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Board Members
DON HONG
Chairman of the Board | President
Donald Hong is a born and bred New Yorker who loves his city. He is a proud graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School and has Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Buffalo. He started his career as an Exxon Petroleum Engineer. Now he is a successful real estate developer with 25 years experience.
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Volunteering is part of Don’s lifeblood. He has been involved in community volunteer activities for more than 45 years. These activities have included: President of Chinese American Planning Council (10 years); President of Hong Ning Senior Citizen Housing (15 years); and 2003 New York City Districting Commissioner. His current involvement includes 16 years as President of low-income housing 384 Grand St HDFC, and President and CEO of UA3.
DAVID HO
Vice President
David Ho is the first Chinese American elected to the position of Home Care Division Vice President, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East --- the largest healthcare union in the east coast. Before becoming Vice President, David worked as an organizer for nine years at the Home Care Division. Under this Union, David leads thousands of Chinese Home Care Workers in his area.
As a result of the increasing health care needs among Chinese Americans, the number of immigrant Chinese within the 1199 Union membership is growing. The Union is committed to reaching out to this growing membership. As the first and only Chinese speaking organizer in the Union, David has since inspired several thousand of Chinese home care workers to be one of the most mobilized and effective activist groups in the Chinese community. Initially these workers had limited engagement with the Union due to language and cultural barriers. David first provided help as a social worker with the Union’s Members Assistance Program.
ORE A. JACINTO
Secretary
As a son of Cuban immigrants, Ore deeply understands the struggle of the American dream. Holding a M.A from Fordham University as well as a B.A. from Georgia State University, he has a great deal of experience in fundraising for the community. He has worked with notable government leaders such as Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor George Pataki and many other notable elected officials and organizations. During his tenure, he has conceived, managed, and implemented comprehensive fundraising strategies tailored to specific clients and their needs.
SALOME JAMES
Treasurer
Salome James is Governor of District 20-R, member of New York Cosmopolitan Lions Club, part of the International Association of Lions Clubs. She also represents the district on the board of Lions SEE (Screening Eyes Early), whose mission is to decrease childhood blindness in New York State through early detection of Ambylopia (lazy eye).
LILY WOO
Member
Lily Din Woo served as the principal of PS 130 Manhattan, District 2, for 25 years before retiring in August of 2014. Lily was instrumental in transforming P.S. 130 Manhattan from a struggling school into a consistently high performing school that has been recognized by New York City, New York State and US Department of Education as a Title I Distinguished School for its academic achievements and as a demonstration site for its ability to incorporate the arts into the education of every child in the school.
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In her 44 years in education, Lily has also served as a classroom teacher, an ESL teacher, an ESL staff developer, and as a director for a demonstration project for the Division of High Schools with the NYC Department of Education. Within that time span, she had also served six years with the New York State Education Department as an Associate with the Division of Bilingual Education.
In 2010, she received a “Principal of the Year” Blackboard Award from the New York City media for her exemplary work at her school, and in 2016, received recognition as an Outstanding CUNY Asian-American Woman of the Year for Leadership in Education by the City University of New York’s Asian American/Asian Research Institute.
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Lily has served on many advisory committees and task forces for several chancellors of the NYC Department of Education. In addition, she was a mentor principal for both the NYC Leadership Academy and for the Department of Education and was a member of the adjunct faculty at Baruch College and Bank Street College for many years.
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She is currently serving as the Associate Director for the Cahn Fellows Program for Distinguished Principals at Teachers College, Columbia University, a highly selective advanced national leadership development program for high-performing principals. Lily was one of 16 principals in the first cohort of this program and is still actively serving as a mentor for principals through this program in New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte, Denver, Dallas, and Tampa.
CHARLES PEI WANG
Member
Charles Pei Wang, a pioneer in service delivery to the Asian community from the late sixties when he first joined Chinese American Planning Council(CPC) and later helped to make CPC one of the largest social services agencies throughout the country. Appointed by President Jimmy Carter as a member of the President’s Commission on Mental Health, Asian American Task Panel, Charles was at the forefront in developing and implementing many of the national and local programs serving Asian new immigrants. Programs and organizations initiated by Charles’s effort include: mental health and health centers; employment training centers; services to the seniors; Chinatown Health Clinic; Chinatown Manpower Project; Asian American Federation of New York; Association of Immigrant Service Organization of North America; Committee of 100, just to name a few. Charles was appointed by New York City Mayor Edward Koch as a member of the Youth Board; by Governor Mario Cuomo as the Assistant Commissioner of New York State Social Services Dept. and by President George H. W. Bush as the vice chairman of the US Commission of Civil Rights. Charles was the primary person responsible for the publication of “Asian American Outlook in 1980” by United Way of NYC, and the “History of Discrimination Against Asian Americans In US” by the US Commission on civil Rights. Projects benefited he community initiated by Charles including the post office on Dolya Street, Social Security Office on the Bowery, Confucius Plaza, Chung Pak Plaza, IS 131, Gouverneur Hospital, Columbus Park Renovation, and the expansion of the Chinese community to Queens and Brooklyn.
SIMON CHIK
Member| UA3 Ambassador | Event Coordinator
President of Flushing Central Lions Club.
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NORMA CHU
Honorary Chairperson
Norma Chu, while attending to a busy career as an educator in NYC for 30 years, volunteered tirelessly for the larger community.
