EDDY ROBLES BADRINA
Executive Director, White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders
Eddy Robles Badrina is the Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs). In this capacity, he is charged with coordinating all Federal activities under the Executive Order 13339, entitled “Increasing Economic Opportunity and Business Participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.” The purpose of the Executive Order is to provide equal economic opportunities for full participation of the AAPIs businesses in our free market economy, where they may be underserved and thus improving the quality of life for AAPIs. Mr. Badrina is also responsible for working with the White House and the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs to advise the President on the needs and concerns of this population.
Previously, Mr. Badrina served as Senior Associate at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Specializing in business development and economic growth, he educated and assisted U.S. businesses as they prepared to invest in foreign emerging markets. Prior to OPIC, Mr. Badrina was a congressional advisor at the U.S. Department of State. Focusing on Middle East policy, he acted as a conduit between the State Department and lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In addition to his efforts on Middle East legislation, he worked with top State Department officials on a variety of global issues, including the United Nations, trafficking in persons, democracy development, and human rights. Mr. Badrina’s Federal career began as an appointee to the White House Liaison Office from the Department of State, where he was involved in the Bush Administration’s transition efforts. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Badrina was an associate at the Corporate Executive Board, a best practices research firm located in Washington, DC.
The son of Filipino immigrants, Mr. Badrina was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He graduated from Texas A&M University, earning his B.S. in psychology, and was a member of the Corps of Cadets and the Aggie Band. Pursuing his interests in government and international affairs, he received his Master’s Degree in Public Service and Administration from the George Bush School of Government, and also served as Bush School Fellow in the Capitol Hill office of Rep. Kevin Brady. Mr. Badrina is married to Rachel Hammond Badrina, and they have one daughter.
ROBERT BISI
Director of Outreach, Youth Service America
Robert L. Bisi is the Director of Outreach for Youth Service America (YSA). He is responsible for connecting the youth service, service-learning, and youth civic engagement field with tools, resources, and opportunities that increase their effectiveness, scale, and sustainability. More specifically, he directs and manages the Working Group on National & Community Service; writes and edit’s YSA’s weekly National Service Briefing (35,000+ subscribers); directs and manages YSA’s membership and partnership development; serves as YSA’s representative on the advisory boards of the Youth Vote Coalition (www.youthvote.org); Mobilizing America’s Youth (www.m-a-y.org); and the Gloria Barron Prize (www.barronprize.org); and directs YSA’s Youth Voice Initiative.
Over the past several years, Robert created opportunities for young people to participate in the community, media, and government. For six years, Robert served as the Washington, DC Bureau Director of a national youth run news organization called Children’s Express (CE). As the director, he worked with 150 young reporters and editors (aged 8-18) to produce stories for print, radio, and online media outlets including among others: Reuters Syndicate, Newhouse Syndicate, and National Public Radio. He managed the DC Bureau’s coverage of national media events such as the 1996 and 2000 national political conventions, the 1996 presidential inauguration, and the 1997 Presidents’ Summit on Service and Volunteerism. In addition, he was responsible for the general operations, planning, and fundraising of the DC Bureau.
Before Children’s Express, Robert was a field representative for California Assemblywoman Barbara Lee (D-Oakland). Among many duties, he was responsible for providing constituent services related to worker’s compensation, senior citizens, youth, and unemployment. In order to increase the civic engagement of citizens, he created and managed advisory councils that served as the eyes and ears for Assemblywomen Lee. He is most proud of the youth council, which was made up of young people between the ages of 13 and 18. They provided the member with perspective on pending legislation and issues within the Assembly District affecting youth.
In his spare time, Robert enjoys bike riding, traveling, reading, volunteering, and listening to live Reggae and Latin Jazz. On the volunteering front, he is a seasoned tutor at Community Club in downtown Washington, DC.
Robert has a Bachelors Degree in Political Science with a minor in Urban Studies from San Francisco State University.
CHRISTINE CHEN
Executive Director, Organization of Chinese Americans
Named as one of Newsweek’s “2001 Women of the New Century,” Christine Chen currently serves as the Executive Director for the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national Asian Pacific American civil rights organization based in Washington, D.C. representing over 80 chapters and affiliates. She coordinates programs and monitors issues pertaining to the Asian Pacific American community, such as hate crimes, racial profiling, election reform, immigration reform, and affirmative action. Ms. Chen currently sits on the executive board for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Council of Asian Pacific Americans and for YouthVote, and the advisory boards for the Midwest Asian American Students Union (MAASU), and the East Coast Asian American Students Union (ECASU).
