Alexander Cena

Chief Program Officer

Alexander Cena (he/him) is the Chief Program Officer for LEAP (Leadership Education Asian Pacifics), where he is responsible for the efficient, cost-effective, and timely delivery and coordination of community and corporate leadership development programs, workshops, and events. He is a leadership development professional specializing in diversity & inclusion work and community organizing in the Asian Pacific Island Desi American (APIDA) community. 

Mr. Cena has over 11 years of service in the APIDA community. In 2009, as a Programs Manager for a youth development organization called Asian American LEAD, co-created the first Asian American youth summit in the Washington DC area. Between 2013 to 2016, he served as the Director of Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs at the University of Florida and opened up the first Asian Pacific Islander American student center on a college campus in the southeastern part of the United States. After moving to Virginia, he joined the Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities as their Community Outreach Coordinator and later became the Center Director for Higher Achievement. He maintained his commitment to the APIDA community by holding positions such as Vice President and founder of the Asian American Association at Virginia Commonwealth University and as a member of the education subcommittee for the Asian Advisory Board of Virginia. 

Mr. Cena also leads the Asian American Justice+ Innovation Lab (AAJIL) as the Co-Executive Director.  AAJIL is a volunteer organization that positions itself as a is a community racial justice incubator committed to education, community-building, and innovation for promoting justice, radical love, and emergence.

Akemi Mechtel

Assistant Director of Leadership Development

Akemi Mechtel (she/her) joins the LEAP team as the Assistant Director of Leadership Development, with nearly a decade’s worth of experience working across the non-profit and public sectors. After graduating from Augsburg University in Minneapolis, she started her career in education working as a tireless advocate for accessibility and equity in the classroom. After witnessing the barriers her students faced she went back to school to better understand the impact of policy in our communities, and obtained a Master’s in Public Policy. She has impacted both large government systems and small nonprofits to think critically about the way that race shows up in how we do our work, and build better systems that decentralize power, maintain momentum, and push back against the status quo. The years she has spent supporting students to further their education, engaging in policy reform, and building relationships across the communities that she occupies has further solidified her passion for working towards a socially-just future. When Akemi isn’t working to change systems she can be found spending time with her dog, reading a good book, or traveling to see friends and family.

Chingcha Vang

Senior Program Manager

Operating from an equity-minded framework, Chingcha Vang (he/him) took his passion for Asian American History to the classrooms of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a High School social studies teacher at the Hmong American Peace Academy, Chingcha received the Excellence in Teaching Award during his first year as a teacher and was then promoted to Social Studies Department Chair where he led successful efforts in crafting culturally responsive learning experiences for students. While working as a full-time educator and at the administrative level, Chingcha received his Master's Degree in Educational Policy and Leadership from Marquette University. Chingcha shifted his energies to supporting Teach For America with a variety of roles which included recruitment, leadership development, and teacher coaching. In 2021, Chingcha’s two passions of developing leaders and centering Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities at the forefront of his work led him to LEAP. He currently serves as the Senior Program Manager where he leads efforts in designing, crafting, and facilitating leadership programming specifically tailored to API within the corporate, higher ed, public service, and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, Chingcha began leadership coaching through Messy Roots Coaching Academy with an intentional focus on coaching and developing young professionals and early to mid career APIs. On his free time, Chingcha spends his time serving other nonprofits in various roles from Vice President of the Board for Our Scholarship Inc., mentoring for APIA Scholars, and Board Member and Program Task Force Lead for Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership (CAPAL).

Eledy Vargas Gonzalez

Operations and Program Specialist

Eledy Vargas Gonzalez (she/hers)(It’s Melody but drop the “M”) is the Senior Program Coordinator for LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics). Her responsibilities include creating programs/event timelines and action steps to ensure all steps of events are prepared, develop presentation materials for trainers and facilitators, and assist in administrative duties. 

During her final year at California State University - Los Angeles as an Asian and Asian American Studies Major, she enrolled in the 2019 LEAP Emerge: Classroom Edition Program, a pilot program in parternship with CSULA to bring the Emerge: Summer Internship Program into a 16-week college course for students in the AAAS Department. It was Eledy’s first experience getting to know about nonprofit work and being in an internship. LEAP Emerge: Classroom Edition not only opened the door for her to understand more about the nonprofit sector and leadership development, it also opened the door for her to know more about the stories of members of the AAPI Community through the LEAP Alumni and Participant Network. To this day, she is still fascinated by the indiviual storytelling of each participant she has met in LEAP’s programs.

