This past Annual Dinner, we were privileged to award three inspirational honorees: Jenny R. Yang, An-Ping Hsieh, and Preet Bharara. We invite you to view the video playlist of the friends and colleagues that were kind enough to share the stories, successes, and journeys.

Jenny R. Yang
Chair, United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Women’s Leadership Award

An-Ping Hsieh
Vice President & General Counsel, Hubbell Incorporated
Corporate Counsel Leadership Award

Preet Bharara
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Public Service Leadership Award

Thanks to all those who attended the Annual Dinner in person and celebrated the strides that AABANY has made in getting a seat at the table, meeting amazing trailblazers such as the ones honored, and changing the game. Special thanks to all those featured, videographer Peter Chin, Lotas Productions, and the Annual Dinner Video Committee, chaired by Marianne Chow: Diane Gujarati, Naf Kwun, Amy Ngai, Ligee Gu, and Irene Tan. 

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Thank you for attending our 2015 Annual Dinner!

Thank you to all those who charted new frontiers with us at Cipriani Wall Street on February 25, 2015. With moving words from each of our amazing honorees, the joy of announcing the inaugural Don Liu Scholarship award recipients, laughter, tears, and not to mention delicious food, our 2015 Annual Dinner was truly a night to remember. More photos are forthcoming but in the meantime enjoy the slideshow above. (Photo credit: Yang Chen.)

Honorees:

Jenny R. Yang
Chair, U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
AABANY Women’s Leadership Award

An-Ping Hsieh
Vice President, General Counsel, Hubbell Incorporated
AABANY Corporate Counsel Leadership Award

Preet Bharara
United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
AABANY Public Service Leadership Award

Press Release: AABANY Congratulates NAAAP-NY’s 2014 Most Influential APIA New Yorkers Glenn Lau-Kee and Sandra Leung

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 5, 2014  

Contact: Yang Chen, Executive Director
(718) 228-7206

NEW YORK – November 5, 2014 – The Asian American Bar Association of New York (“AABANY”) is proud to announce that AABANY Past President and current New York State Bar Association President Glenn Lau-Kee and AABANY Advisory Committee Member Sandra Leung have been announced as the National Association of Asian American Professionals – New York Chapter (NAAAP-NY) 2014 Most Influential Asian Pacific Islander American New Yorkers. Mr. Lau-Kee and Ms. Leung will be honored at NAAAP-NY’s Moon Festival Honoree Gala at the Harvard Club of New York City on November 7, 2014.

NAAAP-NY has selected Glenn Lau-Kee (Partner, Kee & Lau-Kee PLLC) as its Public Service Honoree. Mr. Lau-Kee assumed office in June 2014 as the 117th President and first Asian American to lead the New York State Bar Association, an organization with over 75,000 members. NAAAP-NY has named Sandra Leung (General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Bristol-Meyers Squibb) as its the Corporate Legal Honoree. As legal advisor to the Board of Directors and company executives, Ms. Leung is responsible for shaping Bristol-Meyers Squibb’s legal strategy, as well as the company’s Environment, Health & Safety, Corporate Security, and Philanthropy groups.

“AABANY is delighted that NAAAP-NY has chosen to recognize Glenn Lau-Kee and Sandra Leung among New York’s most influential Asian Pacific Islander American New Yorkers,” says Executive Director Yang Chen. “Both Glenn and Sandra have made major impacts in the legal profession through their work and leadership, and have paved the way for generations of APIA lawyers and professionals. We congratulate Glenn and Sandra and all the honorees at this year’s Moon Festival Gala.”  AABANY President Clara Ohr adds, “We strongly support NAAAP-NY’s decision to honor such Asian American trailblazers in the legal profession as Glenn Lau-Kee and Sandra Leung, and we appreciate its past recognition of our own Executive Director, Yang Chen, whom NAAAP-NY named its 2013 Community Excellence Awardee.”

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For more information, please contact Yang Chen, AABANY Executive Director, at (718) 228-7206, or direct any inquiries to [email protected].

The Asian American Bar Association of New York is a professional membership organization of attorneys concerned with issues affecting the Asian Pacific American community.  Incorporated in 1989, AABANY seeks not only to encourage the professional growth of its members but also to advocate for the Asian Pacific American community as a whole.  AABANY is the New York regional affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA).

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METROPOLITAN BLACK BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY (“MBBA”) ANNOUNCES ITS 2014 ANNIVERSARY AWARDS GALA HONOREES

CONTACT: Dionne Gill                                      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TELEPHONE: 212.964.1645                         Wednesday, February 5, 2014

EMAIL: [email protected] www.mbbanyc.org

METROPOLITAN BLACK BAR ASSOCIATION OF NEW YORK CITY (“MBBA”) ANNOUNCES ITS 2014 ANNIVERSARY AWARDS GALA HONOREES

MBBA President, R. Nadine Fontaine, announces that the MBBA will hold its Thirtieth Anniversary Awards Gala on Friday, May 16, 2014 at Pier Sixty in New York, NY. The theme of the Gala is “The Power of Us: Celebrating 30 Years of Leadership, Innovation and Community.” Michele Coleman Mayes, Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of the New York Public Library and Theodore V. Wells, Jr., Partner and Co-Chair of the Litigation Department, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, LLP will serve as Honorary Co-Chairs of the MBBA Gala.

