Chinatown Beautification Day 2013
"SPEAK! Redefining Our Narratives"
Workshop Facilitators
CALVIN SUN is awesome and writes about himself in the third person all the time. Born and raised in NYC, Calvin graduated from Columbia University in 2008 with a B.A. in biochemistry and was Vice President of his class. He also was the founder of the Columbia University National Undergraduate Film Festival (CUNUFF) and served as the President of the Columbia University Asian American Alliance (AAA). During his presidency, AAA's accomplishments were profiled on CNN and Sparknotes, and his organization was selected that year by AngryAsianMan and APAs for Progress as one of the "Top 10 Collegiate Organizations for AAPI Students" in the country. Calvin and his work have also been featured in Hyphen and Asiance Magazine.
In the media, Calvin was a host on MTVu’s hit show “The Freshmen" for four years and is an award winning independent filmmaker. He is known for his films on Asian American stereotypes, identity, and female body image, the last of which won the inaugural One to Watch Audience Award at the 2007 Asian American International Film Festival. His work on Asian American Beauty and Female Body Image has been published in various articles and books, including The American Beauty Industry Encyclopedia.
After his experience in the entertainment industry, Calvin founded The Monsoon Diaries (http://www.monsoondiaries.com): a popular wanderlust blog that focuses on how to travel the world without time or money. The blog covers his adventures to over 40 countries in the past 2 years including building a free clinic in Tijuana and visiting places like North Korea, Iran, Chernobyl,
Kashmir, and Myanmar. The Monsoon Diaries has been featured multiple times on USA Today, BusinessInsider.com, South Korea's Yonghap News, Radio Freedom, CBC, the Angel Clark Show, and hundreds of other blogs around the world. Some of his followers include celebrities such as Rachel Maddow and Gerard Butler. (And if you're interested in joining him for this year's travels to Mongolia, Cuba, Iceland, Pakistan, Antarctica or Tibet, just ask!)
When he isn't globe-trotting, Calvin attends medical school in NYC and is the President of his class. He also manages a business in healthcare, serves as the current President of the Columbia College Young Alumni (CCYA), and sits on the Board of Directors for the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU), a national 501(c)(3) non-profit and the oldest and largest ethnic-interest collegiate organization in the country.
In his spare time (if any!), Calvin cultivates a passion in hip hop choreography and South Asian dance while paying for medical school by working odd jobs as a bartending instructor, research assistant, events promoter, and DJ. Since he was 20 years old Calvin has been invited to speak at over 50 high schools, universities, and conferences around the country, and continues to be one of the youngest speakers in the Asian American speaking circuit.
Finally, Calvin is an expert in underwater fire prevention and rescuing small animals. Rumor has it that he performed a transurethal guided laser induced prostatectomy on a male squirrel with his bare feet all while doing pushups with one finger.
DIANE WONG is currently a doctoral student at Cornell University's Department of Government. She recently graduated from SUNY Binghamton where she studied Political Science and Asian American Studies with a concentration in the Chinese language.
As a 2012-13 American Political Science Association Minority Fellow, Diane's research stems from her passion for community building and civic activism. Her research interests include American politics, Asian American politics, immigration, urban politics and policy, race and ethnicity, transnationalism, and youth activism. She has recently traveled to New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Jose, and Chicago to examine the process by which Asian immigrant communities are incorporated into the political process.
Diane has worked with various non-profit organizations. During her time in Washington D.C., she helped plan the 2010 Advancing Justice Conference, a national civil and social rights conference that works to bring together Asian Pacific American leaders from across the country to address a broad range of issues facing the community. Diane has also served as a Student Ambassador for the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership, International Leadership Foundation Fellow, and Federal Service Student Ambassador for the Partnership for Public Service.
As the Director of Advocacy at the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU), Diane is currently working with students, faculty, and administrators from various college campuses to facilitate the establishment of Asian American Studies Programs across the country. She has also organized civic engagement projects to advance Asian American issues around the country including: voter registration with APIAVote!, voter protection with AALDEF, Be the Change Campaign with SAALT, 1882 Campaign with the 1882 Project, mental health summit with NAAPIMHA, and Vigil for Pvt. Danny Chen with OCA-NY.
JANET NAMKUNG is a recent graduate of Ramapo College of New Jersey with a B.A. in Psychology. She is currently an Immigration Reform intern for the New York Chapter of OCA, and will soon serve as a Team Leader for the AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC) and FEMA Corps in Denver.
Janet became invested in social justice at an early age. While being intensively involved in Model UN and Model Congress, she started the Amnesty International Chapter at her high school. She created a benefit event called "Battle for Darfur", where local bands would perform to raise money to assist displaced refugees in Darfur, a region in Sudan that has been in a state of humanitarian emergency since 2003. In 2006, out of the entire state of New Jersey, she was chosen, along with 99 other NJ High School Juniors, to attend the Governor's School of New Jersey to study International Studies and Political Engagement.
