Joseph Y. Bae is Co-Chief Executive Officer of Kohlberg Kravis & Roberts (KKR), a global investment firm with over $500 billion in assets under management.

In the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, Mr. Bae and the KKR leadership established a $50 million global relief fund to help people affected by COVID-19. The fund supports the immediate needs of frontline medical workers, ensures food security to vulnerable communities, provides benefits and financial coaching for affected employees among KKR portfolio companies and assists small businesses facing difficulties.

A proud Korean American, Mr. Bae grew up in Long Island, New York and now lives with his wife Janice and their four children in New York City. He holds a B.A., magna cum laude, from Harvard College. Mr. Bae serves on the boards of a number of non-profit educational and cultural institutions including as a member of Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council and a board member of Lincoln Center.

Peng Zhao is Chief Executive Officer of Citadel Securities, a global financial services firm with offices across the United States, Asia-Pacific and Europe. One of the firm’s early architects, he joined Citadel Securities directly out of graduate school as a Senior Quantitative Researcher.

Peng has led the company through a period of continued growth and sustained expansion. He was named to Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 list, which noted that under his stewardship, “Citadel Securities has not only widened its lead as the top market maker in U.S. stocks,” but also emerged as a transformative influence in new and growing markets.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Peng and his wife Cherry, both Chinese Americans, organized the donation of over one million masks to first responders and helped raise funds for medical supplies in Hubei province, aid to families displaced by the pandemic and early resources for vaccine development.

Peng earned his PhD in Statistics from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was a Berkeley Fellow, and holds a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics from Peking University. He serves on the Board of Trustees for the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine is President of the Sunshine Care Foundation for Neurological Care and Research, an international non-profit organization dedicated to finding innovative ways of delivering free clinical and neurological care to indigent patients in rural areas of Asia. A strong patient advocate, Geraldine’s work has facilitated international collaborations in the fields of medicine, public health, and science to find effective therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, resulting in cross-collaborations among top scientists at Harvard, Yale, MIT, and other preeminent institutions worldwide. She is also Co-Founder of the Collaborative Center for X-Linked Dystonia Parkinsonism at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Geraldine serves on the boards of ADL and Harvard Hillel, and is a member of Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline, Massachusetts. Additionally, Geraldine has served for over 13 years as Senior Counsel in alternative investments for Bracebridge Capital in Boston. She holds the position of Overseer on the Harvard University Governing Boards, Board Member of the Massachusetts General Hospital President's Council, Board Member of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, Co-Chair of the Harvard Kennedy School Fund Executive Council, Member and Former Co-Chair of the Harvard College Fund Executive Committee, Co-President of the Harvard Club of the Philippines, Board Member of The Rashi School, and Board Member of the Women’s Foundation of Boston.

Norman Chen is the Chief Executive Officer of TAAF and brings a thirty-year career in entrepreneurship, healthcare and community leadership in the United States and Asia. Norman is passionate about building organizations in both the nonprofit and private sectors that positively impact society.

Prior to his appointment at TAAF, Norman co-founded the nonprofit Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH) and helped to create a landmark study, The STAATUS Index, of American attitudes towards Asian Americans.

As a healthcare entrepreneur, Norman was the founder and CEO of Asia Renal Care, a network of specialty medical centers in six countries, and co-founder of DeltaHealth Hospital, a world-class hospital in partnership with Columbia Heartsource. As a venture capitalist, Norman led successful life sciences investments at Fidelity Asia Ventures (now Eight Roads) and 6 Dimensions Capital.

Norman grew up on the East Coast and currently lives in the Bay Area. He has been a board or advisory council member at The Nature Conservancy (CA), Children’s Medical Foundation (HK), SF Marine Science Institute, and Positive Coaching Alliance. He holds a B.S. degree from MIT and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Rushika Fernandopulle is a practicing physician who was the co-founder and CEO of Iora Health, an early innovator in Primary Care redesign. Iora was acquired by One Medical, and then the combined company was acquired by Amazon. Prior to this, Rushika was the first Executive Director of the Harvard Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement and Managing Director of the Clinical Initiatives Center at the Advisory Board Company.  

He is a member of the Albert Schweitzer, Ashoka, Aspen, and Salzburg Global Fellowships, and is co-author or editor of several publications including Health Care Policy, a textbook for physicians and medical students, and Uninsured in America: Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity. He serves on the staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital, on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, and on the board of Families USA.

He earned his A.B., M.D., and M.P.P. (Masters in Public Policy) from Harvard University, and completed his clinical training at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts General Hospital. He currently lives in Cambridge, MA and enjoys golf, good wine, skiing, travel, and spending time with his wife, three daughters and cockapoo puppy.

Li Lu is the Founder and Chairman of Himalaya Capital, a multi-billion-dollar investment firm that primarily focuses on long-term investment opportunities in Asia and the U.S. Li Lu was born and raised in China. As a college student, he participated in the Tiananmen Square student movement in 1989. He was forced to leave the country and came to the U.S. later that year. From 1990 to 1996, Li Lu attended Columbia University and became one of the first students in the university’s history to graduate with three degrees simultaneously: B.A., J.D., and M.B.A. from Columbia College, Law School, and Business School.

He founded Himalaya Capital in late 1997 and has been running its principal fund ever since. Li Lu currently serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Columbia University and a member of the Board of Trustees of California Institute of Technology. In January 2020, Li Lu co-founded the Guardians of the Angeles Charitable Foundation to combat the global COVID-19 crisis and now serves as Chairman of the Board of the Foundation.‍ Li Lu is a member of the Committee of 100, the Council on Foreign Relations, and an Aspen Institute Henry Crown Fellow.

He is featured in the Smithsonian Institute’s Family of Voices, part of the ongoing Many Voices, One Nation exhibition at the National Museum of American History. He is the author of Moving the Mountain: My Life in China (1990 in English) and Civilization, Modernization, Value Investing --- and China (2020 in Chinese). Li Lu was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020.

Sheila Lirio Marcelo has more than 20 years of leadership experience in internet consumer marketplace businesses, including as the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ohai.ai, a cutting edge technology startup leveraging generative AI to improve the lives of families. She was a former Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and is a founding board member of The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). Ms. Marcelo previously founded Care.com in 2006 and took it public in 2014; she was Chairwoman and CEO until early 2020, when the company was sold to IAC.

Ms. Marcelo has been honored with numerous accolades. She was just named on Forbes 50 Over 50. She was one of Fortune’s "Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs" and appeared at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit. She is a Henry Crown Fellow with the Aspen Institute, a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Ms. Marcelo earned a B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, which also conferred upon her an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters in 2015. She has a J.D. and M.B.A. with honors from Harvard University. In 2014, Marcelo became the youngest recipient of the Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award. Connect with Sheila on Linkedin, Twitter and Instagram.

Shamina Singh is the Founder & President of the Center for Inclusive Growth, the social impact hub of Mastercard, and serves as Executive Vice President of Sustainability. As President of the Mastercard Impact Fund, she is charged with activating philanthropic dollars to advance inclusive growth and financial inclusion around the world. She is also a member of the company’s Management Committee.

Since 2014, she has led the Center with a remit to leverage Mastercard’s data, technology, capital and expertise for social impact. Under Shamina's leadership, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth was named as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2024. She has also been recognized for her work and leadership in American Banker and Financial Times.

Deeply committed to public service, Shamina currently serves as a member of the President’s Export Council, the principal national advisory committee on international trade. Shamina was Executive Director for the historic first President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which was created by Executive Order in 1999 and has been renewed by each President since. In 2015, Shamina was appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a six-year term on the Board of AmeriCorps, a $1B independent agency that places over 270,000 volunteers with social sector organizations across the U.S. She served as Chair for two years.

Shamina sits on the board of the Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders in Austin, Texas, co-chairs the Ad Council of America’s Advisory Committee and serves on advisory boards of, data.org; The Aspen Institute Civil Society Fellowship; the New York Department of Financial Services Innovation Advisory Board; and the CGAP Financial Inclusion Initiative.

She earned a Bachelor of Science from Old Dominion University and a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas, Austin. She received the alumni of distinction award from both institutions and is currently a contributor to MIT Sloan Management Review on the topic of Responsible AI.

Joe Tsai is Governor of the NBA Brooklyn Nets and WNBA New York Liberty. He co-founded Alibaba Group, a global Internet technology company headquartered in China, in 1999, and serves as the company’s chairman. Tsai was born in Taiwan, of parents who originally came from Shanghai with ancestral lineage to Zhejiang Province in China.

