Who is APEN?

ayesha@apen4ej.org

Ayesha is a first-generation Pakistani American raised in the Bay Area. Her early childhood experiences in Pakistan led her to become involved in a number of non-profit organizations providing resources to communities in need both locally and globally. Ayesha went on to receive a degree in Political Science from UC Riverside and continued to combat inequity by leading cultural competency education workshops and building multi-cultural coalitions. Through her community organizing and outreach work, she was awarded the Sumi Harada API Leadership Award and went on to be a Ronald O. Loveridge Policy Fellow. Ayesha is excited for her role as the State Organizer where she can use her strengths in community outreach, education, and organizing in conjunction with her knowledge of statewide policy. In her free time, you can find her propagating houseplants, volunteering as a counselor for Exhale, or taking a hike.

terilyn@apen4ej.org

Terilyn was born and raised in the East Bay. She studied Environmental Science and Public Policy as an undergraduate at Harvard University, and first became involved with APEN in 2018 as a fellow. As Policy and Research Fellow, Terilyn developed a slate of state bill proposals for APEN and helped to write a report on community resilience to climate impacts. Prior to becoming State Policy Organizer, she worked at the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club. Terilyn loves plants, bodies of water, and Durga Chew-Bose’s writing.

marie@apen4ej.org

Marie is a second generation diasporic Korean mama, researcher, and radio producer. She has worked on shows like Making Contact, Upfront, Hard Knock Radio, and Apex Express. She has put her research and communications skills to work, supporting workers and communities organizing both inside and outside of NGOs and unions. She likes cooking, swimming, and audio stories for children.

christine@apen4ej.org

Raised by a Filipino immigrant family in the working class town of Pittsburg (no “h”), CA, Christine acts from the deep belief that we are stronger together and can go farther together than we ever could alone. She is Co-Director of Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), organizing with immigrants and refugees for a healthy environment and thriving economy for all communities. For over 20 years, Christine strategized, organized, and built coalitions across environmental health and justice, workers rights, and economic and racial justice issues. Previously, she was Executive Director at the Center for Story-based Strategy, training 2,000+ people and working with 200+ groups to reinvigorate narrative strategies for social justice. Christine is an ordained priest of the Chozen-ji line of Rinzai Zen, and trains in Oakland, CA and Kalihi Valley, HI. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics from Stanford University, with a focus on language and power.

isa@apen4ej.org

Raised in Sacramento, Isa is a Mexican-American writer, editor, shower-singer and older sister. Isa learned to plan actions and build coalitions as a student organizer with her campus’s fossil fuel divestment campaign. After college, Isa worked as the statewide Communications Manager with the California Environmental Justice Alliance. Isa has trained and completed fellowships with the Sunrise Movement, 350.org, ReFrame, and the Center for Story-based Strategy. She credits her belief in storytelling and love of a good yard-sale to her grandmother, who never let a good story (or bargain) pass her by.

jingjing@apen4ej.org

Jing Jing was born in TaiShan, GuangDong, China. She immigrated to the United States when she was 13. She speaks fluently in TaiShanese, Mandarin, Cantonese and English. She graduated last year with a Social Welfare degree from UC Berkeley. Jing Jing’s role at APEN as a community organizer helps fight for social and environmental justice. Previously, Jing Jing has also participated in APEN Action, a program designed to help organize and educate API voters.  As a community organizer, she hopes to first educate herself, then bring her knowledge about grassroots organizing to the community and learn from the community. She wants to help generate power in the Asian community into having greater influence in where they live and work.

vivianh@apen4ej.org

Vivian Yi Huang is honored to work at Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN) alongside immigrant and refugee community members to build power and create the world of love and justice we envision.   Being from a Chinese immigrant family, she was raised in a culture of loving your people, living in the world of possibility, and the importance of making ideas tangible.  Over the past 11 years and now as a Co-Director, Vivian has played a leadership role in strengthening APEN’s organizing and leadership development, advancing our collective strategy for just transition and systemic change, catalyzing innovative models, and deepening our embodiment of feminisms and shared power. 

Prior to working at APEN, Vivian spent a decade working on policy, legislative, and budget campaigns, including model policies to improve health care interpretation, $25 million for health disparities in cancer, and a successful effort to support immigrant parents that made a conservative “top bills to kill list.”  She has also been a facilitator, trainer, and teacher with the Women’s Policy Institute, School of Unity and Liberation (SOUL), and San Francisco State University Department of Public Health.

