Tag: Executive Director

Posted on

NAPABA Congratulates Krystal Ka’ai, who was Appointed to Become Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders

For Immediate Release:
Date: May 28, 2021

Contact: Edgar Chen, Policy Director

WASHINGTON – NAPABA congratulates Krystal Ka’ai, who today was appointed by President Biden to become Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. NAPABA has worked with Ms. Ka’ai for nearly a decade in her role as Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

“Krystal has been a steadfast advocate for the AA and NHPI communities,” said NAPABA Executive Director Priya Purandare.  “Her experience working on nearly every important legislative and policy priority affecting the AA and NHPI populations makes her uniquely situated to lead the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders during the most critical times for these communities. NAPABA is proud to have supported her candidacy, and we look forward to working with her in her new role and strengthening our relationship with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.”

The White House today also announced that the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders will be housed in the Department of Health and Human Services, to ensure that the Federal government is mitigating COVID-19 related anti-Asian bias, advancing health equity for all AA and NHPI communities, and ensuring AA and NHPI communities can equitably recover from these crises.

Ms. Ka’ai’s prior experience includes working with late Senator Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, a Legislative and Research Fellow in the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Program Associate of the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation.  A graduate of the Kamehameha Schools, Ms. Ka’ai will be the first native Hawaiian to serve in this position. For more on this announcement by the White House, click here.

###

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) in the largest Asian Pacific American membership organization representing the interests of approximately 60,000 legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local Asian Pacific American bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of color in the legal profession.
Posted on

NYC Bar Association’s Letter to the Editor at Law.com

Law.com published New York City Bar Association Executive Director Bret Parker’s Letter to the Editor on March 31, 2020. Mr. Parker wrote the letter in response to an editorial in The American Lawyer on the law firm’s role in the time of crisis. The editorial noted that in times of crisis, clients will undoubtedly turn to their law firms for help.

However, at the same time, Mr. Parker stressed that it is important for law firms, attorneys, and members of the legal profession to also have a place to turn. That is where bar associations come in.

Although the New York City Bar Association’s building is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Association is still very active and continuing its Lawyer Assistance Program for those in the legal community suffering from mental health or substance issues. The Association is also working on pro bono projects for small business and continuing its legal referral service remotely.

Mr. Parker’s Letter to the Editor noted that during this challenging time, many bar associations are working hard to provide their members with a place to engage, learn, and collaborate. For example, he mentioned the efforts of the Asian American Bar Association of New York to combat the rise in anti-Asian rhetoric and bias incidents that have resulted from the labeling of the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus.”

To read the full letter, click on the link below.

https://www.law.com/americanlawyer/2020/03/31/nyc-bar-association-we-are-still-here-to-help/?slreturn=20200306115020

Posted on

Priya Purandare Named New Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Priya Purandare, Executive Director of the National Association of Women Judges, has been named the Executive Director of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), the nation’s leading voice for Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors and law students.

Priya will succeed Jill Werner, who has served as Interim Executive Director since November 2019. Priya brings unparalleled institutional knowledge, having started her career at the NAPABA Law Foundation in 2009. Returning to NAPABA in 2014, Priya steadily rose through the ranks to Deputy Director, and most recently, led the association as Interim Executive Director.

“We are excited for Priya to return to NAPABA—an organization that she has made significant contributions to over the past five years. She is strategic, resilient, and determined—someone who can lead this complex organization with a deep understanding of and appreciation for our history,” said NAPABA President Bonnie Lee Wolf.

“I am thrilled to rejoin the NAPABA family,” said Priya. “This community of vibrant and diverse attorneys is unlike any other. NAPABA has been my professional home for several years and I am excited to continue working with our talented, dedicated staff and Board of Governors. My vision for NAPABA is grounded in maintaining a relentless focus on our members. I am deeply committed to seeing NAPABA thrive in 2020 and beyond.”

Priya is uniquely situated to lead NAPABA into the future and will begin her role as Executive Director on April 15.

The Executive Director search was successfully conducted by the NAPABA Board of Governors and led by President-Elect A.B. Cruz III.

