Announcing the 2019-2020 LEAP Impact Cohort!
2019-2020 LEAP Impact Cohort
Formerly known as the Emerging Leaders Program, LEAPImpact: Leadership Development for Nonprofit Staff is a three-part, six-month program designed to develop Asian and Pacific Islander staff for future and current leadership and management roles in nonprofit organizations and increase the retention of those committed to working in the nonprofit sector. The program provides 16 participants each year with an opportunity to receive 80 hours of leadership development training and 6 hours of executive coaching.
We are excited to officially announce the LEAPImpact Class of 2019-2020!
LEAPImpact Class of 2019-2020:
Shin Shin Hsia, Director - Operations, Win/Win Network
Dawn Raftery, Director - Communications, StriveTogether
Kelley Lou, Training & Capacity Building Manager, National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development
Ashley Diersch, Director - Development, Kid’s Food Basket
Shaima Ahmad, Advocacy Manager, Asian American Youth Leadership Empowerment And Development (AALEAD)
Kathy Tran, Recruitment Manager, iMentor - Bay Area
Athena Mak, Chief of Staff, City Year Seattle/King County
Dedunu Suraweera, Director - Richmond Hill Community School, South Asian Youth Action (SAYA)
Catherine Lee, Development & Communications Manager, Asian Arts Initiative
Kimberly Roman-Dimisillo, Managing Director - School Impact, Teach For America - Hawai’i
Gilland De Castro, Director - Aging & Adult Services , Asian Counseling And Referral Service (ACRS)
Shilpy Chatterjee, Director - Development, Sakhi for South Asian Women
Jill Kunishima, Vice President - Development & Communications, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation
Lan Freitag, Director - Events & Partnerships, Children’s Cancer Research Fund
Michael Lok, Planning Associate, Asian Health Services
Tasneem Rajan, Program Director, CHETNA
+ Shin Shin Hsia
Shin Shin Hsia is passionate about changing the culture of the mainstream movements and redefining what it means to be a leader. She is currently the Operations Director for Win|Win, a non-profit working to advance racial, social, and economic equity across Washington state through civic and political engagement. Prior to Win|Win she dabbled in campaign management, leadership development, corps programming, fair trade, international programs & exchange and primate ecology. She holds a B.S. in Environmental & Conservation Biology and Human Resource Management certificate from the University of Washington.
Shin Shin spends her time outside of the office serving on the board of the Washington Environmental Council, eating hotpot with family, geeking out on organizational development and partaking in hobbies generally associated with senior citizens.
+ Dawn Raftery
Dawn Raftery is Director of Communication for StriveTogether; she develops and executes strategic communication plans to enhance branding, awareness and support for external affairs and programs initiatives. Previously, Dawn worked at IFF, the largest community development financial institution in the Midwest, where she led communications and rebranding efforts for the Chicago-based organization. For more than a decade, Dawn worked in journalism, including overseeing the launch and management of more than 130 community magazines in 11 states while at a global marketing and internet services company. Dawn graduated from Northern Illinois University with a bachelor of arts in English and a women’s studies minor. She is a former board member of the Association for Women Journalists-Chicago.
+ Kelley Lou
Kelley Lou is the Training and Capacity Building Manager at National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development in Washington, D.C. Originally from Houston, Texas, Kelley worked in her hometown for over five years at the Chinese Community Center, promoting important issues that were key to the Asian community there. As a 3.5 generation Chinese-American, she was first exposed to AAPI issues while studying for her Bachelors in Social Work at The University of Texas. Impassioned to learn more about advocating for her community, she completed her Master of Social Work degree at Washington University in St. Louis. Kelley is passionate about advocacy, giving back to her community and volunteering.
+ Ashley Diersch
Ashley Diersch graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Communications, specializing in Public Relations and Journalism. She started her career in the nonprofit sector with Special Olympics Michigan in fund development. She specialized in event management and marketing, volunteer recruitment and management, corporate sponsorship, donor relations, and peer to peer fundraising for her eight years there. Ashley is an emeritus member of the D.A. Blodgett St. John’s –Emerging Leaders Council. She was also on the inaugural planning committee for the Inaugural Grand Rapids Asian Festival in 2017. In 2018, she joined the Grand Rapids Young Professional board of directors, as a development co-director and is responsible for planning their annual gala.
Outside of these, Ashley is also on the board of directors for the Association of Fundraising Professionals, where she is part of the AFP Mentorship program, sits on the National Philanthropy Day committee and is also the liaison to the AFP Student Chapter at Grand Valley State University. She is also on the board at the West Michigan Asian American Association and the planning committee for the Grand Rapids International Network (focused on international talent retention and recruitment to the Grand Rapids community). She is also a part of an annual Amway Scholarship review committee through Williams Group. Ashley was a finalist for the 2018 Young Athena Award and was awarded the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) Professional of the Year Award in the fall of 2018.
Ashley still volunteers for Special Olympics Michigan when she can. She lives on the Northeast side of Grand Rapids, with her dog, Teddie.
