The LEAP Podcast
Many are taught to keep your heads down and stay quiet. How do you lead in a society that says “speak up and be heard?” Sometimes that means taking a leap of faith, doing what hasn't been done and taking risks.
Listen in as The LEAP Podcast explores these and other life and leadership questions.
Ep. 7 Pride in Leadership with Stacia Kato & Erik Takayesu
Stacia Kato-Takayesu and Erik Takayesu, the dynamic wife and husband duo, recall the moment of being called out by their transgender child which experience transformed their relationship as a family and their perspectives as leaders at work.
Ep. 6 Empowerment & Impact with Melanie Ramil
Melanie Ramil is a Filipina-American who participated in LEAP’s Leadership in Action summer internship program as a student in 2005. She now runs Emerge California, an organization committed to helping women get elected to political offices.
Ep. 5 Courageous Leadership with Liji Thomas
Liji Thomas is South Asian and an inclusion and diversity executive for the Beauty Counter. She discusses what it means to truly be inclusive, how we help each other by creating space for others, and being courageous enough to take leaps of faith in our careers that can transform organizations and communities.
Ep. 4 Authentic Leadership with Tammy Tumbling
Tammy Tumbling is an African American leader who has a corporate and non-profit background, has been a mentor to both Tammy and Tami at different times in our career and now the COO to one of the largest philanthropic foundations in Southern California.
Ep. 3 Family and Culture with Susan Jin Davis
Susan Jin Davis and her daughter Sophia Jin Malatesta share the joys and challenges facing Asian and biracial families in the United States. They discuss cultural identity and leadership development for Asian-Americans, and navigating challenges in raising children in biracial families.
Ep. 2 Speaking Out with Manju Kulkarni
Manju Kulkarni co-founded Stop AAPI Hate in March 2020, the nation’s leading aggregator of hate incidents against Asian Americans.
Ep. 1 Taking Leaps of Faith
Tami Bui and Tammy Tran share how their friendship, personal journeys, and conversations with women in power have led them to start a podcast with LEAP.
If in your culture, you are taught to keep your head down and stay quiet, how do you lead in a society that says speak up and be heard? Sometimes that means taking a leap of faith, doing what hasn't been done and taking risks.
The LEAP Podcast explores these types of questions in the context of Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics. LEAP is a nonprofit organization and committed to developing people, informing society, and empowering communities.
Two Tami/my’s explore with fellow API leaders and allies about their journeys, leaps they have taken in life, and how at the end of the day, they stay faithful to their values and bring others along with them. API women have often been taught to shrink and silence themselves - but our collective voices are powerful and deserve to be heard on our terms. We are telling our stories for ourselves and for our communities.
About the Team
Hosts
Tammy Tran & Tami Bui
Tammy Tran and Tami Bui explore with fellow Asian American leaders and allies about their journeys, leaps taken in life, and how at the end of the day, they stay faithful to their values and help others to embrace their cultural identities along the way. Asian American women have often been taught to shrink and silence themselves - but their collective voices are powerful and deserve to be heard on their own terms. As the hosts, they are telling their own stories as well as uplifting others to share their stories for our communities.
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The two Tami/my both have day jobs in the private sector, but also have a passionate side-hustle volunteering with a number of nonprofit organizations, particularly those that advance the voice and visibility of Asian and Pacific Islanders. Both are involved with LEAP (Tami is on the Board) and both are also on the board of directors for CAUSE (Center for Asians United for Self Empowerment). They are both first generation Vietnamese American women, first in their families to go to college, first to do lots of things that they never dreamed they could do! Their bios can be found here.
Podcast Producer & Editor
Catt Phan
Catt Phan was born in Vietnam, but immigrated with her family to the U.S. 20 years ago. Raised in Orange County by resilient women, she grew up in equality and income disparities that strengthened her resolve to advocate for marginalized communities.
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After graduating with honors from the University of California, Santa Barbara, Catt worked in fund development and mental health care for older adults at the same nonprofit that helped her family when they first came to the U.S. With the Union of Vietnamese Students Association, she was a program lead for their student development camps, involved in public relations for Tet Festival, and was voted Miss Congeniality 2019 in the Miss Vietnam of Southern California scholastic pageant.
With over 5 years of community relations, strategic communications, and storytelling in the public sector Catt is passionate about giving back to the community that helped raise her. She has been featured in MTV News, LAist, Engineered Careers Podcast, SBTN, and Netflix for her cultural expertise. During the historic 2020 election cycle she coordinated field strategy and direct voter engagement for Congressional and State races. As the only Asian and one of the youngest staffers on the Coordinated Campaign, she managed the Southern office in the biggest battleground county in the United States.
Currently Catt is pursuing her Master of Public Administration at the University of Southern California while working full-time at a social impact communications agency.
About the Producer
LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics) is a national, nonprofit organization founded in 1982 with a mission to achieve full participation and equality for Asian and Pacific Islanders (APIs) through leadership, empowerment, and policy to support a vision of diverse leaders shaping communities for the benefit of all. LEAP works to achieve its vision and mission by: Developing People, because leaders are made not born; Informing Society, because leaders know the issues; and Empowering Communities, because leaders are grounded in strong, vibrant communities. Guided by the philosophy: “Keep Your Values. Develop New Skills.®”, LEAP is focused on “uncapping talent” and filling the pipeline with Asian and Pacific Islander leaders across all sectors. The LEAP Podcast explores questions of leadership in the context of Asian and Pacific Islander life, work and community.