AABANY held its Annual Meeting of Members at Dorsey and Whitney LLP on Tuesday, February 13th. 

At the Annual Meeting, three proposals were voted on:

• Proposal 1 – To elect the officers identified on the proxy form to serve a one-year term for the fiscal year beginning April 1, 2018 and ending March 31, 2019 (the “2018 Fiscal Year”);
• Proposal 2 – To elect five (5) directors from the eight (8) nominees identified on the proxy form to serve two-year terms beginning on the first day of the 2018 Fiscal Year; and
• Proposal 3 – To amend AABANY’s by-laws to increase the number of the Board Directors from thirteen (13) to nineteen (19), to make changes that provide for greater operational flexibility for AABANY such as in setting the date of future annual meetings of members, to make changes to conform to the New York Not-for-Profit Corporation Law and to make other ministerial changes.

Under Proposal 1, the following officers were elected:

Brian Song
President-Elect

Jeff Ikejiri
Vice President, Programs and Operations

Charles Chen 
Vice President, Programs and Operations

Edward Kim
Treasurer

Dai Wai Chin Feman 
Secretary

David Sohn 
Membership Director 

Margaret Ling 
Development Director

For the director positions under Proposal 2, the following were elected:

Jung Choi

Naf Kwun

Sapna Palla

Manisha Sheth

Irene Tan

Under Proposal 3, the bylaw revisions passed. 

Tristan Loanzon, Membership Director, presented the membership report. Amy Ngai, Treasurer, presented the Treasurer’s report. Dwight Yoo, President, presented the Year in Review. Several members and committees were also honored for their dedication to AABANY over the past year. Yang Chen, Executive Director, presented the report of the Committees and then presented the awards:

Committee of the Year:

Immigration Law Committee, Co-Chairs Poonam Gupta, Amanda Bernardo, and Susan Akina

Program of the Year:

Pro Bono Clinic, organized by the Pro-Bono & Community Service Committee, Co-Chairs Samuel Lui, Pauline Yeung-Ha, and Ariana Pabalan

Member of the Year

Samuel Lui, Co-Chair, Pro Bono & Community Service Committee

Although Samuel Lui was in Hong Kong and could not be physically present for the meeting, the award was presented to him via video call on an iPhone.

Congratulations to all the honorees for the recognition of their achievements and hard work in 2017. 

Congratulations to all the officers and directors who were elected to the Board.

We would like to thank our members for attending and participating in the annual meeting, as well as thank AABANY Secretary Dai Wai Chin Feman and Dorsey & Whitney for hosting the meeting in a fabulous space, treating us to a delectable selection of hors d’oeuvres and light refreshments.

(Thanks to AABANY Legal Intern Sarah Lu for the write-up and photos.)