About Us

Rajan Gill is a Historian and Professor at Yuba College. Gill’s academic career began at the University of California, Davis where he served as vice-president to the History Honors Society. Gill completed his Masters in History at the University of California, Santa Cruz where he researched the Indian Diaspora in California. Gill specifically focuses on the Punjabi-Sikh diaspora in the United States, and how the groups perceived American Identity. He also has an interest in immigration and labor history. Gill is also a California farmer, producing peaches, prunes, walnuts, and almonds throughout the state.

Tahra brings strong skills in leadership, management, policy advocacy, and public affairs. She is experienced in diverse issue areas across multiple sectors including nonprofit management, business, and government. Currently, Tahra serves as the President and CEO of Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP). Previously, Tahra was an organization consultant as well as an executive coach. Tahra has served as the Director for Zero to Three Western Regional Office, a national early childhood public policy and research organization; District Director for California State Senator Carol Liu; National Director for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), a national American Muslim civil rights organization in Washington, DC; and Executive Director of Day One in Pasadena, a substance abuse prevention and policy organization. She considers herself a generalist who is adept at leveraging strategic relationships, building cross-cultural and cross-sector coalitions, crafting public policy, and organizing multi-faith and grassroots communities.

Tahra is a graduate of the University of California at Irvine with a degree in Biology, has a Masters in Organizational Management, and a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Notable achievements include recipient of the Barbara Jordan Award for Women’s Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School Woman and Public Policy Program, Nonprofit Executive Director of the Year by the California State Senate and Assembly, Founder of Monterey Bay Muslim Neighbors, and Advisor to Latino Muslim Unity.

The Hon. Gene Kim is an elected official on the Board of Trustees for the San Mateo-Foster City School District, which serves more than 10,000 students across 21 schools. As an attorney with a background in law, government, business management, and technology start-ups, Gene has used his cross-sector expertise to shape public policy at the local, state, and federal level.

For nearly two decades, Gene has been an advocate for issues impacting the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community and has served in various leadership roles, including as the Executive Director of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, as the Chair of the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership, as the Program Director for the Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation, and as a board member for the Asian Pacific Islander School Board Members Association, the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, and the San Mateo County Asian American and Pacific Islander Alliance.

Gene is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with a J.D. from the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.

Dr. Diann Kitamura has dedicated more than four decades to public education in the service of liberation, love, and authentic leadership. She served as Superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools from 2016 until her retirement, and later as Deputy Superintendent at the Sonoma County Office of Education before “re-retiring” in 2025. Today, she proudly serves as Executive Director of the California Association of Asian and Pasifika Leaders in Education (CAAPLE), advancing equity and cultivating the next generation of leaders. She also teaches in UC Berkeley’s Leaders for Equity and Democracy (LEAD) program and serves as an executive leadership coach and systems designer with Next Level Client Services at F3 Law.

Inspired by her immigrant grandparents and her mother, who, as a child, was incarcerated with her family at the Amache Japanese American internment camp during World War II, Dr. Kitamura has devoted her life’s work to ensuring every child has access to high-quality education and a sense of belonging, free from fear. She believes democracy depends on equitable access to education and that schools must prepare young people not only to succeed but also to lead and strengthen our democracy.

In 2025, she was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom and past Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire to the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs. Grounded in authenticity and guided by love, Dr. Kitamura continues to mentor, teach, and design systems that expand opportunity and affirm the dignity, brilliance, and humanity of every child, and every educator who teaches them.

Kirin Macapugay, DSW, MSW, is an educator, community organizer, author, public servant, and proud mama. She is Vice-Chair for the California Commission on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, chairing the Higher Education Committee, which spearheaded the historical Student Achievement Program to support lower-income Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Asian American higher education students. She is a tenured faculty of Human Services at San Diego City College, created PEER, an award-winning program preparing students to work in homelessness prevention, and is co-principal investigator of the college’s federally supported Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institution (AANAPISI) program. She has a Doctorate of Social Work from the University of Southern California, bachelor’s in Psychology, Master’s in Social Work from San Diego State University, and a certificate in indigenous peoples rights from Columbia University’s Columbia X program. Kirin was awarded “Best Professor” by San Diego State University students, “Civil Rights Woman Leader” by RISE San Diego , “Civic Leader of the Year” by Asian Pacific American Coalition, a “Woman Who Inspires Us” by San Diego Magazine, and named one of the “50 Most Influential Asian Leaders” by the San Diego Business Journal. December 12, 2022 was proclaimed Kirin Macapugay Day in the County of San Diego.

