Staff
CACF's has dynamic staff well-versed includes seven staff members, and throughout the year, CACF welcomes interns from high school, community programs, social work graduate schools, and law firms to the staff.
Click here to learn about becoming an intern or volunteer, or click on a name to view a staff member's full biography.
Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza, MPH, Manager, Health
Policy
Wendy Cheung, Youth and Parent Program Coordinator
Wayne Ho, MPP, Executive Director
Elizabeth Lee, Program Assistant
Vanessa Leung, MA, Deputy Director
Kim To, MSW, Development Manager
Choua Vue, MPA, Policy Coordinator, Education and Child Welfare
Noilyn Abesamis-Mendoza,
MPH
Manager, Health Policy
namendoza@cacf.org
Noilyn joined CACF in March 2008. She will lead the Health Advocacy Project to improve language access, cultural competence, and health care affordability. Among her major responsibilities is Project CHARGE (Coalition for Health Access to Reach Greater Equity), a pan-Asian network of 14 partners aiming to expand financial access to health care. Previously, Noilyn was the Deputy Director of Outreach and Programs for the NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health (CSAAH). She developed and oversaw CSAAH's key outreach, educational, and community-based initiatives, including coordinating the development of 7 ethnic-specific community health needs assessments; partnering with 60+ community based organizations, health providers, academic institutions, businesses, media, advocacy groups, and government; and coordinating over 40 training opportunities for staff and community partners. In 2004, Noilyn co-founded the Kalusugan Coalition, a Filipino health collaborative, where she currently serves as the Board Chair. Noilyn has also served as a board member or advisor for: the API Caucus of APHA, CACF's Action Council, Peace of Heart Choir, NIH/NHLBI Filipino Healthy Heart, Healthy Family Initiative, and St. Peter's College Center for Personal Development. She was a recipient of the New American Leaders Fellowship Program and the United Way of NYC Nonprofit Leadership Development Institute's Senior Fellow Program. She received a BA in Environmental Analysis & Design from the University of California, Irvine, and an MPH, Sociomedical Sciences from the Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health.
Wendy Cheung
Youth and Parent Program Coordinator
wcheung@cacf.org
Wendy joined CACF in October 2007. She is responsible for overseeing the high school youth advocacy program (ASAP) and the parent education and mobilizing program (POWER). Wendy develops the curriculum, trains the youth and parents, and mobilizes them to advocate for improved policies, services, and funding for the Asian Pacific American community. Currently, she is a member of Community Board 3 which represents the Chinatown/Lower East Side community. Previously, Wendy was an Education Associate at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, where she provided historical walking tours of Chinatown, guided gallery programs about Chinese American history, and implemented art/research projects for neighborhood schools and organizations. She was also the Founder of Chinatown Dreams, a group for youth in Chinatown to engage in discussion and creative expression on issues around sexuality, race, gender, and class. Wendy received her Bachelor of Arts in Education and Sociology/Anthropology from Swarthmore College.
Wayne Ho, MPP
Executive Director
who@cacf.org
Wayne joined CACF in August 2004. He is responsible for leading the nation's only pan-Asian children's advocacy organization by overseeing agency administration, program oversight, board relations, staff supervision, community partnerships, and fundraising to improve the health and well-being of Asian Pacific American children and families. To ensure that Asian Pacific American needs are being represented, Wayne is a member of the New York State Governor's Children's Cabinet Advisory Board, Board of Directors and Program Council of the Partnership for After School Education (PASE), Immigration Advisory Board Subcommittee of the NYC Administration for Children's Services (ACS), and Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Multicultural Audience Development Initiative. Previously, Wayne was the administrator of out-of-school time programs for San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD), which was recognized as a model after school partnership by the California Department of Education during his tenure. He also conducted policy analysis for ACS on options for public and non-profit agencies to expand child care and worked with the Blue Ridge Foundation New York on performance management systems for start-up non-profits. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Wayne founded several volunteer-based programs to empower youth of color to pursue higher education and to become community advocates. Wayne received his bachelor degree from UC Berkeley and his Master in Public Policy from Harvard University. He also completed the New American Leaders Fellowship Program of the Coro New York Leadership Center and New York Immigration Coalition.