+ Shaima Ahmad
Growing up, a first generation immigrant from Pakistan, Shaima has always valued the ability to explore both cultures available to her. Yet she is attuned to the struggle of being able to fit into varying communities. She has been given the unique opportunity to explore the meaning of identity, community, mutual understanding, as well as differing cultural and community perspectives at a young age. Shaima completed her undergraduate studies in Beijing, China at the University of Hertfordshire. The combination of Shaima’s love for travel and community service led her to build a volunteer service project, working with a community of non-profit organizations in Peru. For the last 7 years Shaima has worked with Asian American LEAD, in varying capacities from coordinating and managing programs. These experiences guide her work in supporting AALEAD youth in their quest to build their best selves. Everyone deserves a space to ask questions of identity and explore the answers. By accessing this safe space, AALEAD youth build the skills they need to be successful community members and leaders even beyond their time at AALEAD.
+ Kathy Tran
Kathy Tran serves as the Volunteer Recruitment Manager for iMentor Bay Area, a national non-profit that leverages the community to reimagine how public high schools support young people through the college process. At iMentor, Kathy is responsible for recruiting 300 volunteers each year to match them with entire grades of students at partner high schools and trains volunteers on how to become effective mentors in preparing students for post-secondary success. Kathy identifies as a second-generation Vietnamese-American and is a first-generation college graduate from University of California, Santa Cruz earning a BA in English Literature. Prior to iMentor, she managed the volunteer engagement program for Womankind, a New York based non-profit dedicated to supporting survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse. She grew up in East San Jose and recently moved back to the area from New York. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, staying active with powerlifting, and hanging out with her partner and dog.
+ Athena Mak
As a first-generation college student born to immigrant parents from Hong Kong, Athena experienced firsthand the breadth of opportunities enabled by a college education. Because of this, Athena has spent the majority of the past 10+ years working to close the education gap in both the US and around the world. She currently serves as Chief of Staff at City Year Seattle / King County; prior to this role, she spent four years as Chief of Staff to the Senior Team at Teach For All, and before that she was an Education Pioneers Fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and at Lighthouse Community Charter School in Oakland. Her passion for education has also taken her abroad, where she spent a year in India at Digital StudyHall, an NGO working to improve the quality of teaching in rural and slum schools. Athena started off her career as a management consultant with the Monitor Group and holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University.
+ Dedunu Suraweera
Dedunu Suraweera is a Community School Director with South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) in a high school in Queens, NY. Her work focuses on implementing the NYC Community School Initiative, in which her team supports their school with attendance intervention, clubs and academic enrichment, college & career guidance, mental health, health, & wellness, & family and community-based services. Dedunu has worked across the intersection of education, wellness, and social justice for the past 8 years. She has also been involved in issues of intern labor rights, South Asian organizing, and political theatre action in NYC. A born and raised Staten Islander brought up by Sri Lankan immigrant parents, Dedunu received her BA in Psychology from Stony Brook University in 2010 and MSW from Columbia University in 2012.
+ Catherine Lee
Catherine Lee has her Master of Public Administration from the University of Washington. Prior to joining Asian Arts Initiative, Catherine worked with a number of Seattle-based nonprofits focusing on evaluation and program design as well as a Philadelphia-based consulting firm to manage an extensive $3.5 million portfolio of resource development plans and capital campaigns. Currently, Catherine oversees institutional fundraising at Asian Arts Initiative, cultivates external partnerships expanding the visibility of the organization, and stewards the organization’s internship program supporting leadership and professional growth in API students. Outside of work, Catherine is a fair trade advocate, kombucha brewer, and always on the lookout for typewriters.
+ Kimberly Roman-Dimisillo
Kim Roman believes that creative solutions and sustained systems-change will arise out of our own growing consciousness and dedication to radical self-transformation. Kim was born, raised, and educated in Pāhoa, Hawai‘i, a small rural town on the east side of Hawai‘i island, where she currently resides. She is the great-granddaughter of Filipino, Puerto Rican, and Portuguese immigrants, laborers on Hawai‘i’s sugar plantations. In her current role as Managing Director of School Impact at Teach For America-Hawai‘i, she leads a team of coaches who provide professional development and coaching support for teachers to catalyze change within themselves and the classrooms they lead.
Kim has 16 years of education experience in a variety of settings and locations from Nānākuli to Oakland to Costa Rica to South Korea. She is a graduate of the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa with a B.Ed. in Elementary Education; she holds an M.Ed. with a concentration in International Teaching from Framingham State University; and she is a Certified Professional Coach, trained through Leadership That Works, an International Coach Federation accredited school.
Outside of work, Kim enjoys quiet time with family and friends, surrounded by nature, eating delicious food, or binge-watching the latest historical drama on Netflix.
+ G De Castro
G De Castro is the Director of Aging and Adult Services at Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) in Seattle, Washington where he has served in various capacities since 2011. In his current role, he leads a department of eighty staff members working in an array of programs that provide nutrition services, health and wellness, information and assistance, and case management services for elders in the Asian Pacific Islander community of King County. He holds a master's degree in Mental Health Counseling from Seattle University where he also worked in the areas of student development and spirituality, which included leading service-immersion experiences for student, faculty and staff in Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and the Philippines. He was born and raised in Manila, Philippines and completed his undergraduate studies in Philosophy and Theology at Ateneo De Manila University before immigrating to the United States in 1994.