Tsai and his wife Clara have taken on active roles supporting social justice and COVID-19 related humanitarian relief. In addition to Tsai’s commitment to The Asian American Foundation, the couple pledged $50 million to advocate for social justice and economic mobility in the Black community through their sports ownership platform, including supporting players to amplify their voice for equality, and addressing income, education and health gaps in communities of color. In April 2020, at the outset of the pandemic, the couple donated personal protective equipment and ventilators to hospitals and underserved institutions in New York, New Jersey, California and the city of Detroit.

Active philanthropists in education and research, the Tsais established the Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute at Stanford University, dedicated to understanding how the brain gives rise to mental life and behavior, both in health and in disease. The couple also founded the Wu Tsai Institute at Yale University to focus on understanding human cognition and exploring human potential by sparking interdisciplinary inquiry among the psychological, biological, and computational sciences. With Tsai’s support, Yale launched the Tsai Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY) to inspire students from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to seek innovative ways to solve real-world problems from climate change to civic engagement. Tsai is a supporter of the Paul Tsai China Center at Yale Law School, a center named after his father dedicated to helping advance legal reforms in China and increasing understanding of China in the United States.

A graduate of the Lawrenceville School (’82), Yale College (BA ’86) and Yale Law School (JD ’90), Tsai played varsity lacrosse for Yale and, in 2017, received the George H.W. Bush ‘48 Lifetime of Leadership Award, which honors Yale alumni athletes who have made significant leadership contributions in their worlds of governance, commerce, science and technology, education, public service, and the arts and media.

Jerry Yang co-founded Yahoo! in 1995 with fellow Stanford graduate student David Filo and served on its board and as a member of its executive team until 2012, including as CEO from 2007 to 2009. In 2012, he founded AME Cloud Ventures, a venture fund that invests in seed-stage to later-stage tech companies that build infrastructure and value chains around data.

Yang is set to become the first Asian American to serve as the Chair of Stanford University’s Board of Trustees in July, 2021. At Stanford, he has served twice on the board of trustees, the first time from 2005 to 2015. He joined the board again in October 2017 and has served as its vice chair. Yang and Filo were recognized as Engineering Heroes by the Stanford School of Engineering in 2013. The program recognizes the achievements of Stanford engineers who have advanced the course of human, social and economic progress through engineering.

Yang currently sits on the boards of Alibaba, Workday and Lenovo. He also serves as director of the Monterey Peninsula Foundation and a trustee of Dunhuang Foundation (USA). He is a member of the Committee of 100 and the Council on Foreign Relations. He previously served on the boards of Cisco Systems and Asian Pacific Fund of San Francisco.

Jerry Yang was born in Taipei and immigrated to the United States in 1978, growing up in San Jose, California. Yang and his wife, Akiko Yamazaki (also a Stanford graduate), have been active philanthropists At Stanford, Yang and Yamazaki have supported a wide range of programs, including initiatives around artificial intelligence, environment and sustainability, the arts, COVID-19 research, and various scholarships and fellowships. Yang and Akiko were early supporters of UCSF’s Covid-19 Response Fund. Yang and Yamazaki are the lead donors to the San Francisco Asian Art Museum expansion.

‍

Angela Chao was the Chair and CEO of the Foremost Group, a global leader in dry bulk shipping and a pioneer in incorporating environmentally friendly designs into its modern fleet of ships.

Before joining the Foremost Group, Chao worked in the mergers and acquisitions department of what is now Morgan Stanley Smith Barney. She served on a number of public and nonprofit boards.

Chao held an undergraduate degree from Harvard, where she graduated magna cum laude in Economics in three years, and earned her MBA degree from Harvard Business School. She resided in Austin, TX and speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Lisa is the Executive Producer and host of THIS IS LIFE on CNN.

Previously, Lisa EP’d and hosted Our America on OWN.  She was also a field correspondent for The Oprah Winfrey Show and contributor to ABC News' Nightline. For these shows she reported from dozens of countries; covering stories about gang rape in the Congo, bride burning in India and the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, among other issues that are too often ignored.

Lisa was the first female host of National Geographic’s flagship show Explorer which sent her to cover female suicide bombing, the spread of the MS-13 gang, and the humanitarian crisis inside North Korea.

She started in journalism as a correspondent for Channel One News where she covered the civil war in Afghanistan at 21 years of age.  She then became a co-host of ABC hit show The View, which won its first daytime Emmy during her time.

Lisa is the co-author of “Mother, Sister. Daughter, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood,” and “Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and The Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home” that she penned with her sister Laura.

In 2014, President Obama appointed Lisa to the Commission on White House Fellows.  She is an advisory board member for Fostering Media Connections, The Amani Project, and a Baby2Baby angel.

A global business entrepreneur and financial industry executive for nearly three decades, Niu specializes in principal investing in the U.S. and across Asia as well as leading multinational businesses in developed and developing economies.  Having held top management position at AIG, ING and C.V. Starr, he also advises world leaders, Fortune 500 CEOs, major asset owners and prominent private families on 21st-century forces with worldwide impact such as artificial intelligence, China and new globalization.

A civic leader in Asian-American belonging and prosperity, Niu has been involved in numerous efforts helping to develop the next generation of U.S.  leadership and actively advancing constructive U.S.-Asia relations.  He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York and the Committee of 100.  Niu is also a Global Council member of Junior Achievement Worldwide, the world’s largest non-profit organization in educating youth in financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workplace readiness.

Fluent in Mandarin Chinese, Niu earned a BS from Tsinghua University in Beijing, and an MBA from Columbia Business School. He also attended INSEAD’s Senior Executive Leadership Program in Paris and Singapore.

Farah Pandith is author of How We Win and a world-leading expert and pioneer in countering violent extremism. She served as a political appointee under three presidents on the National Security Council, at the U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development, and most recently as the first-ever Special Representative to Muslim Communities. She is a senior fellow with the Future of Diplomacy Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School and an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. In fall 2020, the Muhammad Ali Center named Pandith the first-ever Muhammad Ali Global Peace Laureate.

Dr. Mariko Silver is the president and CEO of the Henry Luce Foundation. She was previously the president of Bennington College. During the Obama administration, she served for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as Acting Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Policy. Dr. Silver also served for Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano as the Policy Advisor for Economic Development, Innovation, and Higher Education.

Prior to her government service, Dr. Silver was instrumental in the transformation and expansion of Arizona State University, leading in work on economic development policy and metrics, science, technology and innovation policy, state K-12 and higher education policy, sustainability science, and global health. Dr. Silver is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves on the boards of Scholars at Risk, African Leadership University, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). Dr. Silver holds a Ph.D. in Economic Geography from UCLA; MSc, Science and Technology Policy from SPRU, University of Sussex (UK) and B.A., History from Yale.

Eric Toda is a marketing executive, angel investor, and non-profit board member. He is currently the Global Head of Social Marketing at Facebook and has held previous marketing leadership roles at Gap Inc, Airbnb, Snapchat, and Nike. Eric is also an advisor to many disruptive startups like Yumi, Wardrobe, Upaway, Fyllo, and many others. Eric sits on the board of directors for the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, Reimagine and LAAUNCH (Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change) and is an investor at Hyphen Capital.

Ed King is a Managing Director within Investment Banking at BTIG. Over the course of his banking career, Ed has advised clients across all major industries and geographies. Prior to BTIG, he was a Founding Partner at Quintus Partners, an independent merchant banking firm, and held senior positions at Barclays and Morgan Stanley, where he was Executive Chairman of Global Mergers & Acquisitions and Head of Asia Pacific Mergers & Acquisitions, respectively, among other leadership roles.

‍
Ed is also a co-founder of The LAAUNCH Foundation, a non-profit organization with a mission to engage and empower Asian Americans to fight racism and increase representation. Since its founding, LAAUNCH has led a “Get Out the Vote” campaign for the Asian American community during the 2020 Presidential elections and published the STAATUS Index, a landmark survey assessing American attitudes towards Asian Americans. Additionally, Ed serves as a trustee for Santa Catalina School.

‍
Born in Taipei, Ed grew up in Montreal and the Bay Area but moved to New York and Hong Kong during his professional career before returning to the Bay Area. Ed earned an MBA from Columbia Business School, with Honors, and a BA in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.

Cathy Cha is president and CEO of the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund. Under her leadership, the San Francisco-based family foundation is investing in movement building and policy advocacy to advance equality and justice for low-income communities of color.

