Jacqueline Thanh
Jacqueline Thanh (she/he) is Executive Director of VAYLA New Orleans. She was voted one of 2022 Gambit New Orleans' 40 under 40 Changemakers. She is a scholar-activist and descendant of Chinese Vietnamese refugees with an extensive history in intersectional leadership development. She is a clinically trained and trauma informed human rights advocate who brings expertise in culturally integrative storytelling. Her work has ranged from multilingual therapy and case management through somatic and narrative healing as well as programmatic development and implementation with survivors of torture, houselessness, domestic violence, and human trafficking domestically and abroad. As the Executive Director of VAYLA New Orleans, she currently leads strategic initiatives in Asian American Pacific Islander Design Justice and Social Change in New Orleans and the Gulf South. A first-generation college graduate--she holds a B.A. in English from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Social Work and Global Health Administration and Policy Certification from the University of Chicago, and is a Social Work Doctoral Candidate at the University of Southern California.