ROB BONTA

On April 23, 2021, Rob Bonta was sworn in as the 34th Attorney General of the State of California, the first person of Filipino descent to occupy the position. Attorney General Bonta's passion for justice and fairness was instilled in him by his parents, who served on the frontlines of some of America's most important social justice movements. It's why he decided to become a lawyer — to help right historic wrongs and fight for people who have been harmed. He worked his way through college and graduated with honors from Yale University and attended Yale Law School. Attorney General Bonta has led statewide fights for racial, economic, and environmental justice and worked to further the rights of immigrant families, renters, and working Californians. He previously worked as a Deputy City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco, served as an Alameda Council Member and represented Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro as an Assemblymember. As the People's Attorney, he sees seeking accountability from those who abuse their power and harm others as one of the most important functions of the job. He has taken on powerful interests and advanced systemic change — pursuing corporate accountability, standing up for workers, punishing big polluters, and fighting racial injustice. Attorney General Bonta is the son of a proud native Filipino mother and a father who taught him the value of public service to his community. He is married to Mia Bonta, and they are the proud parents of three children Reina, Iliana, and Andres.

ASSEMBLYMEMBER AL MURATSUCHI

California Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi represents the 66th Assembly District, located in the Los Angeles South Bay and Harbor Area. A champion for public education, Muratsuchi serves as Chair of the Assembly Education Committee and previously served as Chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Education Funding. He is also fighting climate change as former Chair of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies, authoring landmark legislation for California to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 85 percent by 2045. Muratsuchi has written laws to fight for education, jobs and the economy, clean energy and environmental justice, public safety, veterans, and small businesses. He has helped deliver billions in increased funding for California public schools and for universal high-speed internet access to close the digital divide. The son of immigrants, Muratsuchi was born and raised on U.S. military bases overseas before arriving in California in 1982. A product of public schools and a first-generation university graduate, he attended the University of California, Berkeley, and received a Juris Doctor degree from UCLA before settling in the South Bay. Muratsuchi has dedicated his career to public service, working as a UCLA lecturer, civil rights lawyer, and Deputy Attorney General with the California Department of Justice. Prior to serving in the California Legislature, he served on the Torrance Unified School District Board of Education, Southern California Regional Occupational Center Board of Trustees, and Torrance Planning Commission. Muratsuchi lives in the South Bay with his wife Hiroko Higuchi, Ph.D., his daughter, who attends a local public school, and their dog Teddy.

KIRIN A. MACAPUGAY

Commissioner Kirin Macapugay, MSW, DSW Candidate is Vice-Chair for the California Commission on Asian Pacific Islander (API) Affairs Higher Education Committee, spearheading the historic Student Achievement Program to support lower-income Asian American Pacific Islander students, teaches human services and social work for San Diego City College, and serves as principal investigator for the college's AANAPISI program and director of PEER. Macapugay serves on the San Diego City Mayors Asian Pacific Islander Advisory, the boards for Made in Paradise Hills and Only Stronger, and created the nonprofits API Community Actions and Indigenous Knowledge, Art, and Truth (IKAT). She has several publications, has appeared on NPR, PBS, KPBS, KGTV, KUSI, the San Diego Union Tribune, and has spoken for several international organizations and companies including NCORE, Asian Pacific Islanders for Higher Education, Lyft, AT&T, and regional convenings. She was awarded "Best Professor" by SDSU students, a Civil Rights Women's Leader by RISE San Diego, Asian Pacific American Coalition's Civic Engagement Leader, a San Diego Woman of Influence by San Diego Magazine, and one of the Most Influential Asian Leaders by Asian Business Association and the San Diego Business Journal. December 12, 2022 is proclaimed Kirin Macapugay Day in the County of San Diego. An indigenous Kalinga and Bontoc immigrant from the Philippines, alum and trustee emeritus of Southwestern College, Macapugay is a doctor of social work candidate at the University of Southern California with a masters in social work from San Diego State University and certificate in indigenous people's rights from Columbia University's X program.