Previously, she served as Director of Programs for OCA for six years. She coordinated the first national Asian Pacific American voter registration and education campaign in 1996 and then served as the National Director for the APIAVote 2000 campaign. The campaign initially registered over 75,000 new voters in 1996 and translated and created voter registration posters in Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese. Ms. Chen also developed a leadership training program, “APIAU: Leadership 101″, which trains over 600 Asian Pacific American college students every year.
DR. NGOC QUANG CHU
President, Vietnamese Professionals Society – DC Chapter
Dr. Chu is the President of the Vietnamese Professionals Society and an Executive Member of Vietcare. Vietcare was started in 1998 by a small group of Vietnamese Americans who were former refugees. When they were in the refugee camps, each one of them made individual promises to return and provide the same assistance that they had received as refugees. Vietcare began its mission at the last “home” for Vietnamese refugees (the Vietvillage in the Philippines) by taking care of the remaining Vietnamese and proceeded to aid the Filipinos who lived in the surrounding communities. Vietcare aims to help other Vietnamese to learn how to form other volunteer groups so that they too, as Vietnamese refugees, can give back, contribute and continue the spirits that got them to where they presently find themselves.
In 2003, Dr. Chu was nominated and accepted into the American College of Dentists. His induction will be in October 2003. The fellowship in the American College of Dentist is given to those who provide leadership in the field of dentistry and demonstrate commitment to community services. Additionally, he received a Gubernatorial Citation from Governor Parrish Glenndening of Maryland.
PROFESSOR VIET D. DINH
Professor of Law; Director, Asian Law & Policy Studies Program
After law school, where he was a Class Marshal and an Olin Research Fellow in Law and Economics, Professor Dinh served as a law clerk to Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. He was Associate Special Counsel to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee for the Whitewater investigation and Special Counsel to U.S. Senator Pete V. Domenici for the impeachment trial of President Clinton. He also serves as counsel to the Special Master mediating a number of lawsuits by Holocaust victims against German and Austrian financial institutions. Most recently, Professor Dinh served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, U.S. Department of Justice. His representative writings include “Codetermination and Corporate Governance in a Multinational Business Enterprise” in the Journal of Corporation Law, “What is the Law in Law and Development?” in The Green Bag, and “Financial Sector Reform and Economic Development in Vietnam” in Law and Policy in International Business.
Born on February 22, 1968, in Saigon, Vietnam, Dinh came to America as a refugee in 1978. After 2 years in Portland, Oregon, his family settled in Fullerton, California. He currently resides in Washington, D.C.
NGUYET ANH DUONG
Director of Science and Technology, Naval Surface Warfare Center, U.S. Department of Defense
Started working as a Chemical Engineer in 1983 at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Indian Head Division.
1991 1999: Managed all Navy basic, exploratory research and advanced development programs in High Explosives. Served as the U.S. Navy focus point for explosives and the transition of Navy explosives into weapon systems, providing consultation to government/military, industries and allied nations.
1999 2002: Managed all NSWC Indian Heads technical programs in Explosives and Undersea Weapons, from concept through engineering development to production and demilitarization. In October 2001, was asked to undertake a special endeavor: help create an urgently needed new weapon (in support of Operation Enduring Freedom) to effectively defeat tunnels and caves being used as terrorists hideouts, in order to spare U.S. troops from the bloody prospect of tunnel-to-tunnel combat in Afghanistan. Successfully assembled and led a team of scientists and engineers to develop the payload for this new weapon, now known as the thermobaric bomb, then proceeded to limited production and delivery to the Air Force, all in an unprecedented period of 67 days.
Successfully led the development and transition of a total of 10 high performing explosives into 18 different U.S. weapons in the past 12 years; this is an unprecedented record of its kind. Was U.S. Delegate at the NATO AC310 Subgroup I for Explosives, and chairman/member of many national and international Panels/Technical Steering Groups.
Received the Dr. Arthur E. Bisson Prize for Achievement in Naval Technology in 1999. Name is engraved in a plaque on permanent display at the Office of Naval Research.
Awarded the Civilian Meritorious Medal in 2001 for superb leadership, technical expertise and significant contributions to the Department of Defense in the area of High Performance Explosives.
2002 present: Director for Science and Technology at NSWC Indian Head. Responsible for Indian Heads overall technical investment strategies, guiding and overseeing research and development programs in all areas of science and technology and focusing these efforts toward the creation of future weapon generations for the United States.
