WHIAAPI Announces Its 2014-2015 E3! Ambassadors

WHIAAPI launches its E3! Ambassadors Program at the White House AAPI Youth Forum with the East Coast Asian American Student Union, July 17, 2014. (by WHIAAPI)

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) is proud to announce its first class of E3! Ambassadors, 32 young leaders from across the nation committed to improving the quality of life and opportunity for young AAPIs. 

Launched earlier this summer, the E3! Ambassadors Program aims to “Educate, Engage, and Empower” young leaders and to highlight key federal programs and resources in which AAPIs may be underserved. The selected E3! Ambassadors will conduct outreach within their campuses and communities from September 2014 to May 2015.

2014-2015 E3! Ambassadors

All ambassadors are listed by region based on WHIAAPI’s Regional Interagency Working Group. Affiliations are for identification purposes only.

Region I

Karen Chen, Colby College- Waterville, Maine
Hasher Nisar, Middlebury College- Middlebury, Vermont
Kanwar Singh, Harvard University- Boston, Massachusetts
Sonia Sujanani, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court- Boston, Massachusetts

Region II

Benjamin Fang, Syracuse University- Syracuse, New York
Catharine Mariampillai, St. John’s University- Queens, New York
Trip Yang- Brooklyn, New York

Region III

Krystle Canare, Philippine American Foundation for Charities- Waldorf, Maryland
Krishna Ghodiwala- Frederick, Maryland
Meredith Peng, Georgetown University- Washington, District of Columbia
Viet Hoai Tran, University of California, San Diego- Arlington, Virginia
Priyanka Varma, University of Pennsylvania- Washington, District of Columbia

Region IV

Sadhvi Batra, University of Alabama at Birmingham- Mountain Brook, Alabama
Kathryn Quintin, Florida State University- Tallahassee, Florida

Region V

Sagarika Das, University of Michigan- Ann Arbor, Michigan
Manpreet Kaur Teji, John Marshall Law School- Chicago, Illinois
Alissa Sheftic, Mental Health Authority- Berrien County, Michigan

Region VI

Patlindsay Catalla, Lone Star College- Houston, Texas
Nicholas Chan, University of Texas at Austin- Austin, Texas
Zhibin Hong, New Mexico Asian Family Center- Albuquerque, New Mexico
Saba Nafees, Texas Tech University- Lubbock, Texas

Region VII

Manisha Paudel, City of Dubuque, Iowa- Dubuque, Iowa

Region VIII

Jeffery Almeda, University of Colorado at Denver- Denver, Colorado
William Chan, Denver Public Library- Denver, Colorado
Naureen Singh, University of Colorado at Boulder- Boulder, Colorado

Region IX

Aldrin Carreon, University of California, Berkeley- Los Angeles, California
Franalyn Galiza, University of Hawai’i at Manoa- Waianae, Hawaii
Jonathan P. Loc, East Los Angeles College- Rosemead, California
Romyn Sabatchi, Filipino American Arts & Culture Festival- San Diego, California
Michael Tam, University of California, Irvine- Irvine, California
Josephine F. Villanueva, De Anza College- San Jose, California

Region X

Yolanda Eng, Urban Impact- Seattle, Washington

Over the next nine months, these talented young leaders will complete various outreach activities, whether it’s setting up a table to share resources at a campus or community event, facilitating a workshop during a conference, or even utilizing social media. Through these efforts, we look forward to helping advance and sustain the next generation of AAPI leaders.

Jason Tengco is a Senior Advisor at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.