Zachary Song

Zachary Song attends college while studying abroad in Paris, his home town is University Place, Washington. 

I was on the leadership cabinet for STAND (Students Together Advocating for Nonviolence and Diversity) at my high  school. In that capacity, I helped lead DEI monthly campaigns, created posters and pins, and I was MC for our school’s first couple of cultural assemblies. I created a disability awareness campaign where I designed stickers that students wore, created announcement videos, and printed posters to hang around the school. I was also an Olympia Sch. Dist.  Equity Student Representative where I helped lead initiatives for the school board such as a district wide equity survey. I am currently also part of the diversity, equity and inclusion Ambassador Team for Washington DECA where we host initiatives for the State such as adding Spanish-speaking judges for state competitions. I am currently studying abroad in Paris in my first year of college.

My project involves supporting and highlighting local, diverse minority-owned ethnic restaurant owners. I have an Instagram account (@zach.foodie) with over 2500 followers where I review food and drink establishments. I love posting about small businesses and especially those that are owned by diverse owners such as AAPI owners.  My goal is to feature at least 10 different establishments during the year. This will help support the businesses and market their restaurants and increase their customers. A lot of diverse owners have to endure through more barriers so I want to help them and give back to my community, I am part of the Korean community. 

Since I am in Paris for one semester (Fall 2024) and will be at USC in LA for the rest of four years, I want to market restaurants in Europe and LA! I have been progressing on my project and have completed 9 marketing posts for small, BIPOC restaurants in Paris and other European countries! My next step in my project is to post videos on these local restaurants and I plan to film, edit, and post 3 videos on my account before I leave in December. These videos gain much more views and will support these restaurant owners a lot.