Cathy is a leader in developing new models of social impact collaboration. She has co-founded and led a variety of groundbreaking partnerships, including an effort to expand legal and other supports for undocumented students attending California’s public universities; the California Black Freedom Fund, an initiative that has raised $65 million to date to support Black-led power building; and a new partnership to organize Gen Y and Z AAPIs tobecome active leaders in civic life.

Cathy is driven by a career-long commitment to improving the lives of aspiring communities facing poverty and injustice. She received the Outstanding Foundation Professional award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals in 2021 and was named one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times in 2019. She serves on the boards of Asian American Futures, California Budget and Policy Center, and Positive Coaching Alliance. She has a master’s degree in city and regional planning from UC Berkeley.

Wah is a highly seasoned affordable housing developer for workforce/moderate income, low income, and formerly homeless people in the West and Mountain West regions. An alumni board member of Columbia College, Columbia University, and a graduate of The UCLA Anderson School of Business, Wah has developed one of the largest comprehensive therapeutic residential campuses for homeless individuals in California. Wah, along with her identical sister Ming, have co-authored several children’s books, including the Kirkus starred review Escape: One Day We Had to Run, a nonfiction picture book.

Ming is the Chief Culture Officer at EF Education First, the world’s largest privately held education and travel company. Ming graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School and is passionate about helping Asians in America enjoy as wonderful and safe a childhood as she and her identical twin sister had growing up in Millburn, New Jersey. Ming is a board member of the Keswick Foundation, co-founder of Leading Asian Americans United for Change (LAAUNCH). In her free time, Ming runs long distances, and has completed more than 75 marathons around the world.

Don Chen is the President of the Surdna Foundation where he leads the 100-year old foundation’s efforts to strengthen and further leverage its commitment to social justice.

Prior to his appointment, Chen was the Director of the Cities & States program at the Ford Foundation, where he worked to make housing more affordable, promote more equitable land use practices, and empower communities to have a powerful decision-making voice in U.S. cities and in developing countries. He also led a multi-program team to strengthen social justice organizations and networks in the U.S.

Chen was also the Founder and CEO of Smart Growth America, where he created the National Vacant Properties Campaign and Transportation for America, and managed a merger with the Growth Management Leadership Alliance.

Chen currently serves as Co-Chair of the Presidents’ Council on Impact Investing and on the boards of Living Cities, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, and Philanthropy New York. He holds an M.A. from the Yale School of the Environment and a B.A. in political science from Yale.

Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D. is the David and Diane Steffy Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution and Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford. He is also a Senior Counselor at the Brunswick Group and Chairman of the Board of Directors of El Camino Health.

Chen has worked in American politics, the U.S. government, academia, and business. He is a veteran of several high-profile campaigns and served as policy director and chief policy adviser for Governor Mitt Romney’s 2012 bid for the presidency; a senior adviser to Marco Rubio’s 2016 presidential campaign; and a health policy adviser to the Bush-Cheney 2004 campaign. Chen was a presidentially-appointed member of the Social Security Advisory Board and a senior appointee at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the George W. Bush Administration.

Chen's writings have been published in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times. He appears often on national television programming. He earned his Ph.D. and A.M. in political science from Harvard, his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School, and his A.B. magna cum laude in government from Harvard.

As Chief Brand Officer, Andrea Cherng leads the growth and development of the Panda family of brands through strategy development, menu and concept innovation, marketing, and quality assurance.

Andrea has a lifelong connection with the company, which has fostered a deep sense of stewardship for the Panda brands and its family of associates. Her first formal leadership position at Panda was in establishing and leading the Digital Business team and the creation of the company’s digital marketing strategy, social media and e-commerce platforms. In 2019, Andrea’s leadership was recognized in Adweek’s LA Brand Star list. Her career path has also included successful stops as vice president of a Silicon Valley marketing consulting firm, as an attorney at global law firm Morrison & Foerster and work in the not-for-profit and public sectors focusing on disconnected youth and human rights. To continue her passion for advancing diverse representation and belonging, Andrea serves as a proud board member on The Asian American Education Project, Asian Women Leadership in Philanthropy Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice- SoCal, and Coca-Cola’s Equity Accountability Council.

Andrea earned a Bachelor of Arts in sociology and Asian American studies, graduating magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, a law degree with honors from Duke University School of Law and a Master of Business Administration concentrating in marketing and strategic management from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Lisa Hasegawa is the Regional Vice President of the Western Region at NeighborWorks America (NWA). She served as the Executive Director of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD), the first national advocacy organization dedicated to meeting the affordable housing and community development needs of AAPI communities for 15 years.

She currently serves on the boards of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and Asian Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation (APIAHiP). Previously, she worked at UCLA, the White House Initiative on AAPIs and the Department of Health and Human Services, and served on boards of the National Council for Asian Pacific Americans, Little Tokyo Service Center, Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum and National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

She is a fourth generation Japanese American from Orange, CA, and attended UCLA and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Since 2016, Ken Hersh has served as President and CEO of the George W. Bush Presidential Center, a non-partisan institution which houses the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum and the George W. Bush Institute.

In 1988, he co-founded NGP Energy Capital Management, one of the largest natural resources private equity firms in the world with over $20 billion of total committed capital. Until 2016, he served as CEO of the firm. From 1988 through 2015, under his leadership, NGP invested over $12 billion and achieved returns making it one of the nation’s leading private equity firms.

Additionally, Ken manages his family investment office and serves as Senior Advisor to The Carlyle Group’s natural resources division. He is on the Hoover Institute’s
Board of Overseers, the Harvard Kennedy School Dean’s Council and, among other corporate and civic organizations, sits on the board of the Texas Rangers Baseball Club.

The Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones served as the 27th Under Secretary of the Air Force, the second-highest civilian in the Department of the Air Force. Appointed by President Biden and unanimously confirmed by the Senate in July 2021, Jones made history as the first woman of color and the first out-lesbian to serve as the under secretary of any military department.

Jones led strategic planning for the Department’s $180B+ annual budget to invest in and transition to next-generation capabilities for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, and she is credited with driving some of the most progressive personnel policy changes in the Department of Defense aimed at addressing inequities and improving recruiting, readiness, and retention.

Jones began her career in national security as an intelligence officer in the U.S. Air Force and deployed to Camp Victory, Iraq as part of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Jones is also a veteran of the U.S. Intelligence Community and has worked on issues at the intersection of U.S. economic and national security. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Jones has advanced degrees from Boston University, the University of Kansas, and the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies.

Moushumi Khan is an attorney with 25 years of business, legal, and government experience. She is active in non-profits, public advocacy, and advising on emerging markets. Ms. Khan was most recently the founding CEO of Nirapon, a leading safety monitoring initiative of North American brands sourcing readymade garments from Bangladesh.

Ms. Khan served as the Country Director for The Foundation for Charitable Activities in Bangladesh, and as the first Director of Legal and Compliance at BRAC, the world’s largest NGO.

Ms. Khan is a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute and a Life Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She serves on the Boards of the Interfaith Center of New York and Rahimafrooz Renewable Energy Ltd. She is listed in the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations’ Global Expert Finder. Ms. Khan also helped found the Muslim Bar Association of New York.

Moushumi Khan earned her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School, a MPA from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, an A.B. degree in Critical Social Thought, cum laude, from Mount Holyoke College and a Certificate in General Course in Government at the London School of Economics. She grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Jim Yong Kim M.D., Ph.D., is Vice Chairman and Partner at Global Infrastructure Partners. Kim served as the 12th President of the World Bank Group and helped the organization establish two goals to guide its work: to end extreme poverty by 2030; and to boost shared prosperity, focusing on the bottom 40% of the population in developing countries.

A physician and anthropologist, Kim’s career has revolved around health, education, and improving the lives of the poor. Prior to joining the WBG, he served as the President of Dartmouth and held professorships at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. From 2003 to 2005, Kim served as Director of the World Health Organization’s HIV/AIDS department and led their “3 by 5” initiative, the first-ever global goal for AIDS treatment to expand access to antiretroviral medication. In 1987, Kim co-founded Partners In Health, a non-profit medical organization.

Kim received a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, was recognized as one of America’s “25 Best Leaders” by U.S. News & World Report, and was named one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.”

Professor Erika Lee is an award-winning historian and author, Regents Professor of History and Asian American Studies, Director of the Immigration History Research Center at the University of Minnesota, and President-Elect of the Organization of American Historians.

The granddaughter of Chinese immigrants, Lee was recently elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and testified before Congress in its historic hearings on anti-Asian discrimination and violence.

