On Tuesday, February 8, 2022, AABANY held its Annual Meeting of Members for the second time on Remo. President Terrence Shen called the meeting to order and established quorum. The main order of business was conducting the election for the 2022 Board of Directors and Officers.
President Terrence Shen presented the Annual Report of the Board and thanked the Board members for their service during the past year. Treasurer William Hao and Membership Director Beatrice Leong presented the reports for their respective offices.
Executive Director Yang Chen presented highlights from the Committee Reports. Following the reports, awards were presented to honor AABANY leaders and committees for their dedication to AABANY over the past year. While these presentations were occurring, Immediate Past President Sapna Palla and President-Elect William Ng tallied the votes.
The following awards were presented:
Committee of the Year: The Membership Committee
The Membership Committee received the Committee of the Year Award for its outstanding contributions in promoting AABANY’s membership engagement and in recruiting new members. The Committee successfully transitioned from virtual mixers to in-person events. The most popular events include a visit to Little Island (New York’s newest public park attraction), live stand-up comedy as part of the Asian American International Film Festival, and a screening of “Shang Chi – Legend of the Ten Rings” in a private theater in Times Square.
Program of the Year: Turning the Tide (T3) Project
The Program of the Year Award was given to the Turning the Tide (T3) Project, a joint project of AABANY and AALFNY, for providing a holistic and practicable action plan to address anti-Asian hate and violence. AABANY established an Anti-Asian Violence Task Force, composed of leadership from several AABANY committees, to leverage diverse skills and talents towards turning back the rising tide of hate and violence against AAPIs.
Member of the Year: May Wong
The Member of the Year Award was presented to May Wong, for her prodigious contributions, not just but especially, this past year to further the mission of AABANY through the Pro-Bono and Community Service Committee as well as her collaboration with other AABANY Committees. At a time when committees were unable to plan regular events due to the COVID surge, May was forging ahead to come up with new ways for the PBCS Committee to successfully continue to serve and assist the AAPI community with their legal needs. As Vice-Chair of the Committee, she initiated many projects, liaised with law students and firms, led planning meetings, and often was the first to show up and the last to leave.
Congratulations to all the honorees for the recognition of their achievements and hard work during the 2022 fiscal year.
After the presentation of awards, Terry announced the election results. The following officers were elected and will begin their term one-year terms on April 1, 2022:
Karen Kim
President-Elect
Joseph Eng
Vice President, Programs and Operations
Beatrice Leong
Vice President, Programs and Operations
Evelyn Gong
Treasurer
Shirley Bi
Secretary
Christopher Bae
Membership Director
Anna Mercado Clark
Development Director
The following candidates were elected as Directors to serve two-year terms starting on April 1, 2022:
Grace Fu
William Hao
Gigio Ninan
Won Shin
Kazuko Wachter
Lawrence Wee
After the election results were announced, all the attendees were invited to stay and network in Remo. We thank everyone who came and participated in the Annual Meeting and the election. Congratulations to all the Officers and Directors who were elected to the Board to serve in the 2023 fiscal year that begins on April 1, 2022.