Arianna Sinlapasai-Okamura
Advocacy Ambassador
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"Being first-generation Lao American is the cornerstone of my identity. As the daughter of a refugee and granddaughter of a Laotian guerrilla soldier, I am incredibly proud to represent my ethnicity and community as an Advocacy Ambassador to Legacies of War. I am grateful to Legacies for nurturing the clearance of unexploded ordnance across Southeast Asia and honoring the legacy of the American wars in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.”​​
My Story
Arianna Sinlapasai-Okamura is a first-generation Lao American and a fourth-year undergraduate student at American University, majoring in Political Science and minoring in Biology. As she concludes her last year in university, she remains committed to advocating for AANHPI communities. She has held positions as the founding board member of American University’s Asian Networks Association and vice president of the Southeast Asia Student Network. Beyond her campus involvement, she has published two academic papers, one for the Portland State University Young Historians Conference in 2021 titled Internment - The Legal Challenges and Effects of Displacement on Japanese Americans and the most recent in 2023 with the US-ASEAN Young Professionals Association, titled the Youth, Peace & Security Policy Memorandum. She works closely with Legacies of War and ARTICLE22, both of which invest in and support diaspora communities impacted by the American Secret War in Laos and U.S. wars in Cambodia and Vietnam.