ROWENA M. TOMANENG

Dr. Rowena M. Tomaneng has over 28 years of teaching and administrative experience in higher education, and she currently serves as the President of San José City College (SJCC) in the San José Evergreen Community College District. Prior to SJCC, Dr. Tomaneng served as President of Berkeley City College (BCC) in the Peralta Community College District and inmultiple roles at De Anza College in the Foothill-De AnzaCommunity College District, including Associate Vice President of Instruction and Faculty in English, intercultural studies, and women's studies.

Dr. Tomaneng currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE), President of the National Asian Pacific Islander Council-American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), and Vice President of the Northern Region of the Chief Executive Officers Board for the California Community Colleges (CEOCCC). Dr. Tomaneng's teaching, research and publications explore human rights, social movements, transnational feminism, and racial equity in education. She haswritten and contributed to a variety of publications includingTransformations: Leadership Roles in Higher Ed for Humanities Professionals, Journal of Multicultural Perspectives and Transformative Practices for Minority StudentSuccess: Accomplishments of Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions.

A first-generation immigrant from the Philippines and community college transfer student, Dr. Tomaneng earned her Ed.D. in International and Multicultural Education, Human Rights Concentration from the University of San Francisco, M.A. in English from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and B.A. in English from the University of California, Irvine.

KAREN UMEMOTO

Karen Umemoto, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Departments of Urban Planning and Asian American Studies and the Helen and Morgan Chu Chair of the Asian American Studies Center at UCLA. She received her M.A. from UCLA in Asian American Studies and Ph.D. from MIT in Urban Studies. She taught at the University of Hawaii for 22 years where she became chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning before returning to her alma mater. Professor Umemoto's research centers on issues of democracy, inclusion and collaboration in multicultural societies with a focus on US cities. Born and raised in Los Angeles, a major concern has been racial hate, conflict and violence. She has published The Truce: Lessons from an LA Gang War on racialized gang conflict and Jacked Up and Unjust: Pacific Islander Teens Confront Violent Legacies on youth violence in Hawai`i. Her current project is the AAPI Multimedia Textbook, an online open access educational platform to bring Asian American stories into every classroom.

ABIGAIL CHUN

Abigail Catalano Chun (she/her) is a multiracial Nikkei storyteller, writer, and researcher. She serves as a Content/Curriculum Coordinator for Foundations and Futures: An AAPI Multimedia Textbook, a transformational narrative change project of the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. Prior to her current position, Abigail served as a research assistant with the Gila River Digitization Project under Koji Lau-Ozawa and a writing/editorial fellow with Brown University's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. She received her undergraduate degree in American Studies from Brown University with a focus on heritage studies, Japanese American wartime incarceration, and Asian settler colonialism.

ASSEMBLYMEMBER PHIL TING

Phil Ting was elected to the State Assembly in 2012, representing the 19th Assembly District, which spans the Westside of San Francisco, as well as the communities of Broadmoor, Colma, Daly City, and parts of South San Francisco and San Bruno. As California moves on from COVID-19, Ting is focused on economic recovery, while also continuing with progressive policies that protect and expand opportunity for all, equal rights, and environmental preservation. Because of his experience in the financial sector and as the San Francisco Assessor-Recorder, Ting has become a leading voice on California's finances. He served as Chair of the Assembly Budget Committee from 2015-2023, leading efforts that brought record funding for public education and historic investment in the Asian American Pacific Islander communities to stop AAPI hate. Ting is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He began his career in public service as the Executive Director of the Asian Law Caucus, an organization founded in 1972 to advance and promote the legal and civil rights of the Asian Pacific Islander community, and once served as Community Relations Director at San Francisco State University. In 2005, Ting was appointed Assessor-Recorder of San Francisco by then-Mayor Gavin Newsom, where he closed a five-year assessment backlog and brought in $290 million in unpaid property taxes to the city, created a program to increase rooftop solar installations, and spearheaded efforts to assist homeowners and tenants facing foreclosure. Ting lives in San Francisco's Sunset District.

