The purpose of Our SHARED JOURNEY IS TO CELEBRATE LAO CULTURE AND TO
RAISE FUNDING TO SUPPORT MANY OF OUR IMPORTANT AND ON-going programs,
mainly the Between Two Worlds: Untold Stories of Refugees from Laos.
The project consists of a traveling museum exhibit, which includes
personal interviews of refugees of different ethnic groups (e.g.,
Lowland Lao, Hmong, Mien, Khmu, Tai Lue, etc.), artifacts, background
information, and the development of Lao American history curriculum
that will be distributed to educators. The exhibit is expected to
travel to five major Californian cities: Redding, Sacramento, SF Bay
Area, Fresno, and Fresno. More information are availble at:
http://www.laostudies.org/B2W [http://www.laostudies.org/B2W]
The evening will include dinner and drinks, performances (Molam,
fashion show, dance, and a variety of other performances), and a live
auction. Seatings are limited so reserve your tickets online today
for $120 each! If any seating is available, tickets will be $150 at
the door.
OUR SHARED JOURNEY MCs
_JOSIE AND ASHLEY PHOTHIVANH_ Josie Phothivanh is a 22-year-old
hairstylist working in the Bay Area. Born and raised in Laos, she
moved to the US at the age of thirteen in 2009. She has been a part of
Jai Lao Foundation for the last three years, an organization that is
raising funding to help the children of Laos. She is grateful to have
the opportunity to live and work in the US, and always find a way to
give back to the Lao community. We are fortunate to have Josie as a
female MC along with her twin sister, Ashely, for our event.
Phetdalavone (Ashley) Phothivanh is a 22-year-old professional makeup
and hair stylist in Alameda, CA. She was born and raised in Laos until
her family moved to the US in 2009. Earlier this year (2017) she
became a contestant of Miss Asian Global 2017. This experience meant
so much to her since she was able to represent the Lao community and
to showcase her culture in a profound way. She was one of the top ten
finalists and was crowned Miss Asian Photogenic 2017. On her spare
time, she volunteers for Jai Lao Foundation to raise awareness and
funding for the children of Laos. Ashley will be one of three MCs
for Our Shared Journey fundraiser.
_TONY PHOUANENAVONG_
Tony Phouanenavong has spent his entire life living in the Bay Area.
Despite coming from a low-income family and almost dropping out of
high school, he turned things around and was the first from his family
to go to college and graduated from San Francisco State University
with a BA in Organizational Communications. After college, Tony spent
over a decade working with 2 large direct-sales companies where he
became the first Lao Regional Vice President in the company; helping
build some of the largest sales teams both domestically and
internationally. After years of coaching, he developed a passion
for entrepreneurship and personal development, which gave him the
courage to start his own business as Co-Founder of T&L Wine Solutions
LLC in 2012. Four years later, Tony decided to pursue a field that
allows him to make a bigger impact on people's lives; he currently
works as a Financial Consultant with Arkshire Financial. In his
spare time, Tony loves catching up with family and friends, traveling,
eating at new restaurants, looking for hidden gems, and doing outdoor
activities such as hiking, sight seeing, and bicycling. Grateful for
all his successes and failures, Tony is constantly looking for ways to
make a positive impact in the lives of people he comes across each
day. Tony will serve as our Lao speaking MC for the night.
OUR SHARED JOURNEY CHEFS _CHEF JAMES SYHABOUT_ Chef James
Syhabout is an ethnic Lao, born in Ubonratchathani, Thailand and
raised in OAKLAND, California. He is a chef and proprietor of the
successful Hawker Fare Restaurant and an owner of Commis Restaurant,
the only Michelin Starred restaurant in the East Bay Area since
2010. Before opening Commis and Hawker Fare Restaurants, James has
worked for numerous Michelin starred restaurants around the UNITED
STATES, the United Kingdom and Spain. In 2006 after returned from
his independent work-study in Europe, Chef James opened up his very
first restaurant, Coi, with Daniel Patterson in San Francisco.
