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Application

Potential facilitators should have work experience in one or more of the following areas:

• Works or has worked in student affairs in a collegiate settings for APIA students or worked directly with APIA students on their leadership development,
• Teaches or has taught Asian American studies courses AND worked with students directly,
• Currently or has developed and facilitated interactive workshops, trainings and conferences for APIAs
• Possesses an understanding and has demonstrated experience in the areas of social justice, activism, and organizing for APIAs.

We are currently not accepting applications for new facilitators a this time. 

2010-2011 Facilitators

Ankita Rakhe
Ankita Rakhe is the Assistant Director for Intercultural and Diversity Issues at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. She advises the Trinity Diversity Connection, an umbrella student organization dedicated to promoting diversity in the TU community and is the staff member responsible for diversity programming on campus, including celebrating the MLK Jr. Holiday and Women’s History Month. For fun Ankita likes to read, write, do yoga and Pilates, and cook. She also loves watching TV.

Ankita received her bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and her master’s degree from The Ohio State University.

Ben de Guzman
Ben de Guzman is a sought after speaker and trainer on a range of issues, including: political and civic engagement, advocacy, community organizing and civil rights policy and issues.

He is currently the Co-Director for Programs at the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, an emerging network of Asian American and Pacific Islander lesbian/ gay/ bisexual/ transgender community organizations around the country.  Among his duties there include overseeing programs and initiatives for the organization, managing External Affairs relationships with national allies and partners, and directing policy and advocacy work.  He has also been National Campaign Coordinator for the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE).  In this capacity, he oversees all phases of the recently successful legislative campaign for U.S. military recognition and financial support for Filipinos who fought under the United States during World War II.  He also serves as the Policy Director for Kaya: Filipino Americans for Progress, a progressive political organization serving Filipino American communities.

He has run local, state and national community leadership and education programs for leading Asian Pacific American organizations, including Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP), and what is now the Asian American Justice Center (formerly the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium).

Ben is active in a variety of political campaigns and organizations serving Asian Pacific American and Filipino American communities.  In 2008, he was a key member of the DC chapter of Filipinos for Obama and in 2006, he helped manage the policy and communications team for the Underwood/ Aguon campaign for the governor’s office of Guam.  He has held leadership positions in locally based organizations in both Washington, DC and Los Angeles, including: AQUA (Asian Pacific Islander Queers United for Action), Pride & Heritage LGBT API Awards- Washington, DC, Filipino American Youth Dialogue, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and Asian Pacific Islanders for Fair Immigration Reform. 

In her ninth year working with APIA U, Dr. Connie Tingson-Gatuz serves as the Lead Facilitator.  She is Vice President for Student Affairs overseeing Athletics, Bookstore, Campus Ministry, Career Services, Disability Resources, Food Services, Personalized Instruction, Residence Life, Student Life, and Support Services at Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan.  Over the last seventeen years, Dr. Connie Tingson-Gatuz has worked in various Academic and Student Affairs areas.  She has created dozens of APIA serving initiatives at Michigan State University and the University of Michigan and advised multiple Asian American student organizations.  Connie has served as a consultant for five years for the Gates Millenium Scholarship (GMS) Program, consulted with OCA on various APIA scholarships, served as the Midwest Association for Filipino Americans (MAFA) organizing committee Advisor, and served on the Board of Advisors for the Midwest Asian American Student Union (MAASU).  In addition to  authoring government and corporate grants to support college students, she co-authored a book chapter, Unwritten Rules: Organizational and Political Realities on the Job, for new Student Affairs professionals. Honored with the 2010 National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) API Knowledge Community Outstanding Mentor award, she continues to develop students and professionals in higher education.  She earned a Doctorate of Philosophy in Higher Education Administration from Michigan State University.

Daniel Huang
Dan Huang hails from New York and Los Angeles and has been an Asian American community activist for over a decade. Until recently, he served as project coordinator and policy advocate at the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC) of Southern California, where he worked on hate crime and immigration policy issues. At APALC, he helped develop and pass hate crime legislation in the state of California and appeared numerous times on television, radio, and print media on various Asian American issues. Dan has served on the board of the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council and is a founding member and former chair of Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Fair Immigration Reform. He is also a founding member of API Equality-LA, a Los Angeles-based coalition working to build support for equal marriage rights and fair treatment of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the Asian American community. Dan has a B.A. from Brown University and is currently pursuing a masters degree in mental health counseling at New York University

Dharma P. Naik
Dharma P. Naik is the Coordinator for Asian Pacific American Student Involvement and Advocacy at the University of Maryland, College Park. Through this capacity Dharma works with over 35 APIA Greek and non-Greek student organizations. Born and raised in England, Dharma has significant experience working in Admissions, Student Life, and Multicultural Involvement and with teaching at both public and private universities.