+ Shilpy Chatterjee
Hello, I am Shilpy Chatterjee, an optimistic change maker. Throughout my experience of working in the social service sector, I have tried to give exemplary services to the community in whatever way I could. I started by participating in voluntary programs. My first volunteering experience was at the age of 18, when I started to volunteer at a home for orphaned children. I was a teacher and mentor to them and it was that bright light that I took from them that burns in my heart forever.
I obtained a degree in Legal studies at University of Delhi and started my professional life as a farmer and tribal rights advocate. It gave me the chance to interact and learn from the people from diverse backgrounds and perspective.
After moving to the United States, I volunteered at Womankind as Volunteer Counselor Advocate, learning the nuances of Domestic Violence in South Asian diaspora in United States. My position as Domestic Violence program advocate at police precinct in Queens, New York City, gave me the opportunity to work closely with law enforcement. In my current position I continue to support survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault.
I strongly believe that with every survivor aided is another step forward to end the cycle of violence.
+ Jill Kunishima
Jill Mie Kunishima is a fourth generation (yonsei) Japanese American womxn. Stemming from a strong passion for equity and social justice, she has worked as a nonprofit fundraiser for 13+ years with a wide array of organizations, including EBALDC, Peralta Colleges Foundation, Lincoln Child Center, and Covenant House California. She has also been active in her community through various volunteering/board stints at a diversity of organizations, including Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality, Lotus Bloom Child and Family Resource Center, Global Glimpse, and Hyphen Magazine. Jill has made her home in Oakland, California since 1999 (minus short stints in DC, and the Dominican Republic) with her husband, son, and furry child. She received her BA in Journalism and Psychology from Mills College, and her MPA from San Francisco State University. In her free time, she loves to travel, read non-fiction, eat tacos, and root for the Golden State Warriors.
+ Lan Freitag
Lan Freitag is a second-generation Vietnamese American development professional from Minneapolis, Minnesota whose career began in corporate communications. Seeking a more mission driven career, Lan has spent the last decade establishing meaningful connections with individuals to understand their philanthropic goals, build plans to maximize efforts/impact, while creating a legacy for themselves/families/or loved ones.In her current role at Children’s Cancer Research Fund (CCRF), she builds peer-to-peer DIY fundraising strategies to equip a community of supporters to amplify their voices and passion to raise money on CCRF's behalf by starting their own fundraisers. Lan earned her B.A. from North Dakota State University in Mass Communications.
+ Michael Lok
Raised by immigrant parents who built careers in the health care field, values of equity and service were instilled in me at a young age although I may not have always known those were their names. Growing up in the East Bay (Oakland/Piedmont) I knew I wanted to focus my professional life on public service, having volunteered for Asian Health Services in high school and at that time helping to introduce the first Pedestrian Scramble System (diagonal crosswalk) at the intersection of 8th & Webster Streets. Ever since whether at school, my career affiliations or external affiliations, I have tried to make a difference by closing the gaps that cause segments of my communities to become underrepresented or under-served.
+ Tasneem Rajan
Tasneem Rajan is the current Program Director at CHETNA –a nonprofit agency in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, serving South Asian victims of domestic violence.
Ms. Rajan has her Master of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland. Her work experience has been in social services –for the past 12 years. She has held various case management roles at Genesis Women’s Shelter, Child Protective Services, and Methodist Children’s home –working with both youth in foster care, and adult victims of domestic violence.
Ms. Rajan has been with CHETNA for the past 4 ½years - as first a Program Development Coordinator, then the Program Manager, and now, as the first Director of the agency. She manages a staff of 3, and several contracted professionals and volunteers, and has been integral in creating the current programming and overseeing client services, as well as the administrative, outreach, and fundraising roles of the agency. She has also previously served on the CHETNA board, from 2007-2009.
She is excited to be attending the LEAP training, and learning more from directors of agencies that have been in operation for a while, as well as gaining insights from experts in the field.
Previous cohorts shared the following testimonials with LEAP at the end of the program:
“I'm glad to have met these great people and be able to learn from them. I hope to maintain these relationships as it has really helped me to transition into a better leader.”
“Given the time we spent together getting to know each other, it was clear to see how connected we are to each other. I am leaving feeling invested in all my cohort members' lives and in our collective investment in the lives of our communities.”
“These few days [of the program] have been such a reminder of the strength, brilliance, and collective wisdom of this group and of our communities and…reinvigorated my conviction in wanting to make sure that wisdom and those stories are FULLY represented in our society and that is truly necessary for equity.”
This year, the program will be held from December 9, 2019 – March 26, 2020.
SPECIAL THANKS TO THE SPONSORS OF LEAPIMPACT 2019-2020:
The Official Airlines of LEAP Impact