She is Chair of Made in Paradise Hills honoring the community that raised her, a founding board member of the San Diego Asian Pacific Islander Coalition, a core member of the statewide FIERCE Policy Forum, and board member for Only Stronger. She founded Asian Pacific Islander Community Actions (APICA) in 2015 to serve as a catalyst for grassroots efforts. An Indigenous person from Kalinga, Philippines, Kirin co-founded Indigenous Knowledge, Art, and Truth (IKAT) advocating and educating for the culture and autonomy of Indigenous Peoples from the Philippines. She has several publications, articles in journals, and was awarded the International Research Hypothesis Excellence Award in 2024.

Lance Toma is the Chief Executive Officer of San Francisco Community Health Center (formerly Asian and Pacific Islander Wellness Center), an LGBTQ and people of color community health center that believes everyone deserves access to the highest quality health care. Lance has worked at this organization since 1999 and became the CEO in 2006. In 2015, San Francisco Community Health Center was awarded HRSA-designated federally qualified health center status, the first new FQHC in San Francisco in over 30 years.

Lance has over 20 years of nonprofit management and leadership experience with deep commitment to AANHPI, LGBT, HIV/AIDS, and people of color communities. He has served as co-chair of the San Francisco HIV/AIDS Providers Network for the past seven years and was a founding steering committee member of the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network established in 2007. He has been the vice president of the board of directors of NMAC (formerly National Minority AIDS Council) for the past six years and also serves on the board of CenterLink because he cares deeply about the vitality of people of color HIV organizations and LGBTQ community centers across the country.

Lance was born and raised in Hawaii. Prior to re-locating to San Francisco, Lance worked in Chicago and directed programs targeting LGBTQ youth, adults, and older adults. He received a Master’s degree in social service administration from the University of Chicago.

Jason S. Tam, a seasoned Real Estate professional, boasts a rich background spanning housing development, asset management, team leadership, and sales. Hailing from San Francisco, Jason’s roots in the city run deep, having been born at the San Francisco Chinese Hospital and raised by Chinese Cantonese immigrants who instilled in him a profound connection to his heritage.

Growing up immersed in the vibrant tapestry of San Francisco’s Chinatown, Jason attended Sunday school at the First Chinese Baptist Church, honed his swimming skills at the Chinatown YMCA, and engaged in youth programs at the Cameron House. His formative years, coupled with his professional trajectory, have cultivated in him a profound appreciation for the city’s diverse landscape, cultural richness, and community ethos.

Educated at Spring Valley Elementary School, Francisco Middle School, and Philip & Sala Burton High School, Jason’s commitment to preserving his cultural heritage led him to attend Chinese school, nurturing his fluency in Cantonese and Mandarin. His deep ties to the community were further solidified through his role as Vice President of the Taraval Parkside Merchant Association, where he spearheaded initiatives such as the McCoppin movie nights, Taraval Street Fair, and the cherished Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

Having resided in both Nob Hill and Crocker-Amazon, Jason’s passion for community engagement remains unwavering. His dedication to public service was underscored by his appointment by the San Francisco Superior Court to the San Francisco Civil Grand Jury in 2017. In this capacity, he led pivotal initiatives across various communities and authored impactful public policy reports on issues ranging from pedestrian safety to counterterrorism efforts. In 2019, Jason was appointed to the San Francisco Building Inspections Commission where he served as vice-chair and president of the Abatement Appeal Board till 2023. Currently, he is an active member of the San Francisco Police Department Asian Pacific Islander Committee. Now poised for a new chapter, Jason is eager to leverage his extensive real estate expertise, entrepreneurial drive, and steadfast commitment to public service in his next endeavor.

Taunuu Ve’e has over 25 years working in diverse populations both domestic and international to promote and improved health outcomes through collaborative development on national, state, and local level, established public and private partnerships across government and multi-sector organizations to provide not only capacity building smaller organizations and faith community but to broker many relationships by convening those leaders at the table in order to lift the voices of the underserved and unserved because they are invisible within the system. She co-founded the first Bay Area Regional Pacific Islander Taskforce in 2015, an advisory council to the six-county directors of health departments in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Sonoma counties. The plan is to establish relationship with all 10-counties by end of 2022. The goal is to raise awareness and visibility of Pacific Islander (PI) health and social issues by educating counties on PI history and culture, improving regional data collection, and reporting on PI community, and increasing PI civic engagement participation.

National Work: Tau was a National advisor on Pacific Islander Affairs for Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) to represent one of the most under-served and invisible populations across the United States and its affiliated Pacific Island jurisdiction for 8 years. The APIAHF is the oldest and largest health advocacy organization in the nation. Tau was also appointed and led the Racial Equity Initiative, a collaboration of 26 community-based organizations in California, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, and Mississippi. The APIAHF was one of the anchor institutions representing Asian and Pacific Islanders for the Kellogg Foundation’s “American Healing” initiative.

When Taus not busy with work, she’s very active at her church as a deacon’s wife, choir, women’s ministry member for the region in northern California and American Samoa. For releasing stress, she enjoys a round of golf with her husband Pete Noga when she can.

