2020 National AAJA Member of the Year, Hieu Gray

By Alana Cho – AAJA-LA Intern

Hieu Gray – a director, producer, poet, on-air personality, social media influencer, and AAJA Los Angeles’ Vice President of Marketing and Social Networking – was awarded the 2020 National AAJA Member of the Year award.

“I honestly was so shocked,” she said. “It takes a village to make our events happen.”

Gray said she vividly remembers her first meeting as a chapter board member, held at Sake Dojo in Little Tokyo. She recalled she had a “list of wild and crazy ideas of how I wanted to focus on ramping up our social media presence and brand identity.”

In this past year, Gray demonstrated that she is truly a social media guru. She has more than doubled AAJA-LA’s Instagram audience to become the one of the most followed chapters on the platform, promoted AAJA-LA’s events to further increase attendance rates, and has used her countless connections to secure many renowned figures to participate in panels and workshops.

When the COVID-19 virus first struck her community, Gray proved to be an influential voice in combating the flare-up of anti-Asian and anti-Asian American prejudices that rode the wave of the pandemic. She subsequently created a passionate video montage where she and her fellow chapter members participating in the #WASHTHEHATE movement, encouraging viewers to take a stand and educate the public against the discrimination.

“I’m proud at how we were able to pivot during the pandemic,” she said. “A lot of planned events became virtual, especially last year’s Trivia Bowl. I was in charge of live-tweeting the event and the response on social was so positive.”

Although a first-time board member, Gray has been crucial to the Los Angeles chapter’s success this year. She has helped spread the AAJA mission to hundreds of journalists throughout California and was instrumental in helping the AAJA-LA Chapter win the National Chapter of the Year award.

Looking forward to the new year, Gray said, “The vision for this year [2021] is to honor our history and never forget the shoulders on which we stand. It’s also about assessing the media landscape and where we stand now.”

Food journalism is one of Gray’s personal passions. Her own popular food Instagram @LaPetiteBelle_eats chronicles her culinary travels around the world. Gray’s documentary, Quan 13, about the Vietnamese diaspora in Paris told through the lens of food, was selected for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival this year. The project was in part inspired by the late Anthony Bourdain, whom Gray had the opportunity to work with during her 10-year stint at CNN. “I produced the award-winning launch campaigns and promotional efforts for his show Parts Unknown. I remember thinking to myself, I want to tell stories and not just promote them.”

This year, Gray plans to build on Quan 13’s momentum by creating a longer director’s cut for broadcast. She also is in the pre-planning stages for several other documentaries, specifically about Asian American culture through the lens of food.

“I’m really looking forward to the opportunities this year will bring,” she said.

This amazing Vietnamese American journalist who grew up in the deep South, graduated from Emory University in Atlanta with a dual degree in Journalism and Creative Writing and earned an MFA in Creative Writing from New York University. She moved to Los Angeles in 2018 with a goal to amplify Asian American representation behind and in front of the camera.

“Growing up in a small southern town, I wasn’t really exposed to Asian American culture at all.” Hieu explained, “So whenever I would see someone like me on television it was like a revelation: I am seen. I didn’t get bitten by the journalism bug until late in college. I just wanted to write, especially poetry.”

Hieu Gray, an integral member of the AAJA-LA family and an exceptionally deserving recipient of the 2020 National Member of the Year Award, continues sharing her talents to advance her community, AAJA-LA, and the National AAJA.