Lee is the author of four award-winning books including The Making of Asian America and America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in America, which won the American Book Award and the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and more. Identified as an essential book illuminating the Trump era and the 2020 elections, it will be published with a new epilogue on xenophobia and racism during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Making of Asian America will also soon be republished with a new postscript about the latest campaigns against Asian Americans. Lee has been featured in PBS’s film series “Asian Americans” and has been interviewed for many news shows, podcasts, and publications.

A Palo Alto native, Jeremy Lin is a nine-year NBA veteran, NBA Champion, and philanthropist. His rise to prominence spread like wildfire during February 2012, when he took over the starting point guard role for the struggling New York Knicks and began one of the most improbable journeys sports has ever seen. Suddenly, everybody was following the inspiration of Lin that is forever known as “Linsanity.”

A Harvard University graduate, Lin helped pave the way for his Harvard team to become nationally-ranked for the first time in its history along with making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1946. Lin has played with the Warriors, Knicks, Rockets, Lakers, Hornets, Nets, Hawks, and NBA Champion Raptors.

Melvin Mar began his career at Dreamworks SKG, Scott Rudin Productions, where he built a solid relationship with “Orange County” director Jake Kasdan. They have since worked together on films including “The TV Set,” “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” “Bad Teacher,” “Sex Tape”, “Jumanji: Welcome to The Jungle”, Jumanji: The Next Level, the indie feature "Lucky Grandma" and the hit television comedy “New Girl.” Besides serving as executive producer on the upcoming Doogie Kamealoha for Disney+,  Mar served as an executive producer on “Fresh Off the Boat”, "Bless This Mess", “Weird Loners”, “The Grinder” and "Speechless".

Mar and Kasdan have an overall deal at Walt Disney Television, where they are developing comedies and dramas for cable, streaming and network television. He is based in Los Angeles and New York.

Mee Moua is a racial healing, racial equity consultant who provides training, facilitation and coaching support for individuals and organizations seeking equity transformation. She is passionate about democracy building, heart leadership, and making visible the interconnectedness among peoples. Some of her clients are local and State elected officials, community and national foundations, colleges and universities, and non-profits.

Moua was the President and Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-AAJC and the Vice President the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum. Prior to her work in Washington, D.C., she was an attorney and a member of the Minnesota State Senate. Moua was born in Laos and came to the U.S. in 1978 as a refugee. She grew up in the midwest, attended Brown, received her M.P.A. from the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin and earned her J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.

She currently works and lives in Maryland with her husband and their three children.

Konrad Ng is a curator, scholar and strategist for Asian Pacific American history, art, culture and creative media. He activates the Asian Pacific American experience to imagine more inclusive, inspiring and critical futures. Konrad was the executive director of Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, the director of the Smithsonian Institution’s Asian Pacific American Center, a professor of critical studies in the University of Hawai'i at Manoa’s School for Cinematic Arts, the curator of film and video at the Honolulu Museum of Art, the program manager for a cultural studies program at the East-West Center, and a film programmer for the Hawai'i International Film Festival. Currently, he manages the artistic and philanthropic initiatives of Taiji Terasaki, serves as the chair for Hawai'i's State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, as the secretary on the board of Hawai'i Public Radio and is a member of the advisory board for the Center for Asian American Media. He has a doctorate in political science from the University of Hawai'i, a master’s degree in cultural, social and political thought from the University of Victoria, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and ethnic studies from McGill University, and is pursuing his JD from the University of Hawai'i's Richardson School of Law.

Amanda Nguyen is an internationally acclaimed social entrepreneur. She was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2019. Nguyen penned her own civil rights into existence by unanimously passing the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Bill of Rights. She has trained hundreds of activists using her theory of organizing, "Hopeanomics," to pass 34 laws protecting more than 85 million sexual violence survivors. Recently, her viral video sparked national coverage on anti-asian hate crimes.

Nguyen is the CEO and founder of Rise, a social movement accelerator where she teaches grassroots organizing. In recognition of her work, Amanda is a Heinz Laureate, Nelson Mandela Changemaker, Forbes 30 Under 30, Foreign Policy 100, Time 100 Next, Frederick Douglass 100, and Marie Claire Young Woman of the Year. Previously, Nguyen served at NASA and the State Department under the Obama Administration. She graduated from Harvard.

Indra Nooyi is the former chairman and CEO of PepsiCo and served as a board member between 2001 and February 2019.

Currently, Nooyi is a member of the Board of Amazon and chairs the Audit Committee. She sits on the Supervisory Board of Philips and is a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance committee. She is a member of the International Advisory Council of Temasek and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. She is a Dean’s Advisory Council member at MIT’s School of Engineering, and an Executive Committee member of the MIT Corporation. Nooyi serves on the Board of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Partnership for Public Service. She is the Class of 1951 Chair for the Study of Leadership at West Point.

Nooyi holds a B.S. from Madras Christian College, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, and a master’s in public and private management from Yale.

Michael Park is a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company, where he leads the firm's Global Organization and Accelerate Practices. Prior to that, he led McKinsey Academy and the firm's Strategy and Corporate Finance Practice. He also helped found and leads Asians at McKinsey, their Asian employee resource group.

As an active member in the community, Park has led McKinsey's research on accelerating growth and competitiveness in U.S. industry, including the McKinsey Quarterly article “Translating innovation into US growth” and work with the Brookings Institute, World Economic Forum, and state governments. He sits on the board of Global Health Corps and Leaders for Educational Equity.

Park was selected as a David Rockefeller Fellow of the Partnership for New York City in 2011-12. He graduated magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard with an A.B in Economics. Park and his wife and three children reside in New York City.

Naheed Qureshi is Head of Policy Partnerships at Instacart where she builds relationships with stakeholders to further joint policy goals. She is also a commissioner on President Biden's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

Prior to joining Instacart, Naheed developed deep expertise in public policy during her 20+ year civil rights career. She was a founding board member and later deputy director of Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights advocacy organization where she focused on combatting discrimination and hate crimes and managed large coalitions to fight the Muslim ban and other forms of bigotry targeting communities of color. Naheed also served as the co-chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights Hate Crimes and Bigotry Taskforce.

After 9/11 Naheed was recruited to join the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She joined the Justice Department through the Attorney General’s Honors Program where she acted as an attorney advisor to Immigration Judge Ellen K. Thomas. Naheed also worked for the City of Los Angeles Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and the national legislative office of the ACLU. At the ACLU, she focused on racial profiling, voting rights, the USA Patriot Act and other national civil rights issues.

Naheed received a B.A. in political science from the University of Wisconsin and J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center. The daughter of immigrants from Pakistan, Naheed was raised in Wisconsin and is a proud cheesehead

Joshua Cooper Ramo is Chairman and CEO of Sornay. He served as lead China advisor on over $200 billion of completed China transactions and led investments alongside China’s most significant commercial and financial players. Previously, he was CEO and Vice Chairman of Kissinger Associates and the Foreign Editor and Senior Editor of TIME Magazine. He serves as a director of Starbucks and FedEx.Ramo authored two New York Times bestsellers, The Age of the Unthinkable and The Seventh Sense, and has been featured in TIME, FORTUNE, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times. He shared an Emmy and Peabody Award for his work as as NBC analyst during the Olympics in Pyeongchang and Beijing, and has been seen on Meet the Press, CNN, CNBC, and Charlie Rose.Ramo has been a Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute, a term member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the Asia21 project, a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Leaders for Tomorrow, and a founder of the US-China Young Leaders Forum. Raised in New Mexico, Ramo holds degrees from the University of Chicago and NYU.

Condoleezza Rice is the Tad and Dianne Taube Director of the Hoover Institution and the Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy. In addition, she is a founding partner of Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC, an international strategic consulting firm.

Rice served as the 66th Secretary of State of the United States, the second woman and first black woman to hold the post. Rice also served as President George W. Bush’s Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, the first woman to hold the position.

Rice served as Stanford University’s provost from 1993 to 1999. Rice has won two of the university’s highest teaching honors – the 1984 Walter J. Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching and the 1993 School of Humanities and Sciences Dean's Award for Distinguished Teaching.

She is the author of bestsellers, Democracy: Stories from the Long Road to Freedom (2017); No Higher Honor: A Memoir of My Years in Washington (2011); and Extraordinary, Ordinary People: A Memoir of Family (2010).

Born in Birmingham, Alabama, Rice earned her bachelor's degree in political science, cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Denver; her master’s in the same subject from the University of Notre Dame; and her Ph.D.in political science from the University of Denver.