Shortly after beginning her undergraduate career, Janet discovered her passion for activism and advocacy for the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. To fuel her passion, she served as a Campus Ambassador for the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) and the President of the United Asian Association (UAA) on her campus. She was also the leading force in getting the Diversity and Inclusiveness goal, reinstated into her college's Strategic Plan. Without the goal, the current and future community members of the school would have suffered from further misrepresentation and under-representation.
She hopes to learn more about the spectrum of diversity and social justice in the United States while serving in AmeriCorps as a Team Leader and to use what she learns there in her future work in advocacy to benefit the AAPI community.
JOHNNY THACH is a native New Yorker raised in Flushing, Queens and a graduate student at the CUNY Graduate Center studying Urban Education and Migration and Global Studies. He graduated from Binghamton University where he majored in Asian and Asian American Studies. He works as a Museum Educator at the Museum of Chinese in America, and also at the MinKwon Center for Community Action. He is an Advocacy Coordinator of this year’s National Board of the East Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU) where he helped to design such projects as Important Dates in Asian American History, Asian American Studies Initiative, and VOICE. Recently, Johnny has founded the 2360 Project for grassroots organizing.
A native New Yorker and CYI alum, VINCENT FANG has been with Chinatown Youth Initiatives for nearly 6 years, in his capacities as a CBD volunteer, CLP Language Partner, and SLI Coordinator. He currently resides in Washington D.C., where he is finishing off his internship at the White House. In September, Vincent will transition to his new position as a Press Assistant with the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.
Vincent graduated Magna Cum Laude from Syracuse University in 2013.
WENDY XU is based in Brooklyn and is the mind behind Angry Girl Comics. Last year, her first published work appeared in Shattered: The Asian American Comics Anthology, where she illustrated "The Vilcek Story", written by Jeff Yang of the Wall St. Journal. She also signed her first graphic novel deal last year with New Leaf Literary and Media for a fun supernatural story about ghosts and witches. Her work has been featured on several popular sites such as Buzzfeed and Memebase and she has also been a guest on arts panels for the last two consecutive years at the annual New York City Asian American Student Conference.
NICOLE FINK, MSW, is a rising 2L at New England School of Law. Prior to joining the Board of Directors in 2013, Nicole held the positions of Advocacy Coordinator (2011-2012) and Associate Director (2012-2013) on ECAASU National. She graduated in 2012 with her Master’s Degree of Social Work with a concentration in Community Organization from the University of Connecticut (UCONN) School of Social Work. She received her Bachelor of Arts from UCONN in 2010 with a double major in Psychology and Asian Americans in the U.S. Legal System.
Nicole has been actively involved with Asian Pacific American community during her undergraduate and graduate career. She was the coordinator of Kids & UCONN Bridging Education, a multicultural mentoring program, and participated in various panels and events representing UCONN’s Asian American Cultural Center. During her time at the UCONN School of Social Work, she served as co-chair of the Asian American Student Organization, Disaster Response Committee and Community Organization Concentration. Nicole also worked at the United Nations advocating for social development and girls’ rights.
In 2010, Nicole was the recipient of the Roger N. Buckley Scholarship, awarded to an outstanding undergraduate student with a demonstrated interest in Asian American Studies. In the 2011-2012 academic year, Nicole was awarded the UCONN Provost’s Award for Excellence in Public Engagement, and the Outstanding Senior Woman Academic Achievement Award by the UCONN Provost’s Office, Women Center and Alumni Association for her contributions to the University of Connecticut School of Social Work community and AAPI community.
Most recently, Nicole was awarded the Rappaport Fellowship in Law and Public Policy from the Rappaport Center at for Law and Public Service at Suffolk University Law. She is currently placed at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee where she advocates for individuals with mental health disabilities.
Nicole’s goals are to help the AAPI community finds its political voice and become more involved in the political system. She wants to help students recognize that even though each and every individual has a different background, we are one community, and that it is a strong and powerful community.
ALINA SHEN is a workshop facilitator and prefers if you come up and talk to her rather than rely on this facilitator biography. Here is an icebreaker: “Where is your workshop located so I may attend?” Alina has been handling a fascination with Asian Americans in the media since she realized her television screen is not a mirror, despite being similarly shiny and reflective at times.