Vivian finds joy in dance parties with her threenager and doggy, somatics and healing, masterpieces by Wong Kar Wai and Octavia Butler, and cake, ice cream, or best of all, the combination. 

emma@apen4ej.org

Born and raised in LA County, Emma was introduced to political work through her family’s involvement in the reparations movement for Japanese Americans. She previously worked for Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson’s office where she advocated for racial equity language to be incorporated into the Home Together 2026 Community Plan and collaborated with community groups to pass policies like the Alameda County Eviction Moratorium. Building off local policy experience, she is focused on political education for APEN members and using policy as a way to work toward healthy and regenerative communities.

denny@apen4ej.org

Denny is a 2nd generation Laotian American that was born and raised in North Richmond California. Growing up he experienced life in a low income neighborhood that was plagued by health and public safety issues. Denny attended Richmond High and joined youth programs, such as South East Asian Mentorship (SEAM) and South East Asian Young Leaders (SEAYL) where he learned about Asian refugee and immigration history in the United States and partnered up with youth to prevent gang violence within Richmond. After graduating high school Denny took up photography and through photojournalism he learned about APEN and their presence, work, and love for the community. Overtime he attended member meetings and APEN academy which helped ignite his interest in social and environmental justice. Denny is proud to say that he’s transitioned from an APEN member to the new Richmond Community organizer.

linna@apen4ej.org

Linna was born and raised in Guangzhou, China. She first discovered her passion for environmental justice for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) people when she became a canvasser with APEN to help educate AAPI voters and activate their power. As an immigrant, she speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English, and strives to bring her knowledge of Asian culture to influence AAPI civic and electoral engagement. After she graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Economics, she worked for Oakland District 2 Councilmember’s office as a Chinatown community liaison. Currently, Linna’s role at APEN is Senior Oakland Community Organizer, focusing on Anti-Displacement work and Housing Justice as well as Energy Democracy and Climate Justice Initiatives. She hopes to work towards APEN’s vision of building healthy, fair and just community.

deanne@apen4ej.org

Deanne is a Bay Area American Born Chinese. For the past 10+ years, Deanne has recruited, mentored, and contributed to the political development of many Asian Americans and beyond. Deanne strives to foster intergenerational, linguistically just, and inclusive spaces in community.

maria@apen4ej.org

Maria Morales grew up in Minnesota where the values of environmental justice, immigrant, women’s and labor rights were impressed upon her at an early age. She brings to APEN over 15 years of non-profit administrative experience working with Bay Area API immigrant communities.  Maria is proud to support APEN’s work to advance equity and environmental justice and she appreciates the organization’s ability to flex its network in larger regional and national coalition spaces while still developing ladders of engagement for a local base of marginalized immigrant communities. She has a BA from Oberlin College and speaks English, Spanish and conversational Chinese (Mandarin).

torm@apen4ej.org

Torm was born and raised in Laos where he completed his teacher college training and worked as a director of a community development and education project. He escaped to Thailand in May 1975, and arrived in the U.S as one of the first Laotian refugee families to settle in Contra Costa County. He has deep connections with the Laotian community and has co-founded and served as a board member to several Laotian non-profits. He has extensive experience in both social services and the non-profit sector working as an eligibility worker with the Contra Costa County social services for over a decade, providing consulting services to governments and non-profits, and providing interpretation and translation services in Lao, Khmu, and Thai. Torm has been with APEN in different roles since 1995, and believes in compassion, love and care for a strong a visionary future.

amee@apen4ej.org

Amee is a second-generation South Asian American born and raised on the East Coast. Her personal experiences have supported her awareness of how inequalities in the workplace, as well as the built and natural environment, influence community health. Through her role at APEN, she offers an environmental justice and health equity lens to climate and energy policy in California. She previously worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) on research and advocacy addressing the environmental and occupational health impacts of extreme heat due to climate change. Amee graduated with an MS in Environmental Health Sciences from UC Berkeley School of Public Health. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and camping.

shina@apen4ej.org

Shina has a deep commitment to environmental justice as the intersection of human rights, equity, health, and ecological sanity. She experienced the link between environmental health and poverty at a young age between visiting family in the Philippines and growing up in the shadow of a Los Angeles area oil refinery. Shina began work with human rights campaigns while pursuing undergraduate degrees in International Studies and Political Science at Long Beach State and focused on climate disaster relief and food justice. At APEN, Shina has served as Executive Assistant, building and supporting sustainable infrastructure for the organization. As Policy Coordinator, she organized our member leaders to pass and implement policies for community resistance and resilience in Oakland, Richmond, and with statewide partners. She now connects leaders and host site partners to build a network of community-based climate resilience hubs.

meuy@apen4ej.org

From an early age, Meuy has been exposed to causes of social justice and political activism, with her first stint in 2002 at UC Berkeley protesting the wrongful deportations of three Cambodian refugees. One can say that this inclination to organizing was a natural gravitation into APEN’s orbit. Before joining as Operations Manager, Meuy was an APEN youth member and volunteer for 12 years. Born and raised in the East Bay, Meuy spent time in New York City where she gained experience in both non-profit finance organizations and private global logistics institutions. By returning back to her roots, Meuy endeavors to connect her professional learnings with her personal passions by helping to build her community’s resilience and continue the fight towards income and health equality.

