Text of the “Stone of Hope” Award Acceptance Speech by BACI Executive Director Elaisa Vahnie

Thank you to the Indiana Civil Rights Commission (ICRC) for this award. We are deeply honored and humbled by this recognition.

We could not have achieved what we have without the guidance and support of our Board of Directors, our advisors, and our dedicated and enthusiastic staff. This is a recognition of the entire Burmese-American Community and Burmese-Hoosiers for their efforts and contributions.

Twelve years ago, with a strong conviction of the need to invest in people and education, and with a vision of “education for all and a stronger community”, and a mission to build a thriving, self-sufficient, sustainable, and integrated Burmese American community through advocacy, education, and employment, BACI started to deliver its innovative and comprehensive services to the community.

Through BACI’s action, building upon this commitment, the belief and the hope that everyone will be given a chance and become empowered and productive and contributing citizens, the Burmese-American community are now active and engaged citizens exercising their rights and liberties dutifully and meaningfully in this land of freedom and opportunity.

We are particularly proud that many of our youth have gone on to get a college education, professional degrees, and graduate degrees and now assume leadership responsibilities in different fields including education, healthcare, business, and others. The college-going rate among Burmese-Americans in the U.S. has increased from 43 percent in 2013 to 93 percent last year. This next generation of leaders are our hope – the best hope for our community and our hope for our state and our nation.

At the same time, over 100 small businesses have been started and are being run by Burmese Americans in Indianapolis.

We have also joined our partners in welcoming and resettling our brothers and sisters from Burma, Afghanistan, Ukraine, and many other countries.

We are grateful and thankful to the American people and to our Hoosier neighbors for welcoming us with open arms and allowing us to start our new lives here, reflecting American leadership, compassion, and the giving of hope to many, including thousands of refugees and newcomers like the Burmese.

Because of the Hoosier tradition of hospitality, now over 40,000 Burmese Americans call Indiana their home – the largest Burmese community in a single state in the United States. And we are proud to call Indiana our home.  

The accomplishments and positive impact we see today in our community and in our state would not have happened without your support. These successes are a testament to the ways in which we have come together and forged collaborative partnerships.

Thank you for your leadership, support and partnership, and for creating and sustaining a policy environment in this great state of Indiana in which everyone is welcome and all are treated equal and with the same with respect and dignity regardless of race, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Thank you for making sure our diversity is celebrated and for giving everyone the opportunity to dream the American dream right here in our proud state.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said in his “I Have a Dream” speech, “We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope,” may I conclude my remarks by asking that we take this opportunity to collectively reaffirm our commitment to making our respective organizations, our community, our state and our nation beacons of hope for everyone, to look toward our common vision, and to march together towards that goals and towards dreams in which all can fully enjoy freedom, peace, democracy, equality, justice and love, making our world a better place for humanity

Thank you, and God bless you all.

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