Dharma graduated from the University of Maryland, College Park [B.A., Sociology; Certificate in Asian American Studies; M.A., Counseling and Personnel Services (CSP)] and is currently pursuing a Graduate Certificate in Leadership and Management part-time. She has led workshops on identity development, inclusive language use, organizational development, coalition building, student activism, leadership skills, and diversity for the East Coast Asian American Student Union Conference and other entities.

She currently serves on the board of APAAN (the Asian Pacific American Alumni Network that she helped to start) at UMD, and the Asian Pacific American Network of College Student Educators International. She is also a member of WAHE – Women Administrators in Higher Education through the American Council of Education and serves as a board member for CHAI (Counselors Helping (South) Asian Indians, Inc). Her academic research interests include student involvement and racial identity development of APIA, specifically South Asian American college students.

Iosefa Aina
Upon graduation, Sefa was hired by the UCLA Asian American Studies Center as an Academic and Organizational Advisor, as well as an Instructor. The course that Sefa taught primarily was a service learning course titled, "Asian Pacific American Leadership Development Project". Other courses that he's taught include "Pacific Islander Experience" and "Pacific Islander Education + Retention". Currently, Sefa is the Associate Director of the Asian American Resource Center at Pomona College. Sefa continues to work with students, and helps to develop leadership and accountability to issues of social justice and access for marginalized communities.

In the community, Sefa has been active on the advisory boards of the Pacific Islander PIPELINE Project, NHPI (Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander) Alliance for Health, PICCN (Pacific Islander Cancer Control Network) Samoan Community Advisory Board, and The AIGA (All Islands Getting Along) Foundation. Sefa is also a founding member of NPIEN (National Pacific Islander Educators Network), as well as the UCLA PIER (Pacific Islander Education + Retention) Project. The PIER Project does outreach and mentoring to Pacific Islander high school youth at Carson HS and Hawthorne HS in Los Angeles.

Sefa is the 8^th of 9 kids, and the first to graduate from college. Sefa is married with 3 beautiful kids Marina, Marcus, Malie, as well as the guardian for 5 other nephews and nieces Sitofa, Tita, Rosey, Ben, and Armani.

Jason Chan
Jason Chan is the Program Director, Scholar & Alumni Programs at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF), where he oversees the development and implementation of academic support, leadership development, and community-building programs for recipients of the APIASF and Gates Millennium Scholars (GMS) scholarship awards.

Prior to APIASF, Jason served as a graduate advisor to the University Student Judiciary, the Asian American Student Union, and several other student organizations at the University of Maryland-College Park. Jason has also worked at City Year, a national non-profit community service organization, as an AmeriCorps volunteer and a full-time staff member. There, he taught diversity curricula to Boston public school students, performed physical service projects throughout the city, supervised a team of ten full-time volunteers, and supported City Year’s recruitment and admissions functions.

Jason has a master’s degree in College Student Personnel from the University of Maryland-College Park, and bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Biological Basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania.

Linda Luk
Linda Luk is a Chinese American who grew up in North-side Chicago.  She is a student affairs administrator at the University of Chicago’s Office of Multicultural Student Affairs where she manages a student center and provides support services for students of color. 

Linda graduated from Northern Illinois University with a B.A. Degree in Communication and then pursued a M.Ed. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.   As a graduate student, she also served as the director of the Midwest Asian American Students Union (MAASU), a student driven 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that provide support and leadership training to college students across the Midwest.  After graduating she worked as the program coordinator of the Asian American Cultural Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she advised student organizations and coordinated cultural and educational programs. 

While working full-time, Linda is also active in several non-profit organizations.  She is the secretary of OCA Chicago, a member of NAAAP Chicago is also the president of the University of Illinois Asian American Alumni Network (UIAAAN), a young organization committed to building a network of engaged Asian American alumni across the nation. 