All the while with a cup of hot coffee in hand.

sandy@apen4ej.org

Sandy was born in Thailand and came to the United States at the age of 3 months. Her family is from Laos and her native tribe and language is called Mien. Sandy comes from a big family. She has a mother, 5 sisters, 2 brothers, 13 nieces and nephews, and 2 children.

Sandy grew up in Richmond, California. At the age of 14, Sandy was introduced to environmental justice and organizing through APEN’s youth program Asian Youth Advocates (AYA). Sandy’s been with APEN for 15 years, and has played a variety of roles such as, Youth Advocate, General Support Associate, Youth Organizer, LOP (Laotian Organizing Project) Community Leader, and currently is Community Organizer. Her passion is to organize and empower Asians to fight for their rights. For work, Sandy organizes the community, for play, she organizes her family, she is a true organizer!

joty@apen4ej.org

Joty is a first generation Indian American, who was born and raised in New York. Recognizing social injustices from a very early age, Joty is driven to advance social and economic rights.  Joty is joining APEN with over 6 years of experience in international development. Prior to APEN, Joty worked at Open Society Foundation, supporting efforts to strengthen women’s right organizations and movements, advancing reproductive rights and justice, and promoting economic rights. Joty also had the opportunity to work as a Peace Fellow in Nepal. Where she worked with a local community organization; she was involved in the development and implementation of a major sustainable child educational project. Joty holds a BA in Sociology and Political Science, and an MA in International Politics and Human Rights. 

clio@apen4ej.org

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Clio has been active in movements for queer liberation, climate justice, and worker and community power since they started stopping by Occupy Wall Street after school in their sophomore year of high school. Professionally, they have worked with the California Trade Justice Coalition, the Working Families Party, 350.org, and digital communications firm Trilogy Interactive, and they have participated in organizing trainings led by People’s Action, Ruckus Society, Re:Power, and many other movement organizations. In their free time they like to garden, cook, play drums, write poems, and enact forms of family and mutual care that move beyond economies based on profit.

kenneth@apen4ej.org

Kenneth joined as APEN staff in April 2015. He never, in his wildest dreams, thought he would be working for a non-profit transformative organization. He grew up with a capitalist mindset and really didn’t know about environmental justice movement until he started coming to APEN. At the invitation of his peers, he was able to realize how extractive our economy is with the current system. Before he was hired, Kenneth started out as an APEN volunteer and became a member shortly after. As an immigrant from Hong Kong, he is passionate about connecting with the Chinese community, and he enjoys spending time with seniors for they are full of wisdom and advice that we can all learn and benefit from.

maggie@apen4ej.org

Raised in the East Bay, Maggie serves as the State Political Director to advance a vision for statewide powerbuilding centered on justice. Prior to joining APEN, Maggie worked with labor and community leaders across the country on local and national campaigns to build electoral power for Asian immigrants and working people. In her free time, Maggie loves to be by the ocean, read science fiction, and host dinner parties with her friends and family.

chiravann@apen4ej.org

Chiravann is a first generation Cambodian American from Oakland, California. After working with youth organizations like AYPAL and Forward Together throughout high school, she began to see the power and resilience of Asian/Pacific Islander communities. Through youth organizing, she became exposed to environmental justice work through conducting interviews with nail salons about healthier work conditions and facilitating community workshops on climate justice. Before graduating from UC Berkeley with a B.A. in Asian American Studies and Sociology, she coordinated a 3-year mentorship for low-income Oakland and Richmond high school students and served as Executive Director for REACH!, the Asian/Pacific Islander Recruitment and Retention Center on campus. As she continues to (re)discover her own roots coming from an immigrant refugee background, she is grateful to come full circle back to environmental justice and have the opportunity to bring her leadership to APEN.