JARED GENSER
President, Freedom Now
Jared Genser is the President of Freedom Now and an associate in the federal affairs and legislative practice group of Piper Rudnick LLP in Washington, D.C. Previously, Jared was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company, the global strategy consulting firm. Before forming Freedom Now, he represented James Mawdsley, a British national who served 416 days of a 17-year sentence in solitary confinement in Burma for handing out pro-democracy leaflets there. Jared holds a B.S. in human service studies from Cornell University, a Master in Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and a J.D., cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. He has published opinion-editorials on human rights topics in such publications as the Washington Post, Asian Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, and Washington Times.
MARK L. KEAM
Chief Counsel, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL); Minority Staff, Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Mark L. Keam is Chief Counsel to United States Senator Richard J. Durbin on the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He is the top legal advisor to the senior Senator of Illinois – a Democrat – on various legislative and political matters that come before the high profile Senate panel. Mr. Keam’s areas of responsibilities include business-related issues in Judiciary such as antitrust, bankruptcy, civil justice reform, corporate and securities fraud, intellectual property, Internet, technology, and telecommunications.
Mr. Keam also supervises a team of attorneys and professionals who work on committee hearings and legislation that address a wide variety of issues, including civil rights and civil liberties, courts, criminal justice, homeland security, immigration, privacy, terrorism, and the Constitution. Mr. Keam and his staff also advise the Senator in the Senate confirmation process for the President’s nominees to various Department of Justice and other executive branch positions, and to serve lifetime judicial appointments on the federal bench.
Before coming to Capitol Hill in 2001, Mr. Keam served in the Clinton Administration as Assistant Chief Counsel in the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration, where he worked to protect the regulatory interests of small, minority-owned, and woman-owned businesses. Prior to that appointment, Mr. Keam was a trial attorney for enforcement with the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission. Before that, Mr. Keam held a number of positions in private, public, and political organizations.
Mr. Keam is active in his profession with various bar activities. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the California and the District of Columbia Bars. He is a past president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of the Greater Washington DC area, and served as the overall coordinator of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s annual national convention that drew over 500 attorneys to the nation’s capital.
Mr. Keam is also involved in his local community, and has served in leadership roles with a variety of grassroots initiatives in the National Capitol region, such as the DC Hate Crimes Task Force, DC Mayor’s Neighborhood Advisory Council, Building One Neighborhood Project, and the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia. Mr. Keam was appointed by Virginia’s Democratic Governor, Mark R. Warner, to serve on the Governor’s Asian American Advisory Board. He is a member of Leadership Washington’s Class of 2001.
As an Asian American political and community activist, Mr. Keam helped found several local and national organizations that work to advance the interests of immigrants and minorities in the United States, including the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Asian Pacific American Coalition for Presidential Appointments, Immigrant Empowerment Council, Centennial Committee of Korean Immigration to the United States, and the Korean American Coalition.
Mr. Keam is a frequent speaker at conferences and events, and his opinions on issues of civil rights, immigration, race, and politics, have been featured in numerous newspapers, books, journals, newsletters, and Internet sites, including Asian Week, The Common Denominator, Far East Economic Review, KoreAm Journal, The Korean Central Daily, The Korea Times, Washington Jewish Weekly, The Washington Post, AsianAvenue.com, Salon.com, and PoliticalCircus.com. Mr. Keam has also appeared on many television and radio programs.
Mr. Keam was born in Seoul, Korea, and grew up in Saigon, Vietnam, Sydney, Australia, and the suburbs of Los Angeles, California. He studied political science at the University of California at Irvine, and was a college intern in Washington, DC, at the Democratic National Committee, and a staff of the Democratic National Convention. Mr. Keam received his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco, where he was elected by his first year section-mates to represent them in student government. He served as a senior editor of the Hastings Law Journal and was on moot court.
DAPHNE KWOK
Executive Director, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies
In April 2001, Daphne Kwok became the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies. Ms. Kwok brings exceptional leadership and organizational skills, political and community contacts, and knowledge of front-burner issues to APAICS.
For 11 years, she was the Executive Director of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a non-profit, civil rights organization with more than 10,000 members. She coordinated programs and services for 45 chapters and 37 college affiliates and monitored issues pertaining to the Asian American community, such as hate crimes, campaign finance reform, immigration reform, Census 2000, English-only, and affirmative action.
During the Wen Ho Lee investigation, Ms. Kwok testified before the Congressional Asian Pacific Caucus on the impact of federal counter-intelligence and security investigations on Asian Pacific Americans at the Department of Energy. She was subsequently appointed to the Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Council.
