Jessica Pham, left, and Vivian Pham pose for a photo at the United Nations General Assembly Hall. Courtesy photo.
Jessica Pham, a first-year student in the master’s program at the Boston College School of Social Work, wasn’t the only Pham in the room.
In February, she was at the Asian & Pacific Islander Student Affinity Group’s Annual Faculty Panel when she noticed that a panelist shared her last name.
“On the surface, it might just look like a small detail,” said Jessica, a clinical student specializing in mental health. “But to me it represented familiarity and community. I immediately felt like I wasn’t alone in that space.”
The connection could have ended there, but Vivian Pham followed up, shared her contact information with Jessica, and made herself genuinely accessible.
“I approach every student interaction with curiosity and a sense of responsibility to invest, regardless if it’s in the classroom, at an event, or through a cold email,” said Vivian, an adjunct faculty member at BCSSW who was named one of Boston’s 15 Most Influential AAPI Emerging Community Leaders by a networking group called GetKonnected in 2023. “We are in the business of people, and that means paying attention to who students are and who they hope to become.”
Over the next few months, Vivian and Jessica developed a mentor-mentee relationship that reflects BCSSW’s emphasis on accompaniment, an approach focused on walking alongside others in their journeys of personal growth and professional development. Their connection took them from McGuinn Hall on the Heights to the UN Headquarters in New York City—and underscored how mentorship can promote access, belonging, and mutual transformation.
Shortly after meeting on campus, Vivian invited Jessica to an event at the United Nations General Assembly Hall that brought together female leaders in policy, science, activism, and media to confront gender-based violence.
As a first-generation Vietnamese American woman, Jessica has often felt like an outsider, navigating her identity in spaces where few people share her background. But the AAPI event made her feel like she belonged, and Vivian’s invitation to the UN affirmed that she has a place in rooms at the highest level.
“It wasn’t just access, it felt like she was reaching back and opening the door for me too,” said Jessica. “It also made the experience feel especially meaningful because I was not entering that room alone. I was there because another Vietnamese woman welcomed me, which reflected the very message of the event itself.”
“ It wasn’t just access, it felt like she was reaching back and opening the door for me too. It also made the experience feel especially meaningful because I was not entering that room alone. I was there because another Vietnamese woman welcomed me, which reflected the very message of the event itself. ”
After the event, Jessica felt inspired to challenge the conditions that produce injustice and ground her work in lived experience. As she put it: “The experience strengthened my commitment to a career rooted in carrying forward the resistance and resilience of women who came before me and advocating for changes in law and policy.”
Jessica praised Vivian for modeling confidence in the face of barriers to representation, saying that “seeing how confidently she carried herself without shrinking in that giant UN General Hall” showed her that Vietnamese American women are assets in policy and leadership roles.
She vowed to apply what she’s learned from her mentor when it’s her turn to guide students. “I want to play a role in making those spaces feel less intimidating and more accessible so that other Vietnamese and Asian American students can see themselves there too,” she said.
Vivian said her invitation to Jessica reflected her commitment to giving young social workers access to global policy and leadership spaces. Faculty, she added, have a responsibility to prepare students to create lasting change that improves the lives of people on the margins.
“At BCSSW, we should be calling people into service, uplifting one another, and creating opportunities for others to go even further than we have,” said Vivian, who also serves as the Massachusetts assistant undersecretary of housing stabilization, where she oversees a $400 million budget of housing stabilization programs and initiatives across the Commonwealth. “That’s how we build a community and a profession that shows up for people in real ways.”
Vivian’s relationship with Jessica has taught her that environment and lived experience shape identity and belonging.
“While we share a Vietnamese American identity, our paths have been very different,” said Vivian, adding that she was raised in California while Jessica grew up in Massachusetts. “That has deepened my appreciation for the many ways we each experience and carry a sense of belonging.”
