NAAAP Leadership Team
NAAAP’s greatest asset is our members, volunteers, and leaders. Meet our National Board, Executive Team and Administration, and Chapter leaders.
If you are interested in joining the National team, please review our open positions and contact us. In additional to national opportunities, NAAAP chapters are always looking for volunteers to serve locally.
Find the chapter closest to you.
National Board of Directors photo taken Feb. 2020 , L to R: Fabian DeRozario, Ron Chang, Nilyum Jhala, Kim Cummings, Betty Lo (interim President thru 2020), Elizabeth Yang, Michael Gonzales, D.A. Abrams. Absent are: Aurora Austriaco, Jane Hyun, and Shim Sameer
Chapter Presidents Council, L to R seated: Man Le/TPA, Ben Hum/TOR, Jeanie Chang/NC, Will Cheng/MN, Betty Lo (Interim National President), Vicky Cheung/MIA, Cindy Ng for Ping Cao/PHL, Carol Nguyen/DFW, Paraag Maddiwar/Cincinnati. L to R standing: Kim Tong/ATL, Vin Pineda/DC, A.J. Jeedigunta/VP Detroit, Junann Lopez/KC, Lauren Garces/SD, Newlyn Wing/ORL, John Fok/SF
National Board of Directors
National Board members oversee the strategic vision, financial sustainability, and talent cultivation for NAAAP.
Executive Team and Administration
The NAAAP National Administration team is a group of dedicated volunteers who plan and reserarch programs on a national level.
Chapter Leaders
NAAAP chapter leaders are the key to successful professional development, networking, community service and signature programs.
National Board of Directors
Ronald Chang, Chair
Ronald Chang, President of Corporate Treasury for UPS, was appointed to this position in October 2018. He has more than twenty-five years of financial experience with UPS, the world’s largest transportation and logistics company. Past assignments include President of Enterprise Transformation, President of UPS Capital Corporation, and Global Head of Mergers & Acquisitions and Intellectual Property Group along with a number of international postings.
Ronald received his MBA from the George L. Graziado School of Business and Management, Pepperdine University.
Fabian DeRozario, Vice Chair
Fabian De Rozario is a community and business leader who has led, coached, and trained thousands of people globally. Fabian is a thought-leader and an energizing speaker in the topics of people-engagement, diversity, and inclusion practices, delivering more than 100 workshops and seminars each year worldwide.
Fabian started his consulting & training practice GlobalConnect LP in 2005 and was previously an on-call consultant and senior faculty with Korn Ferry, a global organizational consultancy. He has worked with more than 150 corporations, mostly Fortune 500 companies. He is a subject expert of diversity & inclusion, talent engagement, unconscious bias, cultural agility, and leadership. Fabian also previously served as NAAAP’s National President/CEO and currently serves on NAAAP’s National Board of Directors.
Fabian previously served in student services leadership, faculty, and corporate trainer roles at Northern Illinois University and at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (as Director of the Donaghey Student Center). From 1998 to 2006, Fabian was the Director of U.S. University Relations and the Director of Global Operations for the Golden Key International Honour Society headquartered in Atlanta.
His acknowledgements include the Outstanding Asian American Leader Award from the U.S. Pan Asian Chamber of Commerce – Southeast Region, the President’s Award from the Georgia Society of Association Executives, and the 2011 Class of Leadership Atlanta.
D.A. Abrams, Treasurer
David Anthony (D.A.) Abrams, CAE joined the CFP Board as Managing Director for the Center for Financial Planning in November 2019. In his role, D.A. is responsible for cultivating a quality workforce, fostering a more diverse financial planner workforce, and elevating the discipline of financial planning including continued education, cutting-edge knowledge, and outstanding service to clients.
D.A. is the immediate past Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the United States Tennis Association (USTA). During his 26 years with the USTA, D.A. served as the Executive Director for two (2) of the Association’s 17 Section offices; USTA Eastern, and USTA Missouri Valley. In addition, D.A. served as the staff member of the Diversity & Inclusion Committee, Hispanic Engagement Advisory Group, and was chair of the D&I Advisory Group at the USTA. Further, he was the chair of the USTA’s Accreditation Review Committee.
Currently, D.A. serves as the Diversity & Inclusion Sports Consortium President, the National Association of Asian American Professionals Board Treasurer, and is an Advisory Board Member of Diversity MBA.
He played collegiate tennis at Millersville University in Pennsylvania where he earned his undergraduate degree in business administration, concentration – accounting. Subsequently, D.A. earned a master’s degree from Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis, MN. D.A. earned his Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential in 2010. D.A. is enrolled in Louisiana State University Shreveport’s MBA Program.
