Tamon Norimoto (Staff Advisor)
Tamon Norimoto serves as the Resource Development Director for Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), a health and human service nonprofit organization which provides services for the residents of Santa Clara County. He also serves as Chair of the Housing and Community Development Commission for the City of San Jose and is the President of the Japantown Community Congress of San Jose (JCCsj). His board service includes the San Jose chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and the California Japanese American Community Leadership Council (CJACLC).

Kenneth Wong
Kenneth is a graduate from UC Santa Cruz in 2008, with a BA in politics. He developed a passion for policy, government, and community engagement early on in life from his upbringing in Brooklyn, NYC, where his father worked with a labor union. He currently works as a volunteer coordinator at a homeless shelter in San Jose, interacting with community members to provide services for shelter residents. He hopes to one day see the entire population involved in the electoral process in order to have more efficient government that is truly representative of their cultural and economic backgrounds.

“I have been with First Thursday for a little over a year now, and I have seen the work being accomplished by the organization. The education that it provides for the community not only informs them, but gives them a chance to create a dialogue with the establishment.  In conjunction with the outreach that First Thursday does, it is an informational hub for API community. My ultimate goal for the organization is to see it become an influential voice that actually has an impact on policymakers when they make decisions that affect the community.”

Anna Ko
Anna was raised by a loving Korean family. The majority of her life she has spent in the South Bay. She is exploring different avenues of giving back to the community and enjoys this journey. Anna strives to be a voice to the voiceless, but also equally important is that she wishes to be an example and a voice to those who do not know yet that they have a voice to be used.

” I want to be an organizer because I enjoy building and being part of a conscientious community that cares.”

Phuong (Jimmy) Hong
Born and raised in San Jose, Jimmy has scene many injustices. Rather than sit and complain, he has it his goal in life to give to the community whenever he can. Jimmy is currently taking a break from school to focus on his career at Roundleaf  Inc, a debt settlement company.

“I joined to seek more volunteer opportunities and inspire others about the importance to helping others.”

Alice Saelee
Alice Saelee received her degree in Feminist Studies and Psychology from UC Santa Cruz, where she served as a peer educator leading workshops on rape prevention. As the Domestic Violence Community Educator at Asian Women’s Home, a program of Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), she provides outreach to the undeserved Asian American community around the issue of domestic violence. Alice also serves on the Family/Domestic Violence Advisory Board for the City of San Jose and the Domestic Violence Death – Review Subcommittee for County of Santa Clara.

“I am deeply invested in building community and fostering dialogue and action among diverse groups.  In college she co-coordinated the Oakes Queer Student Group, and in 2008 was a volunteer canvasser for Equality California in opposition to Prop 8. A South Bay native and the child of Mien refugee parents, Alice is the first of her family to graduate from college and is dedicated to ensuring the knowledge and resources necessary for Asians to thrive.”

Tuan Mai
Tuan graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Behavorial Economics.  He loves to backpack/globetrot and has a personal goal to make it to the moon one day. He works for a Silicon Valley tech company and would love to open a Hostel for wayward travelers somewhere in the Asia Pacific.

“I wanted to engage and volunteer with the Asian/ Pacific Islander community, but wasn’t sure what fields to be part of. SBFT promotes a variety of events that allows me to learn and explore issues important to the Asian American community.”

Arcadi Kolchak
Arcadi currently works for State Senator Elaine Alquist as a District Office Manager & Representative.  His passions in life are health and public service.  He serves as a member of the Government Action committee for Hep B Awareness and a board member for APA Dems Club.  He hopes to bring the community together and help those in need.

“I believe in the idea of educating the community on pertinent issues that involve AA & PIs.  I hope that through knowledge and hard work, we can give attention to issues where attention is due.  A little education can go a long way in changing lives and strengthening community.

Richard So
Richard So has been involved in Asian American issues since college.  Since then, he has worked for SF Hep B Free as their Government Affairs Director working to eliminate a disease that devastates the Asian American community.  Currently he works for Assemblymember Ira Ruskin and has plans to work in healthcare.