In the event you don’t find Eledy working on program deadlines or supporting curriculum development for LEAP’s programs, you can find her doing art-related photography, painting with oil paints, scolding her troublemaker of a lovebird, Remi, attending church, or playing Final Fantasy VII Remake, Kingdom Hearts, Overcooked, or Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Celine Hoang

Development Associate

Celine Hoang is LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacific)’s Development Associate. Born and raised in Southern California, Celine witnessed firsthand the importance of a strong community. Celine grew up with an immersive experience of Vietnamese culture and the community, and this contributed to her interest in strengthening community relations and engagement. Celine first began advocating for her community during the 2020 election cycle to increase voter engagement for Congressional and State races in California. After graduating Cum Laude from the University of California, Riverside, Celine immersed herself in state politics and worked to strengthen the relationships between regional and state government. She advocated for regional government needs to the state, while also highlighting their achievements so that other regions could grow. Celine has also worked with renewable and clean energy advocates to ensure that California’s goal of zero carbon electricity by 2045 is equitable and improves the lives of individuals in underserved communities. 

Celine’s passions for community engagement and equity within the state of California draws from her Vietnamese roots. Vietnamese values of helping others, advocating for loved ones, and caring for one’s community are central to Celine, and she hopes to continue strengthening community engagement and increasing equity on a larger scale. Currently, Celine enjoys reading books, exploring new cafes, and cooking with her friends.

Danielle Lynk

communications Manager

Danielle Lynk is the Communications Manager for LEAP(Leadership Education for Asian Pacific). She is responsible for driving and creating LEAP’s communications and marketing strategies to bring awareness and support development efforts. 

Prior to taking this role, Danielle was the Director of Marketing and Development at Milwaukee Excellence Charter School. As the lead for marketing and development, she created the communication systems and processes for stakeholders, project-managed over several team projects, and led annual fundraising appeals. During her first year in marketing and development, she was simultaneously a middle school classroom teacher for the organization. 

Prior to that, Danielle was a 3rd-5th grade mathematics teacher for Rocketship Education in Milwaukee. During her 2nd year of teaching, she was also the network’s 3rd grade mathematics lesson plan lead writer for schools in California and Tennessee. Danielle was a Teach For America Milwaukee Corp member and a board member for Teach For America Milwaukee’s Collective. 

Danielle earned a Master’s in Education from Alverno College with a teaching credential and speciality in Social Studies. She is a proud graduate of University of California, Irvine earning a Bachelors of Arts for International Studies with a focus on Asia and Business. She also studied abroad for a year at Korea University in Seoul, South Korea. In her sophomore year of college, she was recognized as one of UC Irvine’s Top 30 Most Influential Asian Pacific Islander Americans, was the inaugural recipient for the Student of Year for Distinguished Women, and was a community advocator for the Filipino-American student organization, Kababayan. 
She enjoys spending her free time exploring new places, baking cookies, and watching the Milwaukee Bucks with her husband and two sons.

Phillip Huynh

Program Coordinator

Phillip Huynh (he/him) graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara in June 2022 with Bachelor of Arts degrees in both Political Science and History of Public Policy & Law. In his time here, he maintained a strong commitment to his community with his work as a Student Government senator and active member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Growing up in a financially unstable household with his sister and immigrant father, Phillip’s passion lies in uplifting low-income communities and combatting racial discrimination against Asian Americans. Throughout the past two years, Phillip gained experience working in the public sector as an intern for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and as an intern for the U.S. Department of Agriculture; most recently, he worked as a canvasser on Congresswoman Katie Porter’s campaign. In his free time, he enjoys traveling to new places, attending music festivals with his friends, and playing video games.

Lauren Kojima

Program Coordinator

Lauren Kojima (she/hers) is a Program Coordinator at Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP). Lauren was born and raised in Southern California and attended the University of San Francisco (USF), majoring in Asian Studies. During her time at USF, she took part in the Conversation Partners Program to help foreign exchange students with their English-speaking skills. She was also a Summer Intern at Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles, where she provided administrative support.

She previously held the position of Program and Administrative Coordinator at a nonprofit organization in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles that offers culturally-relevant programs for youth across Southern California. Their programs emphasize educating, empowering, and engaging the next generation. Lauren brings to LEAP her desire to empower future leaders in the Asian American communities, which she hopes to continue through her work.

Lauren enjoys the quest for new, Asian-inspired food and drinks, shopping is a serious hobby of her’s, and she’s an avid Squishmallow collector.

Tia Reid

Program Coordinator

Tia Reid (she/hers) is an LA native with previous experience working with nonprofit law firms. She graduated from Occidental College (Oxy) where she studied Critical Theory and Social Justice with an emphasis in Critical Race Theory and Feminist/Queer Theory. During her time at Oxy, she was formally introduced to community based learning/research which gave her the tools she relies on to this day. Her time at Oxy not only led her to uncover her passion in uplifting and advocating for systemically excluded community members but also provided her with the tools needed to assist those in the on-going fight for for equity, diversity and inclusion.

When she’s not working, she enjoys cooking, trying out new restaurants and going on scenic walks.