NEW YORK, New York (November 5, 2024) --   The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) is pleased to announce the addition of five new members to our Board of Directors ahead of our 2024 Catalyst for Change Awards Gala.

“As CACF continues to expand our advocacy and leadership development work across New York State, we are so pleased to share that our Board continues to grow as we work to meet the needs of our communities,” said CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “Our five new Board members represent a vast array of new perspectives in the worlds of business, industry, government, and nonprofit and we look forward to introducing them to our community in person at our Catalyst for Change Awards Gala on November 18.”

The names of our new Board members can be found below.

Erika Chou, Founding Member & Creative Director at Rivers and Hills Hospitality Group and Former Partner at Bespoke Only

Margaret Chu, Strategic Advisor and Media Executive

Annesa Lau, Director, Workforce Transformation and Digital Innovation, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Port Authority of NY and NJ

Kelsey Louie, Chief Executive Officer, The Door and Broome Street Academy Charter High School

Vivian Young

CACF’s Board of Directors is chaired by entrepreneur, professor, and former NYC Mayoral candidate Art Chang.

“For nearly 40 years, CACF has been doing the vital work of advocating of AAPI, immigrant, and limited English speaking New Yorkers in New York State. As CACF continues to expand, I’m so excited about the opportunity to use my branding and marketing expertise to ensure even more New Yorkers know about CACF and our incredible advocacy and leadership work,” said Erika Chou, Founding Member & Creative Director at Rivers and Hills Hospitality Group and Former Partner at Bespoke Only. “It’s been a privilege to be one of the Gala Chairs for the 2024 Catalyst for Change Gala on November 18 and I’m eager to connect further with CACF’s wondering community of members, partners, and supporters in person at the event.” 

“This is such an incredibly dynamic time in CACF’s history and I’m so glad that I have the chance to join the Board while the organization is reaching more AAPI New Yorkers than ever,” said Margaret Chu. “I’m excited to help build CACF’s statewide messaging so that even more New Yorkers can benefit from CACF’s health care, language access, and healing-centered advocacy.”

“I’m thrilled to be joining CACF’s Board of Directors during such a dynamic moment in the organization’s history. As a longtime member of the nonprofit community myself, I’ve seen firsthand the work CACF does to uplift the voices and needs of AAPI New Yorkers and I’m eager to help CACF continue to grow its reach across the state,” said Kelsey Louie, CEO of The Door. 

“Throughout my career, I’ve centered community building and exploring ways to connect to my heritage and culture. Discovering more about what CACF does in fields like data equity and also leadership development with the focus of elevating youth leaders made me realize that I wanted to be part of this incredible, growing organization,” said Annesa Lau, Director, Workforce Transformation and Digital Innovation, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Port Authority of NY and NJ. “As a Co-Chair of this year’s Catalyst for Change Awards Gala, it’s also been wonderful learning more about CACF’s plans to continue to expand across New York State and how the growth of the Board will support that.”

“When the chance arose to join CACF’s Board of Directors, I knew it would be a wonderful opportunity to join an organization that was committed to centering the needs of AAPI and immigrant New Yorkers. Throughout my career in finance, I’ve focused on uplifting greater cultural understanding of the diverse needs of the AAPI community — and I’m looking forward to extending that work into the nonprofit sector in my new role at CACF,” said Vivian Young.

For more information, please contact Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF’s Senior Communications Coordinator, at lgandhi@cacf.org.

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