“I believe doing grassroots events to inform the public is a necessary and effective means of communicating important issues that are overlooked.  It is my hope that SBFT will provide a good service to communities, build bonds between organizers and cultivate leaders among those who participate.”

Patrick Thanh Ngo
Patrick is an educated Vietnamese American revolutionary. He went to college at DeAnza and transferred to UC Santa Cruz. he currently works for Asian American for Community Involvement doing life skills development for gang impacted youth in East Side San Jose. He likes to travel (to Southeast Asia), bboy, workout, and play random musical instruments.

“I like to help out with community events. It’s a great opportunity to meet activists, organizers, and community members.   SBFT is a part of my agency and I like to support all the programs. It’s one of the few programs that is not service oriented and focuses on events open to the public.”

Diana Trinh
Diana is a recent graduate from UC Berkeley with a BA in Social Welfare.  She currently works through Public Allies with the Second Harvest Food Bank and hopes to delves much farther into the realm of non-profit AAPI in the upcoming years.  She believes that being able to give back the community is much more important than bring home six figures.

” SBFT embodies a passion I’ve seen only in those who truly care for the community. Not only am I working with like-minded indivuals but I know that these people are volunteering their time because they truly believe in the AAPI community.”

Thuy Ann Le
Thuy is a scholar-activist with a BA in Ethnic studies and an emphasis on Health Care and Social Issues at UC San Diego.  She grew up in East San Jose and is the first in her family to graduate from a 4-year university and currently works at Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI) as a Community Outreach Liason.

“I seek a broad perspective of my community and my place in it, to learn self-knowledge and to work with others.  I want to be involved in my community where I grew up and I strive to improve my social environment.  I hope to develop into an agent of change in the world outside of me, in the world inside of me and contribute my experiences to the learning of others.”

Robert Lopez
Robert was born and raised in East San Jose.  At San Jose State University, he earned a BA in Political Science and Masters Degree in Public Administration.  As a policy development specialist for the City of San Jose Housing Department, he works to help create affordable quality homes, invest in neighborhoods, and mitigate the impacts of foreclosure.

“Community service and organizing has always been a passion of mine.  Starting with Key Club in high school, Circle K in college, and now working for the City of San Jose, I have always been around the community and feel that an area is best reflected by its people.  I feel that if people can learn just a little bit more on whatever issue or subject that the people as a whole can better nurture itself and make a difference in their community.”

Alexander Lin
Since participating in APALI’s Youth Leadership Academy in 2004, Alex has been developing his political awareness and continuing his civic engagement through participation in political campaigns, youth outreach/mentorship, and grassroots organizing both on-and off-campus.  He recently graduated from UC Berkeley, where he majored in Political Science and Asian American Studies, and minored in Education.  His tentative goals are to go to graduate school somewhere and major in something, return to De Anza college – from which he transferred – as a professor, and eventually get involved in the local school board and city politics.

“Since attending my first South Bay First Thursdays event (My Story – API Documentary Filmmakers) in 2007, I have wanted to become a SBFT organizer. The values that South Bay First Thursdays represents – networking, shared learning, community service/involvement, and cultivating a sense of community and understanding – are very much aligned with my own.  Furthermore, as a recent college graduate who has been organizing and working in other communities, I look forward to coming back to my home community in a big way – by becoming a proactive, local organizer helping to coordinate panels and discussions on issues pertinent to our community.”

Howard Lui
Howard graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Psychology. Prior to that, he spent time studying film and production at De Anza College. He is currently pursuing his dream of becoming a video-producer and filmmaker with hopes of inspiring others someday to take action.

“I believe giving back to the community is a great and much needed thing. Being able to educate is also important because knowledge is power.”

Christina Pham
Christina is a graduate of UC Davis with a BA in Asian American Studies and Women and Gender Studies. Christina mainly handles the administrative side of SBFT and is currently interning at AACI. She is excited about being part of SBFT and reconnecting with the South Bay community!

“I want to be an organizer because I believe in the goals of SBFT in building community along with spreading awareness about issues that affect our community.”