Aurora Austriaco
Aurora Austriaco is co-founder of Valentine, Austriaco, Bueschel law firm. She concentrates her practice in the areas of commercial and real estate litigation, construction litigation, mechanic’s liens, defense of mortgage foreclosure, mortgage fraud – plaintiff, title insurance claims litigation, and other special chancery remedy cases. Her clients range from multinational corporations to small and startup companies to individuals.
Aurora is currently serving as Commissioner for the Illinois Courts Commission and is in her 12th year as Chair of the Cook County State’s Attorney Asian Advisory Council. She served 9 years as Commissioner for the Park Ridge Planning and Zoning Commission, and has served 11 years as Commissioner for the Cook County Human Rights Commission. She is the immediate past president of the Chicago Bar Association, and was named a Super Lawyer-Real Estate, one of the Top 10 Women Consumer Attorneys by Leading Lawyers, and one of the Top 10 Women Lawyers in Real Estate. Aurora is also fluent in Tagalog.
Kim Cummings
Kim Cummings, SCP, SPHR is Vice president, Human Resources and Talent at Children’s Health based in Dallas, Texas. In this role, Kim leads HR and Talent strategy including workforce/people transformation initiatives, succession, and supports cross-market enterprise wide talent development initiatives.
Previously, Kim was Assistant Vice President HR & Diversity at BNSF Railway. Kim provided leadership to the HR matrix teams supporting Law, State/Federal Govt Affairs, Corporate Communications, Claims, Compliance and Audit Services, and Technology Services and led BNSF Railway’s diversity and inclusion efforts, EEO and HR Compliance. Kim has over 20 years of HR experience in a variety of leadership roles encouraging and promoting employee engagement in companies that include Belo Broadcasting, Burger King Corporation, Dell and Target Corporation. Kim is a thought leader in the space of Diversity & Inclusion receiving numerous community service and business awards that include “HR Professional of the Year” designation by Ogletree Deakins Law Firm and the Dallas Chamber of Commerce, DiversityFIRST™ Award from the National Diversity Council, Texas Most Powerful Business Women by Texas Diversity Magazine.
Kim received her Bachelor degree in Social Work from Southwest Texas State University graduating from the University’s Emerging Leader program and was inducted into Who’s Who in College & Universities students. Kim received her Master degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She holds a Senior Professional designation in Human Resources and certified employee relations credentials. Kim is a professional member of the Fort Worth Human Resources Group and National Society of Human Resource Management.
Affiliations/Community Involvement
- Chinese Institute of Engineers/USA-DFW Board
- Conference Board – Diversity& Inclusion Executives Council
- Girls Inc. of Tarrant County Advisory Board
- Grapevine/Colleyville ISD Diversity Council
- Multicultural Alliance Board
- National Association of Asian American Professionals
- Orchid Giving Circle – Dallas Women’s Foundation
- Society of Human Resource Management
- The Source of Hope Advisory Board
- University of Texas Arlington Human Resources Advisory Board
Elizabeth Yang
Elizabeth Yang, Immediate Past National President (2017-2019), joined the National Board in February 2020. Elizabeth began her volunteer work with NAAAP in 2008, then helped co-found NAAAP SoCal (Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego chapters) and helped rally the SoCal NAAAP members to put on the National Convention in Anaheim in 2014. She served as NAAAP LA’s President from 2014-2016, while filling the role of Director of Volunteer Management, onboarding new team members to the national team. In 2016, Elizabeth was named the NAAAP National Leader of the Year.
Elizabeth is an entrepreneur, founded her Law and Mediation Practice in Los Angeles in 2011, and opened three stores of Magical Playground. Elizabeth has been practicing law since 2007 and specializes in Intellectual Property Law, including Patent, Copyright and Trademark Prosecution and Litigation; Business Law, and also Family Law. Previously, Elizabeth worked at both Raytheon and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab designing electronic circuits. She also serves as a Commissioner for the City of Monterey Park Design Review Board, a member of the Executive Board of Governors of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, and also a Member of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses. Her awards include Super Lawyers Rising Star (2017) and Top 100 Lawyers (2016-2017) by National Trial Lawyers. Recently, she co-authored a book, “The Big Secret” with Jack Canfield (Chicken Soup for the Soul).
