Shedding Light on the Title
At the start of 2022, news anchor Michelle Li from KSDK in St. Louis noted on air that she celebrates New Years Day by eating dumplings, as many Koreans do. Michelle Li is a transracial adoptee and has been living in the U.S. since the age of six months. An offended caller responded that Li was being “very Asian” and that she should keep her Korean to herself. Li then tweeted a video of herself listening to the phone call, and by the next morning, her video went viral and the #VeryAsian movement began, which became the inspiration for the title of this conference.
Director's Note
“Hey! Where are you from?” The question caught me off guard, did I know this stranger? I answered that I am from California which is where I grew up. He continued on, “But, no where are you really from? Like, where are you parents from?” It dawned on me that here was this beautiful BIPOC man asking about my Asian heritage. I responded politely (as I’ve been taught) that my parents are from the Philippines and Taiwan, and that they’re Chinese. His parting comment, “Oh I thought for sure you were Japanese.”
Let’s unfold all the layers of fabric that are represented by Asian, Asian-American, AAPI, or in brief, “Asian and/in America/n”. Asian countries span a geographic region from the Pacific to the Suez Canal, intersecting with countries on two other continents, and including roughly 50 countries, with many historic rivalries and tensions between countries. The term Asian-American is an umbrella term that encompasses all of these ethnic groups, a term that has changed more than once over time with the most recent iteration being AA&NHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, see 2021 Presidential Executive Order). The experiences under the AA&NHPI umbrella are infinitely diverse and varied.
While each person has a story that is different, representing different generational traumas and different experiences, there are things that bring us together. My connection to my culture is through food. Others may be through family and tradition, religion, creative outlets, and so on. In the US, some Asians are not even thought of as Asian - called Middle Eastern or Indian. Some of us have multi-cultural backgrounds. The shiny “model minority” has a misleading picture of Asian Americans as uniformly successful, hardworking, and quietly compliant. While this stereotype might seem positive on the surface, it has deeply damaging consequences and creates barriers to authentic leadership for individuals within the community. And yet, Asian Americans themselves may also participate in and perpetuate internalized racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia and other “isms.”
Within this complexity, what does it mean to be of Asian descent and in America? How do Asian Americans take up authority and powerful positions individually and collectively? How is this authority worked with and experienced, by others of Asian descent, by different generations, and by others of non-Asian descent?
Invitation
Variations of Very Asian+: A Group Relations Conference on Asian American Authority and Power is an opportunity to focus on the complex experience of the ‘Asian and/in America/n’ experience. This conference is a space and place for those who seek to understand the realities of Asian American lives in the organizations and social systems in which we live in the Americas. This conference offers a unique opportunity to work with an all Asian-identified staff who have cultural intersections in the Americas. The staff also intersect with different class, cultural, gender and sexual identities. We are the variations of #VeryAsian. Participating members of the conference can represent any community and will reflect a range of intersectionality and diversity.
While this is an experiential event where you learn what you learn, imagine an environment that intends to expose unconscious biases. Could that be the opening to explore the projections that create the "bamboo ceiling" that hinder the advancement of Asian American leaders? How are concepts such as role, boundary and task understood with an experience of Asian American authority and power?
We invite you to JOIN US and look forward to exploring with you Variations of Very Asian+: Asian American Authority & Power Group Relations Conference, online, May 15-18.
Cathy Chen, Director
Group Relations Conference Methodology
This conference is based on the Tavistock tradition of group relations work. We will explore issues related to Asian American lives in diverse group and organizational contexts while also exploring themes central to group relations — such as conscious and unconscious dynamics that affect group functioning, including boundary formation and management, authority relations, overt and covert tasks, formal and informal roles, group defense mechanisms, intergroup dynamics, organizational processes, and the effects of local and global contexts.
Learning here is not from presentations given by experts – but instead through a heightened focus on experience. Experiential learning is both painful and playful, but also, potentially deeply transformative.
