This episode focuses on the research experience of two youth experts and two researchers from UH who use a community-based participatory research design to prioritize AAPI youth voice. They seek to build knowledge about how AAPI teenagers across diverse ethnicities experience civic engagement and what they perceive as barriers and supports to their civic activities.

Selena Wang is a second-generation Chinese-American and a current Senior at Cypress Ranch high school who is passionate about social justice, specifically regarding topics impacting the AAPI community. 

Ziyad Rahman is a senior at the Awty International high school in Houston. Both are part of a team of youth experts with the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work looking to reduce civic inequality. 

Carunya (Caro) Achar is a MSW student who understands the importance of recognizing how different layers of one’s identity and environment can impact a person. 

Dr. Suzanne Pritzker is an associate professor of social work at UH. As a social work practitioner and as a researcher, she focuses on supporting civic engagement and reducing structural barriers that impede people's ability to participate in policy decision-making that impacts their lives. 

Learn more at uh.edu/socialwork/actionresearch