 |
|
|
|
|
Sunday, September 05, 2010
|
|
|
|
 | Meet the NAAAP Connecticut Leadership Team! The NAAAP Connecticut leadership team is a group of dedicated volunteers that serve the organization, run its programs and events on the local level and represent Connecticut on the national level. The leadership team consists of elected board members and appointed committee chairs. If you are interested in joining the NAAAP Connecticut leadership team, please review our open positions and contact us. |
| | Meet the NAAAP Connecticut Leadership Team! The NAAAP Connecticut leadership team is a group of dedicated volunteers that serve the organization, run its programs and events on the local level and represent Connecticut on the national level. The leadership team consists of elected board members and appointed committee chairs. If you are interested in joining the NAAAP Connecticut leadership team, please review our open positions and contact us. |
|
 |
| Board of Directors & Chairs
|
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Role
Heang Tan serves as the President and oversees the execution of the overall mission and vision of NAAAP Connecticut. She has been a member since 2007 and feels privileged to be part of such a pivotal time in NAAAP Connecticut's history.
Bio
Heang was born in Cambodia and arrived to the United States as a refugee in 1982 with her family. She actively participates in several community initiatives. This includes serving on the board of the Junior League of Hartford and coaching youth lacrosse. In 2008, Heang was a recipient of a Health Leaders Fellowship and was honored with the Exemplary Citizen award for her service in the community in 2009. She graduated from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology.
Professionally for seven years, she worked at Khmer Health Advocates (KHA), a community-based organization that provides health care and torture treatment services to survivors of the Cambodian Holocaust for, where she was in charge of a national federally funded program, the National Cambodian American Diabetes Project. Heang has first hand experience as a community health worker and is a long time advocate and community organizer on issues pertaining to racial and ethnic health disparities, access to health care and genocide awareness as a public health concern. |
|
 |
|
Vice President - Lyna Sun
Role
Lyna Sun is the Vice-President of Strategy and Operations of NAAAP-Connecticut with the responsibilities of developing and advancing the structure of the group and as well as expanding the corporate relations of NAAAP-Connecticut.
Bio
Lyna Sun has been involved with NAAAP since 2004 and played a pivotal role in the legal entity setup, foundation and mobilization of NAAAP-CT. She believes that dedication and focus on one’s professional development will yield a grand return on investment for the individual leader and the Asian-American community as a whole.
Currently, she is a manager in the Transaction Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young where she advises fortune 100 companies on readiness, execution and value creation and realization of carve-out divestitures and acquisition integrations ranging from $800M to $7.4B, across over 78 countries in Europe, Asia and North/South America. She enjoys helping clients prepare for change by embedding cultural awareness, change readiness, effective communications and adequate training into scope in order to bring employees along the journey of transformation. Additionally, she advises clients on the design and implementation of business processes, systems and infrastructure to streamline organizational structures, reduce costs, increase resource efficiencies, and enhance quality to their customers.
In Lyna’s free time, she enjoys spending time with family and catching up with friends over delicious meals and blockbuster nights. As an outlet, occasionally she likes to take her Suzuki GSX-R 600 out for a cruise in the open air.
|
|
|
Role
Linda is the treasurer of NAAAP-Connecticut with the responsibilities of maintaining NAAAP-Connecticut funds.
Bio
Linda grew up in West Hartford, CT and attended Bowdoin College in Maine. She graduated with a B.A. in Asian Studies and Economics. After graduation she moved back to Connecticut and works as an Analyst at Landmark Partners, a Private Equity and Real Estate Investment Firm in Simsbury. She joined the Junior League in 2007 and participates on the board of the National Association of Asian American Professionals - Connecticut. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, competing in triathlons, and running in marathons. |
| |
|
|
 |
|
Role
Jean is the Secretary of NAAAP-CT where she serves on the officer board and as parliamentarian at meetings of the Board of Directors.
