APALA Tour and Talk
Friday, January 24th
12:00-3:00
Please join us at the Asian Arts Initiative to learn more about Philadelphia’s Asian American community! We will be hearing from Samip Mallick of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA), Amanda Bergson-Shilcock of the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, Mary Yee of Asian Americans United, and Gayle Isa of the Asian Arts Initiative. (Thanks to the Asian Arts Initiative and SAADA for generously hosting this event!)
Lunch will be served (catered by Philadelphia Chutney Company).
Please register at http://www.apalaweb.org/resources/registration/
Asian Arts Initiative
1219 Vine St
Philadelphia, PA 19107
http://asianartsinitiative.org/
Directions from Loews Hotel: https://goo.gl/maps/BQH4i
12:00 -1:00 – Lunch and welcome from Gayle Isa
1:00 -1:30 – Talk by Samip Mallick
1:30-2:00 – Talk by Amanda Bergson-Shilcock
2:00 -2:30 – Talk by Mary Yee
2:30-3:00 – Explore AAI
Gayle Isa, founder and executive director, has been an active participant in Philadelphia’s arts and culture community for 20 years, beginning as an intern and evolving as a staff member at the Painted Bride Art Center. She has been a Douglas Redd Fellow focused on arts and community development, and has served on the boards of the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, and the National Performance Network. She currently is a board member of the national Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists and serves on the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs and the Mayor’s Cultural Advisory Council. In 2011, she became the first Asian American appointed to serve on the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Gayle was once an aspiring taiko (drum) player and is now focusing her creative energy on learning to be a new mom!
Samip Mallick is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). Mallick has a M.S. in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Illinois, a Bachelors degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan College of Engineering and has done graduate work in Ancient Indian History at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, India. He was formerly the Director of the Ranganathan Center for Digital Information (RCDI) at the University of Chicago Library and previously also worked for the Social Science Research Council (SSRC). http://www.saadigitalarchive.org/
Amanda Bergson-Shilcock is the director of outreach and program evaluation at the nonprofit Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians, an economic development organization serving immigrants. She coordinates data collection and analysis, enabling the Welcoming Center to use hard evidence to support its decision making. Amanda’s experience with public libraries stretches back to 1990, when she began as a teenage page at Ludington Public Library in Bryn Mawr. More than two decades later, she continues to be employed at Ludington as a weekend reference assistant. Most recently, Amanda designed and oversaw the Welcoming Center’s pioneering study of immigrant technology usage, Digital Diaspora. http://www.welcomingcenter.org/
Mary Yee, Parent and Community Involvement Consultant. Mary has been involved in planning and advocacy for Philadelphia neighborhoods for over 35 years. While working with Asian Americans United, she became involved with the Education Law Center (ELC) in 1985, as a representative of the plaintiff’s side in an advisory group to develop policies and programs to remediate a civil rights suit (YS v. School District of Philadelphia) filed by ELC against the public school system. The suit on behalf of limited English proficient Southeast Asian refugee students alleged unequal access to educational programs and services. Her work in educational advocacy has included a 12-year stint at the School District of Philadelphia working on ESOL/Bilingual program issues, compliance and equity, language access, and family engagement. More recently, she worked at Foundations, Inc. providing technical assistance to out-of-school time programs. She is pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Pennsylvania in Reading/Writing/Literacy.