Dr. David Yee is a sixth-generation Californian, and his family ties to Northern California are part of the region’s history. His great-great-great grandfather, Dr. Yee Fung Cheung, was an herbal doctor in the Gold Country, and his store in Fiddletown, California is a state landmark. In 1862, Dr. Yee brewed an herbal remedy that cured California First Lady Jane Stanford of a severe pulmonary illness. A humanitarian and philanthropist, Dr. Yee’s grandfather, Dr. Herbert Yee, was the first overseas Chinese to help build a school and other public works in his family’s village in Toishan, China in 1981.

His maternal great-great grandfather, Lee Ming Young, helped build the transcontinental railroad. Through the advocacy of his grandaunt Jeanie Jew, his story inspired the creation of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in 1992 that we celebrate across the nation each May.

A nationally recognized healthcare policy expert and cancer surgeon, he completed a Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley and fellowship training in urologic oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.

He is Chair of the Board of Sutter Medical Group, Medical Director of Philanthropy of the Greater Sacramento Division at Sutter Health, and Director of Urology and Genitourinary Oncology Services at Sutter Roseville Medical Center. An advocate for legislation that places patients first and promotes healthcare to underserved communities, he serves as President of the Sierra Foothills Medical Society and as a California Medical Association Delegate.

Recognized for his leadership and research endeavors, he was selected as an American Urological Association International Volunteers in Urology scholar and traveled to Vietnam and Thailand as a visiting surgeon. Concerned with the lack of published health data on Asian Americans, he has presented at international conferences and published his research findings on ethnic disparities in urologic cancer.

He serves on clinical faculty at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, and is a physician mentor at the Paul Hom Asian Clinic in Sacramento. He also serves on clinical faculty and as Associate Dean of Clinical Medicine at California Northstate University College of Medicine.

He has been named as an “Asian American and Pacific Islander Change Maker” by the Sacramento Bee. In addition, he serves as a member of the California State Railroad Museum Foundation Board and the Sacramento Zoo Board of Trustees.

Manjusha (Manju) P. Kulkarni, Esq. is the Executive Director of AAPI Equity Alliance, a coalition of 50 community-based organizations which serves and represents the 1.6 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Los Angeles County. Manju is also a Co-Founder of Stop AAPI Hate, the nation’s largest reporting center tracking anti-AAPI hate acts.
Alongside fellow Stop AAPI Hate co-founders Cynthia Choi and Russell Jeung, Manju has been recognized on the prestigious TIME100 Most Influential People in the World and Bloomberg 50 lists. In 2021, Manju, Cynthia, and Russell were recipients of the 2021 Webby Social Movement of the Year award. More recently, Manju was honored with the 2024 James Irvine Leadership Award and named one of Carnegie Corporation of New York’s Great Immigrants of 2025.
Manju’s work has been featured in The New York Times, NPR, and CNN, as well as in numerous local and ethnic media outlets. As part of her advocacy work on behalf of AAPI communities, Manju has shared her expertise with institutions including the Aspen Institute, the World Bank, and the United Nations. In January 2024, she delivered a TEDx talk at the University of California, Berkeley.
Manju serves on the Board of Directors of LA Voice and is a member of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and the California Racial and Identity Profiling Advisory Board. Prior to joining AAPI Equity Alliance, she served as Executive Director of South Asian Network and Senior Attorney at the National Health Law Program. Earlier in her career, Manju was part of the pro bono legal team representing Japanese Latin Americans who were kidnapped by the U.S. government and incarcerated during World War II; as a result of the class action lawsuit, hundreds received reparations and a formal apology from President Clinton.
Manju holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and a Juris Doctor degree from Boston University School of Law.

Zain Yahya is a Pakistani-American small business owner who owns and operates a small manufacturing firm he has successfully guided and expanded from five to 45 employees. A result-oriented leader, he has guided his company through 15 consecutive years of revenue growth while spearheading initiatives in employee retention and environmental sustainability. Zain’s extensive leadership in trade associations provides him with a deep understanding of the intersection between business and state regulation. He currently serves as the Vice President of the Metal Finishing Association of Northern California and is a board member for the National Association of Surface Finishers (NASF), where he advocates for 2,600 surface finishers at a federal level.

In addition to his professional roles, Zain is deeply committed to community service and fiscal transparency. He serves on the boards of the Bay Area Muslim Council (BAMC) and the Youth Alliance, and was elected to the South Valley Islamic Community(SVIC) Board. His expertise in fiscal oversight is further utilized as a member of the Measure X Bond Oversight Committee. He previously served as the Finance Chair for the Latino Family Fund, where he managed the organization’s transition into an independent non-profit entity. Zain is also an integral volunteer and leader for the annual Philippine Weekend Festival in Delano, California, alongside his Filipino-American wife. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration-Finance from CSU Fresno as well as a Leadership Certificate from the Gilroy Leadership Program.