Richard is an award-winning design executive and product strategist with 20+ years of experience in leading design teams to create innovative digital products for Fortune 100 brands. Richard currently serves as a Managing VP of Design for Capital One. Prior to Capital One, Richard led teams to work on digital products and services for brands such as Twitter, Nike, Equinox, ESPN, Samsung, and Google. Richard's work has received nearly every major industry creative award, including the Cannes Titanium Lion, the D&AD Black Pencil, and the Grand CLIO. Throughout his career, Richard has been a much sought-after industry leader and has served on a number of creative award show juries such as Cannes, The One Show, and the International CLIO Awards.

Prior to joining the Advisory Council for TAAF, Richard co-founded the nonprofit Leading Asian Amercians to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH). Richard was born and raised in the Bronx, NY and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife and two daughters.

Richard recently sat on the board of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) and is currently an Executive Member of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Richard’s a champion of social equity and loves distance running, emerging tech, sports, sneakers, and hip-hop. He holds a BS degree from Carnegie Mellon and a MPS from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

David Ting is the founder and CEO of Globalluxe Ltd, a luxury goods distribution and brand management company which launched US brands including Kate Spade and Diane von Furstenberg in Asia.  Over the past 20 years, Globalluxe has opened and operated more than 90 freestanding luxury boutiques and retail locations throughout the Asia Pacific region. Globalluxe also manages a diverse portfolio of direct investments in companies specializing in e-commerce, data science management consulting services, biotech and healthcare, commercial and residential real estate, cosmetics and skincare. Prior to founding Globalluxe, David was Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for the Gucci Group and also held management positions at American Express and Chase Manhattan Bank. 
 
David has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization and served as Board Chair for the Hong Kong Chapter. He also sits on the Board of Studio 88 and is a co-founder and Board member of LAAUNCH (Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change).
 
David grew up in New York and currently lives in Atherton, CA.  He is married to Linda and has three children. David earned a B.A. in Economics from Colgate University and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.

Robert Underwood was the Congressional Delegate from Guam in the 103-107th Congresses and recently retired as the President of the University of Guam. He is both a Professor Emeritus and President Emeritus and is the longest serving President in the University’s history.

Mr. Underwood has played a national leadership role on Asian Pacific American issues. He served as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, introduced legislation for the establishment of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Serving Institutions, fought for Filipino World War II veteran equity, and was the founding chair of the national Asian Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund.

Mr. Underwood has served on numerous boards and commissions. He was Chair of the Chamoru Language Commission, served on the National Board of Educational Sciences, Guam Board of Education, founding member of the Guam Humanities Council, and on the National Advisory Council on Bilingual Education and American Folklife Center Board of Trustees (Appointed by Speaker Pelosi). He has worked for UNDP in Micronesia, and served as a delegate to the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environmental Program and WASC accreditation teams for universities and colleges in the Pacific.

Fareed Zakaria has hosted CNN’s flagship international affairs program, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS, since 2008. He has interviewed President Obama, Emmanuel Macron, Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, among others. The program earned the prestigious Peabody Award in 2011 and has received multiple Emmy nominations.

Zakaria is also a columnist for The Washington Post and the bestselling author of Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World, In Defense of a Liberal Education, The Post-American World, and The Future of Freedom.

Zakaria was named a “Top 10 Global Thinker of the Last 10 Years” by Foreign Policy magazine in 2019, and Esquire once called him "one of the 21 most important people of the 21st Century.” In 2010, he was awarded the “Padma Bhushan” by the Government of India, one of the country's highest civilian honors.

Zakaria holds a B.A. from Yale and a Ph.D. from Harvard.

Prisca Bae joins the Asian American Foundation from the private sector where she designed and launched philanthropic and social impact initiatives centered around communities of color and women.

At PepsiCo, Prisca oversaw the gender diversity and women’s strategy for the Global Diversity & Engagement Center of Excellence. She helped develop and launch a $100 million commitment to women and girls and worked with leaders company-wide on gender parity and pay equity issues. She also served as chief of staff to PepsiCo’s Global Public Policy and Government Affairs group. Prior to PepsiCo, Prisca advised companies and nonprofits on strategic women’s initiatives as Vice President at Seneca Women, the advisory firm founded by the former U.S. Ambassador for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer. Before joining PepsiCo, she served as the inaugural Director of the Women in the World Foundation, a public charity founded out of Tina Brown’s Women in the World Summit at Newsweek & the Daily Beast and managed Goldman Sachs Gives, a billion dollar charitable fund for the partners of Goldman Sachs.

Prisca began her career as an attorney at Latham & Watkins, LLP and received her B.A. from Columbia College, Columbia University and J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.

She currently serves on the boards of The Roger Lehecka Double Discovery Center at Columbia University, the Korean American Community Foundation and The Li.st, a community of high impact women in media, business and tech. Prisca was born in South Korea, was raised in Chicago, and is currently based in New York City.

‍

Georgette Bhathena is the Chief Programs Officer at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) overseeing programming and strategy to achieve maximum impact.  She has over 20 years of experience working across sectors in purpose-driven organizations.

Prior to joining TAAF, Georgette led the trust-based grantmaking strategy and nonprofit partnerships on the Zoom Cares team. Zoom Cares, the social impact arm of Zoom, puts the full weight of the company’s platform, dollars, employees, and voice behind a commitment to foster equity, democratize opportunity, and address some of humanity’s biggest challenges. Zoom is a proud partner of TAAF on the AAPI Giving Challenge. Previously, Georgette held senior positions at Tipping Point Community, the San Francisco Foundation, and JPMorgan Chase, among others.

Georgette received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Washington and her Master in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  She is a Public Policy and International Affairs (PPIA) Fellow. Georgette lives in the Bay Area with her family and favorite corgi Rosie.

Leigh Cafferty has over 15 years’ experience in digital and print media, purpose-driven live events, and strategic communications. She has produced events for media outlets including The New York Times, NowThis News, Thomson Reuters, The Daily Beast, IFC Films, Starz, Fortune, and Penske Media.

Leigh oversaw all communications and media relations for Tina Brown and her flagship Women in the World Summit, during which she built and managed a global community of 500+K followers, averaged over 5+ billion media impressions yearly, and successfully introduced Women in the World to new markets in Dubai, Toronto, New Delhi, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Dallas, and San Antonio. She additionally coordinated global event partnerships for Women in the World including World Economic Forum dinners with Credit Suisse, Art Basel Miami Salons with Bumble, and UN General Assembly Dinner with Bank of America.

Leigh produces TAAF’s purpose-driven events, curated conversations, and growing live events calendar alongside the Partnerships team.

She lives in New Jersey with her comedian husband and two children. She is a former ballerina and passionate about animal rescue.

Sruthi Chandrasekaran (she/her) serves as TAAF’s Director of Data and Research. She leads strategy development and implementation for the Data and Research team and targeted studies that identify and address the needs of the AAPI community.

Sruthi brings her lived experience as a first-generation Indian American and a recent immigrant to the United States, along with her professional expertise in research and monitoring, evaluation, and learning, to TAAF. She has over a decade of experience working with small and large non-profit organizations, foundations, and government funding agencies on issues faced by marginalized populations. Sruthi also has extensive experience generating and using evidence to inform policy and programming across diverse contexts. Most recently, she was a co-Principal Investigator on a mixed methods, community-based participatory research study documenting the needs of, perspectives on, and access to sexual and reproductive health in the AAPI comunity.

Sruthi holds an MSc in Comparative Social Policy from the University of Oxford, where she was a Felix Scholar and Maude Royden Fellow, and an MA in Economics from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Madras). She was a Women Deliver Young Leader and a Global Health Corps Fellow. Sruthi resides in San Antonio, Texas, with her husband and daughter.

Norman Chen is the Chief Executive Officer of TAAF and brings a thirty-year career in entrepreneurship, healthcare and community leadership in the United States and Asia. Norman is passionate about building organizations in both the nonprofit and private sectors that positively impact society.

Prior to his appointment at TAAF, Norman co-founded the nonprofit Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH) and helped to create a landmark study, The STAATUS Index, of American attitudes towards Asian Americans.

As a healthcare entrepreneur, Norman was the founder and CEO of Asia Renal Care, a network of specialty medical centers in six countries, and co-founder of DeltaHealth Hospital, a world-class hospital in partnership with Columbia Heartsource. As a venture capitalist, Norman led successful life sciences investments at Fidelity Asia Ventures (now Eight Roads) and 6 Dimensions Capital.

