NAAAP-KC 2019 Year in Review

For NAAAP-KC, co-hosting the 2019 NAAAP National Leadership Convention in our city is definitely the highlight of our year.

It was an honor to highlight our local community, our corporations, NAAAP National, and our chapter. None of it would have been possible without the support of our corporate sponsors, the great collaboration with NAAAP National Leaders and the hard work and dedication of our NAAAP-KC board. Because of the passion and “can-do” spirit of the NAAAP-KC chapter, the year-long journey to the leadership convention was filled with many other accomplishments that supported or highlighted the convention. Here are a few.

Professional Development programming supported and promoted The Unconventional Leader theme of the convention:

• Nomad Motel – Professional Development series

NAAAP-KC sponsored the world premiere of Nomad Motel by Carla Ching at the Unicorn Theatre. It was the first time a play written by Asian American Female playwright was produced in KC. The play featured Asian American actors and was co-directed by an Asian American woman. The professional development series began with meeting the playwright, cast, director, and creative team for their first read-through, observing how a new team comes together and their process of teamwork and problem-solving. The series continued with a peek into the rehearsal process and ended with attendance for the opening night performance and reception.

• Level Up: The Business of Gaming, where Ashley Jones, Park University’s first eSports coach shared her personal story about how she got into eSports, readying student-athletes for professional careers, and new opportunities in the ever-growing industry of eSports.

• Multifaceted: a group exhibition of Kansas City-based Asian American visual artists. A collaboration with ArtsKC, the exhibition examined the plurality of identity we possess as human beings, particularly those from marginalized or ethnic backgrounds. Bucking the stereotype of the dry and self-serious model minority, the Asian American artists of “Multifaceted” show the eclectic range of their personalities: the outsider and the accepted, the traditional and iconoclastic, the business-minded and renegade, the disciplined and the whimsical.

• Because the 2019 Leadership Convention and Gala were so successful, and it was the 1-year anniversary of NAAAP Pride, NAAAP-KC presented a check of over $3,000.00 to the Kansas City Center for Inclusion, whose purpose is to save lives, enrich others, and create safer spaces for the LGBTQIA+ community of Kansas City.