Board & Advisory Council

Board

Robert Sohn – Board Chair

Robert Sohn is a director within KPMG’s consulting practice, where he advises clients primarily within the financial services industry, providing expertise on a range of matters, including those related to securitization, financial risk, regulatory compliance, IT implementation, and operations.  Born and raised in Maryland, Rob is a second-generation Korean American and a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.  He is an active volunteer in the community and served as a mentor with AALEAD for several years before joining the Board, as well as a financial education volunteer with the Virginia Cooperative Extension.  He currently resides in Arlington, Virginia, with his wife and two sons and, in his spare time, enjoys spending time with family and friends, trying new food, and traveling.

Karen Urcia-Board Secretary

Karen Urcia is currently the Finance Manager at Fairfax Library Foundation, a nonprofit providing supplementary support to the Fairfax County Public Library. She has over two decades of experience in non-profit auditing, accounting, and tax planning services. Her dedication to the non-profit sector is evident in her extensive experience working with diverse organizations, including trade associations, charities, scientific institutions, and federal award recipients. Karen is equally passionate about supporting the growth and success of small businesses. Throughout her career, she has provided valuable guidance on tax planning, financial reporting, and budgeting, empowering small businesses to achieve their financial goals. Her expertise extends to assisting with accounting system implementation and maintenance, ensuring efficient record-keeping practices and financial reporting in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Karen’s comprehensive understanding of various tax structures, including those for tax-exempt organizations, individuals, partnerships, corporations, and S corporations, allows her to offer a well-rounded perspective on financial matters.

Karen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and Information Systems from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Outside of work, she enjoys running and hiking with her husband and watching TV with her dog.

Joyce Segarra-Board Treasurer

Joyce Segarra is a certified public accountant with over 20 years of public accounting experience. At her current role as a manager at Clifton Larson Allen, she specializes on the audit and taxation of not-for-profit organizations. This role provides her with great fulfillment, and enables her to continue to get engaged, be passionate, and collaborative with a diverse group of nonprofit professionals. She directly leads, supervises, and performs attest and non-attest engagements and she helps clients identify ways to improve efficiencies in their financial accounting and reporting processes.  Previously, she served a variety of clients in industries such as real estate and development, construction, and employee benefit plans besides not-for-profits. In addition to serving on the AALEAD Board, she currently serves on the board of Gandhi Brigade Youth Media and as a member of the Finance Committee of Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing. Joyce was born and raised in the Philippines and holds an accounting degree from Bicol University.  Joyce loves spending quality time with family and friends and enjoys travelling and baking during her spare time.

Hanh Le

Hanh Le is a Co-Chief Executive Officer at if, A Foundation for Radical Possibility, which envisions a world in which Black people and people of the global majority live powerfully, abundantly, and beautifully in healthy, self-determined communities free of social, economic, and ideological violence. Hanh was previously Executive Director of the Weissberg Foundation, working to advance organizations and efforts building power of those most negatively impacted by racism. She has served as a chief program officer at Exponent Philanthropy and has directed training, grant, and technical assistance programs for KaBOOM!, Community Technology Centers’ Network, and the Peace Corps.

Hanh co-founded DC’s Cherry Blossom Giving Circle and co-chairs the Metro DC chapter of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. She serves on the boards of AALEAD, Leadership Greater Washington, and the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers. She holds degrees in environmental geology from the College of William & Mary and urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia. She is passionate about family, friends, dogs, biking, food, matrixes, and bad TV.

Sharon Eliatamby

Sharon Eliatamby is a consummate professional with 24+ years of well-developed knowledge and experience in the hospitality industry.  She is a graduate of Johnson and Wales University.  Raised in Malaysia, Sharon comes from a multinational background and is fluent in English, Bahasa Malaysia, Cantonese, Hokkien and German. She has worked with exclusive hotels, convention properties, catering organizations, high-profile events and clients.  Sharon has an impressive and successful track record working as a leader and helping increase service standards, quality and profitability.  She has impeccable interpersonal skills and professionalism when handling international protocols.  She is also a member of the International Association of Protocol Consultants, a graduate of the Emily Post Institute. Sharon is so passionate about hospitality that she made a commitment to herself to give back to the community.  In her spare time, she teaches etiquette to students from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Sharon has received numerous awards for exceptional service and performance.  She was also recently awarded the “President’s Award” from  Society for Hospitality and Food Service Management (SHFM) for her dedication and devotion to the hospitality world.

Alexander Jue

Alexander Jue serves as the Director of Strategic and Operational Planning in the Division of Data, Assessment, and Research at the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) in Washington, D.C. His work includes managing and overseeing state-level policy related to school accountability systems. Alexander’s previous work includes serving as the Interim Executive Director and a Senior Policy Analyst at the D.C. State Board of Education (SBOE), Director of Policy and research at a D.C.-based education advocacy organization, and time as a strategic researcher with one of the nation’s largest labor unions.

Alexander has enjoyed mentoring students in D.C. Public Schools (DCPS). He became connected with AALEAD in 2014 when he started to mentor a high school freshman; today, that student and he are still great friends and he could not be more proud of his mentee and all his accomplishments!

Born and raised in Cleveland, OH, Alexander has lived in Washington, D.C. since 2011. He currently lives in Ward 3 with his wife and two sons—and enjoys cooking, running, cocktail making, his community garden plot, and sitting in the sun by the pool!

