In its 17th year, Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network proudly announces the 2026 Asian American Heroes of Colorado

Mary Nguyen

Founder and President, Olive & Finch Collective

Chair, Asian Chamber Foundation of Colorado

At her core, Mary Nguyen is a community builder. Whether through her restaurants, mentorship or civic leadership, she brings people in spaces where connection and opportunity can take root.

As the founder and president of Olive & Finch Collective, Nguyen’s transformed a single neighborhood restaurant into a multifaceted hospitality company spanning cafés, micro-markets and production operations across Denver. But for her, the work has never been just about food. “Hospitality is more than a physical space,” she says. “It’s about creating environments where people feel welcomed, connected and cared for.”

That mindset carries into everything she does. The daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, Nguyen was raised with a strong sense of responsibility, resilience and work ethic. At the same time, she had to push against cultural expectations that emphasized humility and not standing out. Stepping into leadership—and using her voice—didn’t always come naturally. But over time, it became necessary.

She built her career by taking unconventional paths and stepping into spaces without a clear roadmap. That experience now influences how she shows up for others. Through her work, Nguyen is focused on creating access so others don’t have to navigate those same challenges alone.

Today, that impact extends far beyond her businesses. Nguyen serves as chair of the Asian Chamber Foundation of Colorado, where she helped launch an inaugural program designed to support and elevate the next generation of Asian leaders across the state. At a time when communities are seeking greater unity and long-term representation, the program is helping turn momentum into lasting infrastructure.

Her leadership also reaches into spaces where decisions are made. Nguyen serves on multiple boards and commissions, including Visit Denver, the Downtown Denver Development Authority, and the Emily Griffith Foundation. In these roles, she advocates for small businesses, workforce development and more inclusive economic growth to make sure Asian and immigrant voices are part of the conversation from the beginning.  

“Mary creates space, cultivates power, and ensures our community is seen, heard, and invested in for the future,” says Alyssa Inouye, a friend and colleague who nominated her for the award.

A big part of her work is building connections across communities. Through partnerships and collaborative events, Nguyen brings people together across cultures, recognizing that stronger relationships lead to stronger outcomes. Her approach reflects a belief that progress happens when communities move together.

That same philosophy shows up in how she runs her business. Community care, she says, should be built into work. From offering benefits and advancement opportunities within her company to mentoring young entrepreneurs, she focuses on creating environments where people feel supported and valued.

For Nguyen, leadership is ultimately about service. It starts with listening, showing up consistently and making intentional choices about who is included along the way.

Being recognized as an Asian American leader in Colorado is both an honor and a responsibility,” she says. It’s a reminder not only of how far she’s come, but of the importance of continuing to open doors for others.

She adds: “There is space for you—and sometimes you have to be the one to create it. And when you do, bring others with you.”

Meta Sarmiento

Director and Editor, Saltwater Stories

Lead Community Partner, Asian Pacific Islander Club at Florida Pitt Waller

For Meta Sarmiento, storytelling is how he finds his place and helps others find theirs. As a Filipino poet, rapper, filmmaker and educator, he uses art to uplift voices that are often overlooked and bring people together through shared stories.

That journey began in sixth grade, when a language arts teacher showed him how writing could help make sense of the world and carve out space within it. Short stories evolved into poetry in high school, and eventually into a multidisciplinary creative practice spanning music, film and community programming. “The limits of my words would become the limits of my world,” a college professor once told him. Sarmiento took that to heart, pushing himself to expand both.

Born and raised in Guam, Sarmiento grew up navigating a complicated identity. As a U.S. territory, Guam exists in a paradox—American, yet often invisible. Residents are U.S. citizens who cannot vote for president, and the island is often reduced to a tourist destination or military outpost. That invisibility became a driving force. His work pushes back against flattened narratives, offering a more nuanced picture of Pacific Islander and Asian American communities.