In addition to the President, the MBBA Gala Committee members include Christine Appah, Richard D. Boyd, Jason M. Clark, Paula T. Edgar, Luwick Francois, Hon. Cheryl J. Gonzales, Co-Chair of the Gala Committee, Y. Gail Goode, Taa Grays, Andrew Hannibal, Deborah L. Martin, Moya O’Conner, Francesca J. Perkins, Yamicha Stephenson, Allison B. Tomlinson and Hon. Alvin M. Yearwood, Co-Chair of the Gala Committee.

The 2014 MBBA Annual Gala Honorees are as follows:

Trailblazer of the Year:

Raymond J. McGuire, Global Head of Corporate and Investment

Banking Citigroup, Inc.

Corporate Counsel of the Year:

Duane L. Hughes, Managing Director

Morgan Stanley

Private Practitioner of the Year:

Carmen J. Lawrence, Partner

King & Spalding, LLP

Jurist of the Year:

Hon. Sheila Abdus -Salaam, Associate Judge

New York State Court of Appeals

Public Servant of the Year:

Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO & Executive Director

Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies

Co-Chair, Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Transition Team

Member of the Year:

Shirley Stewart Farmer, First President (Posthumously)

Metropolitan Black Bar Association

For more information on this event, or to schedule an interview with MBBA President R. Nadine Fontaine, please contact Francesca J. Perkins at [email protected]. For sponsorship inquiries, please contact Paula T. Edgar at [email protected].

From AALDEF: 2014 Justice in Action Awards

March 26, 2014 – Mari Matsuda, Professor of Law at University of Hawai’i at Manoa, Aasif Mandvi of The Daily Show, and John G. Chou of AmerisourceBergen Corporation were honored with the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) 2014 Justice in Action Awards on March 25, 2014, at AALDEF’s 40th Anniversary Celebration.

Since 1987, AALDEF has presented the Justice in Action Awards to exceptional individuals for their outstanding achievements and efforts in advancing social justice.

The awards were presented by Charles Ogletree, Jr., Harvard Law School professor and former Justice in Action Award honoree and Judge Ida Chen, the first Asian American female to serve as a judge in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Juju Chang, Emmy Award-winning correspondent for ABC News Nightline, and Cindy Hsu, Emmy Award-winning anchor for CBS 2, were the co-emcees for the banquet of over 800 to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of AALDEF.

Among the guests at Pier Sixty in New York City were U.S. Circuit Judge Denny Chin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Karen Korematsu, the daughter of the late civil rights icon Fred Korematsu, and AALDEF founders Loida LewisArthur Soong, and Ira Glasser. Past Justice in Action Award recipients in attendance included Art ChongSandra LeungDon LiuParkin Lee, and Alice Young,

For the 40th Anniversary, AALDEF Executive Director Margaret Fung and Board president Tommy Shi shared the story of the creation of AALDEF 40 years ago. “Our first office was on the second floor of a tenement building in New York’s Chinatown,” said Fung. “We were passionate about our work and believed we could change the world one case at a time.”

Among the challenges ahead for the Asian American community, Fung pointed to the glass ceiling faced by many Asian Americans, the attack on affirmative action programs, the standstill of immigration reform in Congress, and the continuing struggles of human trafficking survivors and immigrant workers seeking to earn a living wage.

AALDEF client Hong-Mei Pang, now organizer of AALDEF’s undocumented youth group RAISE, spoke about the lack of options she had faced prior to garnering AALDEF’s legal representation and joining the movement for immigration reform. “My call to AALDEF became a turning point in my life,” said Pang.

Judge Ida Chen introduced honoree John Chou by thanking AALDEF “for recognizing John Chou for advancing the status of Asian Americans all over the country.” Chou said that by receiving the Justice in Action Award, he was “following in some really big footsteps.” He described AALDEF as representing “lawyers at their best.”

Former honoree Charles Ogletree Jr. introduced honoree Mari Matsuda as a “living legend.” Matsuda shared her advice for young people seeking to stand up for their beliefs. “If you were sitting still and doing nothing, you would get no pushback,” she said. “We need to do the work to make this a better, stronger country for everyone.”

The evening came to a close with honoree Aasif Mandvi taking a rare break from satire to describe the impact of his hit political comedy show The Daily Show on addressing racism and bias. “What AALDEF does in a real way, I do in a very small way, by pointing out the absurdity,” he said.

Past Justice in Action Award recipients include Rep. John LewisDavid Henry HwangFareed ZakariaBD WongSandra LeungMira NairDeval PatrickGeorge Takei,Salman RushdieSeymour HershHarry BelafonteMargaret ChoYoko Ono, and the late civil rights icons Fred Korematsu and Gordon Hirabayashi.

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Photo Credit: Lia Chang

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Photo Credit: Corky Lee