America is home to millions of immigrants and refugees who share our blessings of liberty. They came to enjoy the same rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness that should be the birth right of all mankind.

Today, in honor of July 4th, I wanted to share a special story with you. This is my friend, Michael. He’s got an interesting tale to tell.

At the turn of the century, Michael’s great grandfather, stowed away on a merchant vessel to the US. He arrived in California and later met Chiang Kai-Sheck, the Leader of the Chinese Nationalist Party.  His Great Grandfather then joined the cause, fought and died in China in battle against the communist regime. However, this was not how Michael came to be born in the US.

It wasn’t until 1920, that his Grandfather, Keng Lem, came to the US on a merchant ship. Keng enlisted to fight with the US in WWII in the Asian Theater. Listen as Michael shares his grandfather’s journey and what the American Dream means to him.

Amy Tran-Calhoun (she/her/hers) is the proud daughter of Vietnamese refugees. Aware that there is no social justice without racial justice, Amy has devoted her career to developing anti-racist leaders.

Listen as she shares her parents' stories and how they turned their circumstances into resilient growth.

Today, Amy wears many hats including Chief of Staff at Diversity Talks, a consulting company that provides youth-led antiracism professional development for adults, racial equity coach with Dallas TRHT, trainer with the Center for Racial Justice in Education, and independent consultant. Amy is most excited and joyful when she’s eating delicious food and spending quality time with her loved ones.

This story sounds familiar. Her family secretly snuck out in the middle of the night and piled into a single wooden boat with over 20 people. What's atypical of their escape was the calm waters and relatively easy 2 day journey to the refugee camp. This was the only easy part on their journey to the US. Kim shares her family's story of how the Communists ripped away everything from her father's family and how like many refugees, they started over with the help of a compassionate and generous community. She shares how she transformed from a fragile, frail little girl into a fearless young girl who learned how to speak her mind and stand up for what's right. Today she owns a successful business and has a passion to help alleviate financial burdens for individuals in the local DFW community.

Kim is the youngest and only daughter in her family. She was the first and only one to obtain a bachelor's degree. At 24 yrs of age, she started in real estate and now her entire family is in the business with her. She is a mom to 3 beautiful boys and has been married for 14 years to the very first guy she ever brought home to meet her dad. She grew up in DFW and calls this is her home sweet home. You can find Kimberly at Kimberly Adams Realty.

Imagine building up a career as a renown artist in your country with your work displayed in the Hong Kong Museum of Art, then making a decision to leave everything, move to a completely different country and starting over. Instead of using clay and creating with your hands, you are now using them to pour cement into molds, day in and day out. This is just one part of the story.

Meet Annabel Tsang. She was born in Hong Kong and immigrated to the US when she was 7. Her parents reinvented themselves multiple times over, being the example  of evolution and change for their daughters. I invite you to listen as she shares about her family and about the importance of creating change in a positive way, especially within our communities.

Thank you Orchid Giving Circle for the opportunity to highlight these wonderful women who are a part of the organization. You are invited to the Power Leadership Forum on May 7th. Go to www.orchidgivingcircle.org to register for the event.

Annabel Tsang is a Consumer Packaged Goods sales executive based in Frisco, TX.  Annabel graduated with a Communications degree from U.C. Davis, and most recently moved to Texas after seven years in New York City.

She loves to learn about world history through travel. Petra, Jordan and Angkor Wat are two of her favorite places visited. Annabel loves to grow hydroponic plants, cook one pot meals and  facetime with her one year old nephew.

Jin-Ya Huang is a descendent of refugees who escaped mainland China from communism. She and her family resettled in Taiwan where

“Girls are like buckets of water you pour out”

The value of a woman was not considered an investment you can get back, and being one of 6 girls, Jin-Ya’s parents knew they wanted a different life for their daughters. Her parents were offered an opportunity to move to the US when Jin-Ya was 13. Through two of her biggest, darkest moments - as a survivor of domestic abuse and the loss of her mom - Jin-Ya shares how she has turned her crisis into something incredible through her organization called “Break Bread Break Borders”. Listen as she tells her story of how she continues to rise up making a huge impact in the community and abroad.

Jin-Ya Huang is a social impact, community development, and creative innovator with a focus on the intersection of equity, design, and social justice work. She is the founder of Break Bread, Break Borders (BBBB), a social enterprise empowering refugee women economically through the storytelling of food and culture.

