Sewell Chan
has been a reporter
for The New York
Times since 2004. He
is the bureau chief
of City Room, The
Times's local news
blog. He previously
covered public
transportation and
City Hall. From 2000
to 2004, he was a
staff writer at
The Washington Post.
He has also written
for The Philadelphia
Inquirer and
The Wall Street
Journal.
Born in Manhattan,
Mr. Chan graduated
from New York City
public schools and
from
Hunter College High
School, part of
the City University
of New York. He is
the son of Chinese
immigrants who
settled on the Lower
East Side before
moving to Brooklyn
and then Queens.
He graduated in 1998
with a degree in
social studies,
magna cum laude,
from Harvard
University. He
received a master's
degree in politics
from Oxford
University, where he
was a Marshall
Scholar, in 2000.
His work has been
recognized by the
New York Press Club,
the Journalism
Center on Children
and Families at the
University of
Maryland, and the
Carter Center in
Atlanta, among other
organizations.
Ken Chen is the
Executive Director
of Asian American
Writers' Workshop. A
poetry finalist for
The Iowa Review
Award, the
Anthony Hecht Award,
and the Yale Series
of Younger Poets,
Mr. Chen's work has
been published in
Best American
Essays 2006 and
was recently
recognized in
Best American Essays
2007.
Mr. Chen started
Satellite: The
Berkeley Magazine of
News + Culture,
a monthly magazine
that published
authors such as
Ishmael Reed. He
also helped found
Arts & Letters
Dail, a
cultural website
described by The
New York Times
as "required reading
for the global
intelligentsia" and
called the "best
website in the
world" by the
Guardian
(London).
Mr. Chen has been
featured in
World Journal,
the most prominent
international
Chinese language
newspaper, and
China Crosstalk
TV. His work on Asia
and Asian American
affairs has been
published in The
Boston Review of
Books,
Manoa, The
Kyoto Journal
and nationally
syndicated Asian
American PBS show
Pacific Time.
A graduate of Yale
Law School, Mr. Chen
successfully
represented a
Guinean American
teenager's asylum
claim. The case was
named one of the top
ten most significant
pro bono
cases of 2007 by
American Lawyer
and profiled by
The New York Post,
Essence,
and The New York
Times.
Joanna Eng is
the Web Editor for
Idealist.org, where
she writes and edits
new features of the
website, helps
coordinate
Idealist's social
media outreach
strategy, and
manages the NYC
blog. Ms.
Eng joined Idealist
in 2005 after
graduating from
Cornell University,
where she received
her B.A. in
Anthropology with a
concentration in
Latin American
Studies. After some
adventures in
Mexico, Nicaragua,
and China, she has
settled in Queens,
New York, the most
culturally diverse
place she has ever
been. She loves
exploring the city
by bicycle, dabbling
in various areas of
the arts, and making
playlists and other
kinds of lists.
Caroline
Fan
is the Editor in
Chief of the Asian
American Action Fund
blog (www.aaa-fund.com)
and was one of two
Asian American
bloggers selected to
receive media
credentials at the
Democratic National
Committee in Denver.
The blog's elections
coverage also was
honored to be
archived by Library
of Congress.
Caroline has been an
organizer and
communications maven
for unions and
grassroots
nonprofits, and has
wide experience in
crafting strategies
for winning complex
policy debates
through online
organizing and in
the field. She
currently works at
Progressive States
Network as a Policy
Specialist.Caroline
sits on the AAA Fund
board and holds a
Masters in Public
Administration from
Baruch College
through the National
Urban Fellows, a
national leadership
program.She has
served as a speaker
and trainer for
national conferences
including the Asian
Pacific American
Institute for
Congressional
Studies, the United
States Students
Association, and
Hmong National
Development.
Jennifer
Hayashida is
Acting Director of
the Asian American
Studies Program (AASP)
at Hunter College,
CUNY. While at
Hunter College, she
has worked closely
with students,
faculty,
administrators, and
community groups to
strengthen and
expand the AASP;
initiatives include
collaborations with
community-based
organizations
including AAWW, Asia
Society, CACF, and
AALDEF, intended to
give Hunter students
interdisciplinary
opportunities to
apply their
coursework to NYC’s
dynamic Asian
American
communities. In
addition to her work
as an educator, she
is a writer and
translator, and is
currently a
writer-in-residence
through the Lower
Manhattan Cultural
Council’s 2008-2009
Workspace Program.
