Vietlead-Urban Affairs Coalition

VietLEAD is a grassroots, Vietnamese community-based organization in Philadelphia and South Jersey. With focuses on intergenerational healing through leadership development, civic engagement, culture & arts, and health promotion work. VietLead was founded by Vietnamese organizers who had a vision for sustainability, self-determination, and “taking on” the work of building the community they wanted. Its vision is to integrate transformative programming that organizes and mobilizes our community towards collective self-determination of the Vietnamese community in solidarity with communities of color.

VietLEAD's mission is to develop leadership in the Vietnamese community in solidarity with other communities of color towards improving health, increasing self-determination, and strengthening political power of their community. Its vision, then, is to organize the community towards a future in which everyone can thrive culturally, economically, socially, and politically in Philadelphia and South Jersey. VietLEAD believes in increasing its community leadership through building long term relationships with community members, striving to work from the community's ancestral and cultural roots. It is committed to this work because of its love for its communities and each other.  It believes that the fate of the Vietamese community is tied together with all communities; therefore, it strives for economic and political solidarity through intentional resource distribution, sharing resources, spaces, and linking struggles.