National Officers
Brady Calma, SEIU
President |
Brady Calma is the Director of API Civic Engagement and Leadership Development at the 2.1 million strong Service Employees International Union. He previously held positions at local unions in Northern California organizing and representing public employees, non-profit workers, and homecare workers.
With over 15 years of service to the labor movement, Brady has staffed and led organizing and political campaigns, negotiated contracts, led strikes, and built leadership and organizational development programs for local unions. In his current assignment, Brady is focusing his efforts building Asian-Pacific Islander leadership and activism, partnering with progressive AAPI community organizations, and growing SEIU's AAPI leadership and activism through labor organizing, politics, racial justice, climate justice, and immigration advocacy. Brady has served on numerous boards but is especially proud of his service to the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. Brady lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and is based in Washington DC. His current portfolio includes strategizing and leading SEIU’s efforts around AAPI engagement and mobilization in support of cross-racial solidarity. His hobbies include traveling, reading, skiing, beach-bumming, meditating, and church and community service. |
Steven Moy, IBEW Local 3
1st Vice President |
Ligaya Domingo, SEIU Healthcare 1199NW
2nd Vice President |
Ligaya Domingo is currently the Racial Justice and Education Director for SEIU Healthcare 1199NW where she has worked for over 16 years. She started as a union organizer in the AFL-CIO’s Union Summer Program in 1997, worked for SEIU International for a number of years, and after many years working as a field organizer she now leads the local’s Racial Justice program and helps to lead the union’s education, training, and development programs for members and staff. She is also Secretary and Trustee for the SEIU Healthcare 1199NW Multi-Employer Training Fund. She is also an officer of the SEIU Asian Pacific Islander Caucus.
She has served two terms as the Seattle chapter appointee to the National Executive Board member of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. She has also been appointed to serve on a number of a of committees and boards where she represents Seattle APALA including: MLK Labor, Washington State Labor Council, the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies Advisory Committee, and Washington State Labor Education Research Center. She is also a member of the SEIU Racial Justice Committee, Washington State Labor Council’s Racial Justice Committee, MLK Labor’s Racial Justice Taskforce where she serves as the co-chair, Seattle King County Workforce Development Council Board Member and Chair of the Equity Committee. She has a Ph.D. and a M.A, from the Social and Cultural Studies Program in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Her dissertation, Building a Movement: Filipino American Union and Community Organizing in Seattle in the 1970s, focused upon the limits and possibilities of using two parts of civil society: a union and a community organization in Seattle, Washington in the 1970s as vehicles for social change. She holds a Master’s in Teaching from Seattle University and previously worked as an elementary school teacher. She also has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Washington. |
Sandra Engle, UAW
Secretary |
Sandra Engles first joined APALA in 2005 and am currently the UAW representative to the National Executive Board as well as the Recording Secretary of the Michigan APALA chapter. She has been a member of UAW Local 2325 (Association of Legal Aid Attorneys) since 1992. Currently, she is an Administrative Assistant in the President’s Office focusing on member engagement. She lives in Wyandotte, Michigan, with her husband Joe.
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Jessica Tang, BTU Local 66, AFT
Treasurer |
Jessica Tang is the President of the Boston Teachers Union, representing over 10,000 active and retired educators. She is the first person of color, first openly queer and first woman in over thirty years to serve in this role. She is a co-founder of the Teacher Activist Group-Boston, Boston Education Justice Alliance and MA Education Justice Alliance, and serves as a board member for several civic and labor groups including Citizens for Public Schools, Private Industry Council, Boston Partners in Education, Parent Teacher Home Visit Project and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. She’s also the first and only AAPI member to serve on the American Federation of Teachers Executive Council. Jessica serves as a VP of both the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and American Federation of Teachers-Massachusetts, and is a former co-chair of the Massachusetts Asian-American Educators Association.
She currently serves on the United States Commission on Civil Rights Massachusetts State Advisory Council and served a three-year term on the New England Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve. As a teacher-activist, she has been involved in many community organizations that are working to advance racial, social and economic justice. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Harvard and holds an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. |
Board Members
Wei Chen, Asian Americans United
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Wei Chen is Asian Americans United’s Civic Engagement Coordinator and Chinese Youth Organizing Project Coordinator. When Wei fist arrived in the U.S, he faces racism and anti-immigrant discrimination. In 2008 and 2009 Wei was one of the leaders of the South Philadelphia High student organizing, whose anti-bias and racial healing work during that struggle has won national acclaim. He helped form the South Philadelphia High Chinese Student Association and eventually led a major boycott of the school for more than eight days following persistent anti-Asian/anti-immigrant harassment. In 2014, Wei founded Chinatown Vote. He is on the Board of Victim/Witness Services of South Philadelphia. He was one of ten people nationally awarded a Peace First Prize fellowship to continue his organizing addressing bias harassment. In 2015, he was appointed by Mayor of Philadelphia to serve as Commissioner of Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. In 2020 co-founded API PA, Pennsylvania’s first Asian focused 501(c)4.
