11th Annual Banquet (2012) – Biographies

Wayne Ho is the Executive Director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF).  He leads the nation’s only pan-Asian children’s advocacy organization, as CACF aims to improve the well-being of children and families of all Asian Pacific American backgrounds.  During his tenure, CACF has successfully improved language access in New York City public schools, increased state funding to address mental health issues, and increased city funding to hire bilingual child abuse caseworkers.  CACF’s organizational budget has also more than quadrupled under his leadership.  Wayne received a Making a Difference Award from the Family Health Project, a Commissioner’s Child Advocacy Award from the NYC Administration for Children’s Services, a Community Champion Award from the Korean American Family Service Center, and a Community Service Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans – New York Chapter.

To ensure that Asian Pacific American needs are being represented, Wayne is a member of the New York State Governor’s Children’s Cabinet Advisory Board, Internal Review Board of the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, New York City Citizen Review Panel, and Immigration Advisory Board of the NYC Administration for Children’s Services (ACS).  He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the New York Foundation, Board of Directors and Program Council of the Partnership for After School Education (PASE), Board of Directors of Coro New York Leadership Center, Board of Directors of the Human Services Council, and Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Multicultural Audience Development Initiative.  He is also an Adjunct Professor at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business of New York University.

Previously, Wayne was the administrator of out-of-school time programs for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), where he collaborated with community based organizations, city and county agencies, and state and federal departments to meet the academic and social needs of over 7,000 students at 72 underserved K-12 schools. During his tenure, SFUSD was recognized by the California Department of Education as a model after school partnership. He also conducted policy analysis for ACS on options for public and non-profit agencies to expand child care and worked with the Blue Ridge Foundation New York on performance management systems for start-up non-profits. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Wayne founded several volunteer-based programs to empower youth of color to pursue higher education and to become community advocates.

Wayne received his bachelor degree from UC Berkeley and his Master in Public Policy from Harvard University.  He also completed the New American Leaders Program of the Coro New York Leadership Center and New York Immigration Coalition as well as the Leadership Caucus of Community Resource Exchange.
Anthony Chan joined J.P. Morgan in 1994 and currently serves as the Managing Director and Chief Economist for Private Wealth Management. His responsibilities include economic analysis and research in support of J.P. Morgan’s Wealth Management businesses and the Private Bank’s strategy group. In addition, Chan travels both globally and domestically to meet with clients and to make presentations on economics and investments.

Chan is a member of several forecasting panels including the Blue Chip Monthly Forecasting panel, the National Association of Business Economists Quarterly Macro Panel and The Reuters, Bloomberg and Dow Jones Weekly Economic Indicator panels. From 2001 to 2002, he served on the Economic Advisory Committee of the American Banker’s Association. One of the most important responsibilities of this ABA group was to brief Alan Greenspan and the rest of the board members in Washington, DC twice a year in an off the record session.

Chan received his B.B.A. in Finance & Investments from Baruch College in 1979 and his Masters (1983) and Ph.D. (1986) in Economics from the University of Maryland. From 1985 to 1986, Chan was a Doctoral fellow at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in Washington, DC. After completing his doctoral studies, Anthony was a Professor of Economics at the University of Dayton (1986 to 1989). He was an Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1989 to 1991 and was as Senior Economist at Barclays de Zoete Wedd Government Securities from 1991 to 1994.

Chan has been quoted in many media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Los Angeles Times and Investor’s Daily. He appears monthly on CNBC and occasionally on Bloomberg TV and public television’s Nightly Business Report.
Sun Mei Liu is a first generation Chinese- American born and raised in New Hyde Park, NY. Sun Mei attended Townsend Harris High School in Flushing, NY, and graduated in May 2012 with honors from the CUNY Macaulay Honors College and Brooklyn  College Coordinated 8 year B.A.-M.D. Program with a degree in Chemistry and a minor in English. She graduated Magna cum Laude and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She is also the the recipient of the Stacey Garil Womack Internship Award, the Jesse R. Meer Memorial Scholarship, Peter F. Vallone Scholarship, Dr. Franklin H. Epstein Scholarship, and a Lisa Goldberg/Revson Scholar.

While studying at Brooklyn College, Sun Mei worked as an Organic Chemistry tutor and New York City Public School Athletic League (PSAL) Fencing Director. She also served as the Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Honors Academy Art Committee, Macaulay Honors College Student Ambassador, and member of the Women’s Swimming and Diving team. In summer 2012, she went to Panama on a Global Medical Brigade to provide medical care for a rural community. She has also done research in Pediatric Oncology at Johns Hopkins Medical Institute.

Sun Mei presented at the Asian Pacific American Medical Students Association (APAMSA) conference in 2010 on the disparities in health research regarding Asian Americans with Dr. Chandak Ghosh. She hopes to continue her research in the near future.

Sun Mei is currently a first year medical student at SUNY Downstate Medical School. After she graduates, Sun Mei looks forward to using the knowledge that she has learned from her research to serve the Asian American population in New York City.
Liang Lin is a sophomore Liberal Arts and Sciences undergraduate student at Queensborough Community College/CUNY with a 4.0 GPA. An immigrant from China, Liang arrived to the United States with his father in 2004, barely knowing a word of English. Growing up in a single parent working-class household, he became the first in his family to attend college.

During his junior year at Flushing International High School (FIHS), Liang was introduced to the Asian-American Student Advocacy Project (ASAP), a youth leadership group organized by the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the nation’s only pan-Asian children’s advocacy organization that aims to improve the health and well being of Asian Pacific American children and families in New York City. As a youth leader, Liang was trained to work to identify issues and challenges facing Asian Pacific American youth and build campaigns around these issues. Through ASAP, Liang saw that new immigrant students were able to work with and serve in their communities, but also made him realize his own passion for helping other new immigrants.

Liang continues to work on community-based projects during his undergraduate  studies and was accepted as a fellow for the Fall 2011 Civic Leaders of Tomorrow Public Policy Fellowship, sponsored by the Office of the Manhattan Borough President. The program is designed to promote future leaders in public policy and immigrant rights advocacy as well as to advance the goals of the DREAM Act. Liang also participated in the 3^rd Annual Asian Pacific American Legislative Advocacy Day, reinforcing the seven priority needs of the Asian Pacific Americans to elected officials.
Nina Pineda is the new face of 7 On Your Side on Eyewitness News. Starting in January 2010, Nina joined the 7 On Your Side team to help solve problems for consumers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Nina joined the Eyewitness News Team in October of 2000. Prior to making the move the “Big Apple” Nina worked in her hometown of Pittsburgh, “The Steel City” for the ABC affiliate WTAE-TV. Nina’s first job in the news business was a position as the AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) reporter-trainee for WTTG-TV; the Fox affiliate in Washington, D.C.

Before becoming a journalist, Nina’s work included lobbying on Capital Hill for Governor Mario Cuomo’s Washington Office and a position with the Presidential Inaugural Committee handling celebrity relations for former President Bill Clinton.

Nina also helped the Eyewitness News Team cover the tragedy of the attack on America, September 11, 2001.

“Three days before the attack I was covering the MTV Music Awards live from Lincoln Center, our anchors Bill Ritter and Diana Williams were joking with me on air about how terribly young the awardees were. 72 hours later, it was amazing how trivial that report seemed. Everyone’s world turned upside down, and as journalists we were trying to get as close to the towers as possible that Tuesday morning. Many of us wound up running for our lives.”

For Nina, reporting on the tragedy live from Lower Manhattan and her subsequent reports from the family centers and hospitals has changed her entire outlook on the profession of journalism. “This is a time where a new generation of reporters has a chance to renew the public’s view of the media. Never before has it been more important to provide our viewers with substantial information, unbiased accounts of the events which affect our world, and most of all, deliver reports with sensitivity and genuine caring for victims, no matter what the story is.”

“It’s a privilege to cover the news in an area with the diversity of the metro area,” Nina says. “Our viewers are the most savvy in the world. They count on us to give them 100% fair and balanced reporting, plus make our stories interesting to watch. It’s a challenge I strive to deliver on every day.” Nina is a summa cum laude graduate of Syracuse University with a BA in political science.