Category: Uncategorized

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AABANY at the CAPA Festival

AABANY was proud to participate in The Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans’ (CAPA’s) Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Festival on May 19, 2019. It is the longest continuously running Pan-Asian American Festival on the East Coast and this year’s celebration was particularly special because 2019 marked the 40th anniversary of the Festival.

This year’s theme was celebrating Asian American heroes, and AABANY was proud to be involved. We gave out over forty 2018 Year End Reports, spreading the word about the amazing work that AABANY does every year.

We thank Chris Kwok, Kwok Ng, Francis Chin and Kevin Hsi for helping to man the table this year.

For more information on the event, visit CAPA’s website at: www.capaonline.org or Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/AAPIFest/

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AABANY at the AAJA-NY Trivia Bowl

On Friday, May 10, 2019, AABANY once again competed in the Asian American Journalists Association – NY Chapter Trivia Bowl against other area news and Asian American organizations. This event raises money for journalism student scholarships. Five rounds covered such topics as spelling, current events, Asian American history, sports, and science and technology. Led by our intrepid captain Chris M. Kwok, we placed a respectable 8th in the AAJA-NY trivia bowl, tying with CBS and MSNBC. Returning champions the NY Times recaptured the Tea Cup, followed by NBC and Newsday. We enjoyed having the help of our new friends from JetBlue!

Thanks to Francis Chin for the write-up and photo for this blog post.

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AABANY Tax Club Dinner

On Tuesday, May 21, 2019, the Tax Committee held its quarterly Tax Club Dinner at Tang Pavilion. The diverse group of attendees discussed a wide variety of tax, business, and other non-tax considerations for qualified opportunity zones, a hot new tax incentive that promotes equity investments in certain designated low-income communities. Many qualified opportunity zones can be found in Asian communities, including Flushing, Sunset Park, and Chinatown in Philadelphia. It is anticipated that the next Tax Club dinner, during the summer, will discuss lending businesses and their tax implications for both U.S. and foreign investors.

To learn more about the Tax Committee and how to contact the Co-Chairs, go to https://www.aabany.org/page/453.

Thanks to Tax Committee Co-Chair Libin Zhang, Partner at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, for providing the write-up and photo for this blog post.

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Manhattan Family Justice Center CORE I & Advanced Training Offerings

The Manhattan Family Justice Center announced its next round of CORE I trainings. The CORE training series is a learning opportunity for service providers, community leaders, and city agency staff who are working with populations directly or indirectly affected by intimate partner violence, sex trafficking, and/or elder abuse.

All the CORE trainings listed below are free and will take place at the Manhattan FJC, 80 Centre Street, 5th Floor Training Room, New York, NY 10013.

To register for a CORE training, click here.

Intimate Partner Violence Dialogues
Monday, June 3th
10:00 – 12:00 PM
Facilitated by: Arab-American Family Support Center & Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

Cultural conversations
Monday, June 3th
1:00-3:00PM
Facilitated by: Arab-American Family Support Center

Elder Abuse
Thursday, June 6th
2:00 – 4:00PM
Facilitated by Carter Burden Network

Risk Assessment & Safety Planning
Thursday, June 13th
2:00 – 4:00 PM
Facilitated by: Safe Horizon

Engaging Trauma Survivors
Monday, June 24th
10:00 – 1:00 PM
Facilitated by: Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

Intimate Partner Violence & the LGBTQ+ Community
Monday, June 24th
2:00 – 5:00 PM
Facilitated by: Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence

Sex Trafficking
Wednesday, June 26th
10:00 – 12:00 PM
Facilitated by: Safe Horizon

The Manhattan Family Justice Center also announced its next round of Advanced Training offerings for May and June. All trainings are FREE and provide professional development for service providers, community leaders, and City agencies on relevant topics regarding intimate partner violence, sex trafficking and elder abuse. All the Advanced Trainings listed below will take place at 80 Centre Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10013.

To register, click here.

Thursday, May 30, 10:00am-12:00pm, Tech Abuse
Facilitated by National Network to End Domestic Violence

Thursday, May 30th, 1:00pm-4:00pm, Conducting a Nuanced and Holistic Assessment in Intimate Partner Violence Cases
Facilitated by Steps to End Family Violence

Thursday, June 6, 10:00am-1:00pm, Consumer Law
Facilitated by: CAMBA

For more information, questions about the registration link, or to add any colleagues to the MFJC trainings list, please email Indhira Castro at indhirac@fjcnyc.org.

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AABANY’s LGBT Committee Hosts a Roundtable Discussion On Negotiating The Experience of Being Both LGBT and Asian American

On March 5, 2019, the AABANY LGBT Committee held a roundtable discussion titled: “Transactional Identities: Navigating the various contexts of coming out for Asian American lawyers.”  

Presenting were Connie Montoya, Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP; Janice Jabido, IP Counsel, Pratt & Whitney; and Tony Thomas, Chief Legal & Labor Relations Officer, City University of New York – Brooklyn College.  

Dennis M. Quinio, Manager of Diversity & Inclusion, Milbank, LLP, moderated the discussion.  