Across nearly two decades, Sarmiento has built a career rooted in creativity and community. His poetry book “Tie Your Shoes Kid” was a finalist for the North Street Book Prize, and his film “A Thin Veil,” exploring the roots and erasure of Filipino art, was selected for the 2026 Colorado Dragon Film Festival. As a musician, he raps in Tagalog and English, weaving together themes of identity, politics and solidarity. His performances—from local stages to international platforms like the United Nations Climate Change Conference—reflect his commitment to educate and mobilize.

For Sarmiento, the work has never been about individual recognition. Grounded in the hip-hop philosophy of “each one, teach one,” he sees knowledge as something to be shared. That belief led him into education, where he has worked with thousands of students across Colorado. Today, he continues that work with young people, including through the Asian American Pacific Islander Club at Florida Pitt Waller, helping students explore identity, creativity and belonging through storytelling and cultural expression.

His approach is collaborative by design. Whether leading writing workshops like “Saltwater Stories”—a statewide initiative bringing together Asian American and Pacific Islander writers—or directing community-based projects, Sarmiento prioritizes co-creation. “There is no ‘I’ without the ‘we,’ there is no ‘me without the ‘us,’” he says. “We understand ourselves even better when we view our life through the lens of the community.”

That philosophy shows up in the spaces he builds. In classrooms, workshops and community events, Sarmiento positions himself as a facilitator—someone who helps others recognize the power of their own stories. The result is spaces where people feel seen and empowered to create. “He does not pursue his goals unilaterally,” says Joie Ha, Sarmiento’s collaborator and partner, “but instead works with people to elevate a shared message and goal.”

For Sarmiento, success has never been about standing alone. It’s about bringing others with him—making space, passing on knowledge and ensuring the next generation has the tools and confidence to tell their own stories. In doing so, he’s finding his place and helping others claim theirs.

Dr. Nira Singh

Clinical Director, Cultural Development and Wellness Center at Aurora Mental Health & Recovery

“Mental health is health,” says Dr. Nira Singh, a second-generation South Asian American psychologist whose 34-year career has been dedicated to ensuring immigrant and refugee communities receive care that honors their cultures, languages and lived experiences.

For Singh, that belief is both professional and deeply personal. The daughter of immigrants from Rajasthan, India, she often describes herself as “made in India, born in the USA,” raised in Colorado at a time when South Asian culture was far less visible. Her family built community through cultural organizations, temple and a close-knit network of family friends—but outside those spaces, Singh was acutely aware of being different. Experiences of racism and exclusion—along with witnessing inequities—shaped her understanding of identity and the need for culturally grounded care.

That awareness became personal early in her career. After graduating from the University of Colorado Boulder, Singh worked at a domestic violence shelter, where she never saw survivors from Asian communities accessing services. She knew they were out there—but barriers like stigma, language and culturally misaligned care kept them from walking through the door. Determined to change that, she began building more inclusive pathways through grassroots partnerships and multicultural training.

Today, as clinical director of the Cultural Development and Wellness Center (CDWC) at Aurora Mental Health & Recovery (auroramhr.org), Singh leads a wide range of programs designed to meet people where they are. In addition to behavioral health services through its Asian Pacific and Refugee and Immigrant clinics, the center supports community members with education, workforce development, youth leadership, victim support and interpretation programs.

“Nira’s impact is both broad and deeply rooted,” say her brother, Dev Purohit, and her spouse, Dhruv Singh. “She’s led programs that reach thousands, but what stands out most is how connected she remains to the communities she serves.” Through her leadership, those programs have expanded language access and reimagined care to better reflect the realities of immigrant and refugee communities.

Central to this work is language access and representation. CDWC offers services in more than 40 languages, with many providers and health navigators coming from the communities they serve. “It requires activism and advocacy to ensure that all voices are lifted,” she says, “and that services are not just one size fits all, but responsive to unique needs.”

Her impact reaches far beyond the programs she leads. Singh has worked alongside community organizations and national partners to make behavioral health care more equitable—improving crisis response systems and expanding access for communities often left out. She’s also spent more than 20 years mentoring students and early-career professionals, supporting the next generation of providers to lead with cultural understanding and care.

