History

During the summer of 2002, two Asian Deaf people, Candice Hsu of New Jersey and Jennifer Ayque-Cho of New York, discussed creating a new Asian Deaf organization in the Greater New York metropolitan area. In September 2002, Asian Deaf people got together and ate at Malaysia Restaurant in New York City. We enjoyed meeting and learning about each other. The group had made plans to go out with other Asian Deaf people living in the Greater New York area and just had a good time. We went to Starbucks to drink some coffee and tea and then gathered a small group now known as the "First Asian Deaf Gathering" at Starbucks Coffee, Cooper Union in New York, NY. After our first meeting at Starbucks, the Metropolitan Asian Deaf Association (MADA) was officially named during the first board meeting at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City, New Jersey on Saturday, November 1, 2002.

Candice Hsu, Co-Founder

Candice, who was aware that no organization for Deaf Asians existed in NY and NJ, had been formulating ideas of establishing this type of organization for some time. She began networking with Asian Deaf colleagues and developing her leadership skills. She was a member of the Northwestern University Deaf Club (NUDC) at Northwestern University in Boston, Massachusetts, serving as both Vice President and then President in her college years. In addition to these roles, she participated in many events and served as Director of Special Events and the Ad-Hoc committee. She also served as a Treasurer for the Miss Deaf New Jersey Pageant in Trenton and Atlantic City, NJ. During this time, Candice gained the necessary experiences and skills to lead the organization of her dreams successfully. Candice Hsu served as the President of MADA from 2002 to 2004.

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Jennifer Ayque-Cho, Co-Founder

Jennifer developed a wide range of contacts with Asian Deaf people over the years to launch an organization. She served as Fundraising Coordinator and Social & Cultural Director for the Asian Deaf Club (ADC) at National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID) in Rochester, NY, in her college years. She also served as a Treasurer and Vice President for the Filipino American Deaf Organization (FADO) in NY and NJ. She is well-versed in Asian Deaf culture and values. Jennifer has been the Social & Cultural chairperson since the establishment of MADA in 2002.