Bio
Jean was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and earned her Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Jean now resides near Hartford, Connecticut, and is a Senior Actuarial Analyst in the Life Insurance Company of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Before joining the NAAAP-CT leadership team, Jean was already very involved in the APA community as an officer in the University of Illinois Asian American Association for three years, one each as Fundraising Co-Chair, Secretary, and Academic/Alumni Co-Chair, and at the same time, Secretary on the Executive Coordinating Committee of the Midwest Asian American Students Union for two of those years.
|
 |
|
Role
Joseph Xiao serves as the Technology Chair. He oversees the NAAAP Connecticut website as well as answer questions and provide suggestions on how to best utilize available technology.
Bio
Graduate from RPI with a degree in Computer and Systems Engineering; Joe currently works for Aetna in Hartford, Connecticut. In his spare time he enjoys hanging out with friends, watching movies, and working in the shop.
|
 |
|
Role
Socheata Poeuv is the Director of Programs of NAAAP-Connecticut with the distinctive responsibilities of developing wonderful and innovative programs to engage the APA professional community.
Bio
Socheata Poeuv is the CEO of Khmer Legacies, an organization whose mission is to document the Cambodian genocide through videotaped testimonies by having the younger generation interview the older generation. She was selected as a 2007 Echoing Green fellow, selected as one of the most promising social entrepreneurs in the world from a competition of over 1000 applicants. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Yale University Genocide Studies Program. She is the winner of the 2008 Jewish World Watch iWitness Award, an award honoring those who work to memorialize genocide. Socheata Poeuv made her filmmaking debut with the award-winning film, NEW YEAR BABY which was broadcast nationally on Independent Lens on PBS in 2008. She co-founded Broken English Productions in New York City. She was on staff at NBC News Dateline, ABC News World News Tonight and NBC News TODAY. Socheata graduated cum laude with a B.A. in English literature from Smith College in 2002 and studied one year at Hertford College, Oxford.
|
 |
|
Role
William J. Lee holds the position as a director of Events with NAAAP-Connecticut since 2009. Will possesses the responsibility of developing interesting and interactive professional networking and social events for advancing the professional development of the APA community in Connecticut.
Bio
Will obtained his undergraduate Business degree from Northeastern University in 2001. He is employed by Hartford Hospital as a Pharmaceutical Buyer. Will also enjoys spending time with friends and family, especially his cousins.
|
 |
|
Director of Membership - Mimi Syharat-Long
Role
Mimi is the Membership Director for NAAAP-Connecticut and is charged with membership relations, recruitment and outreach. This is her second year serving as a board member; however, she has been an active member since 2005. Mimi’s main focus is to develop membership-specific programming toward building and maintaining membership value.
Bio
Mimi is a full time realtor in the state Connecticut with Prudential CT Realty. She specializes in Fist Time Home Buyers and hold seminars on it. Prudential CT Realty has over 1200 real estate agents and it is nationwide. Previous to starting her career at PRU Mimi was studying for her elementary certification. Mimi graduated from Central Connecticut State University in 2005 with BA in History & Child Psychology. Mimi enjoys meeting new people and shopping. She happily lives with her husband, Billy Long.
|
 |
|
Role
One of our newest board members, Matthew Lin, has taken on responsibility as the Director of Community Relations. In this role, he builds and maintain community partners and develops programs around community service and and awareness of Asian American heritage and culture.
Bio
During his undergraduate years at the University of Connecticut, Matthew was involved in various student organizations through the Asian American Cultural Center and other cultural centers on the Storrs campus. His accomplishments include holding the position of Associate Conference Chair of Identifying the Missing Powers of Asian Americans Conference (IMPAACT) back in November 2007. The conference addressed the API community and the community at large about hate crimes committed against Asian Americans. Matthew is also owner of Matthew Lin Photography LLC, in West Hartford.
|
 |
|
Role Elizabeth Myung Sook Krause is a new board member-at-large whose role includes helping NAAAP-CT build its organizational capacity. She represents NAAAP-CT in the national Women in NAAAP (WIN) Initiative.
