Meet the team!

Alvina Yeh, Executive Director
Alvina is the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and Institute for Asian Pacific American Leadership & Advancement.  Originally from Colorado, Alvina comes from a Chinese family who fled from the Vietnam War. Her experiences as a child of immigrants and growing up in a house that welcomed and supported refugees and immigrants have shaped her values and commitment to community. Alvina’s career demonstrates her deep passion for empowering traditionally disenfranchised groups to become active participants in our democracy. Most recently, she served as the Director of State Capacity Building with State Voices, working with state-based coalitions on program management, strategic planning, and organizational development. Her prior experiences include high-level work on several campaigns at the congressional and presidential level and serving as Program Director at Asian Pacific Islander American Vote. In her free time, you can find her risking friendships over a competitive board game, enjoying live entertainment, traveling, or trying new restaurants.

William Chiang, Director of Policy and Membership
William currently serves as the Membership Chapter Coordinator/Policy Analyst for the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO (APALA) where he is committed to advancing worker, immigrant and civil rights.  As the first and only national organization of Asian Pacific American workers and union members, his work with APALA serves as the bridge between the broader labor movement and the AAPI community. Prior to coming to Washington DC, William was born and raised in Oakland California where his family arrived as political refugees of the Vietnam War. Growing up in a low income environment where his parents struggled to assimilate due to language barriers and had to work multiple low wage jobs to make ends meet, William realized how his experience as an Asian American male differed greatly from what the model minority myth suggested. As a product of the California public schools in Oakland and at UC Berkeley, he received an insider’s view of the various systematic challenges present in low resourced schools as well as institutions of higher education. The experiences and challenges he faced growing up in Oakland politicized him and gave him a sense of agency in the work that he does today. William strives to be a resource to the underserved communities he identifies with and is committed to ensure that institutional barriers does not prevent working families from achieving the American Dream they desire.

Marian Manapsal, Strategic Communications & Development Manager
Marian Manapsal is APALA's Strategic Communications & Development Manager, where she oversees and implements communications and fundraising strategies for the organization. Prior to joining APALA, she was previously the Communications & Development Assistant at the International Labor Rights Forum, a human rights NGO strengthening workers' rights in global supply chains. Before moving to Washington, DC, Marian worked as a political fundraising staffer for electoral campaigns in Massachusetts on the national, state and local levels. She has been a longtime supporter of Asian American causes -- from leading her university's Filipino-American student organization during her undergraduate career to serving on the boards of the Asian American Resource Workshop and the Asian American Women's Political Initiative (AAWPI). In 2013, Marian was a State House Fellow herself in the AAWPI program, an experience that opened her eyes to the importance of building a pipeline of Asian American leaders to drive policy and political change. Marian is a graduate of the Carroll School of Management at Boston College, and she hails from the San Francisco Bay Area.