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Cindy Datangel, APWU
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Cindy Hwang Datangel was born in Rangoon Burma and emigrated to the US in 1980 at the age of 7. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently live in Vallejo, CA with her husband and 11 years old daughter. She became an employee with the United States Postal Service on July 4, 1998 and became an active member of APWU. She has been on committees and served as an officer in the local through the years. She has held the position of shop steward, Recording Secretary, Craft Director, Vice President and is currently serving as General President for the American Postal Workers Union, San Francisco Local 2. She is the first female president in the history of the San Francisco local and is the National APWU appointee to the National Executive Board for APALA for 2021-2023 term.
Her primary goal is to ensure APWU stays strong and to keep the local viable for the next generation of postal workers in San Francisco. Long-term goals include to search and make available training for union stewards, officers, and members so that all are aware of the benefits and rights provided by the collective bargaining agreement. Ultimately be a part of the struggle to build back a stronger union to benefit all. |
Bobby Dutta, SEIU Local 1000
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Bobby Dutta is a member leader with SEIU Local 1000, where he organizes members to address worksite inequities and uphold labor union contracts. He understands the value of building relationships and expanding the membership base to produce power, and seeks to bring the same focus and commitment as an At Large VP. Moreover, as an immigrant from India, he is interested in advancing immigration rights, racial justice, and economic justice within AAPI comminutes. Bobby is an analyst at the California Department of Public Health. Primarily, my day job is protecting public health. As a public health employee, he knows that health equity is when all members of society enjoy a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Yet, he saw firsthand how the AAPI community and other people of color are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. His mission is to promote health equity in communities of color.
Bobby is Treasurer for the Sacramento chapter of APALA and chair of a non-profit’s legislative committee, where he advocates for bills supportive of the interest of the organization. He intends to actively support or oppose legislation to advance the interest of AAPI communities and the rights of AAPI workers |
Eunice How, UNITE HERE Local 8
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Eunice How (she/her) is a community organizer in Seattle, Washington (Duwamish land) at UNITE HERE Local 8, the hospitality workers’ labor union. She previously worked in the boycott and organizing teams and has been on staff since 2013. She is the President of the APALA Seattle chapter and represents UNITE HERE Local 8 on MLK Labor’s Executive Board. She is a member of University Lutheran Church - Seattle (ELCA). She earned a Bachelor's degree in Public Health with a minor in Geography from the University of Washington. She is the proud daughter of Chinese Malaysians and was raised in Illinois and Singapore.
Eunice’s past community involvement includes serving on the leadership boards of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum (NAPAWF) in Seattle and the University of Washington Lutheran Campus Ministry (ELCA). In college, she organized with United Students Against Sweatshops and Jobs with Justice. Previously, she has worked as an AmeriCorps VISTA at a food bank in Seattle, a student assistant in cancer research at the University of Washington, a restaurant host in Texas, and a retail worker and babysitter in Illinois. |
Tiffany Hsieh, Climate Power
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Deeply passionate about building people power for progressive movements, Tiffany serves as the senior campaign manager at Climate Power engaging activists across the country to harness their political power and fight for just and equitable climate solutions. A social and environmental justice advocate, her experience includes the League of Conservation Voters, Climate Action Campaign, White House Council on Environmental Quality, California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the United Nations Environment Programme. Tiffany is also dedicated to uplifting the Asian American Pacific Islander community and serves as a Commissioner for the DC Mayor’s Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs and currently serves as the Digital Director and Young Professionals Lead for the Asian American Action Fund to help elect progressive AAPI candidates for public office. She previously served on the board of the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership building a public service pipeline for AAPIs. She is a proud Taiwanese American, California native, and graduate of University of California Davis.
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Tracy Lai, AFT Washington
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Tracy Lai is Seattle chapter’s vice-president and a chapter representative on NEB. She was re-elected as vice president for human rights for AFT Washington state federation (2021-23) and appointed to national AFT’s newly formed Asian American and Pacific Islander Taskforce. She is a continuing member of AFT’s standing committee on Civil and Human Rights. Tracy served as national secretary of APALA from 2011-2021. She is a full-time history, Ethnic and Women Studies instructor at Seattle Central College.
