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Monday 9am - 5:30pm Tuesday 9am - 5:30pm Wednesday 9am - 5:30pm Thursday 9am - 5:30pm

The SEAD Project

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The SEAD Project

Growing social empowerment ecosystems for our Southeast Asian diaspora community

Started in 2010, The SEAD Project (Southeast Asian Diaspora Development) is a creative social organization on a mission to be an accessible community hub that provides streamlined pop-up workshops on language learning, storytelling, cultural exchanges and knowledge-sharing for Southeast Asian diaspora communities. Through safe and welcoming spaces, we hope to connect the disconnected and drive empowerment to plant the seeds of hope and possibility, locally and globally.

05/30/2026

We’re looking for volunteers for our upcoming exhibition on June 13th.

Mekong Journeys: Raising New Villages is a living digital archive preserving the stories, memories, and histories of Southeast Asian communities, and we're hosting a celebration! If you are interested in volunteering for the event, please fill out this form. Link in the bio! 🔗

📅 DATE: Saturday, June 13, 2026
⏰ SHIFT TIME: 11:00 am – 6:30 pm (7.5 hours)
📍 LOCATION: 825 Arts - 825 University Ave W, St Paul, MN 55104

05/29/2026

Come for a Pho-nomenal Time! 🍜

Start your summer even hotter with some pho, drinks and karaoke at out Phoraiser this Saturday.

📅 Saturday, May 30, 2026
⏰ 11 AM - 5 PM
📍 Puzzles Bar Restaurant & Banquet

Need a ticket? Tickets will be on sale until the end of the event. bit.ly/seausbloom26

05/23/2026

For nearly 15 years, The SEAD Project has been planting seeds for Southeast Asian diaspora cultural bearers, storytellers, artists, and language learners. Through community organizing, critical language preservation, and storytelling, we’ve worked to ensure our histories and voices continue to bloom across generations.

Like many grassroots arts and cultural organizations, SEAD is currently facing significant funding challenges. Sustaining this work is becoming increasingly difficult amid rising costs and shifting funding landscapes. This is a critical moment for our organization and the communities we serve.

This AAPI Heritage Month, we’re asking our community to show up and grow with us. We need your support to continue our work. Help us ensure our journeys are celebrated, preserved, and heard for generations to come.

Let’s eat, sing, play, connect, and keep these stories blooming together.

JOIN US!

📅 Date: May 30, 2026

📍 Location: Puzzles Bar Restaurant and Banquet, North Saint Paul, MN (Proudly Hmong-owned!)

🎟️ Get Your Tickets: Link in the Bio

05/08/2026

Today is the last day to register!

The SEAD Project is offering an 8-week, online Level 1 Lao Language workshop to help folks rebuild their life in a way that honors our lived experiences through cultural and language justice and survival.

This set of workshops will introduce you to the Lao writing system, teach basic terms and phrases, and share understandings of Lao culture.

This workshop is reserved for community members at risk of deportation. We are also extending the invitation to their family members who will potentially need to navigate things overseas to help their families also.

The class will meet every Tuesday at 6-9 PM, starting May 12, 2026 through July 7, 2026.

Registration closes tonight, May 8!

bit.ly/laolevel1! (Link in the bio)

05/07/2026

Let’s eat, karaoke, play games, connect, and keep these stories blooming!

Come for a Pho-nomenal Time and stay to support our growth in cultural organizing, critical language, and the powerful storytelling that defines our community. Your contribution helps us lift and enrich the narratives of Minnesota’s SEA Diaspora, ensuring our diverse journeys are celebrated and heard.

📅 Date: May 30, 2026

📍 Location: Puzzles Bar Restaurant and Banquet, North Saint Paul, MN (Proudly Hmong-owned!)

🎟️ Get Your Tickets: theseadproject.org/seausbloom

05/04/2026

Registration closes this Friday, May 8! bit.ly/laolevel1

The SEAD Project is offering a virtual, 8-week Level 1 Lao Language workshop to community members under direct threat of deportation. This set of workshops will introduce you to the Lao writing system, teach basic terms and phrases, and share understandings of Lao culture.

The class will meet every Tuesday at 6-9 PM, starting May 12, 2026 through July 7, 2026

This workshop is reserved for community members at risk of deportation. Space is limited so we will need to verify each student's ability to attend classes.

If you are a community member who does not meet this criteria, please consider registering for the general Level 1 language series offered this fall (Registration opens this summer).

04/30/2026

The SEAD Project is offering a virtual, 8-week Level 1 Lao Language workshop to community members under direct threat of deportation. This set of workshops will introduce you to the Lao writing system, teach basic terms and phrases, and share understandings of Lao culture.

The class will meet every Tuesday at 6-9 PM, starting May 12, 2026 through July 7, 2026

This workshop is reserved for community members at risk of deportation. Space is limited so we will need to verify each student's ability to attend classes.

If you are a community member who does not meet this criteria, please consider registering for the general Level 1 language series offered this fall (Registration opens this summer).

Register by Friday May 8, 11:59 p.m.: bit.ly/laolevel1

Much gratitude for Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and Women's Foundation of Minnesota for Rapid Response funding to support our community members facing immigration related issues.

04/23/2026

We're so excited about our free upcoming film screenings and we want to share a bit more about the directors behind the films.

Tony Nguyen is an Oakland-based filmmaker whose work explores the Vietnamese refugee experience and the overlooked stories of folks and communities in the Town. He is the video producer for Asian Health Services, a community health center with roots in Oakland Chinatown that serves over 50,000 residents. His latest film, YEAR OF THE CAT, premiered in late April 2025, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon, and has garnered several awards, including the Spotlight Award at the Viet Film Fest in Orange County.

Vera Brunner-Sung was born in Michigan to parents from Korea and Switzerland. Her work across experimental, nonfiction, and narrative explores belonging and American identity. Her films have been presented at festivals, museums, and galleries in the U.S. and abroad, including Sundance, Rotterdam, CPH:DOX, MoMA PS1, and Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. She is the recipient of fellowships from the Center for Asian American Media and the Sundance Institute. BITTERROOT is her second feature.

Watch their films:
📅 Apr 25 | 4-6 PM — YEAR OF THE CAT
📅 May 2 | 4-6 PM — BITTERROOT
📍The Trylon Cinema | 2820 E 33rd St, Mpls, MN
🔗 Registration is required. https://www.theseadproject.org/mekongjourneys

Tony Nguyen and other Southeast Asian filmmakers will be attending the Roundtable Discussion on 4/29 at 120 Pillsbury Hall at UMN.
🔗 Registration is required. https://www.theseadproject.org/mekongjourneys

03/01/2026

Transparency matters. SEA Roots has historically been underfunded, and we have relied on the generosity of our community to keep our programs accessible.

SEA Roots language learners aren’t just studying vocabulary. They are reconnecting — to culture, to family, to identity, and to one another in ways that feel authentic, affirming, and community-centered.

Enrollment is open for Spring 2026 SEA Roots Level II Online Language Classes. We are raising funds to provide scholarships, prioritizing community members navigating immigration-related challenges.

Languages Offered:
Khmer • Hmong • Lao • Vietnamese
Your gift does more than cover tuition.
It helps someone speak to their elders without translation.
It helps someone reclaim what war and displacement tried to erase.
It keeps our languages living — in our homes, in our stories, in the next generation.

Today is the last day to give.

If this work matters to you, this is the moment to act.
Please make your gift before the campaign closes.

Address

1624 Harmon Place Ste 305
Minneapolis, MN
55403

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	9am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	9am - 5:30pm
Thursday	9am - 5:30pm

Website

http://www.theseadproject.org/

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