Norman grew up on the East Coast and currently lives in the Bay Area. He has been a board or advisory council member at The Nature Conservancy (CA), Children’s Medical Foundation (HK), SF Marine Science Institute, and Positive Coaching Alliance. He holds a B.S. degree from MIT and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Erin Chen is a Social Media Strategist at The Asian American Foundation, working to build out TAAF’s social media presence and raise brand awareness. She brings editorial and social expertise from her time at Bloomberg L.P. and Insider Inc., where she owned social media strategy and distributed content and breaking news across social platforms. Erin graduated from the University of Rochester with a BA in Communications, and is currently pursuing a MA in Communications at Johns Hopkins University. Outside of work, Erin reads and writes novels in the dark (which worsens her eyesight exponentially) and swears that she’ll learn how to ride a bike someday.

Sonia Chou is the Deputy Director of Partnerships at The Asian American Foundation, working closely with TAAF's corporate and fundraising partners to unlock resources for the AAPI community and community based organizations. She has had the great privilege of working in the fundraising and development departments at organizations such as Supermajority, Lincoln Center, the New York Youth Symphony, and Voices of Ascension. She graduated from the University of Chicago, where she double majored in Art History and Anthropology with a specialization in Edo period Japanese tattoos. Sadly, she is not an art historian, anthropologist, or tattoo artist.

Stella provides administrative support for TAAF staff that are based on the West Coast. She joins TAAF from the University of California, Hastings Law where she served as a lead administrative assistant to UC Hastings faculty. Stella was the recipient of the UC Hastings Certificate of Leadership and the UC Hastings Outstanding Contribution by Staff during her time there. She holds a Bachelor's of Science in Visual Communication Design from San Francisco State University. She enjoys bringing her creative knowledge and problem solving skills to all of her roles.

In her spare time, Stella loves to collect records, go to concerts, cook, and try new restaurants. She's also an avid TV binger and loves to deep dive into TV shows she's currently obsessed with.

Polly Fong is a Creative Manager at The Asian American Foundation, overseeing creative projects that help build the TAAF brand. She brings creative and strategic expertise from brand experience agency Jack Morton, where she led projects for clients including Google and Amazon in design, copy, and creative strategy. In 2021 Polly was a finalist in Chief Marketer’s Top Women in Marketing Awards, and is most recently a finalist in the Young Lions Competition in the US. She’s a Bay Area native who now lives in Brooklyn. Outside work, Polly loves cocktails, trap music, and running. Her favorite drink is a tie between a Gimlet and a Clover Club.

Baonam ‘Nam’ Giang serves as the Regional Anti-Hate Manager, South at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). He supports the Anti-Hate National Network and the local AAPI Action Centers as they work to develop a national infrastructure for tackling hate across the country. He is passionate about serving the AAPI community, having spent most of his career embedded in local and national AAPI organizations.

Prior to joining TAAF, he was at the National Organization of Asians and Pacific Islanders Ending Sexual Violence (NAPIESV). During his time at NAPIESV, he supported community-based organizations, governmental agencies, and grantees of various Department of Justice Office on Violence Against Women programs in enhancing their capacity to provide culturally specific and linguistically appropriate services for AAPI victims and survivors in the U.S. and U.S. Pacific Territories.

Nam graduated from the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Criminology and a Master of Public Administration with an emphasis in public and nonprofit management. In his free time, he enjoys serving as a youth group leader, playing basketball, snowboarding, and spending time in nature with his family and friends.

Christine Ho is the Senior Development Operations Associate at The Asian American Foundation, playing a key role in advancing TAAF's mission and vision through revenue-generating activities and partnerships for TAAF. Prior to joining TAAF, Christine was an Operations Associate on the Conservation and Markets Initiative at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, in which her team partnered with NGOs and the private sector to reduce overfishing and the degradation of ecosystems that result from the production of globally traded agriculture and seafood commodities.

Christine received her BA in Economics with a minor in Global Studies at UCLA and her MBA at Santa Clara University, Leavey School of Business with a triple concentration in Leading Innovative Organizations, Entrepreneurship, and Marketing. Based in the Bay Area, she serves on the San Francisco chapter's Steering Committee at Project by Project, a 100% volunteer-run nonprofit organization that focuses on giving back to the AAPI community and developing AAPI leaders through innovative philanthropy.

When Christine isn't working, you can find her spending quality time with her family, friends, and shiba inu, as well as hiking in nature, going on food and music adventures, volunteering, reading, traveling, running, and keeping up with the latest TV shows and movies.

Lakshmi Hutchinson is a Content Writer at TAAF. She was previously a Writer/Editor for ZERO TO THREE, where she wrote online articles and interviewed experts in the field of infant and early childhood mental health. Lakshmi has also created content focused on representation and equity for a variety of organizations including Common Sense Media and Idealist. She began her career managing Asian Fulbright student programs at the Institute of International Education. Lakshmi has a BA in Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures from Barnard College, and an MA in Elementary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

Lakshmi lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, twin daughters, and tuxedo cat. In her spare time she likes going to concerts, enjoying the outdoors with her family, and catching up on the latest Nordic Noir drama.

Matt Kamibayashi (he/him) serves as Senior Research Associate on TAAF’s Data & Research team, where he works with researchers, community partners, and leaders across the US to study the most impactful ways TAAF can invest in AAPI communities.

Before joining TAAF, Matt spent six years as a public school teacher in the Atlanta metro area, where he worked closely with students and families at a majority-AAPI high school. While completing his master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Matt served as a managing editor of the Harvard Kennedy School’s Asian American Policy Review, where he coordinated outreach and reviewed submissions from AAPI researchers, activists, and leaders around the country. Following his time at Harvard, Matt was selected as a Public Policy Fellow through the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston, and worked at the Boston Public Health Commission to better understand challenges and opportunities related to AAPI youth mental health in the city.

Matt lives with his partner and their cute but opinionated dog. In his free time, he eats more instant ramen than he should and watches more anime than he cares to admit.

Andy Kang is TAAF's Director of Anti-Hate and brings over a decade of experience in anti-hate work. While serving as Executive Director of Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Chicago, Andy's team led the launch of the TEAACH Act, which made Illinois the first state in the country to mandate the teaching of Asian American history at the secondary level. In response to the rise in anti-Asian violence in Chicago, Andy also launched local bystander intervention trainings in partnership with Right to Be and successfully advocated for the re-establishment of the Illinois Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes. Andy was one of the lead negotiators and strategists for the Illinois TRUST Act, the VOICES Act, and Automatic Voter Registration, and also advocated successfully to strengthen Chicago’s Welcoming City Ordinance in response to Chicago police abusing a Chinese American woman. He joins TAAF after having served as Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Immigration and Citizenship Coalition and co-chair of the Fair Immigration Reform Movement (FIRM), the largest national grassroots immigrant rights network. Andy holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a J.D. from Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law. He currently lives in Philadelphia.

Rebecca Kaplan is the Director of Corporate Engagement at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), working closely with TAAF’s business and Giving Challenge partners to drive resources and support to the AAPI community.

Prior to joining TAAF, Rebecca led impact and philanthropy at New Theory Ventures, where she oversaw a $3M philanthropic portfolio and advised incubated brands on sustainability and community engagement. Previously, as a Director in The Raben Group’s Impact Entertainment practice area, Rebecca led impact messaging and engagement campaigns for critically-acclaimed and award-winning films and television series including Just Mercy, One Day at a Time, ALL IN: The Fight for Democracy, The Tale, and Hustlers. Rebecca also worked at Elle Communications, the Center for American Progress, and the Obama/Biden White House initiative It’s On Us where she led partnerships with Paramount Global, iHeartMedia, Major League Baseball, Kering Foundation, and others. She has been an Advisory Board member of Planet Reimagined and the North Fork TV Festival. Rebecca is a graduate of Cornell University and is based in New York City.

Isabel Kim is the Chief Financial Officer at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF).  She has over twenty years of experience in the finance field primarily in healthcare finance management within start-ups and non-profit organizations.  She oversees accounting, financial reporting, financial operations, treasury, FP&A, audit, and payroll.

Prior to joining TAAF, Isabel served as the Controller at Devoted Health, a health tech startup serving seniors in America who opt for a Medicare Advantage Plan.  She helped scale the Finance team through the exponential growth of Devoted Health.  Previously, Isabel held various positions at the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Mass General Brigham (formerly known as Partners HealthCare) and a Federally Qualified Health Center, among others.

