2025 Annual AAPI Mental Health Summit, St. Louis, Missouri

Time：9am to 2pm, September 13, 2025 
Location: The GSSTL Center, 210 Fee Fee Hills Dr, Hazelwood, MO 63042
Funded By:
St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund
Summit Host:
  • Asian American Civic Scholars of Missouri; AACS Mental Health Initiative
  • Dr. Min Liu (Professor of Communication, SIUE)
  • Dr. Hemla Singaravelu (Professor of Professional Counseling, Webster University)
Community Co-Host:
Support Network for South Asians (SN4SA)
Community Partners:
Keynote Presentation: 9:30am

Dr. Anna Gonzalez, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Washington University in St. Louis

Dr. Anna Gonzalez or “Dr. G” as she is known to students, is a nationally recognized student affairs leader with over 30 years of experience in higher education. As the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs at WashU, Healthy Excellence is a key pillar of her vision, stating that “success at WashU will not come at a cost to the student’s well-being and they will leave WashU as healthier individuals”. 

Featured Presentation: 10am

Challenges and Resilience: Mental Health Among Asian American Young Adults from MLSAAF

  • Eunseok Jeong (Ph.D. Candidate, The University of Chicago)
  • Sinyeong Lee (Project Manager, M.A., The University of Chicago)
  • Respondent & Discussion Facilitator: Hemla Singaravelu (Ph.D., Professional Counseling, Webster University)


Led by Dr. Yoosun Choi of University of Chicago, the MLSAAF (Midwest Longitudinal Study of Asian American Families) examines Asian American youth/young adult development and how their parents can help maximize developmental potential. Two researchers of this study will share data from hundreds of Korean and Filipino families in the midwest, and highlight findings about racial discrimination, impact of the pandemic, parent-child relationship, role of civic engagement, and more.  

Breakout Session 1: 11am 
Breakout A: Mental and Social Service Needs in St. Louis’ AAPI and Immigrant Community

Panelists:

  • Hyung Kyu is a teacher and parent at the Korea Academy of St. Louis / Korean American Association and will discuss data he recently collected from Korean American parents in the school. 
  • Shashi Pathak is a member of the Support Network for South Asians (SA4SA) organization and will share data from SN4SA’s recent community needs assessment.
  • Yujia Lei (Ph.D., CGP) Licensed Psychologist & Group Coordinator. Washington U St. Louis Center for Counseling and Psychological Services
  • Gilberto Pinela, Director. Office of New Americans in the Office of Mayor Cara Spencer.
  • Panel Moderator: Ruth Kim. Past General Counsel, SVP and Senior Partner for FleishmanHillard, and community advocate. 

This panel brings together community leaders, researchers, and advocates to explore the unique mental health service gaps and social support needs within AAPI and immigrant populations in St. Louis.  Two community organizations will share their needs assessment data from the South Asian and Korean immigrant communities.  Representatives from WashU, International Institute, and the New Americans office will discuss trends they observe in their work.  The discussion will highlight current gaps in the service landscape, and discuss actionable strategies for building more inclusive, accessible, and culturally competent systems of care. 

Breakout B:  Living at the Intersections: Queer Asian Youth Voices

Panelists: 

  • Remy Xa (they/them, any pronouns) is a Queer agender first-generation college senior at UMSL. Remy serves as UMSL’s Student Programming Manager of Community and Belonging.
  • Phi Chanda (they/she) is a queer, nonbinary, neurodivergent Vietnamese-Indian creative and activist from the California Bay Area, as well as the child of a refugee. They are a former ItGetsBetter Youth Ambassador and currently serve as President of WashU Pride Alliance–the university’s largest LGBTQ+ organization.
  • Phoenix (he/him) is a proud gay, Vietnamese-Chinese man born and raised in Denver, Colorado and has worked with LGBT+ VC to establish queer visibility in high finance throughout NYC, Chicago and San Francisco.
  • Chethan Chandra (any pronouns) is a senior at Washington University in St. Louis majoring in art history and double-minoring in biology and Hindi. Chethan is the president of the Hindu Students’ Association at WashU and a budding Hindi-English medical interpreter.
  • Luka Cai (they/them) is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of SQSH, the St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline. Luka was a Fox-Clark Civic Scholar with the Gephardt Institute. 
  • Panel Moderator: Danny Poon (he/him) is a St. Louis native dedicated to empowering and mobilizing the Asian American community by building bridges with the broader St. Louis region. Danny is the founder of the St. Louis Pan Asian Collective and the Director of Community Engagement of the Very Asian Foundation.