Our esteemed presenters jump-started the conversation, sharing their experiences being LGBT and Asian American within the legal profession, their families and their communities at large.  They discussed the struggles of being in the closet; the dynamics of coming out to colleagues, clients, and family members; and strategies for overcoming day-to-day challenges such as microaggressions. Several Asian American LGBT attorneys from private practice, government and the nonprofit sector attended the discussion and shared their experiences in this confidential space, meant to foster a candid and supportive dialogue. We heard about others’ experiences harmonizing identities that may seem to be in conflict and explored how living our “authentic” selves can impact our effectiveness at work.

The law firm of Cleary Gottlieb Steen and Hamilton graciously hosted the event. At the beginning of the roundtable, Sandra Flow, Partner and Chair of the Committee on Diversity and Inclusion at Cleary, delivered warm welcoming remarks, affirming the firm’s commitment to supporting diverse attorneys.  

If you would like to join the AABANY LGBT Committee or learn more, email John Vang at jvang@cfal.org.  

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AABANY Presents: Legal Seminar for Small Businesses

On Friday, May 17, 2019, Sandra Ung, New York State Committee Woman, and Chris Kwok, AABANY Board Director, Issues Committee Chair and Asia Practice Committee Co-Chair, presented a legal seminar for small business owners at Flushing Library. The speakers were Tiffany Ma, Young & Ma, LLP, and William Ng, Littler Mendelson P.C., and they addressed a wide array of issues faced by small business owners in both Mandarin and English.

The discussion centered around how small business owners can take steps to make sure they comply with Federal, State, and City employment laws to avoid liability. In particular, the speakers addressed the minimum wage requirements, the importance of maintaining unemployment insurance, the prevention of anti-discrimination and anti-harassment claims, compliance with ADA accommodation requirements and the New York State Paid Family Leave Act.

There was serious discussion on the pressures small businesses face within the legal regulatory framework, with the additional language and cultural barriers faced by first generation immigrant business owners.

The event was also covered by the World Journal and Sing Tao Daily. To read more about the event from the World Journal, click here. To read more about the event from Sing Tao Daily, click here.

We thank Sandra Ung and Chris Kwok for organizing this information session. We also thank the speakers, Tiffany Ma and William Ng, for volunteering their time to address the concerns of small business owners.

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Congratulations to Judge Pamela Chen

Congratulations to Judge Pamela Chen, U.S. District Court Judge at the Eastern District of New York, on being honored by the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association and the Asian American Judges Association of New York during an Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Celebration held at the Brooklyn Bar Association building at 123 Remsen Street in downtown Brooklyn on Monday, May 13. We were joined by many State and Federal Court judges who came out to celebrate with Judge Chen. We even had a lion dance, which may have been the first time this Chinese tradition was observed at the Brooklyn Bar Association.

In 2012, President Obama nominated Judge Chen to serve as a Federal District Court Judge in the Eastern District of New York. The United States Senate confirmed her nomination on March 4, 2013, and she became the first Chinese-American female Article III judge outside of California and the second-ever Chinese-American female federal judge in U.S. history, continuing to add to the rich legacy of the Second Circuit and New York State.

As AABANY Executive Director Yang Chen Stated: “During May, we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and it is a most fitting tribute that we recognize and honor a distinguished jurist like Judge Chen, who has been a champion of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. Judge Chen has been an active AABANY member for many years, and we proudly followed Judge Chen’s path to the bench and her rise over the years, and congratulate her on this well-deserved honor.”

Please join AABANY in congratulating Judge Pamela Chen.

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Gallery Reception in Recognition of Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

In honor of Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer is hosting an art exhibit, “Flaneur in New York,” that features works from seven Korean artists at her office located at 1 Centre Street, 19th Floor.

The event and organized by the AHL Foundation, Inc. in support of Korean artists living in the U.S, and is curated by Jin Young Coleman.

The reception will be on Monday, May 20, 2019, from 6:00 to 8:00pm.

The reception free and if you would like to attend, please RSVP online at aapiheritage.eventbrite.com.

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Kimberly Ong Quoted in The New York Times

Kimberly Ong, Senior Attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council and AABANY member, was recently quoted in The New York Times after regulators in New York denied an application for a $1 billion natural gas line due to environmental impact concerns.

Kimberly Ong declared, “The state has made it clear that dangerous gas pipelines have no place in New York.”

To read the full article click here.

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MFJC Advance Training Announcement

NYC Family Justice Center, Manhattan (MFJC) Advanced Training Offerings: May-June 2019

The Manhattan FJC is excited to announce our next round of advanced training offerings. 

Please click here to register for each training you are interested in attending. All training is FREE and provide professional development for service providers, community leaders, and City agencies on relevant topics regarding intimate partner violence, sex trafficking and elder abuse.

Thursday, May 30, 10:00am-12:00pm, Tech Abuse
Facilitated by National Network to End Domestic Violence

Thursday, May 30th, 1:00pm-4:00pm, Conducting a Nuanced and Holistic Assessment in Intimate Partner Violence Cases.
Facilitated by: Facilitated by Steps to End Family Violence
Thursday, June 6, 10:00am-1:00pm, Consumer Law
Facilitated by: CAMBA

All trainings take place at: 
80 Centre Street, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10013

Space is limited. Please bring a photo I.D. and plan to arrive 15-20 minutes early to avoid security delays.

For more information, questions about the registration link, or to add any colleagues to the MFJC trainings list, please email Indhira Castro at indhirac@fjcnyc.org.

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