AAPI LEAD unites and supports AAPI leaders across the country

🔹 ABOUT US

The idea of a national, membership-based mutual support organization for AAPI elected and appointed officials is not new—it has been discussed and attempted by various groups over the past 30 years. AAPI LEAD's journey began in 2015, when the concept was revisited by then-California Assemblymember Rob Bonta (now California Attorney General) and Ron Wong, founder of the Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation (APALF). Encouraged by then-California Secretary of State Alex Padilla (now U.S. Senator), who was also serving as President of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Bonta and Wong were invited to attend NALEO’s annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. This invitation provided them with a unique opportunity to engage with NALEO’s work, learn from their model of supporting Latino leaders, and explore how a similar infrastructure could be developed to support AAPI leaders.

In July 2023, former LA City Councilmember David Ryu assumed leadership of the initiative and formally re-engaged in discussions with NALEO and its CEO, Arturo Vargas for guidance and mentorship. By September 2023, over 200 participants came together at the 9th CALNET retreat for pivotal conversations on the necessity of such an organization, led by Congressmember Judy Chu and Arturo Vargas. This group experience marked a turning point, sparking the creation of AAPI LEAD and laying the foundation for a national network dedicated to providing mutual support for AAPI elected and appointed officials.

Shortly after, the “AAPI LEAD Working Committee” was formally established to develop a framework for the organization. By June 2024, AAPI LEAD officially launched, and the inaugural AAPI LEAD C4 Board was sworn in by Congresswoman Judy Chu during the first annual AAPI LEAD Summit in Las Vegas with the incorporation of the 501(c)(3) nonprofit arm incorporated in January 2025.

AAPI LEAD facilitates meaningful participation of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the American democratic process, including serving in elected and appointed offices at all levels of government, in all jurisdictions, and from all political backgrounds.

🔹 OUR MISSION

🔹 OUR GOALS

Encourage

AAPIs to be active and become leaders in their local communities, and beyond.

Equip

AAPI leaders with tools and skills to better serve their constituencies.

Connect

AAPI leaders from around the country including past and current elected and appointed officials.

Serve

the needs of our national AAPI community.

AAPI LEAD Foundation Board of Directors

Founder & Executive Director, GlobalSF

Darlene Chiu Bryant (Chair)

Grace Choi

Founder and CEO,
Karis Consulting Group

Darlene Chiu Bryant is Executive Director of GlobalSF, a non-profit organization established to support San Francisco’s economic development efforts with global partners. Appointed by the late San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee to head up ChinaSF, a public private partnership of the City of San Francisco, she oversaw efforts that brought in more than $5.1 billion in Foreign Direct Investment, created more than 788 jobs and recruited more than 98 companies to San Francisco Bay Area. Darlene has had a diverse career in both the public and private sectors, in international trade overseas working for German, Japanese and Chinese multinational firms and in her native San Francisco to work in communications and public affairs for former SF Mayor Gavin Newsom, East West Bank, United Commercial Bank and Pacific Gas & Electric Company. Bryant is a current boardmember of Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation, founding boardmember of Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation and CALNET, boardmember of the Edwin M. Lee Democratic Club, and advisory boardmember of the University of San Francisco Chinese Business Studies Initiative.

Grace Choi is the Founder and CEO of Karis Consulting Group, a national consulting firm that provides community organizing, strategic advising, and coalition building support for AANHPI organizations to empower the voice and capacity of the community. Grace is a community strategist and political leader with over 15 years of experience in community organizing, policy, advocacy, diplomacy, international development, and politics, where she has worked closely with high-level government, United Nations, non-profit, and private sector officials in the U.S. and around the world.

Dr. Karen Eng

Mike Eng

Senior VP of Public Affairs,
Oportun

Ezra Garrett

VP for FGA,
Comcast NBCUniversal

Linda Shim

Ezra Garrett is the Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at Oportun, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with a mission of providing personal loans that help people with little or no credit history establish credit and build a better future. He oversees the company’s government relations, corporate communications and community impact work.
Based in the Silicon Valley, Oportun is a financial technology company using advanced data analytics to serve individuals who other lenders consider ‘unscoreable,’ and has made 2 million loans totaling $5 billion through its national network of 265 locations.
Prior to joining Oportun in 2015, Ezra spent 13 years at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the nation’s largest energy utilities. There, he served in senior leadership roles in Government and Corporate Affairs, including Chief Sustainability Officer, Vice President of Community Relations, and Executive Director of the PG&E Corporation Foundation.
His experience also includes 2 years with top retailer Target Corporation, leading its local community relations efforts for the western United States.
Ezra holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. Besides serving on Latino Community Foundation’s board, he is also a trustee of the Leadership San Francisco and the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals.

