
Mission
Asian Signers is a Deaf-led and nonprofit organization promoting the recognition of diverse Asian representation with a commitment to culture, literature and education in American Sign Language.
History
“The Race for the Chinese Zodiac” was the first Asian Literature in ASL produced by Lee Ann Tang as the signer and Nozomi Tomita as the video editor. It was originally posted for the Lunar New Year, but also became a groundbreaking movement for us.
Nozomi Tomita and Lee Ann Tang recognized the lack of involvement regarding Asian Deaf in various settings: education, community and professional. We were aware of common stereotypical characters, for example, passive, disinterested, or shy. We reframed the misassumptions due to an invisible representation of diverse Asians and Asian Americans in the media.
The diverse Asian and Asian-American population was tiny (and it still continues today), especially signed language: American Sign Language (ASL). We believed in providing cultural literature in ASL by Asians for our next generations to connect to oneself’s ethnic identity, for instance. Yeh Kim joined the boat and we three founded this organization, Asian Signers, in early February of 2020 in Washington, D.C.
Unexpectedly, the COVID-19 pandemic appeared that adapted the way we originally envisioned Asian Signers. In addition, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement went on its rise and also challenged us to include racism in our literature. Now with the “Stop Asian Hate” hashtag, we were proud to foster and acknowledge important racial issues within the communities.
Asian Signers became officially registered as a nonprofit under section 501(c)(3) in May 2020. We proudly produced our very first Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (APAHM) in ASL. Note that APAHM is an annual event in the month of May. We spotlighted diverse Asians and Asian Americans sharing their stories, journeys, skills, cuisines, passions, and ethnic identities. The rest is history.
Meet the Asian Signers Team
Leadership

Lee Ann Tang
CEO/Co-Founder
She/Her/HersAsian-American

Justin Cha
Director of Operations/General Counsel
He/Him/HisKorean-American

Shari Kido
Chief Storyteller
She/Her/HersHapa: Half Japanese and half white
Our Team

Yudan Liu
Digital Producer
She/Her/TiaChinese

Smita Kothari
Fundraiser
She/Her/HersIndian

Zaya Gantulga
Access Coordinator
She/Her/HersMongolian

Long Nguyen
Artist
He/Him/HisVietnamese LGBT+

Zione Hong
Co-Artist
She/Her/HersKorean-American

Miko Arayata
Video Editor
He/Him/HisFilipino

Geraldine Dang
Social Media Manager
She/Her/HersAsian-American

Vijay Advanti
Event Coordinator
He/Him/HisIndian-American

Michael Catron
Business Development Manager
He/Him/HisKorean-American

Tianqi Zhou
Accountant
She/Her/HersAsian

Krishna Madaparthi
Video Editor
He/Him/HisIndo-Canadian

Elizabeth Brenes
Assistant
She/Her/HersThai American

Gavino Cabanilla II
Digital Floater
He/Him/HisFlipino

Diana Preza
Captionist
She/Her/HersFilipina/Salvadorian

Melissa Keomoungkhoun
Creative Content Coordinator
She/Her/HersLaotian-Australian

Jason Hoang
Content Creator
He/Him/HisAsian-American

Peter Yeung
Webmaster
He/Him/HisAsian-American
Emeritus

Nozomi Tomita
Co-Founder
She/Her/HersJapanese

Yeh Kim
Co-Founder
He/Him/HisKorean-American, Asian-American