Chronicling Activism for Asians in Texas: Interview with Sabrina Sha
Written by Kimberly Saenz | April 9, 2026
Second-generation Taiwanese American and pioneering activist, Sabrina Sha, delineates her path through the political and nonprofit landscape in Texas, she has helped pave the way for several organizations, such as Asian Texans for Justice. Sha is a Houston native, where her mom opened the first boba shop, “(shoutout Star Snow Ice),” However, much of her professional career developed in Austin after studying anthropology and sociology at Trinity University.
Citing the concept of civilizations, the systems they live by, and the frameworks these systems operate under as what brought her attention to humanitarian work, she explains, “In these courses, what kept popping up was not only Michael Foucault but a pattern: when institutions fail, communities do not simply disappear, other structures rise up to hold the gap.” The role she was to fulfill unfolded before her nonlinearly, or rather, emerged from necessity and a sense of responsibility to understand, inform, and organize to be a part of the scaffolding which supports the fickle structure we define as society.
Once Sha understood the urgency associated with institutional and societal processes, some of which are and continue to be intentionally obfuscated and inaccessible to minority groups of people, she knew she could make progress in this field. “I realized that behind every mission-driven organization, there is a need for sustainability and strategy. One of the most common professions for leadership roles within these organizations were accountants,” this detail prompted her to study accounting as a double major. A niche background in corporate auditing is where Sha perfected her eye for tracing systemic behaviors and deciphering its failing parts versus its working parts. Unbeknownst to her, this combination of knowledge would change life as she knew it.
Around this time, the 2016 Presidential Elections had recently taken place; “Donald Trump had become president (for the first time) and politics stopped feeling abstract. Everything felt immediate.” In planning to take a gap year with the intention of studying for her CPA exam, Sha applied for a part-time position as a field canvasser for a randomly selected State Representative, (now the 2026 Democratic nominee for Texas Senator), James Talarico. Because she obtained her accounting degree, Sha was offered a position as Finance Director for Talarico’s campaign. “That experience ended up changing the trajectory of all our lives. It showed me how much impact is possible when people decide to show up for each other. Now James Talarico is running for Senate, and I still don’t have my CPA license.” Despite having no prior knowledge of campaign work, she helped flip a Trump district and continued to work with Talarico in the state legislature and in campaign consulting.
Still, unprecedented events persisted and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic marked another moment of necessary urgency where Sha began working at People’s Community Clinic, a federally qualified health center. An unfortunate consequence of the administration and rampant misinformation on the spread of the COVID virus resulted in record levels of Anti-Asian sentiment, thus leading Sha and other members of the community to organize what we now know to be the successful and recognized Stop Asian Hate rally in Austin, Texas. Sha was not only responsible for the fundraising and infrastructure, but found a designer for flyers, a printer for a limited run of shirts, worked on the social media coverage, and recruited and managed volunteers; of course, she notes that it would be disingenuous to say she worked alone or that there is a step-by-step guide to planning a rally. “Things like that only work because a lot of people decide at the same time that something matters and they’re willing to act on it,” Sha multitasked alongside driven and likeminded people to create momentum, applying her learned skills in politics and humanitarianism to this experience. “Together, we ended up bringing over a thousand people and raising over $25,000, from which Asian Texans for Justice (ATJ) was formed,” Sha leaned into advocacy work with Texas Freedom Network, shortly after by working as ATJ’s first official employee via community outreach.
In response to her experience as an Asian American living in Texas, Sha speaks to the gravitational pull of her Asian identity, “The Asian community, for me, is home and I cannot escape that. It is never going to be something I have to perform or question. It simply is.” Noting that the Asian communities in Sugar Land can be all encompassing, while Texas is simultaneously distinctive and culturally diverse, she is not afraid to say these qualities ground her and inform her work.
Sha has resided in Austin since 2018, alongside her two cats, Binx and Toki. She presently works as the Development Director with Austin Asian Community Health Initiative, where she continues to research sustainability, both financially and systemically, “That has really been the through-line for me, trying to understand the systems in which we live, and then choosing to step in when they fall short.” She asserts that having the audacity and practicing the consistency, the willingness to work towards a common goal even if it proves inconvenient or tedious, is a valuable step in advocating for one another. The effects of Sha’s efforts and of those who worked with her remain palpably significant today; there is no doubt she will continue to bring visibility, connections, engagement, and empowerment to AAPI communities and other marginalized persons.
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Instagram: @twopizzasonegirl