Linda Shim is currently Vice President for Federal Government Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal. She focuses on the company’s federal advocacy strategy with Members of Congress and key Washington D.C. stakeholders. She previously was an Executive Director of External Affairs at Comcast NBCUniversal and worked to advance the company’s partnerships with external stakeholders including AANHPI advocacy and civil rights organizations, women’s organizations and left of center stakeholders.
During the Biden-Harris Administration, Linda served in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO) as the Special Assistant to the President on Economic Agencies Personnel. As a Commissioned Officer of the White House, she oversaw the appointments of political appointees who serve at economic-focused federal agencies. She also managed PPO’s engagement with Congress to address Member nomination and appointment priorities.
In addition, she served as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27) in which she helped oversee the Congresswoman's priorities as chairs of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and the Creative Rights Caucus, and as a member of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. She began her Capitol Hill career as a legislative staffer for former Congresswoman Jane Harman (CA-36).
Linda serves on the boards of the Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation, Asian American Action Fund, Korean Americans for Organizing and the ReNew Democracy Foundation.
Linda was raised in Palm Desert, CA and completed her B.A. in Political Science at the University of California-San Diego. She received her J.D. and Certificate in Public Policy from the Catholic University of America.
Giles had a successful 15-year career at Comcast NBCUniversal. After more than 10 years leading the government and regulatory affairs office for Comcast’s California region, he finished his career at Comcast Corporate HQ External Affairs group working on Asian American Pacific Islander and Center Left strategies and program activations. Prior to Comcast he held numerous positions at the Chronicle Publishing Company in San Francisco, working on the mergers and acquisitions team, and eventually moved into the Chronicle’s cable television division. He ultimately assumed the role as Vice President of Government Affairs for Chronicle’s cable division. Johnnie held the position of Senior Vice President at Age Wave LLC, a venture capital/incubator firm from 1999 to 2001 and was the managing partner at Blacksquare, LLC, an Internet start-up from 2001 to 2003. Johnnie started his professional career as an executive at the San Francisco Chronicle Corporation during the company’s largest stage of growth and ultimately was asked to manage the close of the sale of its cable assets.
Johnnie served as an Executive Boardmember for the California Foundation for the Environment and Economy for more than 10 years and has been active within the Asian Pacific Islander community for nearly three decades. He has served on the executive board of the Center for Asian American Media. He was a founding member and served on the board of Asian Americans for Good Government. He is the founding board chairman for the California Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce, Board Chair for APIAVote, Board Advisor for Asian American Victory Fund, and has served on the board and advisory board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles, Asian American Justice Center, OCA National, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies C4, Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship, and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) President Circle.
Based in the Silicon Valley, Oportun is a financial technology company using advanced data analytics to serve individuals who other lenders consider ‘unscoreable,’ and has made 2 million loans totaling $5 billion through its national network of 265 locations.
Prior to joining Oportun in 2015, Ezra spent 13 years at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the nation’s largest energy utilities. There, he served in senior leadership roles in Government and Corporate Affairs, including Chief Sustainability Officer, Vice President of Community Relations, and Executive Director of the PG&E Corporation Foundation.
His experience also includes 2 years with top retailer Target Corporation, leading its local community relations efforts for the western United States.
Ezra holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. Besides serving on Latino Community Foundation’s board, he is also a trustee of the Leadership San Francisco and the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals.

Senior Consultant,
Harris & Associates

Joe Yew

Hon. David Ryu (ret.)