Mona Bormet

Mona Bormet, MPH, CHES has a passion for many things, including public health. Her most recent foray into the public health field was as Advocacy Program Specialist for the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF), where she focused on national policy efforts to improve data collection and analysis for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations. She also planned/implemented policy/advocacy trainings, action alerts, advocacy days and meetings between health advocates and Congressional members/staff, while providing technical assistance to partner organizations.

Prior to joining APIAHF, Ms. Bormet was the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Health Policy Fellow for Congresswoman Lois Capps of California. Her areas of focus were heart disease and stroke, comprehensive cancer care, school health and childhood obesity issues, and the Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization. She helped develop and advance legislation while also supporting the Congresswoman's numerous health care caucuses and committee hearings.

Before her work on Capitol Hill, Ms. Bormet interned at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention, where she evaluated the Heart Disease and Stroke State Plans and conducted literature reviews related to emergency medical services and obesity issues.

Ms. Bormet earned a master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. As Student Senate President, she served as a voice between graduate students and members of the administration, other professional schools, and public health community members. She also worked for the Minnesota Department of Health Diabetes Program conducting qualitative data analysis, the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans as a policy/advocacy intern at the Minnesota State Capitol and for the Minnesota Asian/American Health Coalition as a research assistant on a community based participatory research project.

Mona was born and raised in the southern suburbs of Chicago and is a White Sox fan!

Steve Lin
Steve Lin grew up in the Midwest, but after graduating from Hampshire College with a BA focused in Asian American Studies, moved to NYC to work with the Posse Foundation, a non-profit college scholarship program.  Outside of work, he facilitated workshops for numerous student conferences, NYU's APAYA youth program, organized programs in the Taiwanese American community, as well as hosted a monthly open-mic series at the Asian American Writer's Workshop.  Seeking adventure and to learn more about Taiwan, he moved to Taipei in 2004 where he studied Mandarin, Taiwanese, and Taiwan history while working for Princeton Review and as a part-time commercial actor, as well as volunteered time with the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and the Tsunah Foundation International Youth Tour.  Since returning to the U.S., he has been continued to pursue youth work in San Francisco.

Yen Ling Shek
Yen Ling Shek is the Coordinator of the Multicultural Leadership Center at California State University - Fullerton. At Fullerton, she is responsible for diversity trainings, multicultural leadership development, cultural programming, and advising. Originally from Charlottesville, Virginia, Yen Ling is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she advocated for student affairs professionals to work with the Asian Pacific American and Latino community, worked in coalition with other progressive organizations, and started the Asian/Asian Pacific American Alumni Network (AAPAAN) and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. After doing event planning and communications work for Leadership Washington, she moved to Philadelphia to work at the University of Pennsylvania's Greenfield Intercultural Center and Pan-Asian American Community House doing programming, leadership development, mentoring, and student advising. Yen Ling then left for the University of Maryland, College Park to get her master's in College Student Personnel and taught social justice issues, conducted dialogues on women of color/white women, worked in academic affairs, and planned social justice programs. Her thesis was on "The Relationships of Racial Identity and Gender-Role Conflict on Self-Esteem of Asian American Undergraduate Men."

Yen Ling has served on the board and been active in community organizations focused on Chinatown youth, APA women's health,  and at-risk youth. She has led workshops on organizational development, coalition building, student activism, leadership skills, and diversity for the Naitonal Young Leaders Conference, East Coast Asian American Student Union, and National Asian American Student Conference. She currently serves on the boards of AAPAAN at UVA and the Asian Pacific American Network of College Student Educators International.

Yoojin Janice Lee
Yoojin Janice Lee has fourteen years of leadership, social justice and community building experience. As a consultant, she offers training and coaching on leadership development for social change, building healthy teams and community organizing. She was formerly Executive Director & Lead Organizer of the Boston-area Youth Organizing Project, where she worked in partnership with low-income youth from communities of color and immigrant communities to gain justice in their schools and neighborhoods. She also worked at Call to Renewal, a national coalition of churches working to overcome poverty and was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in New York City. She holds a Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and graduated from Smith College, where she was student government president. Born in Pusan, Korea, she grew up in northern New Jersey and Queens, NY. For the last eight years, has made her home in the Boston-area, where she is part of the Cambridge Community Fellowship Church and worships with an Episcopalian monastic community. Yoojin loves nature, running, and reading, is a growing photographer/visual artist, and joyfully talks to strangers.