Elizabeth has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science from UC Berkeley, a JD cum laude from the University of La Verne College of Law, and recently a MBA from the University of La Verne. Elizabeth is married to Phil Cheng (also on the NAAAP National team), and has a daughter Liliana and son Alexander. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Jane Hyun
Jane Hyun has served on NAAAP’s National Board of Directors since 2016. Jane is a leadership strategist to Fortune 500 companies and an expert in cross-cultural effectiveness, onboarding, and Asian talent development. She has 25 years of direct business experience and is a renowned speaker on topics of leadership and cultural fluency and has held management posts at JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, and Resources Global.
Jane is the author of the bestseller, Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling, and is the co-author of Flex: The New Playbook for Managing Across Differences.
A graduate of Cornell University with a degree in Economics and International Studies, Jane serves as an Advisor to the Center for Talent Innovation, Toigo Foundation’s President Circle, and is a board member of Operation Exodus, a New York City based non-profit that provides academic tutoring and mentoring to Latino youth in Washington Heights. Furthermore, she is the research director for The Conference Board Cultural Fluency: How Culture Shapes Talent and Leadership Styles in Asia study.
Jane has appeared on media outlets such as CNN, CNBC, Wall Street Journal and Forbes discussing leadership, culture, and career development. Jane is passionate about helping individuals flourish in their workplaces and in their communities.
Michael A. Gonzales
Diversity & Inclusion Consultant, Co-Founder, Diversity & Inclusion Consortium, Professor of D&I, Kansas University and the former Leader of Hallmark’s Corporate Diversity & Inclusion Work
Michael is the principal owner of NE&E consulting and travels the country as a consultant, executive coach, speaker, panelist and advisor on D&I topics impacting business and workforce imperatives. As the former corporate leader of Hallmark’s D&I department, he was responsible for Hallmark’s D&I’s strategies and objectives, their internal and external collaborations, partnerships and compliance. He was responsible for the execution of the D&I’s priorities regarding, workforce, workplace, marketplace and community. Michael was also responsible for the company’s seven Employee Resource Groups, (ERG’s).
He is also the co-founder of the Diversity & Inclusion Consortium, a national organization of over 385 D&I practitioners and advocates hailing from 18 states 25 cities including three international cities, Toronto, Canada; London, England and Hanoi, Vietnam. The Consortium was created when he saw a need for collaborative thought and sharing. The main objective of the Consortium is to share best practice and to provide each other insights and support regarding D&I opportunities and challenges.
Michael is a frequent lecturer on university campuses advancing student knowledge and appreciation for D&I not only for their college experience but in preparation for their professional career. He assumed the role of professor teaching a course on diversity, inclusion and equity at Kansas Univerisity this past Spring semester 2020.
He currently serves on 10 national, regional and local boards and councils.
Michael is skilled in the areas of executive coaching, assessment & consulting, speaking & presentations, building critical relations, innovation and resourcing, business collaboration, employee relations, diverse and cultural understandings, compliance metrics and program management.
Shim Sameer
At the Bank of America, Shim Sameer is the Preferred Lending and National Operations executive within Preferred and Consumer Banking & Investments. As Preferred Lending executive, she built and leads a team of approximately 5,500 associates comprised of financial center-based Credit Solutions Advisors and Relationship Manager Lending Specialists and is charged with delivering home loans solutions, deepening relationships and enhancing the experience of existing and prospective clients within the Preferred segment.
In her role as National Operations executive, Shim leads a franchise-wide team focused on developing and executing a consistent risk management and client experience strategy to drive client satisfaction, operational excellence and talent development within the company’s approximately 4,000 financial centers across the country. Since joining the Bank in 2005, she has held a number of leadership positions within the company, both in Consumer Banking and Consumer Investments.
Shim is a passionate supporter of advancing women’s careers and Intentional Inclusion and has a strong track record of mentoring and developing leaders across the company. Often invited to speak at various forums, panels and events, she has addressed audiences globally on the topic of inclusion and empowerment of women. She is the founder of the bank’s Consumer Investments Women’s Forum and founder and executive sponsor for the bank’s Preferred and Consumer Banking & Investments Executive Women’s Forum. She is a recipient of the distinguished Bank of America Global Diversity and Inclusion Award and has been profiled on FairyGodBoss.com for her commitment to advocating for and empowering women in the workplace. In 2020 and 2021, she was named to the “INDIA New England News” list of Outstanding Women, and in 2020 the EMpower/Yahoo Finance Ethnic Minority Executive Role Model List and the HERoes Women Role Model Executive List that honors global leaders who are champions for diversity and inclusion in business.
Outside of work, Shim actively supports various non-profit organizations. She serves on the boards of the Massachusetts Bankers Association and the Walker School in Needham, Massachusetts. She holds a master’s degree in arts, and was the valedictorian of her class. She is also a Six Sigma-certified Green Belt.