Despite the scale of her impact, Singh remains guided by simple but powerful values: Listen intentionally, build relationships and never stop learning. She says being recognized as an Asian American leader in Colorado is a full-circle moment—an opportunity to give back to the community that shaped her. It is also a reminder of the responsibility she carries to continue uplifting others.

For Singh, the work is far from finished. As many community-based services face uncertainty, she emphasizes the importance of staying informed, involved and supportive of organizations doing this critical work. Ensuring access to culturally and linguistically responsive care, she believes, will take not just leaders—but entire communities committed to showing up for one another. She adds: “We are all stronger when we care for and support those most marginalized and underserved.”

Nga Vương-Sandoval

Founder Executive Director, Refugees + Immigrants United

Judicial Officer Outreach Program Lead, Colorado Judicial Department

For Nga Vương-Sandoval, community care begins with a simple truth: She survived what many did not. It’s something she carries—and what drives her to hold the door open for others seeking safety, belonging and a voice.

A proud Vietnamese refugee, Vương-Sandoval carries memory and a deep sense of responsibility. She and her family didn’t leave Việt Nam by choice; they were displaced by war and forced to rebuild far from home, carrying loss, resilience and the will to survive. That experience still shapes how she moves through the world today.

Growing up in the United States, she learned early how easily identity can be erased in displacement. In response, she made a deliberate choice to preserve what could have been lost—language, culture, and connection—for herself and others navigating similar journeys. “Memory is a form of resistance,” she says. “Identity is continuity, and dignity is non-negotiable.”

For more than 20 years, this belief has shaped her work in Colorado and beyond. As founding executive director of Refugees + Immigrants United, a refugee-founded and entirely refugee and immigrant-led nonprofit, Vương-Sandoval works to uplift the voices of displaced communities. Her work centers on the principle that those most impacted by policies should be the ones shaping them.

In her concurrent role with the Colorado Judicial Department, she leads the nation’s first initiative to diversify the judicial bench, helping ensure systems of power better reflect the communities they serve. It reflects a broader commitment to expanding access and representation in spaces that have historically excluded refugee, immigrant, and underrepresented voices. “Nga is inspiring,” says colleague John Lee. “Her work has and will continue to make Colorado better.”

Vương-Sandoval’s work has taken her from Colorado to the global stage. Whether speaking at the state’s first World Refugee Day at the State Capitol or representing refugee communities at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, she has used her platform to advocate for equity and human rights. She spearheaded the work, making Lunar New Year an official Colorado-observed state holiday and authored statewide proclamations honoring Vietnamese remembrance and resilience and the first statewide proclamation recognizing AANHPI Heritage Month both in 2025.

Despite her accomplishments, Vương-Sandoval doesn’t see herself as a “hero,” but as part of a larger story rooted in community. Two Vietnamese proverbs continue to guide her: “Ăn quả nhớ kẻ trồng cây” (When you eat the fruit, remember who planted the tree) and “Cái khó ló cái khôn” (Adversity creates ingenuity), reminders to lead with gratitude, resilience and action.

“If there is anything close to heroism in my life, it’s in choosing to persevere, to remember, to speak, to fully exist without erasing where I come from. Not as a singular act, but as a continuation,” she says. “I don’t know if that makes a hero, but it feels right to me and in my heart I believe my ancestors are smiling.”

For Vương-Sandoval, community care means standing alongside others—even when their stories differ—and creating space where none existed before. It’s about opening doors, challenging systems and making sure others don’t have to navigate those barriers alone.

Being recognized as an Asian American leader in Colorado, she says, is not something she holds alone. It belongs to the mentors, family and community who believed in her—and to the generations who came before her.

Grounded in memory, Vương-Sandoval continues to work toward a future where displaced and underrepresented communities are seen, heard—and able to shape what comes next.