Meet the team!

Alvina Yeh, Executive Director
Alvina (she/her/hers) serves as the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) and Institute for Asian Pacific American Leadership & Advancement (IAPALA).  Originally from Colorado, Alvina comes from a Chinese family who fled from the war in Vietnam. Alvina is a lifelong community organizer with experience in political, electoral, and issue-based campaigns. She is deeply passionate about building a movement where everyone has a fair shot in a thriving society. She has previously 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 work on several campaigns at the congressional and presidential level and serving as Program Director at Asian Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote). Alvina currently serves as the Co-Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans (NCAPA) and on the board of the National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC) Action Fund.  Alvina lives in Washington, D.C. with her partner, Jeff, and child, Mazie. In her free time, you can find her risking friendships over a competitive board game, crafting, trying new food, or just trying to take a nap.​

Kristina Romines, Program Manager
As Program Manager of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and Institute for Asian Pacific American Leadership & Advancement, Kristina (she/her/hers) oversees the development, planning, and execution of APALA’s campaigns and programs. She works to foster the growth, sustainability, engagement, and effectiveness of APALA’s network of chapters and pre-chapters across the country. Prior to joining APALA, Kristina coordinated the field operations of several national women’s organizations and, utilizing an intersectional framework, campaigned on a wide range of progressive issues. Originally from Hawaii, Kristina is hapa Filipina. She grew up on a number of military bases and began her political career organizing in Virginia. It is this background that has shaped her passion for community, with particular interest in multi-racial/ethnic identity and organizing southern and rural communities. When she is not campaigning to advance worker, immigrant and civil rights, she can be found walking her hound dog named Hermione or coaching a middle school girls’ basketball team.​

Michelle Loo, Program Coordinator
Michelle (They/them/theirs) joins the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance as the Program Coordinator, supporting the development, planning, and execution of APALA's campaigns and programs. They will work to foster the growth of our chapter and member base, develop capacity in our leaders, build relationships across the labor movement and AAPI communities, and support APALA's general communications and operations needs. Raised by Chinese Malaysian immigrants in New York City and Philadelphia, Michelle is passionate about building the capacity of communities most impacted by systemic oppression. During their time at Barnard College, Michelle organized students, faculty, and professors to make campus a safer space for students of color, first generation students, LGBTQ students, and low-income students. Following that - they worked with housing organizers and homeless advocates as a Congressional Emerson Hunger Fellow. Prior to joining APALA, Michelle coordinated healthcare consumers to share their stories on how national and local healthcare policies impact them. Outside of APALA, you can find Michelle volunteering as an abortion doula, cooking, or crafting. ​

Vivian Chang, Civic Engagement Manager
Vivian (she/her/hers) joins the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance as the Civic Engagement Manager, overseeing APALA's efforts on Census 2020, civic engagement, citizenship, and political work. Her new role builds on her recent leadership of APALA's field program in Nevada, coordinating and mobilizing AAPI communities for record voter turnout. She previously worked in federal science policy, as well as served two years as an AmeriCorps VISTA in Philadelphia, Pa., and Moline, Ill. She is dedicated to advancing social and economic justice informed by the collective power of communities, and to improving physical environments. Throughout her time at Carnegie Mellon and Princeton University, she dedicated time to cultivating AAPI community and building solidarity across communities of color. Vivian is a native of Columbus, Ohio, sprouting from dual Taiwanese and Buckeye traditions.​

Maggie Tsai, Data and Program Coordinator 
Maggie (she/her/hers) joins the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance as the Data and Program Coordinator, providing data management, training, reporting, and technical assistance to support chapter leaders, members, and Civic Engagement fellows in the execution of APALA's civic engagement programs. A Taiwanese immigrant, Maggie grew up in California before moving to the East coast to attend New York University and the University of Rhode Island. Prior to joining APALA, Maggie served as a staffer in the United States Senate, handling portfolio areas in AAPI outreach, STEAM education, and immigration casework. She previously served as a Congressional Emerson Hunger fellow, working in anti-hunger policy, child care and community development efforts. Following-that, Maggie worked in Nevada mobilizing AAPI voters, where she cultivated her passion for building a movement centered on youth, racial justice, and building stronger networks of care. When she’s not organizing, you can find Maggie cooking, hiking, or sitting by the ocean.   ​

Organizing and Civic Engagement Fellows

Sophie Song
Sophie (she/her/hers) is the Philadelphia Fellow with the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. In this role, she facilitates the civic engagement work of Asian Americans United, a grassroots organization dedicated to advocacy and youth leadership development in the local Asian American community. She also thinks about how to build AAPI worker power in the region. She studied Computer Science at RIT and in a past life, spent some time in the tech industry where she was able to work with her passion for data but not her passion for social and economic justice. Her path to this point has covered everything from a congressional race, to the Poor People’s Campaign, to a grassroots agricultural workers immigrant justice group, to a local labor union. Despite moving all around the northeast, Sophie has always considered Philadelphia home and is excited to be doing this work in the city where her Chinese immigrant family have put down roots. She is very grateful that this fellowship provides her ample opportunity to build in city that she’s from as well as spend time with her living grandparents. ​

Anna Xin Guo
Anna Xin (she/her/hers) joins APALA as the DC Civic Engagement Fellow. As a fellow, Anna will be working on projects related to the Census through chapter and partner outreach, follow-up, and social media support. She is deeply honored to join such an incredible team. Anna graduated from the University of Nebraska at Kearney with a Bachelor's in English and a minor in Women and Gender Studies. She spent two years as a high school college counselor in Omaha, Nebraska, supporting her students’ journey toward graduation then success in college. She is passionate about urban studies, grassroots movement, reproductive, campaign, and environmental justice and hopes to align her life work with the principles of radical liberation and healing. In the future, Anna intends to run for local elected office. It brings her joy to cook healthy meals, spend time outside, read, and grow plants and community.

Rimsha Syed 
Rimsha (she/her/hers) is the Austin APALA Fellow based at the Texas AFL-CIO, where she works to uplift and empower AAPI workers and immigrants while simultaneously building solidarity amongst communities of color all over Texas. Rimsha is the daughter of two fierce Pakistani-Muslim working-class immigrant parents whose lives have undeniably been affected by exploitative institutions and discriminatory immigration policies. During Rimsha’s time studying journalism and women and gender studies at the University of Texas at Austin, she organized with several grassroots campaigns including the United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC), and the Queer and Trans People of Color Alliance (QTPOCA). Rimsha is also passionate about seeking justice for survivors; she helped orchestrate a campus-wide Stand With Survivors Rally in 2018. Along with organizing, Rimsha is a freelance writer who hopes to disrupt imperial influenced media and shatter the need for objective reporting at the expense of PoC lives.