LOIS M. TAKAHASHI

Lois M. Takahashi, PhD, is Houston Flournoy Professor of State Government and Coordinator of the MPA program at the USC Price School of Public Policy in Sacramento. Prior to joining USC Price, she was interim dean at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and was President of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP). She studies how housing, violence, and spatial factors lead to health disparities for vulnerable populations. Her research has been supported by grants from NIH, NSF, and foundations/donors. She is a recipient of several teaching and service awards, and currently serves on the boards of APAIT/Special Service for Groups and the Western Center on Law and Poverty.

JOYCE PISNANONT

Joyce Pisnanont is the Chief Strategy & Impact Officer at National CAPACD. She brings over 20 years of experience working with Asian Pacific Islander community development organizations, including for several National CAPACD members in New York, California, and Washington. Prior to joining National CAPACD, Joyce established and ran an economic development resource and design center in Seattle's historic International District. Joyce is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley Masters in Social Welfare program.

LISA HASEGAWA

Lisa Hasegawa is the Regional Vice President for NeighborWorks America, Western Region. Lisa has more than 25 years of community development, housing and public health experience. Prior to NeighborWorks, she served as the executive director of the National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development, and then served in several capacities at UCLA, including Activist in Residence and Policy Advisor at the Asian American Studies Center, and Assistant Director of Federal Relations. She currently serves on boards of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation, and the advisory committee of The Asian American Foundation.

ANDY TRAN

Andy is a Staff Attorney on the Impact Litigation team at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern Californian (AJSOCAL), challenging laws and policies that violate the civil rights of AAPI communities and leading the organization's election protection plan to ensure fair representation and safeguard the right to vote. Before AJSOCAL, he was a litigator at two national law firms, defending healthcare institutions and Fortune 500 companies against professional and general liability claims. During law school, Andy served under the Obama administration in the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of the Treasury, and Federal Communications Commission. Currently, he volunteers as General Counsel to Project by Project and on the board for the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Southern California. Andy was born and raised in Chicago and attended college in Berkeley, CA, and law school in Washington, D.C.

EASTHER MULIPOLA

Easther Mulipola hails from Oceania, the sea of islands by way of Vaitogi village in the islands of American Samoa and is a direct descendent of the honorable Tupua family where Samoan cultural education runs deep. In 2002, after the tragic murder of her brother Fagafaga Mulipola from gang violence, Easther and her family founded PR to memorialize a commitment to end these senseless acts of violence by amplifying Hope, Community Service and Samoan cultural protocols and teachings. Easther Mulipola serves as PR'S current Executive Director where she leads and navigates her team with unwavering passion and commitment to end all forms of violence through meaningful community engagement, specifically among urban based Pasifika youth. Project-Respectt is an educational center & legal clinic based in Long Beach and Orange County focused on Community & Cultural Safety.

NANCY YAP

Nancy Yap is the Executive Director of the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE), a nonprofit organization that is committed to advancing the political and civic engagement of leaders in the Asian and Pacific Islander community. Through this role at CAUSE, Nancy brings her experience working in Asian and Pacific Islander communities for over 20 years with a focus on strategic planning, community partnerships, curriculum design, programs facilitation, and executive leadership development. Prior to CAUSE, she was the Vice President of Development at LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics). She also owned her own artist management business representing spoken word and hip-hop artists, including poets from the 2003 Tony Award-winning "Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam on Broadway." Outside of CAUSE, she is a Member of the Board of Los Angeles Building and Safety Commissioners, appointed by Mayor Karen Bass and confirmed by the Los Angeles City Council. She is actively involved in the Little Tokyo community as a previous President of the Arts District Little Tokyo Neighborhood Council and the Co-Founder of two programs in Little Tokyo, Community Feeding Community, which raised over $200,000 for small businesses during Covid-19 closures, and Haunted Little Tokyo, which brings thousands of people to the neighborhood each year.

