Our Story
Perfecting the act of giving back since 2006.
What Is AASuccess?
From the crowded basement of founder Dave Nguyen back in 2006 to the opening of our Falls Church office, AASuccess has emerged as a powerful organization to invest in future leaders, one group of students at a time. By cultivating the values of leadership and teaching soft skills, we nurture the spirit of giving back into young professionals both in the United States and in Vietnam.
AASuccess offers young students and professionals year-round mentorship on leadership and professional skills, while providing resources and guidance to help them manifest their community giving back ideas into a reality.
Download the AASuccess Brochure (PDF, 1.0 MB)
The Problem, and Our Answer
The Problem
Children are raised into a fixed routine: do well in school, get a stable job, provide for a family. We want each young person's journey to mean more, with the skills to succeed in life and career, and the habit of passing their resources on to others.
Nurturing giving back early teaches humanitarian values and kindness students carry for life, and helps them take control of their lives instead of drifting with the current.
The Solution
- Mentoring and soft-skills seminars for young people of all backgrounds
- Internships and community projects students design and lead
- Long-term support to succeed in their careers and give back
What we learn from each student feeds back into our mentoring and training.
Equal Access to Growth for Every Young Person
AASuccess envisions a world where every young person has equal access to opportunities for personal and professional growth through life skills, leadership education, and mentoring with practical applications, and where everyone leverages their collective resources to thrive while making a positive impact on their communities.
AASuccess is a hybrid system of non-profit and for-profit entities that strives to empower and train underserved youth in the US to reach their full potential, while cultivating future leaders to spread ethical and humanitarian values in their respective communities. As the non-profit foundation of AASuccess, we leverage our network of community leaders and international partners to collectively build student leaders through their high-touch engagement in spearheading projects directed to healthcare, education, environmental sustainability, and finance. Our aim is to develop a sustainable community-centric model that connects and empowers all volunteers and professionals involved.
AASuccess' Life Skills Program provides coaching and mentorship to foster personal and professional skills. AASuccess' Programs and Services let students practice their new skills through a variety of community projects. The family of young AASuccessors, volunteering mentors, service volunteers and community partners works with the AASuccess Business Leadership Council, which provides financial and human resources to AASuccessors.
Our mission: develop, build, and integrate emotional intelligence and skills necessary for career and life success in all AASuccessors; provide young AASuccessors with the unique opportunity to propose and implement community projects year-round; leverage resources to create and spread positive impacts to the local community, specifically the AAPI underserved families; expand our community of active citizens and young philanthropists.
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What Guides Our Work
Eight values shape how mentors and students work together.
Humility and Empathy
Collaboration
Honesty and Transparency
Quality over Quantity
Process over Perfection
Value Students' Input and Contribution
Inspire and Allow Students to Innovate as We Perfect the Act of Giving Back
Create a Safe Environment Where Students Can Challenge Themselves without the Fear of Failure
From Elementary School to Budding Professionals
We work with young people from all backgrounds. Local programs run in Northern Virginia and the D.C. area, and projects have supported families here and communities in Vietnam.
We give students a platform to develop their ideas and see them through. Our work has no end date: we're with each student for as long as they want to grow and learn with us.
Become a Student19+ Years of Giving Back…
- 2006AASuccess begins in founder Dave Nguyen's basement.
- 2007The Life Skills Academy begins mentoring its first students.
- 2011Students promote the first AASuccess scholarship open to the public.
- 2012A student-run public health fair serves more than 400 families.
- 2014Students launch the first student-led YouthCon Scholarship.
- 2017DELTA Success starts a student-led English program in rural Vietnam.
- 2018Students in the U.S. and Vietnam team up for the first time on Project Butterfly.
- 2024The first Douglas and Norman Ebenstein Scholarships are awarded.
The Success Booklet: 2007–2025
The full story of nearly two decades of students, mentors and supporters: how the programs work, and a year-by-year timeline of the projects, scholarships and events students have led.
Read the Success Booklet