alvina@apen4ej.org

Alvina Wong is the Campaign & Organizing Director at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network. In her role, she fights the displacement of low-income and working-class Asian immigrants and refugees while building their leadership to fight for environmental justice. Leading her team in intergenerational organizing towards community governance and power at the neighborhood, city, and regional levels, she has led campaigns to stop evictions of SRO tenants and win major community benefits. Alvina began organizing in the Chinese immigrant community as an Eva Lowe Fellow at Chinese Progressive Association, SF and prior to this, spent eight years developing and organizing young people around education access and youth incarceration issues.

miya@apen4ej.org

After 9 years as the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Miya Yoshitani recently moved into the position of Senior Strategist. Starting at APEN as a youth organizer in the 1990’s, Miya has an extensive background in community organizing, and a long history of working in the environmental justice movement. She was a participant in the First National People of Color Environmental Leadership Summit in 1991, and was on the drafting committee of the Principles of Environmental Justice, a defining document for the environmental justice movement. APEN has been fighting – and winning – environmental justice struggles for the past 28 years and remains one of the most unique organizations in the country explicitly developing the leadership and power of poor and working class Asian American immigrant and refugee communities at the intersection of racism, poverty and pollution. Through many years of leadership, Miya has supported APEN’s growth and expansion from a powerful local organization in the Bay Area, to having a statewide impact through an integrated voter engagement strategy and winning transformational state policy for equitable climate solutions for all Californians. A movement leader in many key local, state, and national alliances, APEN is helping to shift the center of gravity of what is possible when the health and economic well being of working families, immigrant and communities of color are put at the center of solutions to the economic and climate crises.

megan@apen4ej.org

As the Richmond Organizing Director, Megan Zapanta draws on her experience in worker, youth and community organizing to build a strong team. Raised in the border city of San Diego in a mixed-race Filipino family, Megan is committed to justice for migrants and working class people, here and in our homelands. Megan joined APEN staff in 2011 and has played several roles including individual donor fundraising, event planning, social media and youth organizing. Outside of work, Megan plays soccer and organizes with Leftwing Fútbol Club and is an active member GABRIELA Oakland, a progressive Filipino women’s organization.

lian@apen4ej.org

Lian was born in GuangXi, China in a village on the border of China and Vietnam. She immigrated to the US with her family when she was six years old and grew up in east Los Angeles. Lian did her undergraduate studies in environmental science at UC Berkeley where she learned about urban health and how it connected with her working class family, forming her passion for environmental justice. Prior to joining APEN, she worked in higher education administration performing outreach, encouraging student engagement, and supporting operations within her teams. She is excited to be joining APEN and work alongside fellow Asian Americans and allies to uplift her community. In her free time, Lian enjoys getting her hands dirty by cooking meals that remind her of home and making bowls at the ceramics studio.

Allistair joined Common Counsel Foundation in 2016. As Director of Strategy and Asset- Building, he directs philanthropic services for Common Counsel’s clients, supports donors in aligning their philanthropic practices with social justice grantmaking, and bridges relationships in the philanthropic field. Allistair has over a decade of experience in the nonprofit, philanthropic, and social justice fields. His skills lie at the intersection of organizational development, strategic implementation, participatory philanthropy, and transformational fundraising. Previous roles for Allistair include Membership & Communications Manager at Justice Funders, former Executive Director at Asian American Resource Workshop, and Associate Director of Programs and Servicesat Philanthropy Massachusetts. He also holds extensive experience in progressive philanthropy, having served in leadership and grantmaking roles for Haymarket People’s Fund, Funding Exchange, New England Foundation for the Arts, Access Strategies Fund, and Saffron Circle Giving Circle. Allistair currently serves as Vice Chair for Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Secretary for Filipinos Advocating for Justice, and member leader of the local chapter of Resource Generation. Additionally, he serves as Co-Chair of the Integrated Rural Strategies Group at Neighborhood Funders Group as well as the Local Engagement Chapter of Exponent Philanthropy. Allistair originally hails from Towson, MD, and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Health and Biology from Tufts University.

Kimberly Chen M.P.A earned her Master in Public Administration from the University of Southern California Sol Price School of Public Policy. She is also a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Ethnic Studies and Gender & Women’s Studies. Kimberly currently serves as the Government Affairs Manager at the CPEHN, where she leads the organization’s advocacy efforts to advance health equity for communities of color in the state Capitol.

Before joining CPEHN, she served as staff in the California State Assembly, where she worked on transportation, environmental, language access, and taxation issues. Kimberly also worked with the Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color, advocating for improved health and economic outcomes for Asian and Pacific Islander boys and young men. She volunteers as a Youth Advisor to the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project, a conference dedicated to developing civic participation, leadership, and interest in public service for API high school students in California. She also serves as a mentor to the Fellows of the Women’s Policy Institute. Kimberly is an alumna of the Jesse M. Unruh Assembly Fellowship Program.

