On July 31, 2026, AABANY’s Student Outreach Committee and Government Service & Public Interest Committee partnered to host Crafting Connections, a friendship bracelet-creating event. This event celebrated International Friendship Day and took place at On Lab in New York’s Lower East Side. While making bracelets, AABANY members conversed, connected, and crafted over a variety of food and drink. This event drew numerous attendees, with registration filling up very quickly after the event was announced.
The Crafting Connections event featured a beautiful selection of beads, string, and crafting templates spread across multiple tables in the cafe. Upon arrival, attendees were able to choose from a large selection of beads and charms, as well as their desired string type. They then chose their seat and began an evening of crafting, laughter, and connections. Law students had the opportunity to connect with a variety of legal professionals, including practicing attorneys and a law professor.
The environment fostered a relaxed atmosphere that encouraged a range of conversations between new people and long-time AABANY members alike. Topics of conversation included attendees sharing their own legal paths and laid-back discussions on upcoming vacations or bonding over connections made by pet owners. Attendees helped others choose charms and beads, and even made bracelets for each other, truly embracing the spirit of International Friendship Day.
The event concluded with new bracelets, full stomachs, and most importantly, new connections.
The photos from this event capture the joyful nature of the evening. To see the full photo album, click here.
As reported in the New York Law Journal on August 11, at the Manhattan Democratic Judicial Convention on August 10, Justice Christopher Chin won the nomination for a vacant Supreme Court seat against Judge Ilana Marcus in a floor vote (90-65). Justice Chin will join Acting Supreme Court Justices Kathleen Waterman-Marshall and Hasa Kingo on the general election ballot to fill three Manhattan Supreme Court vacancies.
The vote was followed by personal moments throughout each of the Justice’s speeches at the convention: Acting Justice Nicholas Moyne declined his nomination and described his neurodivergence as his greatest strength in his declination speech; Acting Justice Kingo reflected on his path to the bench; and Justice Chin spoke on his childhood where his family faced racial discrimination under a dictatorship in Burma. “I’m happy to say that I don’t feel like a second-class citizen anymore,” Chin said during his acceptance speech.
AABANY congratulates Justice Chin, an AABANY member, on his nomination and commends fellow AABANY members Hon. L. Austin D’Souza, Hon. Ilana Marcus, Hon. Eric Schumacher, Hon. Richard Tsai, and Hon. John Zhou Wang for their participation in the nominating convention.
To read the full article, click here (subscription required).
From scholarships and fellowships to the annual Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition, the NAPABA Law Foundation offers many ways to advance your career and deepen your connection to the legal community.
Two important deadlines are coming up. Be sure to mark your calendars:
Judge Thomas Tang and Dr. Pearl Tang Moot Court (TTMC) Competition Registration Deadline: September 10, 2026
Sponsored annually by the NAPABA Law Foundation, the TTMC appellate advocacy competition helps law students develop advocacy skills and fosters future legal talent.
Fall Scholarships Application Deadline: September 23, 2026
Scholarships are awarded nationwide to law students who demonstrate a commitment to serving or contributing to the Asian Pacific American community as future leaders. Check out the opportunities available!
To the attorneys, judges, and legal professionals in our network: share this email with law students in your network. A single message from you could open the door to a defining moment in their career.
The Governance, Elections, and Nominations (GEN) Committee is pleased to present for your consideration the following Officer candidates for 2026-27. The GEN Committee has approved candidates who have demonstrated leadership capabilities, are passionate about NAPABA’s mission, and who have skill sets and perspectives that align with NAPABA’s strategies, goals, and needs—not just now, but into the future. In preparation for exercising your right to vote, the GEN Committee encourages you to take the time to consider each candidate’s vision for NAPABA and the diversity of the Board as a whole.
We thank each of the candidates for their willingness to serve the organization and the community.
2026-27 NAPABA Board of Governors | Officer Candidates
The GEN Committee believes that the active participation of member affiliates and individuals is essential to a vibrant and diverse organization. The GEN Committee encourages the engagement of NAPABA’s members in the nomination and election process. For these reasons, the GEN Committee desires to facilitate the ability of members to inform other members of candidate qualifications and support candidates through endorsements, advertisements, articles, etc. NAPABA supports the use of endorsements in the nomination and election process that determines NAPABA leadership for future years.
Click here to view the candidates’ statements and biographies, including information on how to submit an endorsement. Any NAPABA member in good standing may endorse. Any bar association that is a NAPABA affiliate in good standing may endorse any candidate with confirmation of such endorsement provided by the current president of the bar association. NAPABA will accept endorsements through August 31 at 8 pm ET.