Shim resides in Mansfield, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter, and enjoys traveling with them.
Mohammad (Mo) Azam
Mohammad (Mo) Azam is the Chief Audit & Compliance Executive of UPS. In his current role, Mo is responsible for global audit, compliance and ethics related activities for UPS. He also oversees the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and Privacy process for UPS. As the Chief Audit & Compliance Executive of UPS, Mo reports administratively to Norm Brother, Chief Legal Officer of UPS, and functionally to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors.
Prior to his current role, Mo was the Global Financial Process Controller with responsibilities to develop and manage global shared services for financial processes at UPS. He started his career with UPS as Global Controller for Supply Chain Solutions.
Prior to joining UPS, Mo was the Vice President of Finance and Accounting for Mellon Bank’s leasing group. Mo has held senior finance positions with several large multi-national organizations including Ford Motor Company, Dole Packaged Foods and Sega Internet Games. He obtained his public accounting experience working for KPMG.
Mo also taught both graduate and undergraduate Finance and Accounting courses as an Adjunct Professor at Golden Gate University in California between 1991 and 1999.
Mo received his bachelor’s in Accounting and MBA in Finance from Golden Gate University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) from the State of California, and a member of the Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA). He is also a member of the Board of Governors of IIA Atlanta Chapter.
National Administration
Bill Leong, Executive Director
Bill Leong recently concluded his role as the Senior Director of the United States Tennis Association, where he provided consulting services and was a key resource to the USTA regional leadership teams of CEOs, Presidents, and Delegates in matters relating to governance, Innovation, executive recruitment & coaching, organizational change management, and talent development.
Bill was the Senior Director of USTA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for a decade and a board member of the Diversity & Inclusion Sports Consortium. Bill previously served as the first Asian American CEO of the USTA regional office in the Pacific Northwest, where he was responsible for making major organizational decisions and managing overall operations and resources to achieve the mission.
In addition, Bill founded the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) Orlando chapter and served as president for two years.
Bill earned his BS/MBA from Rutgers University, certifications in Innovation and Change Management from Harvard University, Executive Non-profit Management from Georgetown University, and Design Thinking Systematic Innovation from MIT.
Victoria Petrillo, Assistant to the Executive Director
Vincent Pineda, Director of Operations
Jeremiah Jimeno, Senior Director of Marketing
David Moore, Senior Program Director
Dennis Ngin, Chief Digital Officer
Dennis is currently the Vice President of Digital Experience at Wpromote, ranked by Forrester as the leading performance marketing agency helping brands excel online . He was previously the Chief Operating Officer of Visiture, an award winning 5x Inc 5000 eCommerce agency that was acquired by Wpromote. Dennis has also held roles at Accenture Strategy, Amazon, and an eCommerce startup.
As NAAAP’s CDO, Dennis is responsible for defining and executing a digital-first strategy for NAAAP and its regional chapters in order to increase member engagement and drive operational efficiencies across the organization.
Dennis earned his MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and Bachelors degrees in Marketing and Political Science from the University of Florida. He resides in Atlanta, GA with his wife and son.
Junann Lopez, Chapter Development Director
Stan Fuji, NAAAP Speakers Bureau Director
Michael Tieu, Head of Partnership Fulfillment
Noelle Blanco, Director of Pride
August Kee, Social Media Specialist
Chapter Leaders
Christie Sithiphone
President, NAAAP Atlanta
Brian Gerardo
President, NAAAP Baltimore
Harris Zhao
President, NAAAP Boston
Rose Olea
President, NAAAP Chicago
Andy Kim
President, NAAAP Wichita
President, NAAAP Toronto
Janie Sayavong
President, NAAAP Colorado
Michael Tieu
President, NAAAP Dallas-Ft. Worth
AJ Jeedigunta
President, NAAAP Detroit
Wilson Yip
President, NAAAP Hawaii
Junann Lopez
President, NAAAP Kansas City
Joyce Tse
President, NAAAP Las Vegas
President, NAAAP Milwaukee
Phong Luu
President, NAAAP Miami
President, NAAAP Connecticut
President, NAAAP Minnesota
President, NAAAP New York
President, NAAAP North Carolina
President, NAAAP Orange County (CA)
President, NAAAP Orlando
President, NAAAP Philadelphia
President, NAAAP Tampa
President, NAAAP San Diego
John Fok
President, NAAAP San Francisco
President, NAAAP San Jose
President, NAAAP Seattle
Ketsana Vilaylack
President, NAAAP Tennessee
Vacant
NAAAP Washington DC