Chung-Wha Hong
is Executive
Director of the New
York Immigration
Coalition, an
umbrella advocacy
organization made up
of over 200 groups
throughout the state
that work with
immigrant and
refugee
communities. As the
coordinating body
for organizations
that serve one of
the largest and most
diverse newcomer
populations in the
United States, the
NYIC has become a
leading advocate for
immigrant
communities on the
local, state, and
national levels.
The NYIC’s
membership includes
grassroots community
organizations,
not-for-profit
health and human
services
organizations,
religious and
academic
institutions, labor
unions, and legal,
social, and economic
justice
organizations. With
its multi-ethnic,
multi-racial, and
multi-sector base,
the NYIC provides
both a forum for
immigrant groups to
share their concerns
and a vehicle for
collective action to
address these
concerns.
Prior to coming to
the NYIC in 2001,
Ms. Hong served as
Executive Director
of the National
Korean American
Service & Education
Consortium (NAKASEC),
a national
organization working
on civil rights,
immigrant rights and
civic participation
in the Korean
American community.
Her past activism
includes involvement
with health care
issues at the
Committee of Interns
and Residents and
with Asian American
and labor issues at
the Washington,
DC-based Asian
Pacific American
Labor Alliance,
AFL-CIO.
Tarry
Hum
is an associate
professor in the
Department of Urban
Studies at Queens
College, City
University of New
York. She has a PhD
in Urban Planning
from UCLA’s School
of Public Policy and
Social Research, and
a Masters in City
Planning from the
Massachusetts
Institute of
Technology. She was
a 2006-2007 William
Diaz Fellow
sponsored by the
Nonprofit Academic
Centers Council.
Her research on
immigration,
economic
development, ethnic
banks, race
relations, and
neighborhood
institutions and
planning has been
published in various
journals and books
including the
Economic Development
Quarterly and
AAPI Nexus.
Hiroko Karan
is Chair of the
Board of the Asian
American / Asian
Research Institute,
CUNY. She served as
Chairperson of the
Department of
Physical and
Computer Sciences,
Assistant Dean and
Dean of the School
of Science, Health
and Technology for
twelve years at
Medgar Evers
College, CUNY, and
since September,
2004, is serving as
Executive Director
of Office of
Research and
Sponsored Programs (ORSP).
Helen Koh is
the former Associate
Director of Cultural
Programs at the Asia
Society. She has
taught East Asian
literature and
Korean film at
Columbia University
and the University
of Chicago. While a
Research Fellow at
Columbia’s
Weatherhead East
Asian Institute, she
co-curated the
series, “Country &
City,” which
featured films by
Hou Hsiao-hsien,
Hong Sang-soo, Im
Kwon-taek, and
Hirokazu Kore-eda.
At the Asia Society
Koh has programmed
films for the Asian
American
International Film
Festival (AAIFF) and
served on the jury
for “Emerging
Director in
Narrative Feature.”
She has organized a
retrospective of
director Lee
Chang-dong’s films
and moderated an
interview between
the filmmaker and
Richard Pena. In
addition, Koh
organized a series
on Japanese yakuza
films called
“Gamblers,
Gangsters, and other
Anti-Heros” as well
the first-ever
International Short
Film Festival on
Iran in the U.S.
Vanessa Leung
is Deputy Director
of the Coalition for
Asian American
Children & Families
(CACF). Vanessa
joined CACF in
November 1999. She
oversees CACF’s
policy initiatives
by partnering with
decisionmakers and
community
organizations and is
responsible for the
development of a
pan-Asian children’s
advocacy agenda to
improve policies,
funding, and
services for the
Asian Pacific
American community.
Previously, Vanessa
was CACF’s Education
Policy and Program
Coordinator. She
authored CACF's
in-depth report on
the status of Asian
Pacific American
students in the
public school system
entitled Hidden in
Plain View. Vanessa
has worked alongside
other advocates,
including the New
York Immigration
Coalition and
Advocates for
Children, to call
for changes to
improve safety in
our schools as well
as equitable access
for parents, winning
the addition of
Chancellor’s
Regulations on
interpretation and
translation services
in the public
schools and an
increase to $12
million for such
services. She
spearheaded a high
school youth
leadership project,
the Asian American
Student Advocacy
Project (ASAP) that
trains a diverse
group of high school
students to advocate
for the needs of
Asian Pacific
American students.