We co-create a temporary organization where the task is to learn about hidden and not-so-hidden authority dynamics that impact the organizational culture that develops and the way people take up authority. In the conference, we make use of our individual and collective experiences to understand what is happening, and then perhaps develop ideas to test how we can be more effective. By focusing on the conscious and unconscious processes that impact groups and influence leadership styles, we learn to see and hear what is underneath the surface and how different parts of the system are connected without us realizing it.
The opportunity offered is to grapple with the deep ways we influence each other and to develop new narratives that enable us to be more effective and more able to explore, contain, and enjoy our experiences of what it is to be human today.
Primary Task / Purpose
The primary task of this conference is to study the conscious and unconscious dynamics of power and authority in relation to Asian American authority as we take up roles within the conference and experience these dynamics through interpersonal, intergroup, and institutional relations that develop during this event.

The aim of the conference is to provide opportunities to learn through experience about the rational and irrational ways that organizations and groups function in an online space, and the impact group processes and technologies have on the exercise of authority particularly as it relates to the experience of Asian American authority.

The purpose of the conference is to build capacity to improve leadership and organizational effectiveness and to develop a spirit of inquiry into each of our lived experiences of authority in order to build a better world.
Training Track
We will offer a training group for people who have had previous experience as members in two or more group relations conferences (GRC) and are interested in further exploring how to use group relations concepts, either in taking up roles in GRCs or within your work within groups and organizations. This will include readings, group discussions, and practice taking up consultant roles in Small Study Groups, Large Study Groups, and Review and Application Groups.
Conference Events
The conference is organized as a series of events that provide opportunities to learn through experience in a variety of social contexts in online spaces. Each event offers a different view from which one experiences and perceives oneself and others, which may change over time. Participants develop different capacities as they adjust to the distinct dynamics of each event and explore the reality of their situation in the here-and-now. The events will begin and end promptly at the times designated. A final schedule will be provided at registration.
Opening and Closing Plenaries
These sessions open and close the conference, providing an opportunity for members and staff to express and explore their thoughts and feelings on crossing the boundary into the online conference space during the opening plenary (when the organization begins), and the experience of closing the boundaries of the conference space during the closing plenary (when the organization ends).
Here and Now Small Study Groups and Large Study Groups
Here-and-Now events use a “group-as-a-whole” context and focus on the relationships and relatedness that develop in the moment within the group.
Small Study Groups consist of 12 or fewer members with one or two staff as consultants and provide an opportunity to experience and learn about dynamics in intimate groups similar to teams and committees.
Large Study Groups include all members and a team of 3 or more consultants and provide an opportunity to study the dynamics that arise in larger groups where it is more difficult to know or see every member as an individual and where myths and assumptions about each other and about what is happening can arise quickly and powerfully to impact emotions, thoughts and behavior.
The TASK of the Small and Large Study Groups is to develop the skill of being in the here and now (focusing on experience in the “room”) while also developing an attunement to the conscious and unconscious group dynamics as they arise in the online space. The AIM of Small and Large Study Groups is to engage the primary task of the conference-as-a-whole which is to study the conscious and unconscious exercise of authority. The PURPOSE is to provide an opportunity to learn and build capacity to improve leadership.
Intersecting Systems Event
In the Intersecting Systems Event (ISE), members have an opportunity to form their own groups and determine their own group task. The ISE takes place during several sessions and provides an opportunity to study the systemic and political forces that arise as different groups form and interact with each other. This event opens and closes with plenaries to cross the border into and out of the ISE system. 

The primary TASK of the Intersecting Systems Event is to explore Asian American authority and intersectionality within the conference-as-a-whole, as well as the more hidden relatedness between and among groups in the conference system, and within the surrounding context. The AIM of the Intersection System Event is to better understand the relatedness of intersecting systems. The PURPOSE is to build capacity to improve leadership within intersecting systems.