Through this, he has learned the true process of opening a restaurant
from hands-on experience. Chef James has made many appearances on
the Food Network on Iron Chef America as a Sous Chef for Mourad Lahlou
and David Kinch and aided them to triumphant victories. This Fall,
Chef James is expanding Commis Restaurant to add a bar and lounge that
has a more casual component, the fine called CDP. Also, he is
publishing his first cookbook with Anthony Bourdain on Lao cookery and
his personal JOURNEY FROM AN INNER CITY IMMIGRANT TO A MICHELIN STAR
CHEF, which is due to release in 2018. Chef James will be preparing a
few dishes for our guests. _CHEF JAMES WILL BE PREPARING HIS
FAVORITE LAO DISHES FOR OUR GUESTS. _ _CHEF SENG
LUANGRATH_ Chef Seng Luangrath was born in Laos and fled to the
UNITED STATES during the Vietnam War. During her stay at a Thailand
refugee camp in Nakhon Phanom, she learned how to cook from her camp
neighbors and elders. At the age of twelve, she was the eldest of
five and took on the role of caretaker of her four younger siblings in
order to support her working mother. In 2009, at the age of 40 she
decided to go after her greatest passion, cooking. In 2010, she took
over Padaek, previously Bangkok Golden, a Thai restaurant where she
slowly added Lao dishes of her own. Currently, the restaurant offers
both Thai and Lao menus. In 2014, she opened Thip Khao, a Lao
restaurant in Columbia Heights in Washington DC and home of the Lao
Food Movement. Thip Khao has been named one of the top 50 new
restaurants in the U.S. by Bon Appetit Magazine, Michelin Bib Gourmand
2016. Chef Seng was also featured on TV at NBC Washington DC and
was covered in many news articles, such as the Washington City Paper,
Eater Magazine, and Washington Post. Chef Seng was named the Eater
Awards 2015 Chef of the year, and 2017 James Beard Award
Semifinalist (Best Chef Mid-Atlantic). _CHEF SENG WILL BE PREPARING
APPETIZERS AND ENTREES FOR OUR GUESTS AT THE EVENT. _ _ _
_CHEF JOI SIMMALY_ Chef Joi Simmaly is the Founder and CEO of
Spicy Joi Lao Food, LLC. Born in Vientiane, Laos in 197, Join
immigrated to the U.S. in 1981. After working in the real estate and
financial services industry for a combined 15 years in Silicon Valley,
Joi finally quit in 2013 to pursue his true calling of working in the
food industry. Chef Joi spent the next three years fully immersed
working in several kitchens doing all necessary positions required
while learning the business. His last couple of years in the
restaurant industry was spent primarily as an assistant restaurant
manager and catering manager at Spicekit in San Francisco. In 2016,
he left Spicekit and started his own food company Spicy Joi Lao Food,
LLC with the goal of producing, selling, and distributing authentic
Lao food products. His mission for the company is to produce delicious
Lao food products, preserve Lao food culture, and make Lao food easily
accessible for future generations of Lao people. His other goal is to
bring Lao food to the mainstream marketplace in hopes of sharing his
country's delicious cuisine with the rest of the world.
Currently, Spicy Joi Lao Food is doing private catering, multiple
private events, and pop-up restaurants throughout the year while
leveraging social medial to consistently build an ever growing and
loyal brand following. C_HEF JOI WILL MAKE SPICY PAPAYA SALAD TO
ORDER, PROVIDE HIS FAMOUS CHEOW (LAO DIPPING SAUCE), AND DESSERTS. _
_
_ _ CHEF MONY VANGSOULATDA_ Chef Mony Vangsoulatda is the owner
and chef of Green Papaya Food Truck, which is a mobile restaurant that
brings Lao and Thai food to the streets and community making it
accessible for people to enjoy. Followed by a high in demand, she
later opened up the Green Papaya Restaurant, a fast food restaurant
located in Stockton, California. Chef Mony came to the U.S. when she
was nine years old and has learned at an early age the meaning of hard
work. During middle school and high school, she would get up early
every morning to help her parents make and deliver desserts to sell at
the local grocery stores. While in college, she enjoyed cooking for
her friends as a hobby. In December 2011, she quit her full-time job
to work alongside with her mother at her restaurant. It was there
that she found her passion and love for cooking and decided to open a
food truck in 2013 and then her own restaurant in 2017. Chef Mony
has been featured on Food Network's Diners, Drive Ins and Dives with
Guy Fieri on Food Network. _CHEF MONY WILL PROVIDE OUR GUESTS WITH HER
FAMOUS CHICKEN LAAB, AND PURPLE RICE CUSTARDS. _ _ _ _
_ _CHEF NANA SANAVONGSAY_ Chef Nana Sanavongsay is a home
cook and chef of the famous Cooking with Nana on YouTube. She was
born and raised in Vientiane, Laos and came to the UNITED STATES with
her family when she was nine years old. She got inspired to cook at
