Jacqueline Thanh

Dr. Jacqueline Thanh is a scholar-activist with an extensive history in advocacy and leadership development. She is a clinically trained, trauma informed human rights advocate who brings expertise in culturally integrative design justice. 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, Doctorate in Social Work from the University of Southern California. She is an inaugural Harvard Climate Design Justice Fellow, New Orleans Business's 2023 Top Female Achievers, and Gambits 2022 40 under 40 honoree. Her work has centered an Asian American praxis in intersectional changemaking through program development and implementation with survivors of war, trafficking, violence against women, migrant displacement trauma domestically and abroad. She is currently Executive Director of VAYLA New Orleans where she leads strategic initiatives in achieving equal opportunity and justice through storytelling and innovating pathways for Asian American leadership in New Orleans and the Gulf South.