Announcing Our 2025 Creators Grant Recipients
We are thrilled to announce the recipients of the 2025 Creators Grant Award. The Very Asian Foundation Creators Grant is an exciting micro-grant opportunity for individuals who wish to pursue their creative passions through an Asian American (AA), Native Hawaiian (NH), or Pacific Islander (PI) lens.
This year, we awarded five $1500 grants to creatives from a variety of artistic disciplines to support their’ creative projects. By supporting these talented individuals, we hope to create a positive impact on their lives and the communities they represent, shining a light on their stories.
Diana Khong
Bio: Diana Khong is a Viet filmmaker, playwright and community organizer whose work has been supported by Panavision, Director’s Lab North, Chuang Stage, Button Poetry, and more. Their film Band Practice (@bandpracticefilm) is a queer romantic comedy following a Black majorette and Viet band geek, set to premiere in 2026.
dianakhong.com | @dianawalksearth
Kimberly Stahl
Kim Stahl is a Korean American artist and metalsmith based in St. Louis, MO. Her work blends blacksmithing, jewelry, and knife making to explore identity and transformation. A career highlight as the first female contestant on Forged in Fire and a notable fact that her last name Stahl translates in German to "steel" which deepens her connection to metalwork.
@kimstahldesigns | @stahlsteelknives
Schoua Na Yang (S U N A H)
Schoua Na Yang (they/them) is a Hmong queer music artist from Saint Paul, MN who goes by the artist name S U N A H (pronounced Suh-Nah). They are a singer, producer and songwriter. They released their first EP, Unique, in 2014 under their former artist name, Sonic Rain.
Their work blends music and activism, including No Word for Queer (2021), and they co-founded Nplooj Radio. In 2023, Schoua Na received the Cultural Knowledge & Practice Award from the Constellations Cultural Change Fund and Initiative in recognition of their community work and commitment to music activism.
itz_s.u.n.a.h
Youtube: @Sunahmusic
Facebook: SunahMusic
Rameya Shanmugavelayutham
Rameya Shanmugavelayutham is a Muslim, Indian-American with ancestral roots in the villages of Tamil Nadu. She creates and facilitates at the intersection of mental health, neurodiversity, migration, Islam, and the arts, primarily as a trauma-informed psychotherapist, ADHD coach, educator, and multimedia artist. Rameya wades in the liminal space between her identities as a therapist and a creative, unlearning binaries to blend science and art, analysis, and intuition while supporting herself and others to reconnect with their bodies, unearth buried emotional narratives, and invite deeper, reflection, connection transformation, and healing.
@therapist.rameya
Upasna Kakroo
Born in Srinagar and displaced as a Pandit, Upasna’s writing talks about belonging, identity, and roots. In her corporate career spanning over 20 years, she has led strategy for organizations such as the University of Michigan and McKinsey. As the CEO of Peerbagh, she seeks to create inclusive spaces for South Asian storytelling. She has published two nonfiction books including Loal (Gulshan, 2024). From 2021 onwards, she has penned four children's books commissioned by various nonprofits. Her children’s book, Shaliya Discovers Coronavirus Frumpfchi was translated into seventeen Indian languages and was commissioned by the Government of India. She is the managing editor for Bento - the only South-Asian children’s magazine in print.