Empowerment of all APAs has long been one of Ms. Kwok’s core values.
From November 1997 until April 2001, Ms. Kwok was the first elected Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, a network of national APA organizations.
She coordinated a national voter registration campaign involving 19 Asian Pacific American organizations in 1996. This unprecedented campaign registered more than 70,000 voters.
A 1984 graduate of Wesleyan University, Ms. Kwok became the first Asian American member of its Board of Trustees. She has a B.A. in East Asian Studies and Music. She received a Masters in Public Administration from New York’s Baruch City College.
Ms. Kwok currently serves on the board of a wide range of APA groups including the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center, National Coalition of Asian Pacific American Community Development, and the Asian Pacific American Caucus of the American Political Science Association. Her views have been featured on national radio and TV programs as well as in major newspapers and magazines.
Honors include The Women at the Top of the Game Award in 2001, being named one of A Magazine’s One Hundred Most Influential Asian Americans of the Past Decade, World Journal’s Top 100 North American Chinese, a member of the 1999 American Swiss Foundation’s Young Leaders Conference in Vevey, Switzerland, one of 10 delegates selected for the 1997 National Women’s Leadership Group to travel to Israel hosted by the American Jewish Committee, and the Presidential Classroom’s 25th Anniversary Outstanding Alumni Award.
DR. HANH VAN NGUYEN
Director, Office of Refugee Resettlement, Administration for Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh has been Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement since September 2001. He is experienced in refugee assistance management at national and State levels, teaching environmental protection and economic development at universities, writing technical papers, and participating in international conferences.
Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Davis, with specialization in public finance, economic development, and international trade. Earlier, he received a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors from the University of Florida and a Master of Science degree in agricultural science from the same university.
From 1976 to 1981 he was Director, Office of Refugee Affairs, California Health and Welfare Agency, where he also served as Coordinator of the Governor’s California Refugee Task Force.
From 1985 until his current appointment, he was a part-time faculty member at California State University in Sacramento, where he taught environmental science, engineering economics, and socioeconomic adaptation of refugees from Southeast Asia. He has published papers and made presentations at international conferences on Southeast Asian refugees adaptation, economic development, and international environmental issues. He also has been manager of various units responsible for market analysis and development, and member of the Environmental Technology Certification Program, California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). In 1990 he served as representative of California Governor Deukmejian on Community Relations, and earlier had managed various programs as Senior Economist for the State of California in water resources programs.
From 1991 to 1993, Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh was Deputy Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Prior to 1975, he was the Director General of Planning for South Vietnam, in charge of economic development. After returning from the U.S. in 1965, he joined the Nuclear Research Institute in Dalat, South Vietnam to conduct research on radiation biology.
Over the past decade, Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh has received numerous awards and certificates of appreciation from the California Legislature, the Department of Social Services, joint CSUS-UCD teaching recognition, U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture, professional associations and community based non-profit organizations nationwide.
As a presidential appointee, Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh is a member of the Senior Executive Services of America.
HUNG QUOC NGUYEN
President, National Congress of Vietnamese Americans
Hung Nguyen is a community organizer and activist. He holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts and working on his M.A. thesis “Jungian Psychology and the Masculine Spirituality.” He is the President of the National Congress of Vietnamese Americans, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that promotes culture, education and civic involvement. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL) as the Chair of the Washington Leadership Program, the Board of Directors of the Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans of Virginia, the Executive Committee of the NAACP – San José Chapter and the Advisory Committee of the Vietnamese American Professionals Alliance (VAPA). Previously, Hung Nguyen served as Director of Public Relations for the Vietnamese Nationalist Community of Austin, recipient of the National Society of Fund Raiser Executives’ 1999 Philanthropic Organization of the Year Award and the Executive Committee of the California State Conference of the NAACP.
Hung Nguyen has worked on issues affecting the community, including capacity building, economic self-sufficiency, redistricting, human rights, and voter education and empowerment. In addition to being quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San José Mercury News, Associated Press, Fairfax Times and many other community newspapers, he has appeared on television and radio programs to inform and educate the public on hot issues affecting the communities of interest. He is focused in educating the public and working on projects in which the community can increase its effectiveness, capacity/infrastructure and empowerment capabilities. Hung Nguyen currently lives and works in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.
MAI NGUYEN
AAPI/NAAN Program Manager, Federal Aviation Administration
Mai Nguyen is currently working as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) program manager for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Native American/Alaska Native, and People with Disabilities. She joined the FAA in 1991 after spending six years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Peace Corps.