In February 2007,
Vanessa was named to
City Council Speaker
Christine Quinn’s
Middle School
Taskforce to
investigate and
develop
recommendations to
improve the
persistently low
academic achievement
of New York City’s
middle school
grades. She is a
member of the Board
of Directors of
Chinatown Youth
Initiative and the
Parish Advisory
Council for the
Church of the
Transfiguration.
Vanessa received her
Masters of Arts
degree in
developmental
psychology at
Columbia
University’s
Teachers College and
her bachelor degree
from NYU. She also
completed the
Institute for
Not-for-Profit
Management’s Middle
Management Program
of the Graduate
School of Business
of Columbia
University and the
Immigrant Civic
Leadership Program
of Coro New York
Leadership Center.
Glenn D.
Magpantay is a
Staff Attorney for
the Asian American
Legal Defense and
Education Fund.
Magpantay oversees
AALDEF’s Asian
American Election
Projection efforts
in fifteen states
across the
Northeast,
Mid-Atlantic, and
Midwest. In 2004,
he coordinated the
nation’s largest
exit poll of Asian
Americans surveying
over 11,000 voters
in 23 cities.
Magpantay has
published scholarly
legal articles,
authored a number of
reports, and has
given commentary to
numerous media
outlets including
The New York Times,
USA Today,
Boston Globe,
CNN, and National
Public Radio on the
Voting Rights Act,
bilingual ballots,
redistricting, and
Asian American
voting patterns and
political opinions.
He currently teaches
the Race & the Law
at Rutgers School of
Law – Newark and a
clinical seminar on
Individual Rights
and Representation
at Brooklyn Law
School. He serves
as a Commissioner to
the New York City
Voter Assistance
Commission and as a
Steering Committee
member of the Gay
Asian & Pacific
Islander Men of New
York (GAPIMNY).
Magpantay attended
the State University
of New York (SUNY)
at Stony Brook on
Long Island, and
graduated cum
laude from New
England School of
Law in Boston –
after being admitted
as an affirmative
action beneficiary.
Parag Mehta
served in the
Obama-Biden
Presidential
Transition Team as a
constituency liaison
to the Asian
American and Pacific
Islander (AAPI) and
Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual and
Transgender (LGBT)
communities. He also
worked with
organizations
focused on education
and the arts.
Previously, Parag
was the Director of
External
Communications for
the Democratic
National Committee.
In that role, he
worked to keep
political opinion
leaders, Democratic
surrogates and
allied organizations
on message with the
Obama-Biden
campaign. He
previously served as
National Training
Director for the DNC
from 2005-2008,
organizing trainings
for more than 22,000
Party staff,
candidates, leaders
and activists in all
50 states and around
the world. Prior to
joining the DNC,
Parag was Deputy
Political Director
for America Votes, a
coalition of the
largest progressive
groups in the
country who joined
forces to register,
educate, recruit,
and mobilize voters
during the 2004
elections.
In 2003, Parag
served as a Deputy
Political Director
for Governor Howard
Dean’s presidential
campaign, based in
Burlington, Vermont,
where he handled
Congressional and
union endorsements
for the campaign and
coordinated
political call time
with the candidate.
Parag also directed
the campaign’s
Asian, Arab, Muslim
and Pacific Islander
outreach, working
with elected
officials, community
leaders, and
grassroots activists
to build support for
Governor Dean.
As a Presidential
Management Fellow (PMF)
from 2000-2002,
Parag worked as a
speechwriter and
policy analyst for
the White House
Initiative on Asian
Americans and
Pacific Islanders
and for the U.S.
Secretary of Health
and Human Services.
Following this
two-year fellowship,
he served as Deputy
Field Director for
former Dallas Mayor
Ron Kirk's U.S.
Senate campaign in
Texas. Parag is a
second-generation
Indian American from
Central Texas. He is
a graduate of The
University of Texas
at Austin where he
received his B.A. in
the Plan II Honors
Program. He was
awarded a Master’s
degree in Public
Administration from
the Maxwell School
of Citizenship and
Public Affairs at
Syracuse University
in 2000.
Joyce Moy
is the Executive
Director of the
Asian American/
Asian Research
Institute. She was
the first Asian
American director of
a NYS Small Business
Development Center.