Posted on

Press Release: NAPABA Extends its Warm Wishes to Long-Time Executive Director Tina Matsuoka and Welcomes Interim Executive Director Jill Werner

For Immediate Release I December 30, 2019
For More Information, Contact:
Jill Werner, Interim Executive Director, [email protected]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) extends its gratitude to Tina Matsuoka for her dedicated service as executive director of NAPABA for more than eleven years. NAPABA flourished under her tenure, which was marked by significant financial and programmatic growth.

“The NAPABA Board is grateful to Tina for her leadership and vision,” said Bonnie Lee Wolf, president of NAPABA.  “NAPABA is recognized on the national stage for its effective advocacy and policy work and emulated by peer organizations in large part because of Tina’s efforts.”

Tina was the longest-serving executive director in NAPABA’s history. Before she joined NAPABA, she was a practicing attorney with experience in government and private practice.

In announcing her departure, Ms. Matsuoka said, “It has been an honor to have worked with dedicated and talented NAPABA staff, board members, and volunteers to support the Asian Pacific American community and diversity in the legal profession. Although I am looking forward to spending more time with my family, I will truly miss the NAPABA community of lawyers who have become friends and mentors.”

Jill Werner, who is now serving as NAPABA’s Interim Executive Director, has served in various roles at the American Bar Association, including as director of member retention and staff director of the National Association of Bar Executives and the National Conference of Bar Foundations.  

The NAPABA Board of Governors is working to ensure a smooth transition and has begun the recruitment and selection process for the next executive director.

Posted on

Executive Director

Executive Director

MinKwon Appoints James Hong Interim Executive Director

Dear Friends

The MinKwon Center for Community Action’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce James Hong as the Interim Executive Director, effective July 1, 2016.

As Director of Civic Engagement, and since joining MinKwon in 2010, James has worked tirelessly to increase immigrant political participation through voter registration, mobilization, education and awareness campaigns and community organizing. He spearheaded MinKwon’s redistricting campaign, which brought together 14 Asian American organizations around federal, state and city-level redistricting.  Through this coalition, New York’s majority-Asian districts quadrupled to better reflect the community’s growth.  He also oversaw the development and expansion of APA VOICE into a pan-Asian coalition of 18 organizations, the largest collaboration of its kind in the Asian community. More recently, he has led MinKwon’s new civic engagement team to integrate the work of our advocacy, community organizing, voter engagement and Youth Empowerment Program.

James assumes the position of Interim Executive Director with the full support, confidence and enthusiasm of MinKwon’s Board of Directors, staff and allies.  We look forward to his leadership in harnessing and focusing the energy that will come from this transition period, seeding the ground for MinKwon’s next executive director, as well as the organization’s ongoing efforts to empower our Korean and immigrant communities.

Sincerely,
The MinKwon Board of Directors

The above message comes from MinKwon Center for Community Action. Click on the link in the title for the Executive Director Job Posting.

Posted on

Special Announcement from MinKwon Center

Special Announcement from MinKwon Center

On February 10, we received the following announcement from MinKwon:

The Board of Directors of the MinKwon Center for Community Action announces that Grace Shim will be stepping down as our Executive Director on June 30, 2016.  She will be moving to California with her daughter and husband in order to spend more time with her extended family, including her aging parents. 

We are sad to hear the news of Grace’s departure from MinKwon. It has been an honor to work with her and MinKwon as a community partner for the last few years. We wish Grace all the best in her future endeavors and wish MinKwon well in its search for a new Executive Director.

Click on the link in the title for the full announcement.

Posted on

ASIAN AMERICAN FEDERATION BOARD APPOINTS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

New York City.  The Board of Directors of the Asian American Federation (AAF) is delighted to announce the appointment of Jo-Ann Yoo as Executive Director, effective September 1, 2014.  Ms. Yoo’s appointment is the culmination of a strategic review by the AAF Board.  Ms. Yoo previously served as the interim Executive Director at the AAF since January, and was the Managing Director of Community Services since October 2011.

“We are excited to have Jo-Ann take the leadership helm at the Federation,” said George Wang, AAF’s Board Chair.  “Jo-Ann brings years of grassroots advocacy, program development, and fundraising experience, which will be immensely helpful in building the next phase of the Federation,” continued Wang. 
 
