Understanding Cultural Differences within Asian Immigrant Families
Thursday, July 22, 2021, 2:30 to 4 p.m., ET
Register for this free webinar: https://bit.ly/3g5OtMK
Panelists:
Esther Hio-Tong Castillo, Ph.D., Panel Chair
Dr. Esther Hio-Tong Castillo is a scholar/educator and mental health and social justice advocate with expertise in justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) matters. She has nearly two decades of working experience in education as a teacher, counselor, community advocate, and faculty in various educational settings, including early childhood education, youth programs, adult education, and higher education.
She is a proud first-generation college student and a 1.5 generation immigrant. Her identity and life story have strengthened her dedication to improving mental wellness and equities for Asian immigrant communities. Dr. Castillo has a MA in Humanities and Social Thoughts from NYU and a Ph.D. in Sociology from Temple University. Currently, she is the Program Manager of the Chinese Immigrant Families Wellness Initiative (CIFWI) at the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation (PCDC). At CIFWI, she implements and organizes all programming and offers wellness workshops to Asian immigrant parents and their children.
Felicia Chen
Felicia Chen is a senior studying nursing at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a proud graduate of the Chinese Immigrant Family Wellness Initiative’s, (CIFWI) Wellness Leadership Program and is a current junior board member of CIFWI.
Felicia actively creates educational content on social media to emphasize mental health awareness among Asian American youths. Felicia recognizes that the unique challenges of her own family’s wellness are felt among many other Chinese immigrant families. With a passion and the privilege to lead, Felicia aspires to be a healthcare practitioner who will positively influence the physical and mental wellness of Asian American youths.
Nary Kith, Ph.D.
Dr. Nary Preap Kith is a marriage and family therapist and community organizer with knowledge of migration-related trauma, immigrant and refugee experiences and policies, and youth and family in crisis. She has over 10 years of experience working with vulnerable communities and believes in the importance of giving back to the community that has a hand in shaping the person you would become. The question she often asks of others is “How do you engage in social responsibility and how do you put back into the universe what was given to you?”
Dr. Kith currently works as a Director of a Children’s Mobile Crisis Team at PATH (a Behavioral Health organization in Northeast Philadelphia). In this role, she provides oversight of the daily operations of the Mobile Crisis program. She is also the Co-Founder/Executive Director of Kiths Integrated and Targeted Human Services (KITHS), a non-profit organization with a mission to help immigrants and refugees have opportunities for independence, growth, healing, and economic development.
Dr. Kith has a Master’s in marriage and family therapy from Drexel University and a Ph.D. in community and social services from Capella University. Her educational achievements and professional career have been influenced by her experience as a refugee from Cambodia. She understands the need for linguistically and culturally appropriate services that go beyond behavioral health. Her ‘systems thinking’ training has guided her current work with youth and families in crisis and with immigrants and refugees attempting to navigate the larger system.
Noel Ramirez, DBH, MPH, MSW, LCSW, BCD
The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned. – Maya Angelou
Noel has been a practicing social worker and clinician since 2009 and has been involved in various community-based programs in the Philadelphia metro area. In the last decade, Noel has overseen and managed HIV Prevention programs for gay/bisexual men, developed and enhanced recovery-resilience programming for a network of federally qualified health centers, and continue to be involved in community organizing on issues related to Queer Asian Americans, Anti-black racism in social work, and body-positivity and liberation. Currently, Noel teaches a wide range of graduate courses that invite an intersectional approach to social work practice at Columbia University and West Chester University and work at a Federally Qualified Health Center providing integrated care and behavioral consultation. Noel is the owner and director of Mango Tree Counseling & Consulting, a social enterprise aimed at providing mental wellness and care to Asian and Pacific Islanders in the Philadelphia area offering innovative behavioral health support to Queer BIPOC folx.
Noel is deeply honored to work and be in a community with caring and compassionate colleagues and beautiful, resilient community members.
Sarorng Sorn
Sarorng (Rorng) Sorn is the Director of Immigrant/Refugee Affairs and Language Access Services for the City of Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS). Her pronoun is she/her/hers. In her role, Rorng works to develop strategies and policies to increase access to behavioral health and intellectual disability services for immigrant/refugee and special populations.
Rorng is a former refugee from Cambodia with lived experience of pre- and post-migration trauma and the first in her family to earn a college degree. Rorng has over 30 years of combined experience in public, private, and nonprofit sectors working to address the challenges of refugee and immigrant communities through direct service, advocacy, and leadership and organizational development.
Through her dedication to serve marginalized communities, she has received multiple awards including the Special Achievement Award for Dedicated Service in Support of Human Rights of the U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service, and 6ABC’s Outstanding Community Service Award, and in 2019 she received an honorary degree, Doctor of Humane Letters, from Gwynedd Mercy University. Sarorng holds a master’s degree in Nonprofit/NGO Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a single mom of two adult sons. In her spare time, she loves kayaking, hiking, and camping.
This webinar is approved for all Nevada Certification Board Certifications!