Isabel received her BA and MS from Boston University. She is also a graduate of LeadBoston’s Class of 2017 and Women in NAAAP’s 2015 Lean in Circle program.  Isabel was born and raised on Guam and enjoys spending time with friends and family back in the Pacific every year.

Derrick serves as TAAF’s Regional Anti-Hate Manager (East), where he defines and executes TAAF’s programmatic goals; develops and strengthens TAAF’s growing network of grantee nonprofits, and executes critical administrative, grant-making and communication efforts at a regional level.

Prior to joining TAAF, Derrick served as the Executive Director of Asians Fighting Injustice. This grassroots nonprofit offers support for victims of hate crimes, services for the AANHPI community, and intercommunity programs designed to unite the various minority groups of NYC. Dumplings of Love is one of the programs he holds close to his heart, and has brought communities together with thousands of free meals, PPE, and toys distributed.

He brings experience from a diverse professional background ranging from: fashion marketing, owning a nightlife company, banking, real estate, and business development. Derrick is a born and raised New Yorker, graduated Stuyvesant High School, and earned his BA in Communication from The University at Buffalo. He is also a knight of the Joseon Empire, and was knighted by Prince Andrew Lee.

Beverly Liang is a Project Manager on the Communications and Marketing team. She works across the organization to coordinate flagship projects and communicate what’s going on at TAAF across channels. She brings her expertise in guiding leading organizations in culture, technology, fashion, and retail, first as as Head of Strategy at 2x4, a globally recognized design and branding agency, leading projects for clients including Google, Prada, MoMA, and Target, and as a Strategy Director at UNIQLO's Global Creative Lab. in addition, Beverly works as a therapist who is interested in AAPI mental health and ethnic identity development. She graduated with a MSW from Hunter College’s Silberman School of Social Work and with a BA from the University of Chicago in Cultural Anthropology.

Julia Lo (she/her) is the Grants and Programs Manager at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), collaborating with the Chief Programs Officer and Programs team to administer grants to TAAF’s valued partners.

With a decade of experience in mission-oriented nonprofits, Julia previously managed the annual prizes program and forged external partnerships for The Vilcek Foundation, where she also spearheaded racial equity initiatives. Before her career in philanthropy, Julia organized galas and managed donation records as a fundraiser for The Studio Museum in Harlem. 

As a Colby College alumna and Posse Foundation Scholar, Julia sustains ties with the programs that were sources of her mentorship. She is a career coach for incoming Posse Scholars and stays involved with the Colby College Museum of Art, having previously served on the leadership committee of its board of governors. 

Based in Queens, New York City, Julia keeps a small amount of cash on hand, staying ready for street food discoveries and hole-in-the-wall restaurants!

Joy joins TAAF from Team Rubicon where she served as its first head of communications. She is a highly creative marketing and communications executive with a depth of experience building brand and comms strategies, negotiating key press placements, developing social media campaigns, executing stunts and events, establishing innovative partnerships and managing talent in both the profit and non-profit space. Her 10+ years of experience include serving as Director of Worldwide Publicity for Sony Pictures Entertainment and consulting on communication strategies for AAPI talent and activists.

Dr. Masum Momaya (she/her) is excited to serve as TAAF’s Director of Narrative Change, working every day to increase representation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in media, journalism, and entertainment and catalyze and nurture a groundswell of nuanced, intersectional AAPI storytelling.
‍
Masum has worked for narrative change for more than twenty years as a scholar, educator, social justice advocate, and museum curator, including at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center and the International Museum of Women. Her professional writing and curatorial work have been featured in the BBC, New York Times, Washington Post, and Vogue India and translated into over a dozen languages. A creative herself, she choreographs dance and writes creative nonfiction and screenplays.
‍
Masum graduated with honors and distinction from Stanford University, studying Public Policy and Feminist Studies, and from Harvard University with a master's degree in Education and a doctorate in Human Development. She completed the Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in San Francisco and, more recently, fellowships on narrative and cultural change with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and Open Society Foundations.
‍
In her free time, Masum enjoys playing with her adorable nephew, walking amongst trees, traveling, and watching professional tennis.

Noho Monarch is a Māhū, Native Hawaiian, multidisciplinary designer with a focus on brand and creative. He works to enable marketing efforts through consistency and sustainability of brand identity. Noho's experience spans across in-house and agency roles, including the nonprofit organizations JSTOR and ITHAKA, where he worked as a brand designer. Noho lives in the Midwest with his partner, Chad and their miniature dachshund, Arlo (and a million houseplants).  Noho is passionate about empathy, indigenous sovereignty and DE&I. An ideal afternoon for Noho is spent listening to Mitski, eating spam musubi and quiet time to get lost in thought.

Claire Kai-Li Mondry serves as a Development Associate at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF). As Development Associate, she provides operational and administrative support for revenue generating activities and partnerships at the organization. Claire joins TAAF from the Design Trust for Public Space where she assisted with fundraising for public space and place-making initiatives in New York City. Claire has previously held positions at other AAPI organizations like the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute, the Museum of Chinese in America, and Kundiman.

Claire graduated from Fordham University with a BA in American Studies and Political Science with a concentration in Diversity & Difference. Outside of her job at TAAF, Claire volunteers as a mentor to Asian American youth, teaching about the importance of community leadership and civic engagement. She is also a published writer with her essays on food, identity, and belonging featured in the Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal and Bricolage Magazine. Claire is originally from San José, California and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Eugena Oh serves as the Regional Director in New York at The Asian American Foundation. She comes to TAAF after serving as President & CEO of the “I Have A Dream” Foundation, a national nonprofit empowering youth to achieve their dreams through education and mentorship. She believes deeply in racial justice and equity and has devoted her career to extending opportunity to historically marginalized communities, by building coalitions to build power.

Over eleven years at “I Have A Dream,” Eugena focused on unifying its federated affiliates around a shared vision and goal for “multiple pathways to success” for its youth (‘Dreamers’). She developed a first ever internal grants program that sent financial resources directly to affiliates. Under her leadership, the national headquarters was able to grow its budget from $1.5 million annually to $5.1 million. Eugena’s honors include receiving the Trailblazer award from both the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York (2019) and the IvyG Conference (2018), being named to New York Non-Profit Media’s inaugural class of 40 Under 40 Rising Stars (2015) and receiving the University of Pennsylvania’s Asian Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumna Award (2008). She serves on the University of Pennsylvania’s Alumni Board of Directors, Penn’s Pan-Asian American Community House Board of Advisors, Rise First’s Board of Advisors, as well as the “I Have A Dream” Foundation’s Board of Directors.

Eugena is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania, Temple University’s Beasley School of Law, and Columbia Business School’s Senior Leaders in Nonprofit Executive program. She is a proud New Yorker and second generation Korean American currently raising two children with her partner on Long Island. Eugena loves to dance to 90s hip-hop, sing power ballads during karaoke, and read just about anything.

Dr. Terry K Park (he/him) serves as TAAF’s Education Program Officer. An award-winning educator, social justice advocate, and former performance artist, Terry has over twenty years of experience at the transformative intersections of anti-racist education, social change storytelling, and media advocacy.

Prior to joining TAAF, Terry founded Maum Consulting, an Asian American Studies-based educational social enterprise. He previously served as a full-time, teaching-focused professor of Asian American Studies at seven higher education institutions across the U.S., including Wellesley College, the University of Maryland, College Park, Hunter College, San Quentin State Prison and Harvard University, where he was awarded a Certificate of Teaching Excellence. Terry has also participated in several national and community-based Asian American organizations across the U.S., including a stint as the Executive Director of Hyphen, an award-winning Asian American news and culture magazine. As a social justice-oriented actor trained by Augusto Boal, Anna Deveare Smith, Judith Sloan, and Ernest Abuba, Terry wrote and performed a semi-autobiographical, oral history-based solo show, 38th Parallels, which enjoyed an Off-Broadway run with Pan Asian Repertory Theatre.

Dr. Park received his BA in International Studies from Vassar College, his MA from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, and his PhD in Cultural Studies with a designated emphasis in Studies of Performance and Practice from the University of California, Davis. A second generation Korean American born in Orange County and raised in San Jose, Salt Lake City, and Seoul, Terry currently resides in Oakland, California. Fun fact: in 2011 Terry was crowned Mr. Hyphen, an Asian American male-identifying beauty pageant, by performing as his alter ego, Magical Air Guitar Unicorn.