Ron Chang is the Development Director for the Morrissey-Compton Educational Center, Inc., a non-profit educational organization serving the broad need of children, adolescents and adults with learning differences, mental health issues, and behavioral challenges. The organization was founded in 1982 by Patricia Morrissey, Ed.D and Carolyn Compton, Ph.D. Morrissey-Compton strives to enable individuals with learning disabilities to achieve their goals by providing the highest quality diagnostic and intervention services in a supportive environment, and attempts to provide services to all who need them, regardless of their ability to pay.

Ron has worked in the non-profit arena for the past 13 years, after transitioning from a long and successful career in finance, management, and business development.

Ron has advocated on behalf of the AAPI Community for many years. He previously served on the board of Cameron House, a social services benefit agency in San Francisco’s Chinatown. He is currently the National President of Pi Alpha Phi Greek Fraternity, Inc. Pi Alpha Phi is the oldest, active Asian American interest Greek fraternity in the United States. Started at UC Berkeley in 1929, Pi Alpha Phi currently has 23 chapters across the country, over 500 active members, and thousands of alumni worldwide.

Ron lives in San Mateo with his wife, Yvonne, and their son, Mitchell.

Justin has served as a state-level legislative and regulatory advocate over the last decade in California, and is currently the Policy Consultant at Everyday Impact Consulting based in Sacramento. Over the years, he has advised multi-sectoral statewide coalitions as well as local initiatives in the Bay Area, and most recently worked for a member of the State Assembly. Justin’s career in policy and advocacy are rooted in the community organizing work that preceded it, and up until recently, he was an appointee to the Alameda County Public Health Commission.

Justin is a proud alum of UC Riverside, and obtained a Master of Public Health at UC Berkeley. Justin also served in the Peace Corps where he met his wife, Colleen, and they live with their daughter in East Oakland.

Eddie Ahn is the executive director of Brightline Defense, a legal and policy advocacy nonprofit dedicated to environmental justice issues. In 2017, he was appointed to the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, which sets policy for the SF Department of Environment and advises the City and County on environmental matters. In 2018, he was also appointed by the California Assembly Speaker to the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), a planning and regulatory agency for the San Francisco Bay and its shoreline. In 2020, he was appointed to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), which plans and finances transit in the nine Bay Area counties. Prior to being a nonprofit attorney and commissioner, he worked as an AmeriCorps member and an afterschool programmer in Oakland’s Chinatown.

Eddie has received his J.D. from University of California, Hastings College of the Law and his B.A. from Brown University.

Aysha is an attorney who accelerates justice movements through policy and philanthropy.  She currently leads the Policy Fund at the San Francisco Foundation, which builds the capacity of local governments and nonprofits to address the Bay Area’s interconnected challenges of housing, transportation, and economic opportunity.

Aysha recently served as Health Equity Lead and Senior Attorney for ChangeLab Solutions, helping local leaders use policy to improve community health for marginalized people and places. She was recognized for this work as one of the de Beaumont Foundation’s “40 under 40 in Public Health.” She recently concluded a Fulcrum Fellowship at the Center for Community Investment, where she produced groundbreaking research for ChangeLab on the civil rights of health, as well as the equitable enforcement of public health policy. Aysha previously worked as Economic Equity Policy Counsel at the Greenlining Institute, where she partnered with a diverse coalition to build wealth in communities of color.

Aysha’s other philanthropic work has included leading three donor collaboratives in voter justice and democratic integrity; economic and worker justice; and climate justice. She also served on the founding Advisory Boards of the Women & Climate Fund and the Collective Future Fund.

Stephanie Chen serves as Senior Policy Counsel for MCE, a local government agency formed to address climate change through renewable energy, energy efficiency, and local job creation in Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, and Solano Counties. Prior to joining MCE, Stephanie led the Energy Equity team at The Greenlining Institute, a racial justice advocacy organization dedicated to building economic opportunity in California’s communities of color. Stephanie’s work has driven investments in solar, energy efficiency, and other clean technologies into environmental justice communities, and promoted meaningful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for people of Color in California’s clean energy economy.

Stephanie is a member of the state’s Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group, which works with the California Public Utilities Commission and the California Energy Commission to ensure that clean energy policies benefit environmental justice communities. Additionally, Stephanie serves on the board of directors for Vote Solar, and has previously served on the boards of directors for Rising Sun Energy Center and the Conference of California Public Utility Counsel. Stephanie holds a B.A. in Government from Dartmouth College and a J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law.