FAQ

MAASU (Midwest Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Students Union) is a non-profit organization that empowers and connects APIDA students across the Midwest through leadership development, advocacy, and community building.

MAASU welcomes APIDA students, student leaders, campus organizations, and allies who want to support APIDA communities in the Midwest.

MAASU hosts several events throughout the year, including the Spring Conference, Leadership Summits, MAASUx, workshops, webinars, and networking opportunities for APIDA students and leaders. Here are some of our Key Programs:

Key Programs:

• Spring Conference: A major annual event with workshops, networking, and cultural programming.

• Leadership Summit (LS): Focuses on leadership training and development.

• MAASUx: Smaller, local events for more intimate peer connections. 

As these events sometimes don’t happen every year, please make sure to keep up with MAASU’s social media to see if a conference will happen this year. Here is our Linktree.

You can get involved by attending our events, joining leadership programs, volunteering and more!

Here are some Volunteering Opportunities we have:

• Director’s Council (DC): The Directors Council is a group of volunteers who are within two years of completing a bachelor’s degree with knowledge of and interest in the APIDA community.

• Board of Advisors: The Board of Advisors is a group of volunteers (working professionals  with 5+ years or more of experience) with knowledge of and interest in  the APIDA Community.

• Workshop Presenter: Every Spring Conference, we need Workshop Presenters! Workshops are a central part of MAASU’s mission to foster APIDA leadership, identity exploration, advocacy, and community building.

• Family Leaders: Student facilitators for the Midwest Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Students Union (MAASU) conferences, responsible for guiding small groups ("families") through the event, fostering open discussion, creating safe spaces, and helping attendees connect and develop leadership skills.

• Executive Coordinating Committee (ECC): A student-led leadership body for this regional organization that serves APIA students, handling operations, planning, and connecting university groups across the Midwest.

Every year for MAASU is different; some years we may not have a conference, therefore Workshop Presenters, Family Leaders, etc are not needed. Please watch out for any opportunities to volunteer from our Social Media or Linktree for the latest applications, news, and more!