A Weekend That Transcends Words

Last week, UCA WAVES had the honor of participating in the Clinical Scholars Action Network (CSAN) 2026 Summit, where leaders from across the country gathered in New Orleans. The event centered around advancing health equity, and while it’s hard to capture how amazing it was in just a few sentences, we’re going to try!

As part of the program, we led the panel “Silent War: Asian American Reckonings with Mental Health,” creating space for honest dialogue around stigma, discrimination, and barriers to care. This included an intimate screening of a truncated version of “Silent War”, where a small but deeply engaged audience shared how powerful and heavy the film felt. Thankfully, Victor Armstrong, MSW, had kicked things off by leading the audience through a deep breathing exercise, setting the stage for a sometimes hard but vital conversation.

Also on the panel was WAVES Founding Executive Director, Lily Chen, PhD, RN, CNE, and two of our incredible youth leaders, Jennifer Tu, MD, and Naialie Lor, CNA, whose presence served as a reminder of the power (and necessity) of investing in the next generation. When asked of her time at the CSAN Summit, Naialie described it as incredibly meaningful: “I learned so much about health equity from perspectives across the country… Before attending, I felt a sense of plateau and was beginning to lose faith in the healthcare system given everything going on. However, meeting the Clinical Scholars reminded me that advancing health equity is not easy. It requires years of dedication, resilience, and commitment. Their work inspired me to keep pushing forward and reaffirmed my belief in the impact that compassionate, community-centered care can have.”

But the impact persisted far past our own program. Our team bore witness to incredible projects, moving speakers, and engaging activities. We are so beyond grateful to CSAN for creating a space for the connections and conversations we got to participate in this past weekend. It was as professionally enriching as it was personal, and WAVES left renewed in our commitment to promoting health equity.