*With support from Dr. Jacob Chacko of WashU*

Being Asian and queer presents unique challenges, especially when one lives in the midwest.  As Asian queer youth navigate complex intersections of culture, identity, family expectations, and community norms, they often do so with limited support and representation. This panel centers the voices and lived experiences of queer Asian youth in St. Louis and beyond. Panel attendees will learn from their personal storytelling, dialogue, and reflection, and gain insights into collaborative approaches that foster belonging and resilience. 

Lunch & Learn: noon
  • Boxed lunches are provided by SN4SA, along with hot and cold beverages and fruits.
  • Service Provider Resource Booths.  Attendees can visit resource booths by organizations such as Monarch, Lifewise, SQSH, Casa de Salud, Diversified Health & Wellness Center, Multicultural Counseling and Research Center, Very Asian Foundation, and learn about resources and programs available to the community.
  • AAPI Mental Health Research Posters.  Attendees can also check out research posters by the AACS Mental Health Youth Advocates team, and interact with the youth advocates.  
Breakout Session 2: 1pm 
Breakout A: Mental and Social Service Providers in St. Louis’ AAPI and Immigrant Community: A Discussion About Best Practices

Panelists: 

  • Jason Baker (Ph.D), Executive Director of Monarch Immigrant Services. Jason’s work for the St. Louis immigrant community began in 2010 when he became an ESL/citizenship instructor for Bosnian concentration camp survivors, and since then he has dedicated himself to
  • Jade Gu (MSW) is a mental health therapist at LifeWise StL, offering mental health therapy in English and Mandarin Chinese.
  • Naomi Fu (MSW) is the Mental Health Program Manager at Casa de Salud and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She has experience in bilingual mental health services, crisis intervention, and care coordination
  • Aya Kawasaki (MSW, LCSW, LLM) is a therapist at the Multicultural Counseling and Research Center. Aya lost her sister to suicide and is especially interested in suicide prevention, grief and death counseling.

*Panel Moderator: Anna Crosslin, Retired President and CEO of International Institute of St. Louis*

This panel brings together frontline service providers, community leaders, and advocates working directly with AAPI and immigrant communities in the region. With experiences in direct service, project management, grant writing, and community organizing, these panelists will share best practices, lessons learned, and community-informed strategies for delivering accessible and culturally competent care.   

Breakout B: From Awareness to Action: Asian American Families Supporting Neurodivergent Youth

Panelists:

  • Aisha Khorana, M.Ed: Aisha Khorana is a third-year Ph.D. student in Counselor Education and Supervision at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. As a certified K-12 School Counselor, she has worked with elementary and high school students in the Rockwood School District.
  • Jieshu Ewing is a bilingual social worker at an independent living facility in St. Louis. She brings her perspective as the parent of two biracial students in the Clayton School District. 
  • Ayusha Amarakone is an advisor to the Upakara Foundation, and the Past President of Sri Lanka Association.  She also serves as the Executive Director of Medical Help International.  She shares her experience as the parent of two Sri Lankan students in the Ladue School District.
  • Kirti Mehrotra: Kirti served as the Assistant Principal of Lafayette High School before retirement and worked in the Rockwood School District for 25 years as an educator and an administrator.  She is a founding member of the organization SN4SA.
  • Mary (Rina) M. Chittooran, PhD. NCSP (she/her) is a South Indian Christian Professor and School Psychologist at Saint Louis University since 1998; Consultant at the SLU Autism Center; and board member of SLU’s Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) Center.

*Panel Moderator: Aisha Sultan is a nationally syndicated columnist, award-winning filmmaker and features writer. She has won several national honors recognizing her writing and her documentary storytelling. Her work explores social change with an emphasis on education, families and inequality. Her insights on this topic are shaped by her personal experiences as a parent to two South Asian young people growing up in the Midwest, and her decades of professional work.*

Conversations about neurodivergence, including ADHD, autism, learning disabilities and other cognitive and developmental differences, are almost non-existent in public spaces within the St. Louis Asian American community.  In addition to deeply rooted stigma, cultural expectations about academic excellence, there is also limited access to culturally competent resources including in the school setting. Facilitated by journalist and advocate Aisha Sultan, this panel brings together parents, advocates, and professionals to explore how Asian American families are learning to understand, accept, and advocate for their neurodivergent children.

Registration
As of 10:30 PM on Sept 9 2025 registration has reached full capacity and we are not taking new registrations. For inquiries please email Aacsstl@gmail.com.