GODFREY SANTOS PLATA

Godfrey Santos Plata is a queer Filipino immigrant who is obsessed with building and igniting people power, particularly among communities of color. Plata was born in Marikina, Philippines, and is a teacher-turned-organizer currently living in LA's Koreatown. In Los Angeles, Plata serves as the Deputy Director at LA Forward Institute, which supports civic education and community-building across the county to ensure all Angelenos area able to unlock democracy for themselves as much as possible. He also supports civic engagement work for AAPI Equity Alliance, a coalition of 40+ local community organizations interested in deepening and advancing AAPI civic engagement in LA County. Outside of work, he sits on the nonprofit board of API RISE, a community group serving formerly incarcerated and detained members of the API community. Follow Godfrey on Instagram at @godfreyplata.

NATALIE MASUOKA

Natalie Masuoka is Associate Professor of Political Science and Asian American Studies at UCLA. She currently serves as the Faculty Director for the Asian American Policy Initiative at the UCLA Asian American Studies Center. Her research expertise includes voting and elections, U.S. Census, immigration policy and the Voting Rights Act. She is the author of three books The Politics of Belonging: Race, Public Opinion and Immigration (2013), Multiracial Identification and Racial Politics in the United States (2017), and Women Voters: Race, Gender and Dynamism in American Elections (forthcoming). In 2024 she will serve as co-principal investigator of the Collaborative Multiracial Political Survey (CMPS) a user-content driven, multiracial and multilingual post-election survey. Her recent research on Los Angeles includes an assessment of racial redistricting in the City of Los Angeles and a visualization tool that maps the presence of Asian American voter registration and turnout.

ASSEMBLYMEMBER MIKE FONG

Mike Fong was elected to the 49th District of the California State Assembly in February 2022, where he is honored to represent Alhambra, Arcadia, El Monte, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, South Pasadena, Temple City, as well as the unincorporated areas of South San Gabriel, North El Monte, and East Pasadena. Mr. Fong is the Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee and serves on the Appropriations; Banking and Finance; Budget; Budget Subcommittee #2 on Education Finance; and Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and Internet Media Committees. He also serves as the Assembly Vice Chair of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. His priorities include expanding access to quality higher education, protecting the environment, ensuring public safety, creating jobs, and addressing homelessness. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Mr. Fong served as a Trustee of the Los Angeles Community College District. There, he pushed forward policies that increased student success, improved educational access and quality, and expanded workforce education and high-growth sector training programs at nine community colleges serving over 250,000 students across Los Angeles and surrounding cities. A lifelong public servant, Mr. Fong has led teams in his various professional roles with the City of Los Angeles, working on issues such as housing access, civic engagement, youth employment, workforce development, and education. He has served as the Director of Policy and Government Relations for the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, East Area Director for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and a Field Deputy for Los Angeles Councilmember Ed Reyes. A product of Los Angeles County, Mr. Fong graduated from California State University at Northridge with a Master of Public Administration in Public Sector Management & Leadership and from University of California at Los Angeles with a B.S. in Psychobiology and a minor in Education.

FAITH LEE

Faith Lee is the Legislative Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL) where she advocates for state policies and budget investments that bring language justice, immigrant protections and beyond the API community. In this capacity, Faith helped secure $5 million state funding to ensure the state is producing more Asian language teachers to teach in dual immersion classrooms. She also helped pass AB 1766 (Stone), a bill that allows all Californians, regardless of immigration status, to obtain a state-issued ID. Prior to AJSOCAL, she worked in the California State Legislature for Senator Richard Pan as his policy analyst and Assemblymember Chris Holden as his field representative. Outside of work, Faith is involved in various clubs that help turnout voters and increase women, especially women of color, representation in different levels of government.

RICHARD CALVIN CHANG

Richard Calvin Chang is a Native Hawaiian attorney who co-founded and currently serves as Director of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Data Policy Lab at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. Calvin has over a decade of experience working with NHPI communities and managing policy campaigns that address NHPI health disparities and promote data equity. He co-authored demographic profiles of NHPIs in the U.S. and California, the first Policy Platform Blueprint for NHPIs in the United States, and recently co-authored the first NHPI Data Policy Platform. He is currently working on projects that include a data curriculum for community organizations, developing accessible data tools, and supporting inclusive and equitable data policies. Calvin serves as the Board Chair of Pacific Islander Health Partnership. He earned his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law and his M.S. in Computational Analysis and Public Policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy. He was appointed to the U.S. Census Bureau's National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic, and Other Populations in 2021.

