 2023, and has lived in the Atlanta area since 2019. Before working with AAVEd, she received her Masters in U.S. History with a focus on Asian American women’s transpacific activism. She also served as the inaugural supervisor for Emory University’s Asian Student Center, established in 2021.

Outside of work she is an avid reader, an amateur painter and a doting cat mom.

Ruth Youn

Chair

Ruth is a Texas-born, second gen Chinese-Taiwanese immigrant. She is a writer, educator and activist who is working and parenting two children in Atlanta, Georgia. Despite being educated in the public school system and graduating from a public university, she only learned about Asian American history a few years ago—via a podcast!

On another note, Ruth does not have any dogs or an herb garden. She does, however, have a special Lunar New Year edition Lego set that she recently built and is extremely proud of! 

Jeanie Duque Dizon

100 Heritage Month Box Project

Jeanie Dizon is a graduate of Brown University and received her MFA from The American Film Institute. As a documentary filmmaker, she has focused on children and human rights. Her feature Death of a Cemetery documented the plight of the living residents of Manila North Cemetery in the Philippines and highlighted how vulnerable populations are at the mercy of disease and climate change. She is also a writer who pens about Asian American issues, from motherhood to racism faced by immigrants.

Her interest in education started when she noticed a lack of Asian American History being taught in schools, even during Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. She is a passionate advocate for the inclusion of Asian American stories and history into school curriculum.

Asif Jessani

Board Member

Asif Jessani is a professional volunteer. He currently serves as a board member for Artworks Gwinnett, Gwinnett County Parks Foundation, and Gwinnett County Public Library Foundation. He also serves as an advisory board member for the United Way of Greater Atlanta – Gwinnett and Atlanta Speech School. With a passion for early childhood education, he is also involved with Gwinnett County’s early learning initiative, Building Babies’ Brains. As part of the Ismaili Muslim Community, he has been a volunteer preschool teacher for the past 24 years.

Asif is also actively involved with the communications and outreach team for the Ismaili Muslim Community and previously led the marketing and media team for the United States Ismaili Games. When he isn’t volunteering, Asif takes on the responsibility of partner at CCS: Marketing & Technology, which provides chief marketing and technology officer services and branded items for mission-driven organizations.

Linda Hinh

Board Member

Linda is a First-Generation Vietnamese American that was born in Louisiana, but raised in the suburbs of Atlanta where she currently lives with her husband, son, and fur-baby. She’s a graduate of Georgia State University (GSU) and is a Technology Underwriting Director for a national insurance carrier.   

Linda’s passion is to ensure that everyone has the same rights and opportunities in life, with a focus on the Asian American Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community.  Among other activities, this passion includes chartering an Asian-Interest sorority to GSU and co-founding her current company’s AANHPI Business Resource Group. After learning about AAVEd and their critical mission to incorporate Asian American studies in the Georgia school curriculum, she realized that this was lacking during her education and knew that she needed to be an advocate.  Asian Americans have a rich history filled with struggles and successes that contributed to the course of American History. Linda is a strong believer that knowing more about your own history as well as others allows us to build empathy and create allies.  

Tracey Alviar

Education Resources & Curriculum

Dr. Alviar-Martin is an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction whose scholarship focuses on civic education from global, human rights, and comparative perspectives. Originally from Manila, before joining academia Theresa taught in international schools in Hong Kong and Bangkok; and a refugee camp in the Philippines. Her publications include articles in Teaching and Teacher Education, Theory and Research in Social Education, Teachers College Record, and an edited volume, “Research on global citizenship in Asia: Conceptions, perceptions and practice” (Information Age Press, 2021).

Sohyun An

Education Resources & Curriculum

Dr. An is a social studies teacher educator and curriculum scholar. She is an immigrant from South Korea and a mother of two children in Georgia’s public schools. She teaches, researches, and parents with a goal for a world that hurts less.

Justine Chung

Marketing & Graphic Design

Justine is a graphic designer, wife, and mom to two kids and 40+ plant babies. She loves traveling, art, photography, culture and mostly FOOD.

She lives in Decatur but has lived in a few different countries growing up. Being a minority Asian in places she’s lived, she often experienced feeling like an outsider.

She believes representation and advocacy matter, especially if we can integrate them into early education. Growing minds will accept diversity more openly and effortlessly if they are exposed to different cultures early on. Kids in marginalized groups will feel more confident if they see themselves represented in culture and history. That’s why she became interested in helping out with AAVEd; big changes come from small steps.

Justine contributes with the visual communication aspect. What we say and how we say it is most important and always helps if it is visually on the spot!

Jackie Kwun

Student Ambassador

Tell us about your experiences with studying history in school:
In 7th grade I was excited to finally learn about Asia, but then was quickly disappointed. All I really took from the lessons was that China has pollution, a dam and Communism. We watched a documentary about North Korea, and kids were giggling at the brainwashed people under North Korean rule, and learned that in India [people] throw bodies into the Ganges river (kids were laughing at the “funny” Indian accents), and the list just goes on.

It felt really humiliating when other kids would glance at me, assuming I was from China [where it was polluted and Communist]. Many of my Asian friends also felt the same way and we were left dissatisfied, learning about the worst [aspects] of our heritage. Nothing we talked about put any of the [Asian] countries in a good light. 

What motivated you to serve at AAVEd?
As an Asian American student in GA public schools, I have always felt underrepresented in the school curriculum where diverse stories and histories are not included nor celebrated. I have always wanted to make a difference in my world but wasn’t sure where to begin. After coming across AAVEd, I felt like this could be the place where I can grow and take a stand for myself. So I took a step forward, and here I am :D

What do you hope to accomplish in your time with us?
As of right now, I’d like to continue creating weekly highlights of Asian American stories so that our histories are accessible and celebrated. I’d also like to work with other students to start a youth coalition in my local community. I’m ready for the ride! 

Fun fact: 
If I could shape-shift into something, I’d be a rock—so that I could sleep all the time!