Her area of
expertise is
entrepreneurship and
economic
development. She has
taught business law
and taxation at
Queens College, the
CUNY School of Law,
and at Cornell
University School of
Law. She is a
former practicing
attorney with over
15 years experience
in corporate law,
franchising,
taxation and
commercial areas.
She is the recent
recipient of the
Woman of Excellence
award from the NY
Women's Chamber of
Commerce, and Star
Mentor of the Year
Award. Ms. Moy
received her B.A.
from SUNY at Stony
Brook, and her J.D.
from Hofstra
University School of
Law.
Sunita S. Mukhi
is the
Director of Asian
and Asian American
Programs for the
Charles B. Wang
Center at SUNY Stony
Brook.
Dr. Mukhi is a
cultural manager,
performance scholar,
and artist. Her
early education was
from St.
Scholastica’s
College, Manila,
Philippines. She has
a B.A. in Behavioral
Sciences and in
Literature from De
La Salle University,
Manila, Philippines;
an M.A. degree in
Interdisciplinary
Studies in the
Social Sciences
from San Francisco
State University;
and a Ph.D. in
Performance Studies
from New York
University.
Born and bred in the
Philippines, having
short stints in
Mumbai and
Singapore, and
having lived the
last 21 years in the
United States, has
provided Dr. Mukhi
with an
international
understanding of
migration and the
global
interconnectedness
of peoples–a true
product of the
Manila Sindhi
Diaspora. As
a cultural manager,
Dr. Mukhi continues
to produce
innovative
programming in light
of promoting a
multi-faceted,
intellectually sound
and humane
understanding of
Asianness. She has
presided over,
participated in, and
moderated numerous
panel discussions,
and given lectures
and addresses on
topics ranging from
identity politics,
performativity,
arts, and the South
Asian diaspora. She
is also currently
teaching at the
Asian and Asian
American Studies
Department at Stony
Brook University.
The courses she has
developed as part of
the faculty of the
Department of Asian
and Asian American
Studies at Stony
Brook University are
Popular Indian
Cinema and Culture,
Peformance in
Contemporary India,
Desis in the
Diaspora, and
Presenting
Asian/American
Cultures Internship
Program.
Her poems appear in
the anthologies
Desilicious: Sexy,
Saucy, South Asian
and
Contours of the
Heart: South Asians
Map North America,
her articles in
Art Spiral, and
Little India
magazine and
Cinevue. The
essay "Underneath My
Blouse Beats My
Indian Heart: Indian
Womanhood, Hindi
Film Dance, and
Nationalism" appears
in A Patchwork
Shawl (Rutgers
University Press,
1998), and her most
recent book is
Doing the Desi
Thing: Performing
Indianness in New
York City
(Garland Publishing/Routledge,
2000). She also
co-wrote a
ground-breaking
report Engaging
Asian America:
Challenges and
Opportunities
(2004) for the Asia
Society. Just
recently, her work
10 Poems
was published in the
Philippines.
She has performed,
directed, and
choreographed in
university,
community, and
professional
theatrical,
television, and film
productions in
Manila, the United
States, Mexico, and
Singapore. She has
also appeared in a
number of short
independent films.
She is a
story-teller and
appears in numerous
family day events at
the Asia Society,
the American Museum
of Natural History,
the Brooklyn Museum
of Art, The
Metropolitan Museum
and other venues.
Her most recent
performance works
are on sexuality,
women’s power, the
slipperiness of
identity and other
yearnings such as
It’s a Drag Being an
Indian Woman
and Cornucopia.
Liberty’s New
Wedding Day is
a tongue-in-cheek
indictment against
imperialism and
terror. As a
story-teller, she
has composed and
performed tales with
dynamic women as
central characters
such as Kalahati,
the Half-Girl,
Butterfly and
the Pin Man,
Princess Guddi
Saves NYC, and
Brown Fox. White
Tiger, among
others.
Elizabeth R.
OuYang is
Executive
Vice-President of
Organization of
Chinese Americans -
New York. She has
been a civil rights
attorney for the
past 22 years. Her
areas of expertise
include immigration,
voting, media
accountability, and
combatting hate
crimes and police
brutality. She
teaches a
comparative
constitutional
pre-law course at
Columbia University
and New York
University. In
2000, she was
appointed by
President Clinton to
serve as a special
assistant to the
U.S. Commission on
Civil Rights.