ANGELICA CORTEZ

Dr. Angelica Cortez (she/her) is the Founder and Executive Director of LEAD Filipino and Senior Vice President of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for Pacific Clinics. Voted as a Silicon Valley Woman of Influence and 40 Under 40, she is an activist and strategist with a background in public policy and advocacy. In 2015, she founded LEAD Filipino in 2015 to increase Filipina/x/o American civic leadership in the San Jose Area. Since then, she has grown the organization to serve thousands of students, adults, and families through culturally responsive education and voter engagement programs across the region and state, including opening the group's first office in downtown San Jose. For over a decade, Dr. Cortez worked in politics from San Jose to Los Angeles on civil rights and equity issues. Most recently, she helped lead field outreach for California's Yes on Prop 16 campaign and secured major corporate endorsements for AB 979, landmark corporate board diversity legislation. In addition to being a frequent speaker on LGBTQ+ leadership, FilAm and AsianAm political engagement, and civic innovation, her contributions have also been recognized by NBC Bay Area and Philippines and Malaysian news media. She holds her doctorate from the University of Southern California.

KARLA THOMAS

Karla Thomas is the eldest daughter to her Samoan mother and Aymara father, who came to the U.S. from Vatia, Tutuila Samoa and Quime, Bolivia. She was raised on Serrano and Tongva land, in the city of San Bernardino, California. Karla serves as the Co-Executive Director of Empowering Pacific Islander Communities (EPIC) overseeing its Advocacy and Research pillars. She has a public health background, holding a Master of Public Health with a focus on health policy from USC and B.A. in Anthropology from UCLA.

PRISCILLA HUANG

Priscilla Huang, JD (she/her) is the founding executive director of the Center for Asian Americans in Action, a nonprofit organization that conducts policy analysis, engages in policy advocacy, and strengthens the advocacy capacity of community organizations to build a more equitable society for Asian Americans in Orange County and beyond.

Priscilla has a background in health care policy, health equity, immigrant health coverage, and reproductive and sexual health. She was a senior attorney at the National Health Law Program, and served as a consultant and senior advisor to the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under the Obama Administration. Priscilla also spent a decade as a non-profit advocate in Washington, D.C. working on a variety of federal policy issues impacting Asian American communities.

Priscilla received her JD from American University, Washington College of Law, where she was one of ten Public Interest/Public Service Scholars. She received a BA in English and Philosophy from Boston College. Priscilla was a Georgetown Women's Law and Public Policy Fellow, has served on several boards and advisory committees and has been recognized for her leadership by the National Immigration Law Center, Families USA, and the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust. She currently serves on the Community Action Fund board for Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties.

CHANCHANIT MARTORELL (Moderator)

Born in Thailand and raised in Los Angeles, Martorell studied Political Science/Public Law at UCLA where she received her B.A. and her M.A. in Urban Planning with a specialization in Urban Regional Development. She also studied Humanities at Chiang Mai University in Northern Thailand in 1988. In 2021, Pacific Oaks College conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Social Work to her where she was also the commencement speaker.

Engaged in social activism for the past 35 years, Martorell is currently the Executive Director of the Thai Community Development Center, a non-profit organization she founded in 1994 to improve the lives of disadvantaged Thai and other immigrants through services that promote cultural adjustment and economic self-sufficiency. Her experiences leading to the founding of Thai CDC include work as an urban planner and as an aide to local, state and federal legislative offices. She also created and taught the first Thai American Experience course offered as part of UCLA's Asian-American Studies curriculum in 1992.

She has become a leading practitioner in community development engaged in affordable housing development, small business promotion and neighborhood revitalization projects. She led the seven-year long campaign to designate East Hollywood as Thai Town which was achieved in 1999.