APACE (Asian Pacific Advocacy, Culture and Education) Academy students engage in activities which help them find connections between their cultural identity, history and their own professional development. APACE is a space for high school students to make new connections with similarly aged peers, professionals, ASU faculty and students, and community organizations and mentors.
As APACE Academy enters its 30th year, Program Director and School of Social Transformation faculty member Brandon Yoo and College of Integrative Sciences and Arts faculty member Lydia HaRim Ahn reflect on the research they’ve done with the program and what they have learned from it.
“We are investigating the effectiveness of APACE on high school students’ racial and ethnic identity, sense of belonging and critical consciousness,” said Lydia Ahn. “Qualitatively, students shared how APACE helped support them in learning about their own history, coping with racism and connecting with others.”
APACE Academy began in 1995 when the AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander) Arizona community expressed support for a way to combat marginalization and provide education for children. Now, ASU hosts a program each year run by a variety of experts to help high school age children engage with activities that introduce them to how their cultural identities can connect with professional development. Brandon Yoo expressed that the students' favorite activity is often the mock trial, because they get to work in teams to practice professional skills, work with community members, develop their public speaking skills and then show their families and community what they learned.
This year, the research continues to explore the benefits of APACE Academy for our students, including exactly what about the program and for whom APACE Academy is most effective–sharing the results with our students, family and community. As he points out, “APACE Academy is one of the few programs in the state for high school students that focuses on the culture, history and empowerment of AANHPI youth and families. It remains an important space where students learn how AANHPI communities are diverse and have a longstanding and rich history of resiliency, resistance and contribution to improving U.S. society, both locally and nationally—despite the invisibility of AANHPI in our society and education.”
The special 30th year anniversary of the APACE (Asian Pacific Advocacy, Culture and Education) Academy 2025 summer program is now accepting applications for students entering and graduating high school (grades 9-12).
The FREE program will be held on ASU’s Tempe campus from Monday through Friday, June 2 – June 6, 2025 | 8:30am to 4:00pm
Details of the program can be found on SST’s website and students can directly fill out an application here.
If interested in financially contributing to the ongoing success of our academy, please visit ASU Foundation.
For any questions, contact the program director Brandon Yoo at yoo@asu.edu.