During the pandemic, she collaborated with a team led by Kent Wong, UCLA Labor Center director, to write Asian American Workers Rising: APALA’s Struggle to Transform the Labor Movement (2021). She co-authored The Snake Dance of Asian American Activism: Community, Vision and Power with Michael Liu (University of Massachusetts – Boston) and Kim Geron (California State University - East Bay and Alameda Chapter, APALA). |
Seung Lee, UFT-AFT Local 2
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Seung Lee is an Executive Board Member of the United Federation of Teachers (AFT, Local 2), an AFT and NEA delegate, and a Board member of APALA-NY. He is also the Chair of the UFT Asian American Heritage Committee and has served as part of the UFT Political Action Committee. He previously served as the Chair of the Asian Pacific Student Coalition at the University of Pennsylvania.
Seung was born in Seoul, Korea, was raised in New York City and has served as a special education and science teacher for 20 years. When he is not teaching, he is part of the Personnel department at the UFT. He is the proud father of two boys attending NYC public schools. |
Will Lee, UNITE HERE Local 26
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Will Lee is Secretary of APALA MA and a Trustee of Unite Here Local 26. Originally from NYC, Will has organized with hospitality workers in Boston for over ten years and helped lead the 2018 Marriott Hotels strike.
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Alex Mabanta, UAW Local 2865
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Alex Mabanta (He/Him) is a member and former head steward of UAW Local 2865, the largest student-worker union in the United States with over 19,000+ undergraduate and graduate unionists across all 10 UC campuses. Alex is a member of APALA Alameda chapter and the APALA Young Leaders Council. Since 2018, Alex has served as a delegate to the Alameda Labor Council, AFL-CIO.
Alex organizes in San Francisco, the East Bay, and Silicon Valley (Ramaytush, Chochenyo, and Tamien Ohlone lands). He previously led voting rights and redistricting campaigns with Asian Law Alliance, a community legal services organization based in San José, California. Alex is a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Alex is the inaugural Young Workers Vice-President of the National Executive Board of APALA, AFL-CIO, |
Jillian Matundan, AFSCME
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Jillian Matundan is Director of Conference and Travel Services for The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). Jillian has also worked in the Political Action, Organizing and Field Services, and Data and Analytics departments since joining the union in 2004. She has been as the APALA DC Co-Chapter President since 2017 and served as APALA National Secretary from 2019-2021.
Jillian is a proud first-generation Filipina American and was born and raised in Syracuse, NY. She was a Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in New York and is a graduate of Washington College and an alumni of the Executive Education program at the Kennedy School. Jillian is an award-winning singer/songwriter and plays in the Reston Community Orchestra and the McLean Symphony. She released her debut EP in 2020 and is working on her first full-length album with Plaid Dog Recording Studios in Boston |
Lindsay Peifer, NEA
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Lindsay Peifer is a Senior Program/Policy Analyst/Specialist focusing on AAPI Outreach & Engagement in the Community Advocacy & Partnership Engagement (CAPE) department with the National Education Association (NEA). Previously, she was an educator in Saint Paul, Minnesota, for 24 years and was an active member of Education Minnesota, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), and NEA. With NEA, she was the secretary of NEA’s Asian and Pacific Islander Caucus (APIC), represented APIC on NEA’s Board of Directors, was a member of NEA’s Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee, was a mentor in NEA’s Leaders of Color Pathway Project, and a participant in NEA’s Future Forward Think Tank. She is one of the founding members of the Minnesota chapter of APALA.
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Mikayla Robinson, NOLSW-UAW Local 2320
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Mikayla Robinson (she/her) is a second-generation biracial Korean American who grew up in Michigan. She is an APALA MA and YLC member. She has been a UAW member for over 5 years and began her time in the labor movement as a graduate student worker at Boston College, where she worked with her colleagues to organize and form the Boston College Graduate Employees Union-UAW. She helped organize and win a successful NLRB election at Boston College. Mikayla holds a Master’s degree in History with fields in U.S. Immigration and Asian American history. She chose not to pursue a Ph.D., and instead joined UAW Region 9A as an organizer with the hopes of empowering workers and strengthening the labor movement.
Mikayla is currently a Servicing Representative for UAW Region 9A located in Massachusetts and a member of NOLSW-UAW Local 2320. As a Servicing Representative, she assists locals in organizing, grievance handling, contract negotiations and more to strengthen local unions and improve worker rights in the workplace. She also serves as a MA AFL-CIO Vice President representing the UAW. |
Anna Stuart, AFL-CIO
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Anna Stuart was born and raised in Manila, Philippines. Upon completion of a double university degree of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce major in Marketing at the University of St. Scholastica in Metro Manila she immigrated to the United States in 1988.Her office administration experience spans 32 years having started from the ranks as receptionist at the Sudan Embassy, Visa section clerk at the Embassy of Singapore and moved as paralegal with the law office of Maggio & Kattar.