Shan Rehman
is the
Communications and
Development
Associate for
Chhaya since 2007,
when he began his
work with the
organization as a
Community Organizer.
He has also worked
as an analyst with a
public sector
oriented management
consulting firm,
where he conducted
management and
communications
research for some of
New York City’s
largest civic
organizations.
Before joining
Chhaya, he graduated
with a Bachelor’s
degree focusing on
issues of
international
development,
globalization, and
social change from
Hampshire College.
He has also
previously worked
with the National
Rural Support
Program and the
National Commission
for Human
Development in
Islamabad, Pakistan;
and has had his
academic work
published.
Originally from
Pakistan; he is
fluent in English,
Urdu, Punjabi and is
proficient in
Nepali. In his free
time, Shan enjoys
playing guitar and
exploring the wares
of New York City
street vendors.
Amardeep Singh
is the Executive
Director of the Sikh
Coatlion.
An attorney, Amar is
a co-founder of the
Sikh Coalition and
became the
Coalition’s first
full-time staff as
the Legal Director
in 2003. Amar has
represented dozens
of Sikh victims of
airport profiling,
employment
discrimination, and
hate crimes. Along
with Department of
Homeland Security
officials, he also
helped to formulate
guidelines governing
the searches of Sikh
passengers in U.S.
airports. With his
assistance, New York
City’s Police
Department now
allows Sikhs to
serve as traffic
enforcement agents
while wearing their
turbans. He has
represented the Sikh
community during
meetings with the
United States
Attorney General,
Secretary of
Transportation, and
the Chair of the
Equal Employment
Opportunity
Commission.
Prior to joining the
Coalition, Amar
worked as a
Researcher in the
U.S. Program of
Human Rights Watch (HRW).
While at HRW, he
authored its report,
“We Are Not the
Enemy: Hate Crimes
Against Arabs,
Muslims, and Those
Perceived to be Arab
or Muslim after
September 11.” Amar
has also written
published articles
on the jurisprudence
of the International
Criminal Tribunal
for the former
Yugoslavia and the
International
Criminal Tribunal
for Rwanda.
In 2008 Amar
received a joint
award for his
community service
from the Asian
American Bar
Association of New
York, Korean
American Lawyers
Association of
Greater New York,
and South Asian Bar
Association of New
York. In 2007, Amar
was honored by the
South Asian Law
Students Association
at St. Johns
University’s School
of Law during the
law school’s Annual
Ronald H. Brown
dinner. He was also
honored by New York
Disaster Interfaith
Services with a
“Best Practices”
award for his work
on mitigating bias
in the wake of
public disasters.
During 2005, he was
honored by the Sikh
Centennial
Foundation as its
Human Rights
Activist of the
year. He also
received the Chavez,
Houston and
Korematsu Public
Service Award from
Benjamin Cardozo Law
School in April
2005. In November
2005, Mr. Singh was
a co-recipient of
the Union Square
Award, from the
Union Square
Foundation.
Amar sits on the
advisory committee
to Harvard
University’s
Discrimination and
National Security
Initiative. He is
also currently the
Vice-President of
the South Asian Bar
Association of New
York.
Choua Vue is
Policy Coordinator
for Education and
Child for the
Coalition for Asian
American Children &
Families (CACF).
Choua joined CACF in
July 2008. She is
responsible for
promoting equity and
access through the
Education Advocacy
Project and the
Child Welfare
Advocacy Project.
Among her key
education
initiatives are the
reduction of
bias-based
harassment in
schools, the
collection of
disaggregated data
on Asian Pacific
American students,
and the improvement
of English Language
Learner services.
Among her key child
welfare initiatives
are the Preventive
Services Action
Network to improve
the capacity and
resources of
community based
preventive services
programs as well as
the South Asian
Immigrant Community
Partnership to build
ties between the
Administration for
Children’s Services
and South Asian
families.
Previously, she
worked with the
Illinois Coalition
for Immigrant and
Refugee Rights as
the Program Director
for the Outreach and
Interpretation
Project, where she
advocated on issues
of immigrant rights,
language access, and
cultural competency.
She also spearheaded
electoral campaigns
to increase
political
participation and
awareness in
immigrant and
refugee communities
and to protect
voting rights. Choua
received her
bachelor’s degree
from Carleton
College and her
Master’s in Public
Affairs from
Princeton
University’s Woodrow
Wilson School of
Public &
International
Affairs.