On June 24th, 2026, Glenn D. Magpantay, a Commissioner on the United States Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR), was honored at Queens Borough President Donovan Richards Jr. ‘s Annual Pride Month Celebration at Queens Borough Hall. Glenn is the first openly LGBTQ and Asian American commissioner in the USCCR since its founding in 1957. Glenn is a longtime member and leader at AABANY and a current Board Director. Recently, we took this opportunity to meet with Glenn to interview him about his lifelong work as a civil rights attorney and an LGBTQ rights activist.
In a distinguished and storied career, Glenn has been recognized with a variety of awards, including NAPABA’s Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Lifetime Achievement Award and the AALAM Community Service Award. However, Glenn reflects that his award from BP Richards feels different because of the incredible support he has received from others in the local community. Being a Queens native—a borough bursting with diversity—Glenn has experienced firsthand how important diversity within communities is. For Glenn, the community recognition is what makes this honor deeply personal and truly special.
In his acceptance remarks, Glenn reflected on the difficulties of coming out as a gay man during the peak of the HIV epidemic. He extended deep gratitude to his family and supporters in both the LGBTQ and legal communities, noting that their unwavering support was vital during this challenging period of his life and the successes he achieved throughout his career. He also highlighted his impactful advocacy on the USCCR, including his efforts to ensure that the Commission acknowledges violence against transgender women of color. Glenn called upon those in attendance to persistently speak out and advocate for justice. As his remarks drew to a close, he extended his sincere thanks to the community for offering their continuous support throughout his journey.
“I would have never achieved all of this, were it not for so many of you who are here in the audience today. You all have supported me and have given me poise. You have lifted me up, even though I know I’m a little heavy,” he quipped. Click here to listen to Glenn’s speech.
Glenn is a Co-Founder of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA), an organization that aims to create a world where queer and trans Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) people can flourish. Through this work, underrepresented communities continue to tackle ever-changing political and societal issues. Glenn claims that the changes the new administration implemented—the dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs, Temporary Protected Status (TPS), and cutbacks on transgender healthcare and services for the poor—have affected millions of minority populations across the U.S., including AANHPI and LGBTQ communities.
Glenn credits affirmative action for his success as an LGBTQ Asian American. Following the government rollback of the policies supporting underrepresented communities, many feel the current legal and political landscape is stacked against them. Faced with these issues, Glenn shares how individuals and organizations can navigate this shifting landscape:
Vote in every election
Protest injustice
Engage with your community
Cultivate allies from those not in your communities
Be more open-minded to diverse perspectives
To achieve meaningful progress, according to Glenn, it is essential to transform hearts and minds. For many AANHPI and LGBTQ individuals, this transformation begins at home and involves finding a healthy balance between traditional expectations of family duty and the fundamental right to live authentically. Glenn observes a distinct tension between traditional, collectivist, and conformist Asian values and the emphasis on individualism in America, leading to the conflict that arises between parents and their second-generation children.
Glenn maintains that such cultural tenacity served as a way of survival for previous generations. It remains equally essential for navigating today’s challenges. While this cultural friction often causes painful divides, bridging these two worlds requires a slow, empathetic dialogue. “Coming out in Asian cultures is a process, not an event,” Glenn stated. “Parents have struggled and sacrificed for us. We should honor and respect them with patience.”
As a parent himself, Glenn states that his choices are guided by a desire to provide the very best for his child—similar to his own parents and many other Asian parents in America. American interactions are often transactional, while Asian interactions are deliberate and transformative—something AANHPI and LGBTQ youth must be mindful of while balancing their identities. “Unfortunately, everything that is beautiful and fulfilling in this world is a struggle to get to,” Glenn declared.
Teaching has also played a significant part in Glenn’s life. His teaching journey began when his friend, the late Professor Gary Okihiro, professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, suggested that he teach, recognizing the unique insights the Commissioner had to share with students. Glenn chose to begin teaching as a personal mission to give back to the community with the ultimate goal of showing that students from underserved communities can also become accomplished lawyers. Many of them—first–generation immigrants or poor—have never met a brown gay attorney before. They thought that all the successful lawyers were white, male, and Jewish.
He hopes that he can help his students find a potential greater than they have ever imagined for themselves. The mentor and mentee relationships that teaching has enabled him to form motivate him to continue. He imparts his personal knowledge while the students keep him updated on current social media lingo, allowing them to form meaningful and relevant connections. Although Glenn no longer teaches, he hopes to return to the classroom sometime in the future. He is beloved and admired by his students, as his “Rate My Professor” reviews show.
Ultimately, Glenn intends to continue leveraging his role in the USCCR and his position as an LGBTQ and Asian American civil rights pioneer to help underrepresented communities achieve their fullest potential.
Please join AABANY in congratulating Glenn on his most recent recognition from Queens BP Richards during the Annual Pride Month Celebration in June.