Joining the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO as an Executive Assistant in 2001 marks Anna’s career beginning in the labor movement. For 10 years she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the organization and has served 4 directors during her time with APALA. Currently, Anna works as an Administrative Specialist at the Mobilization Hub of the AFL-CIO and serves as an AFL-CIO appointee for APALA Executive Board. She resides in Maryland with her husband Eugene and enjoys gardening in her free time. |
Brian S. Tanaka, ILWU
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Brian Tanaka was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1978, he began his career as a District Manager at the Hawaii Newspaper Agency and became a member of the ILWU Local 142. Through his hard work and spirit of camaraderie, he quickly gained the respect and trust of his colleagues, growing in leadership from unit steward to vice chair to unit chair. After fifteen years, he was selected to serve the ILWU membership as a Local Trustee, then went on to be elected to the International Executive Board for three years. In 1994, Brian was elected as a Business Agent for the Oahu Division and served until 2018, when he was elected as the Local 142 Secretary-Treasurer, a position he has held to present. Brian also serves on the Industrial Relations Research Association – Hawaii Chapter Executive Board. For the past 27 years, Brian has been the ILWU Local 142 statewide director of sports programs, uniting members from all the Hawaiian Islands through the spirit of friendly competition and fellowship.
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Jigme Ugen, SEIU Healthcare MN
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Jigme Ugen became the first Tibetan refugee elected as a labor union officer in 2007, the Executive Vice President of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota. He was born in India and immigrated to the US in 2002 and worked in Late Senator Paul Wellstone’s re-election campaign. Ugen has been involved in some of the largest union campaigns and successful political elections in the country. He serves as a board member for several non-profits locally and nationally.
In 2013, Ugen co-founded the Tibetan National Congress, an independent Tibetan political party and has been elected its President for his second term. As a labor leader and a renowned Tibetan activist, Ugen is committed to fighting for and centering the voices and experiences of refugees, immigrants and people of color around worker’s rights, civic engagement, immigration, environmental and racial justice. He was awarded the 2021 APALA Art Tekai Award. Ugen is the current President of the Minnesota APALA chapter. |
Tevita Uhatafe, TWU Local 513
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Tevita Uhatafe (He/Him) first joined APALA in 2019 as a rank & file member with the Texas Chapter. Tevita is currently the 1st Vice President of the Tarrant County Central Labor Council AFL-CIO and District 8 Vice President of the Texas AFL-CIO.
Tevita is a shop steward and political coordinator for the Transport Workers Union AFL-CIO Local 513. Tevita has been a force in the Texas labor movement, organizing and supporting labor actions throughout the state and the Southern region of the United States. |
Sabrina Yowchyi Liu, USW
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Sabrina Yowchyi Liu has been working at the United Steelworkers (USW) Strategic Campaigns Department since December 2014. She works with USW members to build power against corporate greed during contract negotiations and labor disputes. She is the President and co-founder of APALA Pittsburgh Chapter.
Sabrina is a native of Taipei, Taiwan. She holds a Master of Public and International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) and a B.A. in Diplomacy from National Chengchi University in Taiwan. |
Shwe Tun Aung, SIU/ ITF
Jason Chan, IAMAW
Parvesh Cheena, SAG-AFTRA
Atley Chock, OPEIU Local 2
Yunup Dennis Chong, AFGE
Leon Chow, SEIU 2015
Teresa Ellis, IFPTE
Peter Ganaban, LiUNA
Katherine General, IFPTE Local 21
Kim Geron, CFA, SEIU
Tarn Goelling, IBEW
Mack Harrell Jr., AFL-CIO
Stan Kiino, AFA-CWA Local 29011
Nam Le, UFCW
Lisa Lei, UNITE HERE Local 11
Kimvy Nguyen
Andrew Pang, OPEIU
Yeon Park, SEIU Local 1021
Virginia Rodino, CLUW
Jessica Tang, BTU Local 66, AFT, AFL-CIO
Norm Ten, CWA 9404
Marian Thom, UFT
Maf Misbah Uddin, AFSCME
Jason Chan, IAMAW
Parvesh Cheena, SAG-AFTRA
Atley Chock, OPEIU Local 2
Yunup Dennis Chong, AFGE
Leon Chow, SEIU 2015
Teresa Ellis, IFPTE
Peter Ganaban, LiUNA
Katherine General, IFPTE Local 21
Kim Geron, CFA, SEIU
Tarn Goelling, IBEW
Mack Harrell Jr., AFL-CIO
Stan Kiino, AFA-CWA Local 29011
Nam Le, UFCW
Lisa Lei, UNITE HERE Local 11
Kimvy Nguyen
Andrew Pang, OPEIU
Yeon Park, SEIU Local 1021
Virginia Rodino, CLUW
Jessica Tang, BTU Local 66, AFT, AFL-CIO
Norm Ten, CWA 9404
Marian Thom, UFT
Maf Misbah Uddin, AFSCME