a very young age by her mother who used to make lots of dishes to sell
for extra income to support their family. She also learned to cook
from her mother and stepfather by watching, observing and asking them
questions. Nana and her husband, Alisak, decided to start making
video of her cooking primarily due to numerous requests from friends
who would often call her up asking her how to make lots of many
different dishes. Her husband posted her very first cooking video on
Facebook to share with their friends in November of 2011. Later on
they were asked by some friends to have it posted on YouTube so their
friends can see it too. That is how Cooking with Nana got
started. Now, she has almost 41,000 subscribers on her YouTube
Channel with over 100 videos and over 6.5 million views. "I am not
a nutritionist nor a professional chef. I just want to make as many
cooking videos as I can to share with friends and help bring Lao food
to the mainstream. Currently, we don't have many restaurants that
serve Lao food. I hope to inspire people to want to cook and eat Lao
food," said Nana. For more information, check out the following
links for Cooking with Nana's YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/CookingWithNana and Facebook Page
https://www.facebook.com/CookingWithNana. _CHEF NANA WILL DONATE
APPETIZERS AND ENTREES TO THE EVENT. _ _ _ _
_ OUR SHARED JOURNEY ENTERTAINERS _VANNY SAYAOSA_ Vanny
Sayaosa (also known as Souvanny Sinanouan) was born in
Ubonratchathani, Thailand, but grew up in Pakse, Laos. She is the
eldest daughter of the well-known Isan Molam artist, Ajanh Khammy.
Vanny has started learning to sing Molam with her father at an early
age because of her personal interests as well as wanting to carryon
this traditional Lao-Thai art form that have been practiced by her
family from generation to generation. At the age of 16, she has
performed all kinds of Molam: lam peun, lam deun, lam vieng, folk
songs, and etc. She is now living in California and still
practices Molam and performs throughout the UNITED STATES. Vanny was
also featured alongside with the Lao Bantheung Sinh, a Molam troupe
from the Bay Area, at the first Molam Tan Smay Performance hosted by
CENTER FOR LAO STUDIES IN MAY OF THIS YEAR. _VANNY WILL SING MOLAM
FOR OUR GUESTS AT THE EVENT. _ _ _ _ _ _TOOKATA_
Tookata is a famous Isan Lao Thai Molam (folk, country) singer.
She started singing at the tender age of 12 years old. Her sound
and genre is specific to the Isan region of Thailand. She has
performed for an audience of over 100,000 people on Mother's Day for
Thailand's Queen most recently. In addition to a successful career
as a Molam singer, Tookata has also performed as a popular stand up
comedian. Following are links to her personal YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrgTWDiSv9pwfeNLzmth-mw
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrgTWDiSv9pwfeNLzmth-mw] and some of
her work as a comedian https://youtu.be/TDq751AzXoY. _TOOKATA WILL BE
PERFORMING A FEW NUMBERS FOR OUR GUESTS AT THE EVENT. _
_SANDY CHITTAVONG_ Sandy Chittavong, also known in her artist name
as Soal Nias (Soul Nices) which means Lao Asian Soul with a Thai heart
of gold. She is known as a Lao /Thai American R&B, Soul, and Pop
Independent Artist and Songwriter. She was born and raised in San
Jose, California. She is the daughter of Peter Chittavong and
Oraphet Sananikone, who had helped over 200+ Lao families in the
refugee camps in Thailand to come to the UNITED STATES. Sandy has an
interest and love for music, singing, and dancing since she was a
kid. Throughout her life, she has picked up some influences from
listening to Molam songs performed by her grandparents as well as
other Molam artists. Her grandfather would always play the Lao/Thai
music instrument called the "Khene" while her grandmother would sing
Molam. Sandy's music style is rooted in the music of the late '80s
and '90s decade such as Lauryn Hill, Aaliyah, Brandy, Mary J. Blige,
Tamia and TLC. She is an active supporter of other Asian/Pacific
Islander artists, organizing with API artists to reshape the larger
Bay Area music community. _SANDY WILL BE PERFORMING THREE SONGS FROM
HER RECENT TOUR._ _ _ _ _ _ONE HUNNED_ One Hunned is a
Lao-American Rapper/Hip Hop artist from San Diego, CA. He has been
in the hip hop culture since the age of 15-16 and has performed with
artists such as TI, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, French Montana and Drake,
just to name a few. He has toured throughout the UNITED STATES as
well as in Australia, New Zealand, France and Canada. One Hunned has
performed both as part of concert tours, cultural festivals and
FUNDRAISERS. He has taken part and performed alongside with the Lao
Bantheung Sinh Molam Troupe at the Molam Tan Smay Performance, hosted
by the CENTER FOR LAO STUDIES IN MAY OF THIS YEAR IN RICHMOND, CA.