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Norma's love for people is reflected in her lifelong contribution to the Chinese-American community. As an early member of the Board of Chinese-American Planning Council (CPC) she helped design and manage social programs with a special focus to improve the lives of immigrants. She worked tirelessly to obtain public and private funds. Her chairmanships of CPC's numerous gala events are legendary. The collective efforts raised millions of dollars. She remains an active member of the Cosmo Lions Club, Asian Women United, Pan Pacific Southeastern Asian Women's Association, and many other organizations that reach out to have a positive impact in our community. Her latest venture is helping to manage the Gospel Manor Church Food Pantry program. She is currently the honorary chair of UA3 a non-profit organization dedicated to early intervention with digital literacy and bridging the "digital divide", co-founded by her grandchildren.
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Norma's efforts have been widely recognized. She is a recipient of the Harriet Tubman Humanitarian Achievement Award and served on the Commission on the Status of Women.
Norma was an educator in the NYC school system for 30 years then launched a second career in media. She has appeared in numerous independent features including Law and Order, and The Blacklist. She appeared in many print and film commercials such as for Pfizer, Coach, and the New York Lottery. Her most recent Apple Iphone X commercial was launched at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
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Norma received her BA from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and was the third Chinese woman in the history of the University to obtain a BA. She obtained her Master's Degree at Columbia University. She has three children and six grandchildren, all living in New York.
KEVIN HU
Honorary Member
Xinkai “Kevin” Hu started volunteering at UA3 as an ambassador since early 2017. Working with industry-transforming-technology every day, Kevin is aware of the importance of technology in education. He deeply cares about the local community and thrives to promote digital fitness to all children regardless of age or background. Meanwhile, Kevin works under the Assurance Practice at PwC, which not only helps him build the appreciation for technology in education, but also brings much needed professional expertise to UA3. Kevin is a Certified Public Accountant and received his B.S. and M.S. from Fordham University.
Advisory Board
JENNIFER HARTMANN
Advisor
Jennifer began her financial services career while still in college at the University of Pittsburgh. Several years later, she was managing the Rochester, NY branch of a Morgan Stanley predecessor firm. Today, she interacts with a wide variety of Pelican Bay Group clients, including foundations, endowments, banks, trust companies and high net worth families. Jennifer also works closely with other Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors who seek out The Pelican Bay Group for investment management capabilities. She takes pride in the fact that the team maintains strategic relationships with more than 500 Financial Advisors.
KATELYN & SEAN HONG
Founders | Advisory Members
Katelyn and Sean Hong, who are sister and brother and lifelong New Yorkers, developed a passion for bettering the community at an early age. Sean won an essay contest at PS130 in fifth grade and received an iPad. But together with his sister, they realized that some of their fellow schoolmates did not have the resources that others had – access to computers, tablets, Wi-Fi – the basic necessities to be a successful student in today’s world. Katelyn and Sean chose to do something about this “digital divide.” In 2012, they raised enough funds to return to PS130 and award mini iPads to all 5 graduating fifth grade classes. Out of this commitment grew the present day UA3 and our “Dare to Care” philosophy. Today, UA3 partners with Columbia University, Cosmopolitan Lions Club, PS130, Manor Community Church, and many other public and charter schools in NYC and Chicago. Katelyn is currently a University freshman and Sean is an 11th grader in a NYC Public High School.
KIN WAH LEE
Co-Founding Member | Advisory Member
Kin Wah Lee, MPS, has a Master in Health Service Administration from The New School for Social Research and a certificate from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University’s Program for Senior Executives in State & Local Government. She has worked and held executive cabinet positions in public psychiatry for over 30 years and retired from her last position as the Associate Director for Quality Management at the NYS Psychiatric Institute/Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, affiliated with Columbia University. She volunteers in various non-profit social service organizations; past positions included serving as a board member on the Chinese-American Planning Council and as President of the NY Coalition for Asian American Mental Health. Presently, she is a board member of 384 Grand Street HDFC, a founding member of UA3, and a member of the executive committee of the NY Coalition of Asian American Mental Health.
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ANTONIO RIVERA JR.
DANIEL GOODINE
SANDRA STROTHERS
PETER PERGOIS
Dr. HARLEM GUNNESS
Executive Director
CHI LOEK
Executive Director
Chi Loek has been involved in the Asian Pacific American communities for over 34 years as a youth counselor, community organizer, employment training/Workforce Development administrator and community advocate in strengthening and improving the lives of members of our community.
Mr. Loek has served as a member of Brooklyn Community Board #14, Manhattan Community Board # 3 and a member of Youth Advisory Board member of the New York State Division of Youth Services. For the past ten years, Mr. Loek has served on the Board of OCA-NY and the last 7 years on the Executive Council. Mr. Loek is a strong advocate for civic engagement and protecting the civil rights of the APA community.
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Mr. Loek was instrumental in getting justice for Pvt. Danny Chen and his family and organizing hate crime forum in Queens and Manhattan.
TONY SIU
Co-Founding Member | Advisory Member
Tony grew up in Lower East Side Manhattan. The multitude of diverse culture and ethnic backgrounds from living in that neighborhood gave him an appreciation for what the world has to offer.
He graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and continued his college studies at the University of Buffalo. He eventually graduated as a Licensed Pharmacist and has worked for various hospitals in New York and New Jersey for many years.
Tony's interaction with patients over the years has exposed him to the many challenges some people face in their everyday life. This insight furthers his goal to help others who are less fortunate.