Joe Yew is a Senior Consultant in Harris & Associates’ Municipal District Consulting group and has over 25 years of experience working in the public and private sectors. He has served as a municipal advisor to state, local, county, and special districts on a wide range of complex municipal debt financings.
His recent private sector experience includes serving as managing director for investment banking firms specializing in school district and state and local government finance. Joe also served the Finance Director for the City of Oakland as well as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
He was also Assistant State Treasurer under the late former State Treasurer Matt Fong serving as the Executive Director for the Debt Limit Allocation Committee and served as an alternate board member for the Treasurer for CalPERS and CalSTRS.
Joe earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of California at Irvine and a MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.
During the Biden-Harris Administration, Linda served in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel (PPO) as the Special Assistant to the President on Economic Agencies Personnel. As a Commissioned Officer of the White House, she oversaw the appointments of political appointees who serve at economic-focused federal agencies. She also managed PPO’s engagement with Congress to address Member nomination and appointment priorities.
In addition, she served as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27) in which she helped oversee the Congresswoman's priorities as chairs of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) and the Creative Rights Caucus, and as a member of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. She began her Capitol Hill career as a legislative staffer for former Congresswoman Jane Harman (CA-36).
Linda serves on the boards of the Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation, Asian American Action Fund, Korean Americans for Organizing and the ReNew Democracy Foundation.
Linda was raised in Palm Desert, CA and completed her B.A. in Political Science at the University of California-San Diego. She received her J.D. and Certificate in Public Policy from the Catholic University of America.
Giles had a successful 15-year career at Comcast NBCUniversal. After more than 10 years leading the government and regulatory affairs office for Comcast’s California region, he finished his career at Comcast Corporate HQ External Affairs group working on Asian American Pacific Islander and Center Left strategies and program activations. Prior to Comcast he held numerous positions at the Chronicle Publishing Company in San Francisco, working on the mergers and acquisitions team, and eventually moved into the Chronicle’s cable television division. He ultimately assumed the role as Vice President of Government Affairs for Chronicle’s cable division. Johnnie held the position of Senior Vice President at Age Wave LLC, a venture capital/incubator firm from 1999 to 2001 and was the managing partner at Blacksquare, LLC, an Internet start-up from 2001 to 2003. Johnnie started his professional career as an executive at the San Francisco Chronicle Corporation during the company’s largest stage of growth and ultimately was asked to manage the close of the sale of its cable assets.
Johnnie served as an Executive Boardmember for the California Foundation for the Environment and Economy for more than 10 years and has been active within the Asian Pacific Islander community for nearly three decades. He has served on the executive board of the Center for Asian American Media. He was a founding member and served on the board of Asian Americans for Good Government. He is the founding board chairman for the California Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce, Board Chair for APIAVote, Board Advisor for Asian American Victory Fund, and has served on the board and advisory board of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles, Asian American Justice Center, OCA National, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies C4, Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship, and the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) President Circle.
Based in the Silicon Valley, Oportun is a financial technology company using advanced data analytics to serve individuals who other lenders consider ‘unscoreable,’ and has made 2 million loans totaling $5 billion through its national network of 265 locations.
Prior to joining Oportun in 2015, Ezra spent 13 years at the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the nation’s largest energy utilities. There, he served in senior leadership roles in Government and Corporate Affairs, including Chief Sustainability Officer, Vice President of Community Relations, and Executive Director of the PG&E Corporation Foundation.
His experience also includes 2 years with top retailer Target Corporation, leading its local community relations efforts for the western United States.
Ezra holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of California at Berkeley. Besides serving on Latino Community Foundation’s board, he is also a trustee of the Leadership San Francisco and the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals.

CEO & President

Mike Eng has served on the California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board since January 2019. He previously served as a California Assemblyman, Community College Trustee, City Mayor, State consumer board member, and attorney.
Mike served six years as a California Assemblyman during which time he chaired the Business and Professions and Consumer Protection, Banking and Finance, and Transportation Committees. He authored legislation that gained national recognition including the State’s Homeowner Bill of Rights, which set up fair procedures allowing more Californians to keep their homes during the country’s foreclosure crisis. His other key legislation included California’s Human Right to Water bill, which addressed water shortages in disadvantaged communities.
Elected to the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District, Mike served as Vice President of the Board.
Mike previously served as Mayor and Councilman of the City of Monterey Park and was President of the city’s Library Board of Trustees.
Appointed to the California Acupuncture Board, he worked with State Administrative Law Judges and Deputy Attorneys General on disciplinary cases within the Department of Consumer Affairs.
Mike earned his Law Degree at UCLA School of Law, and his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees at the University of Hawaii, and practiced federal administrative law for over thirty years.
Dr. Eng has used her professional success to support, promote, and mentor other girls, women, and minority business owners, particularly those in STEM-related industries. Her company is especially dedicated to collaborating with other diverse firms.
Dr. Eng is a member of several prominent Boards, including National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (ACE), Illinois College of Optometry, and Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote (APIA Vote). The Illinois State Treasurer has given her an award for Outstanding Service in Business. In addition, she also has had positions on the State of Illinois Business Enterprise Program Council and The Illinois Census Count Commission 2020. Her most recent honor is receiving the National Executive Excellence award from OCA National in September 2021.

President and CEO,
CSMI

Dr. Karen Eng is the President and CEO of CSMI, an engineering firm. Initially a successful optometrist with a Doctorate from the New England College of Optometry, Dr. Eng surprised her family with her bold decision to switch careers and industries to take over the family business.
Dr. Eng has used her professional success to support, promote, and mentor other girls, women, and minority business owners, particularly those in STEM-related industries. Her company is especially dedicated to collaborating with other diverse firms.
Dr. Eng is a member of several prominent Boards, including National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (ACE), Illinois College of Optometry, and Asian & Pacific Islander American Vote (APIA Vote). The Illinois State Treasurer has given her an award for Outstanding Service in Business. In addition, she also has had positions on the State of Illinois Business Enterprise Program Council and The Illinois Census Count Commission 2020. Her most recent honor is receiving the National Executive Excellence award from OCA National in September 2021.