Review and Application Groups
The TASK of these groups is to provide members the opportunity to reflect (in the there-and-then) on the conference roles they have taken up and their experiences in conference events, and to begin to apply the learning to life outside the conference.
Conference Staff
Directorate
Cathy Chen
Director
Cathy Chen (she/her) is an American born Chinese daughter of immigrant 'Asian Brain Drain' generation parents from Taiwan and the Philippines. Cathy grew up mostly on the west coast in Silicon Valley but now lives in Pittsburgh PA where there is an acceptable number of dumpling restaurants. She is the principal of Capriole Consulting; a Program manager lead at Google; a Board member at GREX, a member of CSGSS, a certified AKRI consultant, and a registered yoga teacher.
John Weng
Associate Director
John Weng (he/him), PhD, ICF PCC; Principal, John Weng Consulting; Adjunct Lecturer, Department of Leadership Studies, Department of Counseling & Marital Family Therapy & Knauss School of Business, University of San Diego; Leadership Solutions Facilitator, Center for Creative Leadership; Leadership Coach, Cambridge University; Leadership Coach, ExecOnline; Co-Creator, Group Relations International; Certified Consultant, A.K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems; Member, International Leadership Association.
Ihan Anita Ip
Associate Director of Administration
Ihan AnitaIp (she/her), PhD, Leadership Studies. Her work explores how music may be used in leadership development. At USD she also serves as program coordinator, lecturer, coach and facilitator. As a holder of multiple cultural and ethnic identities, she is deeply interested in integrating our complexities so that we may approach each other with openness and curiosity. Her group relations experience include multiple conferences as member and staff, and as an instructor at USD. She is a co-creator of Group Relations International, Member of GREX and of the A.K. Rice Institute.
Administration
Jon Luke Tittmann
Assistant Administrator
Jon Luke Tittmann (he/him) earned his bachelor's degree at Bowdoin College where he studied English and Literature. He has immersive experience in Buddhism and mindfulness practices. He is fascinated by the intersection of these practices with group relations work and brings both those lenses to how he thinks about building community and working in organizations. He currently works in growth marketing for IDEO, a global design consulting firm. Jon Luke is primarily of Filipino, Indian, and British/Irish descent and currently resides in Brooklyn, New York. He is a sibling of two, a son, a musician, a traveler, and many more things yet to be discovered.
Jennifer Kan
Assistant Administrator
Jennifer Kan (she/her) is an organizational psychologist based in NYC. She was born in Canada to Chinese immigrants and raised across the Midwest and California. By day, she works in leadership advisory and personality assessment. After closing her laptop, Jennifer has been diving into the world of improv as a new enthusiast. She also volunteers as the recruiting lead at Slant'd, a non-profit AAPI publishing house. Jennifer holds a BS in Management Science from UC San Diego and an MA in Social-Organizational Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Consultants
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Angel Hu
Angel Hu (they/them) is a Leadership Coach, facilitator, and Organizational Psychologist based in the Kumeyaay nation, commonly known as San Diego, California. Angel specializes in helping leaders transform their relationships with work by incorporating frameworks and tools from mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and group dynamics. Angel now works at the Nonprofit Institute as a Graduate Fellow in addition to facilitating courses at Yale School of Management and Yale Law School. They are a PhD student in Leadership studies at the University of San Diego, and hold a B.A. in psychology and a M.A. in Social-Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. Angel is a board member and Vice President of GREX, a Co-Creator at Group Relations International, a member of The A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems, and the former Member-At-Large at the New York Center for the study of groups, organizations, and social systems.
Betsy Hasegawa
Betsy Hasegawa (she/her); Ainu First People of Japan; Ed.D.; Pacific Northwest currently, born/raised in Chicago). Betsy’s work has been to build community, develop leadership, and promote healing as part of a process to grow emergent organizations. Betsy was raised in an intentional community and understands group membership as a winding pathway to co-create something so much bigger than the individuals involved. Betsy is a Fellow of the AK Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems, a Co-creator with Group Relations International, and a member of GREX - An Organization for the Study of Authority, Leadership, and Group Dynamics.