She is an acclaimed interdisciplinary artist who has shown in galleries in Dallas, Miami and New York. Her work examines her Asian identity and diasporic immigrant experience. Jin-Ya is an accomplished, published writer and public speaker. Her work has been featured at the Bush Institute, Dallas Innovates, Amon Carter Art Museum, Texas Lyceum, Slow Food USA, Toyota of North America TAASiA Corporate ERGs, Airbnb International, and TIME Magazine.

You may contact Jin-Ya and learn about her mission at www.breakbreadbreakborders.com

Karyne Nguyen is a proud Vietnamese-American, with roots in Saigon, Vietnam from her parents, Jay (Nhan) and Jane (Danh).  She is a diversity, equity, and inclusion professional and an Inclusion Institute™ Certified Diversity Practitioner.  In her career, she focuses on fostering a culture of inclusion in all aspects of the team member experience at Mr. Cooper Group, a home loan company based in Dallas, TX.  She enjoys contributing to the North Texas community through nonprofit volunteerism, civic engagement as a member of the Mayor’s Star Council leadership cohort, and public service where she serves as a Commissioner on the City of Carrollton’s Neighborhood Advisory Commission.  In her free time, she enjoys doing design and craft projects.  Connect with Karyne on LinkedIn.

Brave 7-year-old Lauren Vuong escaped Vietnam with her family and 57 other refugees on a small wooden fishing boat at the end of the brutal Vietnam War. After 10 days at sea, they were lost and depleted of food, water, and fuel. Death seemed imminent. From seven miles away, a U.S. flagged cargo ship spotted them. The captain ordered their rescue and changed the course of 62 lives forever. Finding The Virgo is the story of Lauren’s decades long search for the heroic captain and crew of the LNG Virgo who saved her life and the lives of the other refugees. This story of compassion and gratitude traces the Vuong family's journey from the shores of Vietnam, through their perilous journey at sea and eventually to their resettlement in America.

For more information about Lauren and screenings for Finding the Virgo, go to https://www.findingthevirgo.com/

“When you talk about the American dream, it was more than a place where you become wealthy … it was a place where you would not be killed.”

Her mother told horror stories of babies being taken by their feet by German soldiers and slammed against brick walls.

There is not even a shadow of a doubt that the Holocaust happened. Isabell shares with us about her family’s life after surviving the holocaust. 

Biography: sabell Rossignol grew up in Louisiana where she was not afraid of the swamp or gators! In the bayou state, Isabell learned discipline, self-reliance and problem solving, good practice for public relations and marketing. Isabell Rossignol is a results-driven public relations professional with years of experience managing the brands and reputation of her extensive, and impressive, list of international clients. She excels in creating strategies for global communications, leveraging international resources to create an integrated approach for external outreach and launching businesses and products. Specializing in word-wrangling, storyboarding and concise billboard messaging, Isabell is able to weave a campaign around a single word.

“We were forced out of our home into the direction that gunshots were directing us with.”

The first 8 years of Thear’s life were spent in war and refugee camps. When the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, her parents and 4 siblings were forced out of their homes and sent into different labor camps. Thear, too young to work, stayed with her grandmother. After 4 years under the rule of the Khmer Rouge, it’s a miracle that their entire family survived as millions of people died during this time. After the Khmer Rouge were driven out, they walked for months not knowing where to go or what would happen. They would walk during the day. Find a place to sleep on the roadside at night. Ate soup with a few grains of rice and bugs.

Thear recounts her family’s journey survival, strength and the resilience of the human spirit.

Today, Thear is Ernst and Young’s Americas Advisory Talent Leader creating a work environment for 18,000 professionals to grow their careers and build a better working world.

She is also a member of the Orchid Giving Circle, where Asian women pool their resources and leverage their networks, to award large community grants that support social change and services for the North Texas Asian community. You may contact Thear HERE.

Seema Deshpande came from humble beginnings. From a small town in India, she was determined to move to the US to get her Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering. While in the states, she fell in love and got married. Unbeknownst to her, this change in marital status also changed her immigration status and was told she had 10 days to work a miracle or get deported. Terrified, she went to her employer, and they helped her find an immigration lawyer, who would end up rewriting Seema's fate and making US her home. Decades later, their paths crossed again, this time, in an unexpected serendipitous way.

Today, Seema is the the Director of Systems Technology Development for Texas Instruments. You can connect with her HERE.