Thank you for helping us celebrate the 2008 Asian American Women In Leadership (AAWIL) Conference, celebrating the theme of Balanced Leadership: Maintaining Perspective

CELEBRATING THE WOMEN WE ASPIRE TO BE

ASPIRE was also proud to present the 1st Annual ASPIRE Outstanding Woman of the Year Award, recognizing young Asian American women in high school and college who are leaders and role models in their communities. ASPIRE is proud to announce Mihiri Tillakaratne as the 2008 ASPIRE Outstanding Woman of the Year. Mihiri is the Founder and Executive Director of Empower a Village, a non-profit organization dedicated to serving rural communities to Sri Lanka with a variety of social and health programs. Click here for more...

(Click to see the 10 semi-finalists in AsianWeek;
online version available here, but without pictures)

Asian Sisters Participating in Reaching Excellence (ASPIRE) is excited to be starting the third year of our Youth Leadership Program (YLP). A leadership development program specifically tailored to the needs of underserved Asian American (AA) high school girls, YLP provides participants with mentorship, leadership training, and direct leadership experience.

2005-2006 YLP Scholars and Program Director Erica Lee pose with Senator Hillary Clinton

SCHOLAR PROFILES: 2007 and 2006

Meet like-minded women who are deeply committed to planning high-quality events and having fun in the process. In addition to fulfilling its primary mission of helping younger girls, ASPIRE also serves as a professional and social network.

Help us find potential grants, speakers, event locations, and resources while also spreading the word about ASPIRE to student, community, and professional groups. Click here to see our Open House presentation. Anybody interested in joining the ASPIRE team is invited to fill out our Volunteer Form.

Last year, the 2007 Asian American Women in Leadership (AAWIL) Conference was also held at Harvard University, and the theme was "Meaningful Leadership: Shaping Our World". Together, we explored various ways to build leadership while exercising our identities and skills to give back to our communities.

Visit last year's conference website and read our feature in Audrey Magazine by Executive Director Sharon Chae to learn more.