Para Ambardar
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Para/Paro Ambardar, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in psychodynamic/psychoanalytic psychotherapy and organizational consulting. She runs her own independent clinical and consulting practice for over 20 years, primarily in NYC and the SF Bay Area. Dr. Ambardar has been a member and a group consultant in numerous GRCs, coaches in executive education programs internationally, and supervises clinical psychology doctoral students. Additionally, she spent three years residing and working among the Dine on the Navajo Nation reservation, where her first child was born.
Born in Srinagar, Kashmir, Para/Paro hails from a long lineage of Kashmiri Pandits and later married into a Gujarati-American Jain family. Her personal and professional experiences have heightened her awareness of the substantial, yet often implicit or unconscious, influence of cultural heritage, religion and the legacies of colonialism and imperialism on the fluid nature of identity, authority, and power dynamics both at home and in the workplace.
Andrew Alsoraimi-Espiritu
Andrew Alsoraimi-Espiritu (he/him), MA is the Assistant Director of Admissions and Marketing at the School of Global Policy and Strategy, UC San Diego; He is a board member at Sparrow Academy; a member of the City Farmers Goat Cooperative; a Co-Creator at Group Relations International and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.
Keith Lequay
Keith Lequay (he/him) is an organizational and social psychologist by training. He has had group relations staff experiences in the Caribbean, USA and South Africa. Currently a lecturer at the University of the West Indies- Jamaica, he is a former board member of the AKRice Institute and former president of the Trinidad and Tobago Association of Psychologists. With lineage from West Africa and Southern China, he is constantly curious about systemic psychodynamics and the leadership and human development potential, in former colonized spaces.
Tanisha Jain
Tanisha Jain (she/her) is a leadership coach and consultant serving individuals, teams and organizations to develop themselves and live in alignment with their highest potential. She holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University and is a certified coach. She has a refined ability to look at situations through a multicultural lens. She brings influences from ontology, psychodynamics, group dynamics, non-violent communication, somatic leadership, systems thinking and exploring emotions through body work.
Time Boundaries by Day
Wednesday, May 15, 5:30pm - 9:00pm ET
Thursday, May 16, 12:00pm - 7:30pm ET
Friday, May 17, 12:00pm - 7:30pm ET
Saturday, May 18, 12:00pm - 6:35pm ET
Use a time converter such as this to find the equivalent for your time zones.
Conference Fees
Early Bird Fees (until April 22, 2024)
$400 -- EARLY BIRD SUGGESTED FEE
$250 - $600 -- EARLY BIRD SLIDING SCALE
$350 -- EARLY BIRD SUGGESTED FEE FOR GRI, Grex or AKRI members
$200 - $600 -- EARLY BIRD SLIDING SCALE FOR GRI, Grex or AKRI members
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Regular Fees (after April 22, 2024)
$475-- REGULAR APPLICATION SUGGESTED FEE (until May 8, 2024)
$325 - $700 REGULAR APPLICATION SLIDING SCALE (until May 8, 2024)
Request a Scholarship
Follow-up by email with Ihan Anita Ip at vvaplusgrc@gmail.com)
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Join the Training Group
Add $50 Training Group Fee. If interested in the training group, email vvaplus@gmail.com before registration.
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Guidance for Sliding Scales and Scholarships
Sliding scale models are a way to include a diverse and varied membership through giving an interested party the authority to consider their means in relation to the registration fee.
If, for example, you have very high income you may consider paying a fee at the upper edge of this scale. If you are in a lower income bracket, we encourage you to adjust your fee accordingly. We also have a limited amount of scholarships available. Contact vvaplusgrc@gmail.com to inquire.
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Registration closes on May 8, 2024.