Mrs. Nguyen returned to the Federal Service after spending a decade in the private sector working as management consultant for Space America, DC Associates, Academy of Educational Development, and other International Corporations. She was also a director of personnel for Marriott, Ramada, and the Holiday Crowne Plaza in the Washington Metropolitan.
Mrs. Nguyen received a BA in political science and languages from Wayne State College and did her graduate studies at Ohio University.
MINA NGUYEN
Director of Public Liaison, U.S. Department of Labor
Mina T. Nguyen was recently named Director of Public Liaison by Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. Serving in the Senior Executive Service for the Bush Administration, Nguyen is responsible for providing advice and counsel to the Secretary of Labor on the vast array of workforce development issues and for planning and development of long-range strategy for achieving Secretarial priorities.
Prior to being named Director of Public Liaison, Nguyen was appointed in September of 2001 to serve as Special Assistant to the Secretary of Labor. In this role, Nguyen worked on the Department’s key initiative by addressing the changing needs of the 21st Century Workforce by leading the Department’s national, state and local outreach efforts.
Prior to her appointment, Nguyen was a management consultant with Accenture, the world’s largest global consulting firm, where she developed business strategies for leading companies in the high-tech, transportation and telecommunications industries.
Nguyen has also been recognized for her public service commitments in bridging the digital divide and assisting in the reorganization of the Bay Area juvenile justice system. She spent 2 years mentoring and working with incarcerated youths as a Juvenile Court Advocate for the Alameda County Juvenile Hall.
Nguyen is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Walter A. Haas School of Business where she received a degree in business administration. She also served in the office of California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher as the UC Berkeley President’s Fellow. Nguyen is a resident of Orange County, California.
THANH TRUC NGUYEN
Senior Reporter, Vietnamese American Television
Thanh Truc Nguyen was born in the city of Dalat, Vietnam. She has a MA in French ltterature from the University of Saigon and received an education degree in early childhood in Saigon before 1975. She came to the U.S. as a political refugee and worked for the Montgomery County Social Services in Maryland. She later joined Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) as a Family Service Coordinator. During the five years working at MCPS, she was provided with an opportunity to return to college and studied to be a school counselor.
Thanh Truc began studying mass communications in 1996, at which time she started working for Vietnamese Public Radio, a non-profit organization in Virginia. From 1997 to the present, she has worked for Radio Free Asia, an international broadcasting center funded by the U.S. Congress through the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which oversees all U.S. international broadcasters.
As a reporter, she travels regularly throughout the U.S. and overseas, especially to Southeast Asia. Thanh Truc is also a volunteer and free lance senior reporter for Vietnamese American Television in Washington DC, Little Saigon TV in Orange County, California, and Saigon Broadcasting Television Network (SBTN), a nationally televised broadcast accessible on cable networks.
Thanh Truc enjoys cooking and reading, but for her the most important is devoting and spending quality time with her two children.
VINH NGUYEN
Executive Assistant, Representative Mike Turner (R-OH)
Vinh Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam and raised in Houston, Texas. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1993 to 2001. His duty assignments include the 1st Marine Air Wing, Okinawa, Japan; Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego, CA; and, the Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C.
From 2001 to 2003, Mr. Nguyen worked in the Office of Representative John Linder, 7th Congressional District in Georgia. Currently, he serves as the Executive Assistant in the Office of Representative Mike Turner, 3rd Congressional District in Ohio.
ANTHONY ROMEO
American Legacy Foundation
Anthony Romeo is a 19-year-old student at Seton Hall University in New Jersey majoring in Sociology. Anthony became involved with the tobacco control community very early on, helping to found the “Delaware County Ash Kickers” in his rural town. He was a member of local coalitions before becoming involved with Reality Check in New York State, serving on both the State Board and Executive Board. Anthony has served on Governor Pataki’s “Adolescent Tobacco Use and Prevention Advisory Council” as well as having worked with New Jersey State Assemblymen to tighten tobacco control policies in New Jersey. Anthony is excited to continue his work in the tobacco control community with both youth and adults through activism, advocacy, and empowerment.
THE HONORABLE JOEL SZABAT
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Transportation Policy, U.S. Department of Transportation
Joel Szabat is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Transportation Policy in the Department of Transportation. His portfolio includes Transportation, Energy and the Environment, and the responsibility to coordinate the Department’s implementation of President Bush’s Executive Order on Stewardship and Project Streamlining.
From 1993 through 2001, Joel was the Principal Consultant for Transportation for Republicans in the California State Assembly.