Bio
Elizabeth was born in Seoul, Korea, adopted as an infant, and raised in the Seattle and San Francisco Bay areas. She was lured to New England for quintessential higher education experiences at Smith and Harvard. She is currently a Senior Program Officer at the Connecticut Health Foundation, the state's largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving lives by changing health systems.
Elizabeth believes that there is a critical need for visible, influential Asian American leadership in Connecticut. She is a past board member of the Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut. |
|
|
|
Role
Heang Tan serves as the President and oversees the execution of the overall mission and vision of NAAAP Connecticut. She has been a member since 2007 and feels privileged to be part of such a pivotal time in NAAAP Connecticut's history.
Bio
Heang was born in Cambodia and arrived to the United States as a refugee in 1982 with her family. She actively participates in several community initiatives. This includes serving on the board of the Junior League of Hartford and coaching youth lacrosse. In 2008, Heang was a recipient of a Health Leaders Fellowship and was honored with the Exemplary Citizen award for her service in the community in 2009. She graduated from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology.
Professionally for seven years, she worked at Khmer Health Advocates (KHA), a community-based organization that provides health care and torture treatment services to survivors of the Cambodian Holocaust for, where she was in charge of a national federally funded program, the National Cambodian American Diabetes Project. Heang has first hand experience as a community health worker and is a long time advocate and community organizer on issues pertaining to racial and ethnic health disparities, access to health care and genocide awareness as a public health concern. |
|
|
|
Vice President - Lyna Sun
Role
Lyna Sun is the Vice-President of Strategy and Operations of NAAAP-Connecticut with the responsibilities of developing and advancing the structure of the group and as well as expanding the corporate relations of NAAAP-Connecticut.
Bio
Lyna Sun has been involved with NAAAP since 2004 and played a pivotal role in the legal entity setup, foundation and mobilization of NAAAP-CT. She believes that dedication and focus on one’s professional development will yield a grand return on investment for the individual leader and the Asian-American community as a whole.
Currently, she is a manager in the Transaction Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young where she advises fortune 100 companies on readiness, execution and value creation and realization of carve-out divestitures and acquisition integrations ranging from $800M to $7.4B, across over 78 countries in Europe, Asia and North/South America. She enjoys helping clients prepare for change by embedding cultural awareness, change readiness, effective communications and adequate training into scope in order to bring employees along the journey of transformation. Additionally, she advises clients on the design and implementation of business processes, systems and infrastructure to streamline organizational structures, reduce costs, increase resource efficiencies, and enhance quality to their customers.
In Lyna’s free time, she enjoys spending time with family and catching up with friends over delicious meals and blockbuster nights. As an outlet, occasionally she likes to take her Suzuki GSX-R 600 out for a cruise in the open air.
|
|
|
Role
Linda is the treasurer of NAAAP-Connecticut with the responsibilities of maintaining NAAAP-Connecticut funds.
Bio
Linda grew up in West Hartford, CT and attended Bowdoin College in Maine. She graduated with a B.A. in Asian Studies and Economics. After graduation she moved back to Connecticut and works as an Analyst at Landmark Partners, a Private Equity and Real Estate Investment Firm in Simsbury. She joined the Junior League in 2007 and participates on the board of the National Association of Asian American Professionals - Connecticut. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, competing in triathlons, and running in marathons. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
Role
Jean is the Secretary of NAAAP-CT where she serves on the officer board and as parliamentarian at meetings of the Board of Directors.
Bio
Jean was born and raised in Silver Spring, Maryland, and earned her Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Jean now resides near Hartford, Connecticut, and is a Senior Actuarial Analyst in the Life Insurance Company of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Before joining the NAAAP-CT leadership team, Jean was already very involved in the APA community as an officer in the University of Illinois Asian American Association for three years, one each as Fundraising Co-Chair, Secretary, and Academic/Alumni Co-Chair, and at the same time, Secretary on the Executive Coordinating Committee of the Midwest Asian American Students Union for two of those years.
|
| |
|
Role
Joseph Xiao serves as the Technology Chair. He oversees the NAAAP Connecticut website as well as answer questions and provide suggestions on how to best utilize available technology.
