Bicultural Identity and Belonging | Guest Speaker Biographies
Sponsored by VanU’s Intercultural Team, Allies Group, S.U.C.C.E.S.S., Mosaic and Ruby Slippers Theatre
Photo Credit: Pexels by Fauxels
Sunday May 10 at 12:30pm
949 West 49th Ave at the Vancouver Unitarians campus
What are the ingredients to fostering a sense of belonging? What are the barriers? Please join us in celebrating Asian Heritage Month by engaging in a joyful, in-depth interactive exchange about how to build community through action where people feel empowered to bring their whole selves to it.
Guest speakers: Faly Mevamanana, Tricia Trinh, Ricardo Aguilar Valles, Ava Jung, Wiley Ho. Conversation facilitated by Diane Brown.
May is Asian Heritage Month
Asian Heritage Month is an opportunity for us to learn more about the diverse culture and history of Asian communities in Canada, as well as to acknowledge the many achievements and contributions of people of Asian origin who, throughout our history, have done so much to make Canada the country we know and love.
The theme for Asian Heritage Month 2026 focusses on Heritage as Social Capital, celebrating how ancestral roots and community knowledge keepers build a foundation for the collective future, often featuring intergenerational dialogues and cultural exchanges.
Faly Mevamanana
Faly is an award-winning actor and writer. She has performed leading roles in seven provinces across Canada, including roles with Neptune Theatre, Western Canada Theatre, and the Grand Theatre.
Offstage, she was a writing shadow on This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and a Program Associate with Nightwood Theatre. Her first play “The Baking Show Show: The Play” premiered with Ruby Slippers Theatre in February 2026. Faly is also the creator, writer, and star of the new comedy TV series “Be Better” for Bell Fibe TV1.
As a queer mixed-race creator, Faly is passionate about telling stories which showcase marginalized voices in a joyful way.
Tricia Trinh
Trinh is a queer, genderfluid, Chinese-Vietnamese-Canadian, multidisciplinary theatre artist; with a background in playwrighting, directing, performing and producing. Graduate of University of Victoria [BFA]. Their artistic practice prioritizes the multifaceted existence in intersectional lived experiences, specifically investigating intercultural socio-political influence on queer identity, gender identity and diaspora identity.
Selected Playwright–Director Credits: Probability [rEvolver 2018], Red Glimmer [Fringe 2019], Attachments [Tremors Festival 2020 & Advance Theatre Festival 2024], Diosa Volcanica [Infinity Fire 2023], Duality [Infinity Fire 2024]
Selected Director Credit: Dil Ka [Ruby Slippers Theatre 2024]
Selected Assistant Director Credits: we the same [Ruby Slippers 2021], Henry V [Bard on the Beach 2023]
Their practice is committed to cross-pollinating social justice with storytelling through an anti-oppressive decolonial lens. This commitment actualizes in the form of creating new multidisciplinary theatre with feminist-forward, gender non-conforming and BIPOC stories at the forefront; as a freelance artist and through their collective Dusty Foot Productions. The dedication to spearheading opportunities for underserved emerging theatre creators is demonstrated through their work as: Artistic Producer –Rumble Theatre [New Cabaret Series], Program Producer –frank theatre [Telling It Bent: Queer Youth Playwriting Program] and Producer –Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre [MSG Playwrighting Lab].
Wiley Ho
Wiley is a Taiwanese Canadian writer, whose stories and personal essays have been published in various literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. Her first book The Astronaut Children of Dunbar Street: A Memoir was published this spring by Douglas & McIntyre, currently on the BC Bestsellers List. When not writing she’s busy community building or growing Asian vegetables in her front yard.
Ava Jung
Ava works as the Community Engagement Officer at S.U.C.C.E.S.S., a non-partisan, non-profit multicultural Canadian organization with a proud 50+ year history of serving newcomers, seniors, youth, and families. In her role, she manages the volunteers for a variety of S.U.C.C.E.S.S. services, meeting people from all walks of life. She herself is a mixed-race Chinese Canadian, born and raised in Greater Vancouver with a degree in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice and Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies from UBC. She is particularly passionate about Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, cultural heritage preservation, and the politics surrounding mixed-race identity.
Ricardo Aguillar Valles
Ricardo is a Settlement Worker with the I Belong Program at MOSAIC. I support newcomers who are part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, assisting them in navigating systems such as healthcare, housing, and language services, while helping them build a sense of belonging in their new environment.