Rohit serves as The Asian American Foundation’s Chief People and Culture Officer where he takes a lead role in developing TAAF’s culture and values while identifying its strengths and opportunities. He comes to TAAF after serving in a multitude of public sector leadership roles, including chief of human resources at the Illinois Tollway, deputy chief human resources officer at the Chicago Housing Authority, deputy chief talent officer at City Colleges of Chicago, and director of talent acquisition at Chicago Public Schools.
‍
As a human resources leader, he launched initiatives to address and revitalize organizational culture and climate, developed inclusive performance processes, and designed professional learning programs. His thoughts on human resources have been shared in conferences, presentations, and the media.
‍
Rohit currently serves on the board of two non-profit organizations focused on empowerment and social justice. He holds undergraduate degrees from Loyola University Chicago, a law degree from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, a master’s in business administration from the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s in cities from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In his free time, Rohit loves to workout, explore Chicago’s amazing restaurants, volunteer as a teacher and small group leader for young adults at Willow Creek Community Church, and spend time with his wife Kethaki and their kids Neeraj and Neetu.

Lena Pham (she/her) is a Database and Research Specialist on the Programs team. She supports TAAF's data and research projects and works on the development and maintenance of new and existing TAAF databases.

While completing her master's degree in applied anthropology at the University of North Texas, she worked as a Southeast Asian American Education Coalition Data Researcher, an APIA Scholars Fellow, and a Research for Action Intern. In these roles, Lena helped to analyze, review, and process data on Southeast Asian American educational experiences, develop policy recommendations on key issues impacting AANHPI students, and conduct research on out-of-school time programming. Prior to her time at the University of North Texas, she taught English as an Assistant Language Teacher in Japan for two years through the JET program. She also holds an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Hendrix College, where she did internships with Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates.

Lena lives in Philadelphia with her two cats. In her free time, she likes baking, reading, and doing martial arts.

Nicole Santos joins The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) as a Senior Communications Associate helping execute the overall strategy for TAAF’s communications efforts that promote and enhance the organization’s mission and brand. Additionally, she builds strong relationships with community, peers, partners, corporations and press on all media platforms.

Prior to joining TAAF, Nicole worked at GoFundMe as a Communications Manager who led the planning, development and implementation of AAPI communications strategies. She also managed the #StopAsianHate hub which featured over 250+ fundraisers supporting victims of hate crimes and violence, as well as uplifting and good news stories that the comms team amplified locally and nationally. She is a proud member of the team that won the Fundraising, Real Time Response Shorty Award for GoFundMe’s AAPI Community Relief Fund. Additionally, she served as the regional spokesperson for Northern California, Nevada and Hawaii generating media coverage about fundraisers and crowdfunding trends and managing crisis response. Fun fact: For three consecutive years, Nicole and the comms team won the Best Team Halloween Costume at GoFundMe.

Nicole graduated from California State University, Chico with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in music. She is a mentor at A Bridge for Kids to two young Asian American women attending high school and offers support, encouragement and advice as they navigate their final years and prepare for college. In her free time, she enjoys playing beach volleyball, going to concerts and sports games, searching for the best oyster happy hour deals and adventuring with her Corgi Chandler Bing. Born and raised in Northern California, Nicole is a second generation Filipina American who now resides in San Diego.

Nikki Singh (she/her) joins TAAF as Deputy Director in New York. She comes to TAAF after serving as the Senior Manager of Policy and Advocacy at the Sikh Coalition, the nation's largest Sikh civil rights, advocacy, and legal organization.

Over 6 years at the Sikh Coalition, Nikki managed the organization's city and state policy and advocacy portfolio, led advocacy campaigns and coalitions for legislation related to hate crimes, employment discrimination, and AAPI history. She also led the organizations Get Out the Vote (GOTV), and Census efforts and managed the advocacy team's rapid response to hate incidents.

She cares deeply about equity for marginalized communities and has devoted her career to working towards a world where people can live free from hate and discrimination.

She is a native of Colorado but now resides in New York City. Nikki holds an undergraduate degree in International Affairs from the University of Colorado at Boulder and an MPA in Public Policy and Non-profit Management and Policy from the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University. In her free time, she loves to travel, eat at new restaurants, or try the latest skincare, makeup, and beauty trends!

Jenny serves as the Regional Anti-Hate Manager for the Midwest at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), where she supports the Anti-Hate Network in developing a national infrastructure to combat hate. With over 20 years of experience serving the AANHPI community through direct service, community organizing and policy advocacy, Jenny brings a wealth of expertise to her role.  

Previously, Jenny served as the Senior Manager for Civic Power at the Coalition of Asian American Leaders (CAAL), where she organized impactful campaigns, demonstrating adeptness in program management, coalition-building and community development. Through collaborative efforts, she contributed to significant victories in education, economics and racial equity initiatives. As co-founder of the ReleaseMN8 campaign, Jenny has been instrumental in campaigns opposing deportation and championing immigrant rights, resulting in substantial support for affected families.

With academic credentials from the University of Minnesota and a Humphrey Policy Fellowship, Jenny's influence extends to her role serving on boards like Tiny Toones International and others. In her spare time, loves cooking Khmer food, spending time on Minnesota lakes and playing board games with her husband and four children.  

‍

Jon Stone is the Director of Communications at TAAF. He is a seasoned communications professional with 15 years of experience leading insights-driven cross-functional marketing campaigns for some of the world's largest entertainment brands including Twentieth Century Fox, Universal Pictures and HBO. Jon joins TAAF from Sony Pictures Entertainment, where he led global publicity strategy for the studio's home entertainment division, served as a publicist on the theatrical marketing team and, most recently, held the role of Director of Influencer Marketing and Social Media where he oversaw all aspects of content creator marketing strategy and talent social engagement across the studio's film slate. Originally from Virginia, Jon now lives in Los Angeles where he enjoys trying new restaurants, watching entirely too much television and staying dangerously caffeinated.

Fatima Wahidi is the Program Associate for the Anti-Hate and Belonging Program at TAAF. Fatima began her career in philanthropy and nonprofit work, focusing on racial justice and education equity. Recently, she was a Bill Emerson National Fellow with the Chicago Food Policy Action Council, an Advisory Board Member with First Lady Michelle Obama's Better Make Room Initiative, and a Program and Fundraising Volunteer with the Kofi Adomako Foundation. Her professional experience includes five years of work with the Muslim Women's Professional Network and a fellowship with the American Pakistan Foundation.  

Fatima has a Bachelor's degree in Sociology with a minor in Anthropology from Washington University in her hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. She was inspired by her North St. Louis County community to work toward racial and socioeconomic justice. Fatima continues to search for how she can be of service to others and, in her free time, enjoys boxing, exploring local eateries, and spending time in nature.

Min Wong is an anti-AAPI hate analyst at TAAF and based in ADL’s Center on Extremism, where she tracks and analyzes anti-AAPI hate crimes and incidents. Prior to joining TAAF, she worked as an open-source researcher, a due diligence and compliance researcher, and an intelligence analyst at nonprofit organizations, corporations, and intelligence organizations.

She is originally from Taiwan but grew up in the UAE and graduated summa cum laude from The George Washington University with a BA in International Affairs and a minor in Arabic. In her free time, she loves to try new restaurants, cook new cuisines, start another knitting project, and play competitive tennis.

Dr. April Yee (she/her) is the Director of Education at The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) overseeing the strategy to expand AAPI studies in K12 and higher education nationwide. She brings over twenty years of experience working across the education sector as a funder, researcher, and practitioner.

Previously, April served as a Senior Program Officer at College Futures Foundation where she helped to cultivate and sustain trust-based partnerships and design strategies to promote institutional responsibility for students’ holistic well-being. At The James Irvine Foundation, April partnered with state education systems, public higher education institutions, and non-profit organizations to help smooth student transitions from high school to college and careers in California.

Prior to her work in philanthropy, April was a researcher at the UC Davis Center for Poverty Research and the University of Pennsylvania, investigating how cultural identities and institutional contexts shape students’ and families’ educational decisions. Her research has been published in top peer-reviewed journals, including The Journal of Higher Education and Sociology of Education, and profiled in international news media. April began her career directly serving students as an academic advisor at Prep for Prep and LaGuardia Community College’s Accelerated Study in Associate Programs (ASAP).

April holds bachelor’s degrees in Sociology and Studio Art from Smith College, as well as a master’s degree in Higher Education Management and a joint Ph.D. in Sociology and Education from the University of Pennsylvania. She lives in a multi-generational household in the Bay Area with her spouse, two energetic sons, father, and shih tzu Mochi.