Elizabeth Lee
Program Assistant
elee@cacf.org
Elizabeth joined CACF in December 2006. She oversees CACF's strategic communications, coordinating the production of CACF's newsletter Progress, maintaining and updating CACF's database, website, and promotional materials, and writing and distributing materials for CACF's advocacy efforts, including action alerts, sign-on alerts, press releases, and policy updates. She maintains regular communication with over 300 faith-based organizations and community-based organizations, and nearly 4,000 service providers, decision makers, and donors in CACF's database. She coordinates CACF's event programming, including CACF's annual Coalition Convening, membership meetings, trainings, and film screenings, and she assists with special events planning. She provides vital administrative support to all CACF initiatives. Elizabeth received her bachelor degree from Hunter College of City University of New York in Psychology and is currently a full-time graduate student at Columbia University, Teacher's College studying Psychological Counseling.
Vanessa Leung, MA
Deputy Director
vleung@cacf.org
Vanessa joined CACF in November 1999. She oversees CACF's policy initiatives by partnering with decisionmakers and community organizations and is responsible for the development of a pan-Asian children's advocacy agenda to improve policies, funding, and services for the Asian Pacific American community. Previously, Vanessa was CACF's Education Policy and Program Coordinator. She authored CACF's in-depth report on the status of Asian Pacific American students in the public school system entitled Hidden in Plain View. Vanessa has worked alongside other advocates, including the New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children, to call for changes to improve safety in our schools as well as equitable access for parents, winning the addition of Chancellor's Regulations on interpretation and translation services in the public schools and an increase to $12 million for such services. She spearheaded a high school youth leadership project, the Asian American Student Advocacy Project (ASAP) that trains a diverse group of high school students to advocate for the needs of Asian Pacific American students. In February 2007, Vanessa was named to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's Middle School Taskforce to investigate and develop recommendations to improve the persistently low academic achievement of New York City's middle school grades. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Chinatown Youth Initiative and the Parish Advisory Council for the Church of the Transfiguration. Vanessa received her Masters of Arts degree in developmental psychology at Columbia University's Teachers College and her bachelor degree from NYU. She also completed the Middle Management Program of the Institute for Not-for-Profit Management's at the Graduate School of Business of Columbia University and the CORO New York Immigrant Civic Leadership Program.
Kim
To, MSW
Development Manager
kto@cacf.org
Kim joined CACF in September 2005 as a social work intern and became full-time staff in June 2006. She oversees CACF's fundraising, special events, individual donors, membership, and public relations. Kim develops our annual and long-term fundraising plans and cultivates ongoing relationships with foundations, corporations, government, and other funders. She is also responsible for developing a communications and marketing plan to educate and cultivate funding prospects and to recognize funders on the CACF website. As a social work intern, Kim organized our first annual Funders Recognition Breakfast to develop closer ties with our corporate, foundation, government, and individual donors. She was also responsible for assisting with CACF's child welfare project and fundraising efforts. Kim is currently a mentor with the Asian Professional Extension and a member of the Vietnamese Community Health Initiative. Previously, she ran a student-initiated outreach project at UCLA called the Higher Opportunity Program for Education (HOPE), working with high school students in Westminster, California. She completed her Masters in Social Work at Columbia University. She was an active student activist and organizer at UCLA, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in International Development Studies and Asian American Studies.
Choua
Vue, MPA
Policy Coordinator, Education and Child Welfare
cvue@cacf.org
Choua joined CACF in July 2008. She is responsible for promoting equity and access through the Education Advocacy Project and the Child Welfare Advocacy Project. Among her key education initiatives are the reduction of bias-based harassment in schools, the collection of disaggregated data on Asian Pacific American students, and the improvement of English Language Learner services. Among her key child welfare initiatives are the Preventive Services Action Network to improve the capacity and resources of community based preventive services programs as well as the South Asian Immigrant Community Partnership to build ties between the Administration for Children’s Services and South Asian families. Previously, she worked with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights as the Program Director for the Outreach and Interpretation Project, where she advocated on issues of immigrant rights, language access, and cultural competency. She also spearheaded electoral campaigns to increase political participation and awareness in immigrant and refugee communities and to protect voting rights. Choua received her bachelor’s degree from Carleton College and her Master’s in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs.