15th Annual Banquet (2016) – Biographies

Justice Doris Ling-Cohan graduated from Brooklyn College/CUNY in 1976 with a BA in Psychology (Summa Cum Laude). She then attended New York University School of law on a full scholarship where she received her JD. Within CUNY, she taught at Queens College, City College, and CUNY School of Law prior to becoming a judge.

She has been a trailblazer. In 2014, she became the first woman of Asian descent to preside in a NYS appellate court, having been appointed to the Appellate Term, First Department. In an historic election in 1995, she became the first public official of Asian descent to be elected from Manhattan’s Chinatown (other than school board), when she was elected to the Civil Court (2nd Municipal Court District). In 2002, she became the first woman of Asian descent to be elected to the Supreme Court in New York State.

A former Legal Services lawyer and managing attorney, Assistant Attorney General and law professor, Justice Doris Ling-Cohan was born in Manhattan and raised in New York’s Chinatown and Brooklyn, from humble beginnings as a child of immigrants from China whose parents worked in the garment and hand laundry industries. She is president of the national organization of federal and state judges of Asian descent (NAPABA Judicial Council) and one of the founding members of the Asian American Bar Association and New York Asian Women’s Center, which offers services to domestic violence and trafficking victims.

Husam Ahmad is Chairman and CEO of HAKS. The firm was established as a partnership in 1991 and incorporated in 1994. Mr. Ahmad established the firm as a partnership in 1991 and incorporated it in 1994. Under Mr. Ahmad’s leadership, HAKS has grown steadily to become a leading, mid-sized consulting firm in the New York metropolitan area with a multi-disciplined staff of over 650.

Mr. Ahmad received his post graduate education at Columbia University, his MS in Civil Engineering from The City College of New York/CUNY, and his BE in Civil Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology.

Mr. Ahmad has over 30 years of diversified experience in design and construction management for bridges, roads, and various facilities. Mr. Ahmad is a professional engineer in ten states and the District of Columbia. He plays a lead role as a board member of numerous professional societies, including the Concrete Industry Board, Society of American Military Engineers, ACEC, CMAA Metro NY/NJ Chapter, South Asian American Association, Inc., and the New York Building Foundation. Mr. Ahmad is an expert in QA/QC and Safety and oversees all corporate-wide initiatives, including the HAKS mentoring program for M/W/DBE firms. He is also responsible for developing and directing HAKS’ strategic plan. Mr. Ahmad was recognized as leading one of the nation’s fastest growing firms in a Hot Firm interview in the Zweig Letter.

Mr. Ahmad lives in Forest Hills, Queens, with his loving wife and four beautiful children.

Kevin Park is an undergraduate student at Hunter College/CUNY, studying Asian American Studies. Kevin also works for Hunter’s Asian American Studies Program and is a member of CRAASH (The Coalition for the Revitalization of Asian American Studies at Hunter), organizing on-campus events as well as campaigning for an Asian American Studies major at Hunter. Off-campus, he was a Public Housing Organizing Intern for CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, and a Community Organizing Intern for Girls for Gender Equity. He was also a former Steering Committee member of Gay Asian and Pacific Islander Men of NY (GAPIMNY) and a former board member of Restaurant Opportunities Center of NY. Kevin also became involved with Cop Watch through the Harlem Cop Watch Team and also has patrolled with the Jackson Heights Cop Watch team.

Ernabel Demillo is a veteran New York City broadcaster and journalism educator. Ernabel received her B.A. in Journalism and International Relations from the University of Southern California and her M.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. For 10 years, she worked as a reporter and anchor on the Emmy-award winning FOX morning news show, “Good Day New York.” Before coming to New York, she was a reporter for the Orange County Newschannel and the CBS-affiliate in Sacramento.

Ernabel currently hosts and reports for CUNY-TV’s three time Emmy-nominated program “Asian American Life” http://www.cuny.tv/show/asianamericanlife, a magazine-style show focusing on the tri-state’s Asian American community. Her stories have focused on hard-hitting AAPI issues from the growing political influence of AAPIs to Asian American parents and their LGBTQ children. Her stories have also focused on diversity in theater, Hollywood and children’s/YA literature. And she has interviewed and profiled innovators, leaders and rising stars in business, technology, entertainment and the arts.

An award-winning journalist, cited by the Governor of New York for her service and contributions to the Asian American Community, Ernabel was honored with a Folio Award for Best Environmental Reporting. She also recently made Buzzfeed’s list of 34 Epic Filipinos in the United States for her work as a journalist and educator and was featured in the recent book: Filipinos in New York. Ernabel was also featured in The Limited’s New Look of Leadership Campaign.

Along, with her work as a journalist, Ernabel is also a tenured Journalism Lecturer at St. Peter’s University in Jersey City, N.J. She started the Journalism program in 2008 and served as the faculty adviser to the school newspaper, the Pauw Wow, which was named one of the Top 10 college newspapers in the country. She stepped down in 2016 to head the college’s new Digital Media Lab.

Ernabel has served on the boards of several organizations including: Vice President of Broadcast for AAJA, board member for APEX, an AAPI mentoring organization and board member for the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) for almost two decades.

She lives on the Jersey Shore with her husband, John Muller, an anchor for PIX11News and their 13-year-old daughter.

Follower her on Twitter @ErnabelD