“I am honored to be named as the Federation’s next Executive Director,” said Jo-Ann Yoo.  “I am committed to building upon the legacy of Cao O.  I look forward to forging stronger relationships with our member agencies, funders and other partners, and supporting their efforts to serve some of the most vulnerable residents of our City,” added Yoo. 
 
Ms. Yoo succeeds Mr. Cao K. O, the Founder and Executive Director who stepped down last year after 23 years of service.  Prior to the Federation, Ms. Yoo served as the Director of Community Building & Organizing, and the Special Assistant to the Executive Director at Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), and as the Administrative and Special Projects Director at the New York Immigration Coalition.

                                                                                 * * *
The Asian American Federation (AAF) is a 501©(3) organization representing a network of community service agencies in the Northeast working in the fields of health & human services, education, economic development, civic participation, and social justice.  AAF seeks to raise the influence and well-being of the Pan-Asian American community through research, policy advocacy, public awareness and organizational development.
Posted on

AABANY ED Speaks at “Bridge the Gap” CLE Orientation Program

On Wednesday, October 23, AABANY Executive Director Yang Chen was a panelist at a CLE Orientation Program presented by the First Department’s Committee on Character and Fitness for a group of about 240 new attorneys who were scheduled to be sworn in to the New York State bar on October 28.  The program took place at NYCLA from 9 am to 11 am, and Mr. Chen provided an overview of ethical issues confronting the new practitioner.  Mr. Chen spoke from his perspective as a practitioner for nearly 20 years working on complex commercial litigation and antitrust matters. Maria Matos, Executive Secretary of the Committee on Character and Fitness and former President of the Puerto Rican Bar Association, organized the event, which is held every few weeks throughout the year.

Posted on

For Immediate Release: CACF Names Karen Kithan Yau New Executive Director Effective June 3, 2013

AABANY congratulates Karen Yau on her appointment as Executive Director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families. Karen is a member of AABANY and co-chair of the Government Service and Public Interest Committee.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Friday, April 12, 2013

Contact:

Vanessa Leung, Deputy Director

[email protected] 

212.809.4675 x 102 

COALITION FOR ASIAN AMERICAN CHILDREN AND FAMILIES NAMES KAREN KITHAN YAU NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR EFFECTIVE JUNE 3, 2013  

NEW YORK, NY- The Board of Directors of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) announces the appointment of Karen Kithan Yau as Executive Director, effective June 3, 2013. She succeeds Wayne Ho, who completed nearly nine years of service as executive director. Ms. Yau is currently an Assistant Attorney General of the State of New York, serving in the Labor Bureau.

“We are very pleased that Karen Yau will join CACF. She has deep legal, governmental, and community experience, and has shown that she gets results that matter for the least advantaged in our society. She has enormous enthusiasm for CACF’s mission,” said Edward Pauly, Acting President of CACF’s Board. “And we thank Wayne Ho for his extraordinary and selfless leadership for the past 9 years. He has successfully transformed CACF into the premiere advocacy voice for Asian Pacific American children and families.”

Ms. Yau began her career as an organizer for MFY Legal Services on the Lower East Side. An immigrant, she graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and Stony Brook University, and received her J.D. degree from Northeastern University School of Law. Prior to joining the Office of the Attorney General, she was an Assistant Professor of Law at Syracuse University College of Law. Ms. Yau was also a Robert M. Cover Teaching Fellow at Yale Law School. Recipient of a Skadden Fellowship, she worked at the National Employment Law Project. In addition to public interest law, Ms. Yau practiced as a litigation associate at Vladeck, Waldman, Elias & Engelhard. Active in community service, Ms. Yau is a member of the inaugural Solidarity Board of Community Voices Heard and an alumna of the Immigrant Civic Leadership Program at the CORO New York Leadership Center.

“I am honored to be given an opportunity to lead CACF and to work with Asian Pacific American and immigrant children and families whose experiences I relate deeply to,” said Ms. Yau. “I am committed to working with the excellent Board, Staff, and Action Council of CACF to build on its legacy, and with fellow advocates to shape and implement an effective advocacy agenda for the well-being of the children and families in our diverse communities." 

The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the nation’s only pan-Asian children’s advocacy organization, aims to improve the health and well-being of Asian Pacific American children and families in New York City. CACF’s website is www.cacf.org.

 # # #