Bio
Graduate from RPI with a degree in Computer and Systems Engineering; Joe currently works for Aetna in Hartford, Connecticut. In his spare time he enjoys hanging out with friends, watching movies, and working in the shop.
|
| |
|
Role
Socheata Poeuv is the Director of Programs of NAAAP-Connecticut with the distinctive responsibilities of developing wonderful and innovative programs to engage the APA professional community.
Bio
Socheata Poeuv is the CEO of Khmer Legacies, an organization whose mission is to document the Cambodian genocide through videotaped testimonies by having the younger generation interview the older generation. She was selected as a 2007 Echoing Green fellow, selected as one of the most promising social entrepreneurs in the world from a competition of over 1000 applicants. She is a Visiting Fellow at the Yale University Genocide Studies Program. She is the winner of the 2008 Jewish World Watch iWitness Award, an award honoring those who work to memorialize genocide. Socheata Poeuv made her filmmaking debut with the award-winning film, NEW YEAR BABY which was broadcast nationally on Independent Lens on PBS in 2008. She co-founded Broken English Productions in New York City. She was on staff at NBC News Dateline, ABC News World News Tonight and NBC News TODAY. Socheata graduated cum laude with a B.A. in English literature from Smith College in 2002 and studied one year at Hertford College, Oxford.
|
| |
|
Role
William J. Lee holds the position as a director of Events with NAAAP-Connecticut since 2009. Will possesses the responsibility of developing interesting and interactive professional networking and social events for advancing the professional development of the APA community in Connecticut.
Bio
Will obtained his undergraduate Business degree from Northeastern University in 2001. He is employed by Hartford Hospital as a Pharmaceutical Buyer. Will also enjoys spending time with friends and family, especially his cousins.
|
|
|
Director of Membership - Mimi Syharat-Long
Role
Mimi is the Membership Director for NAAAP-Connecticut and is charged with membership relations, recruitment and outreach. This is her second year serving as a board member; however, she has been an active member since 2005. Mimi’s main focus is to develop membership-specific programming toward building and maintaining membership value.
Bio
Mimi is a full time realtor in the state Connecticut with Prudential CT Realty. She specializes in Fist Time Home Buyers and hold seminars on it. Prudential CT Realty has over 1200 real estate agents and it is nationwide. Previous to starting her career at PRU Mimi was studying for her elementary certification. Mimi graduated from Central Connecticut State University in 2005 with BA in History & Child Psychology. Mimi enjoys meeting new people and shopping. She happily lives with her husband, Billy Long.
|
| |
|
Role
One of our newest board members, Matthew Lin, has taken on responsibility as the Director of Community Relations. In this role, he builds and maintain community partners and develops programs around community service and and awareness of Asian American heritage and culture.
Bio
During his undergraduate years at the University of Connecticut, Matthew was involved in various student organizations through the Asian American Cultural Center and other cultural centers on the Storrs campus. His accomplishments include holding the position of Associate Conference Chair of Identifying the Missing Powers of Asian Americans Conference (IMPAACT) back in November 2007. The conference addressed the API community and the community at large about hate crimes committed against Asian Americans. Matthew is also owner of Matthew Lin Photography LLC, in West Hartford.
|
| |
|
Role Elizabeth Myung Sook Krause is a new board member-at-large whose role includes helping NAAAP-CT build its organizational capacity. She represents NAAAP-CT in the national Women in NAAAP (WIN) Initiative.
Bio
Elizabeth was born in Seoul, Korea, adopted as an infant, and raised in the Seattle and San Francisco Bay areas. She was lured to New England for quintessential higher education experiences at Smith and Harvard. She is currently a Senior Program Officer at the Connecticut Health Foundation, the state's largest independent health philanthropy dedicated to improving lives by changing health systems.
Elizabeth believes that there is a critical need for visible, influential Asian American leadership in Connecticut. She is a past board member of the Asian Pacific American Coalition of Connecticut. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|