_CLS IS DELIGHTED TO HAVE ONE HUNNED JOINING US AGAIN AT THE UPCOMING
OUR SHARED JOURNEY EXTRAVAGANZA FUNDRAISER. HE WILL BE PERFORMING TWO
SONGS ARE THE EVENT._ _ _ _
_ _ _
_SEBASTIAN SAEPHANH_
Sebastian Saephanh is a Co-Artistic Director, Co-Founder and
Co-Choreographer of LV Dance Collective (LVDC). He received a Master
of Fine Art in dance at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts
in 2009. During his time at NYU, he had the privilege to
study with well-established choreographers and educators Cherylyn
Lavagnino, Gus Solomons Jr., and Gerald Casel just to name a few.
He has a Bachelor of Art in dance from San Francisco State
University. In Spring of 2010, he had the opportunity to teach a
Master's Class at SFSU which has given him the opportunity to be one
of SFSU Guest Artist during the 2010/2011 Season as well as Orinda
Academy. Saephan has choreographed work for the Youth Ensemble at the
Shawl-Anderson Dance Studio in Berkeley, which the company performed
throughout the 2009/2010 Season. He also continues to work at
the Star Dance Studio in San Francisco as a substitute teacher.
Previously, he has done workshops with artists such as Alonzo King,
Joe Goode, Brenda Way, and KT Nelson. His credits include dancing for
Mark Foehringer Dance Project, Cathleen McCarthy, Annie Rosenthal
Parr, Booke Notary, Nguyen Dance Company, SFSU Dance Theater, Serene
Dance Collective, and has performed at the Kennedy CENTER IN
WASHINGTON D.C. He was invited to present his choreography at the
American College Dance Festival in 2007 and SFSU Dance Theater in
2006. Saephanh has been praised by the San Francisco Chronicle as a
dancer who, "moved with sinuous grace through the staging" in his
performance in the OAKLAND Opera-playing the lead role of Paul in Les
Enfants Terribles. _SEBASTIAN AND HIS DANCE TROOP WILL PERFORM A DANCE
NUMBER DEVOTED TO REFUGEES FROM LAOS. _
_KHETPHET PHAGNASAY_ Khetphet Phagnasay originally came
from Laos to the UNITED STATES as a refugee in the 1980's. He earned
his B.A. in Theatre Arts from California State University, Fresno. He
earned his Master of Fine Arts in Acting from University of Hawaii,
Manoa, where he studied Asian Theatre forms. KP is a working actor,
director, producer and stunt-fight Coordinator and more. As an acting
coach/instructor with 15 + years of coaching experience, he has taught
at various studios in California and Hawaii; helping, developing, and
guiding students to be successful in their career and life.
Khetphet Phagnasay has worked on the awarding winning feature film
Street of Hope(2014) as the Acting Coach/Consultant/Actor. He is also
the Associate Producer/Stunt coordinator for the Short independent
film Cross (2010). Casting/coordinating for a feature film Biohazard
(Zombie Apocalypse) (2011). KP has been a stunt coordinator on
featured films such as Showboys (2011), Contender, Underclassmen: Lee
Roy Soames and the Drama Boy (2013), The Recording, Uprising and more.
Many of these films have won awards at various film festivals. _KP
WILL BE PERFORMING A SOLO PIECE DEDICATED TO THE REFUGEES FROM LAOS._
_SECRET LAO MALE MODELS_
_ _Members of the Lao community coming together to model for a cause.
They are masculine, mysterious, smart, handsome, and Lao! (or at least
Lao at heart). Please cheer them on as they walk the runway to show
off the Lao silk sarongs and their physiques. Could you guess who’s
behind the mask?
_
_
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15/10/2017 Last update