NVE Inclusive Learning Lab

To close out Asian-American Pacific Islander, Heritage Month we hosted our first-ever Inclusive Learning Lab panel. It was a truly powerful discussion designed to delve into the perspectives of niche groups through discovery, curiosity, and creativity while exploring key learnings as marketers.

This year, we are focused on the importance of inclusivity within the music industry and what role we play in our work. The conversation was co-hosted by NVE team members Michael Tonge (VP, Strategy) and Blue Kim (Strategy Coordinator). Thank you to our special guests Satica (singer-songwriter), Dan Nguyen (DJ/creative director), and William Leong (music producer/engineer).

Their insight and experiences were invaluable and left our whole team feeling seen and inspired. “It was an honor to hold space with such influential members of the creative and AAPI community. We were able to discuss such a broad range of topics. Including the ways that art and creativity can help us heal and transmute our pain to strategic approaches to improving representation in the industry,” Michael Tonge. 

Members of the audience were thankful that we included Satica, who as a Cambodian is of South Asian descent. This is important because as Asian culture starts to become mainstream in our society, South Asian people do not get the same type of representation as their East Asian counterparts. Similarly, attendees were also thankful to hear from someone like Will who has had to navigate being biracial and not necessarily feeling fully connected to either side. Our NVE community was really inspired, loved the talk, and wanted to learn about Cedrick Clark’s four stages of representation and discussing ownership of stories within the community.

“As a First-Generation, daughter of immigrants – I have never been surrounded by people who had similar experiences as me. And even if I was, this wasn’t an easy conversation to casually have (although quite important to have in life). It was extremely powerful to feel represented on a cultural level at the workplace, to hear similar stories as my own, and most importantly see AAPI people thrive in their art,” Blue Kim. 

We look forward to continuing our Inclusive Learning Lab series, and hopefully expanding to in-person experiences to further our community engagement efforts in a city near you.

Relevant Links: 

Meet Dan Nguyen of DemonSlayer in Koreatown and DTLA – Voyage LA Magazine | LA City Guide 

Satica Is Glowing