The White House Initiative on AAPIs Selects 23 Young Leaders to Serve as 2015-2016 E3! Ambassadors

The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is proud to announce its second class of E3! Ambassadors—23 young leaders from across the nation committed to improving the quality of life and opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).

The E3! Ambassadors Program is a youth engagement program that aims to educate, engage, and empower young leaders to increase awareness around critical issues facing the AAPI community and to highlight key federal programs and resources in which AAPIs may be undeserved. In 2014-2015, the inaugural class of 31 E3! Ambassadors hailed from 29 different cities and hosted more than 55 events with various organizations, school institutions, and other networks within their campuses and communities.

Some of the events organized and led by the E3! Ambassadors were an AAPI Youth Summit at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, a photo campaign with the hashtag #IAmAPIA at the University of Michigan, and a Google Hangout with the Sikh Coalition on bullying prevention awareness in the Sikh American community. In addition, the inaugural year of the program included Young Leaders Dialogues with key federal and community leaders in areas such as education and bullying prevention, mental health, and public service. Through collaboration with local and campus organizations, E3! Ambassadors worked to foster dialogue around issues ranging from college affordability to personal immigration stories.

The new E3! Ambassadors will work in tandem with the Initiative’s Regional Network, more than 250 federal officials located across the country representing over 44 agencies and sub-agencies to work on a broad range of issues that affect the AAPI community, including education, mental health, pathways to public service, and immigration.

2015-2016 E3! Ambassadors

All E3! Ambassadors are listed by region based on Initiative’s Regional Network. Affiliations are for identification purposes only. Read more about our E3! Ambassadors.

New England

Dimple Mirchandani, Boston University – Boston, MA

Mason Ji, Yale University – New Haven, CT

Meagan Moana Palelei HoChing, Harvard Kennedy School of Government – Cambridge, MA

New York/New Jersey

Bryan Dosono, Syracuse University – Syracuse, NY

Shayra Kamal, Cornell University – Woodside, NY

Mid-Atlantic

Esther Yu-Hsi Lee, ThinkProgress – Washington, DC

Natasha Mahapatro, Mobile Future – Washington, DC

Southeast

Catherine Wong, Doctors Plus Medical Center – Fort Lauderdale, FL

Christine Lee, Duke University – Durham, NC

George Tan, Georgia Institute of Technology – Atlanta, GA

Great Lakes

Kenneth Gonzales, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities – Carol Stream, IL

Syeda Raza, University of Illinois at Chicago – Lombard, IL

Southcentral

Kelley  Lou, The Chinese Community Center – Houston, TX

Tuyet Tran, University of Texas at Austin – Austin, TX

Midwest

Young Kwon, University of Missouri – Columbia, MO

Rocky Mountain

Chelsea Situmeang, Community College of Denver – Denver, CO

Sabitra Niroula, University of Colorado Denver – Denver, CO

Northern California

Anne Wong, University of the Pacific – Elk Grove, CA

Jason Li, Stanford University – Stanford, CA

Tonga  Victoria, Urban Islanders – East Palo Alto, CA

Southwest

Boonyarit “Bo” Daraphant, University of California, Irvine – Sherman Oaks, CA

Hawaii and the Pacific

Riya Nathrani, Northern Marianas College – Saipan, CNMI

Pacific Northwest

Jena Yang, South Seattle College – Seattle, WA

In the upcoming year, these talented young leaders will organize various outreach activities, such as setting up a table to share resources at a campus or community event, facilitating a workshop during a conference, or even utilizing social media. We look forward to helping develop and define a new generation of young leaders committed to advocating for AAPIs.

Bessie Chan is an Advisor at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.