From 1990 to 1993 Joel served in President Bush’s administration, first as the Executive Officer of the Environmental Protection Agency, then as EPA’s liaison to California’s environmental and resource agencies. Before joining EPA, Joel was a management consultant in the private sector specializing in transportation issues.
Joel received a B.A. in economics and government from Georgetown University in 1981, and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1988. Between Georgetown and Harvard, Joel served as a Captain in the United States Army during the Cold War, commanding tank units patrolling the East-West German border.
Joel is from Sacramento, California. He is the founder of the International Leadership Foundation, a non-profit organization providing scholarships for Asian American college students to serve public affairs internships. Joel is also a director of Pacific Housing and the Eskaton Foundation, non-profit organizations providing affordable housing and senior care. His wife, Chiling Tong, is a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Asia and the Pacific in the Commerce Department.
DOUA THOR
Policy Advocate, Hmong National Development
Doua is Hmong American. She and her family immigrated from Laos to Detroit, Michigan in 1979. They were apart of hundreds of thousands of Hmong families who were refugees after supporting and fighting on the side of the United States in the Secret Wars of Laos. She holds a graduate degree from the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work with a concentration on Social Policy and Evaluation. While in graduate school, Doua worked with the Youth Initiatives Project, a program led by young people working on antiviolence and antigun campaigns. In April of 2002 Doua was awarded the New Voices Fellowship and is now working with Hmong National Development (HND) as the Policy Advocate. HND is the only national Hmong organization based in Washington, DC whose missions is to develop the capacity to ensure the full participation of the Hmong in this country.
In the past Doua has been involved with the local Detroit community. She served as a board member for Hmong Women United of Michigan, the only Hmong women’s organization in Michigan. She was also one of the co-founders of Hmong of Tomorrow-a youth group in the Detroit Metropolitan area. She graduated with her undergraduate degree from Wayne State University while working with an organization called Neighborhood Service Organization, where she served as a bridge between the Hmong community and many social service institutions in the Detroit area.
Currently she serves as a board member for the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum and was the first graduate scholar of the Council on Asian Pacific American Leadership. Overall, Doua is dedicated and committed to the community. She plans to utilize her social work degree to advocate and work towards social justice at the same time increasing awareness about the Southeast Asian community in America.
DZUNG TRAN
Chief Technology Officer, Ecutel Systems
Mr. Tran is a founder and Chief Technology Officer of Ecutel, a leading provider of secure roaming and communications technology for enterprise mobile workforces. Currently, he is the CEO of Da Hieu Youth Alliance and the Assistant Chairman of the Representative Council of the Assembly of the Republic Vietnam Veterans Overseas. He has previously served as Vice President of External Affairs for the Vietnamese American Community of Washington DC, Virginia and Maryland and as president of the Washington DC chapter of the Vietnamese Professional Society.
Mr. Tran has an MS degree in computer science from George Washington University and a BS degree in computer science with Magna Cum Laude, from The University of Maryland.
DR. EUGENE HUU-CHAU TRINH
Astronaut & Director, Physical Sciences Research Division, NASA Headquarters
Dr. Eugene H. Trinh is the Director of the Physical Sciences Research Division in the Biological and Physical Research Enterprise at NASA Headquarters. He came to NASA HQ In 1999 as a Senior Research Scientist from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where for twenty years he conducted experimental and theoretical research in Fluid Dynamics, Fundamental Materials Science, and Levitation Technology. He conducted hands-on experimental investigations in laboratories, aboard the NASA KC-135 airplane, and on the Space Shuttle Columbia. Dr. Trinh was a Payload Specialist crew member on the STS-50/United States Microgravity Lab-1 Space Shuttle flight in 1992.
As the Director of the Physical Sciences Research Division at NASA, Dr. Trinh leads the effort to develop an innovative peer-reviewed scientific program focusing on the effects of gravity on physical, chemical, and biological systems. The results of this program will enable the human exploration and development of space, providing the scientific basis for technologies permitting humankind to explore the vast expanses of our solar system and beyond. Dr. Trinh graduated with a BS in Engineering from Columbia University and earned a PhD in Engineering from Yale University.
Dr. Trinh was born in Saigon, Viet Nam, raised from the age of two in Paris, France and has lived in the United States since 1968. He graduated from Lycee Michelet in Paris, France with a Baccalaureate degree in 1968. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering-Applied Physics from Columbia University in 1972; Masters of Science and of Philosophy and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Applied Physics from Yale University in 1974, 1975, and 1977 respectively.