Immediate goals: Be a better person by giving you (yes, YOU) a challenge at her workshop
Personal goals: Become a stuffed, nubby bear that squishes when hugged
ANDREW HUANG is an Assistant Program Manager at the Office of Viral Hepatitis Coordination at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Andrew is currently finishing his Bachelor’s degree at Cornell University, majoring in China & Asia-Pacific Studies with a minor in Health Policy. His academic interest in public health started with an internship at the NYU Center for Study of Asian American Health, where he conducted research and organized outreach efforts on hepatitis B and other health disparities affecting Asian immigrant and Asian American communities in New York City. Andrew has also worked at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, where he assisted health policy officials in the dissemination of the Affordable Care Act. In his current capacity, Andrew coordinates trainings on viral hepatitis B and C to providers and community organizations across NYC and helps manage Team HBV NYC, the new student outreach arm of the NYC Hepatitis B Coalition.
NIKI BANNISTER, MPH MS is the Hepatitis B Program Associate at Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (CBWCHC). She earned her Master in Public Health degree in Health Promotion from Columbia University. Ms. Bannister coordinates the hepatitis B programs at CBWCHC and works with various local and national organizations on hepatitis B-related efforts. The Charles B. Wang Community Health Center (CBWCHC) is a federally qualified health center that serves low income Asian Americans in the Greater New York City area. Since 1995, CBWCHC has been addressing the burden of hepatitis B infection in NYC through a comprehensive outreach, education, screening, vaccination and treatment program.
STEVEN HUANG recently graduated from Stuyvesant High School and is an incoming freshman at Binghamton University. Since his freshman year, he has been involved in CYI. In CBD, he has served as a participant and a group leader. During his sophomore year in high school, he discovered his interest in computer science, and decided to continue to pursue this passion as his college major. In his spare time, apart from working on small computer applications, he works on personal fitness by boxing and hitting the gym. He is very excited to facilitate his first workshop.
ALEXANDER J. "AJ" VALERA is a sophomore at Swarthmore College, where he pursues majors in computer science and mathematics. His research includes dead-reckoning algorithms, probabilistic mapping as a GPS alternative, and peer-to-peer probabilistic inferencing. Most of all, he enjoys learning about how people function in a world changing faster than society can adapt, and hopes to use this knowledge to bring about positive change in the worlds of computer science and education. He has been involved with CYI in various capacities, most recently as its Administrator.
KANUPRIYA "PRIYA" PANDEY is currently a rising senior at Francis Lewis High School, in Fresh Meadows. Last Summer, Priya got involved with the MinKwon Center for Community Action, a non for profit organization in Flushing, Queens that has been serving the Asian American Community since 1984 as a youth member. Through their Youth Empowerment Program, she learned about different issues affecting the AAPI community such as immigration reform, civic participation, and redistricting. Ever since, Priya has been committed to raising awareness about the federal DREAM act and comprehensive immigration reform as well as mobilizing AAPI youth in NYC. Priya has spoken at several youth conferences, and helps coordinate the youth program today.
Priya also has a passion for service, and is currently Vice President of her school’s key club. Through Key Club she has organized several initiatives and efforts to make her community a better place. Priya loves to travel and learn new languages. From a young age, she has always had an interest in the world beyond the concrete jungles of New York City. In her free time, Priya enjoys writing her own short stories, watching French films, and trying out new food.
DIANA EUSEBIO attends Hostos Lincoln Academy in the Bronx. She is also an Undocumented Activist, and a core-member of the New York State Youth Leadership Council. She is a member of the GSA club in her school, Students Modeling a Research Topic(SMART)Team and takes college classes. Diana participated in the summer of 2012 as an intern in the OCA-NY Hate Crimes Prevention Program, one year later she helped coordinate it. Diana has learned about hate crimes and ways to prevent them, and wants to share her knowledge to other youth.
Born and raised in NYC, IVY PAN is a rising sophomore studying Operations Research at Columbia University. She has been involved in the Asian American community since high school as co-President of Hunter College High School's Asian Cultural Society. While in high school, she also participated in CYI's Summer Leadership Institute and led a group during Chinatown Beautification Day two years ago. She continues to pursue her interests in Asian American affairs in undergraduate studies; Ivy is the current publicity chair in Columbia's Asian American Alliance, a student organization that strives to serve the APA community at Columbia University. She was the co-director of Crossroads, a day-long leadership conference for high school students at Columbia University, this past year. Besides Asian American groups, she also hopes to serve the interests of other minority groups in NYC. This summer, Ivy was OCA-NY's Hate Crimes Prevention Intern and coordinator of OCA-NY's 7th Annual Hate Crimes Prevention Art Project, an art contest for NYC youth in order to teach them what a hate crime is and how to prevent them through art. The contest received a record number of 63 submissions from youth groups all over the city. This year's contest has been the most diverse in terms of artworks submitted and participants. Lastly, Ivy has also helped out in OCA-NY's advocacy efforts for Danny Chen, namely the co-naming street campaign. She will continue to work for OCA-NY in the fall in immigration advocacy. Ivy's goals are to help the Asian American community reach out and work with other minority groups and to educate the youth on the sociopolitical issues that plague our society today.