Cheryl Ann Lee

Cheryl Ann Lee oversees grants administration and grant writing supporting systemwide operations for Fairfax County Public Library, the largest public library system in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Prior to this role, she served as director of development for the Fairfax Library Foundation where she directed fundraising, marketing, and events. Her previous work includes supporting district-wide partnerships at District of Columbia Public Schools, managing and revitalizing the Alumnae Relations Division at Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in Greater Los Angeles, providing her expertise in nonprofit leadership and program design directing the Youth Workforce Development Division at Community Youth Center of San Francisco, and coordinating communications, public-private partnerships, and events for the San Francisco Mayor’s Youth Employment & Education Program.

Cheryl has a master of public administration degree from the University of San Francisco, a California Multiple Subject K-12 Teaching Credential from Chapman University, and a bachelor of arts in Radio-TV-Film from California State University, Fullerton. A California native, Cheryl resides in the City of Fairfax with her husband and toddler.

Radha Rangarajan

Radha Rangarajan is a Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), developing and executing engagement strategies to support the scaling and sustainability of the foundation’s education work. Before joining the foundation, Radha taught at the Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC) system as part of their ESL teaching faculty, teaching courses focused on developing oral and written proficiency. Radha also worked at the International Monetary Fund in External and Media Relations for six years. Radha earned her M. Ed. in Curriculum Instruction and Design and Multicultural Education, from George Mason University, an M.A. in International Politics from American University, and a B.A. in International Relations and French from George Mason University.

Advisory Council

Ban Tran – Advisory Chair

Board Chair Ban Tran works at Merrill Lynch with 40 years of professional experience in wealth management, international banking, trade finance, and foreign exchange in New York, DC and Vienna. He is a frequent lecturer at local companies, universities and non-profit organizations, speaking on subject such as retirement planning, estate wealth protection and transfer, and concentrated stock diversification strategies. Mr. Tran graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics and International Relations, and earned his MBA in International Finance from George Washington University. In his spare time, Ban enjoys gardening, yoga, basketball and is an avid marathon and triathlon participant.

Sandy Dang – Founder

Sandy Dang is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF). Prior to joining VEF, she was the co-founder and principal of 11plus Philanthropy, a company that provides leadership training to nonprofit leaders. For a decade, she was the founder and Executive Director of Asian American Leadership, Empowerment, and Development (AALEAD), an organization that supports immigrant and refugee families through a broad array of educational and social services, including academic enrichment, one-on-one mentoring, leadership training, and family support services.
In 2011, Ms. Dang was appointed by President Barack Obama to serve on the Board of Directors of the Vietnam Education Foundation. In addition, she is currently serving on the Community Advisory Board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and the Community Advisory Council for WETA Television. She was selected as one of the 12 Washingtonians of the Year 2001. She also holds a BA from Duke University, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School, and a Masters in Social Work from Catholic University.

Susanna Chon

Susanna Chon, serves as a senior manager in the assurance department at GRF CPAs and Advisors, with 15 years of experience focusing in the government contracting space. She works with her team to execute various assurance services, which are typically mandated by third-party lenders or creditors, shareholders, bonding companies, or security regulators. From the preparation of financial statements to providing business and financial consulting, Susanna applies her extensive industry knowledge to bring clients efficient and effective assurance services, which improve internal accounting controls and reporting systems. Ms. Chon graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in accounting and is an active Certified Public Accountant and Certified Fraud Examiner. She resides in Rockville, Maryland, with her husband and two children and enjoys running, traveling, and reading in her spare time.

Sue Graham

Sue Graham is an experienced entrepreneur/advisor/philanthropist and Founder of InfoPro. During her tenure as InfoPro’s Chief Executive Officer, she earned a variety of awards and accolades. Sue was also recognized as one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women and was nominated as one of the Top Twenty-Five Influential Minority Women in Business by the Minority Business & Professionals Network, Inc., in 2002. She is listed in the Who’s Who of Executives and Professionals. Sue recognized a need to transform the way InfoPro managed its strategic business goals, and acted quickly to create a Joint Venture between InfoPro and Mount Airey Group. Launching this effort positioned Sue, as a Managing Partner for eVenture Federal Solutions, to be able to bid and win contracts to be utilized by all Department of Homeland Security Components to procure IT services. The two companies were awarded as Mentor-Protégé of the year in 2013 by the Department of Homeland Security.

In 2013, Sue made the personal decision to embark upon another chapter in her life, as she became affiliated with Smiles on Wings as a member of their Board of Directors. A philanthropic endeavor, Smiles on Wings is dedicated to sponsoring the important work of bringing medical and dental care to thousands of Thai children and other patients. From 2017-2020, Sue served on the Board of Directors of Asian American LEAD. Sue’s work also entails assisting in special projects and fundraising to provide immediate and generous assistance across Thailand in response to disaster relief missions. Today, Sue resides in Northern Virginia.

Nathaniel Glasser

Nathaniel M. Glasser is an employment lawyer with Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., where he co-leads the Artificial Intelligence strategic industry group and is active in the Health Employment and Labor (HEAL) practice group. His practice focuses on the representation of employers in employee relations and human resources compliance, as well as litigating claims of harassment, discrimination, whistleblowing, and wage-hour violations. When not practicing law, Nathaniel enjoys long distance running, recovering with yoga, and spending time with his kids.

Jacob Hsu

Jacob Hsu is the CEO of Catalyte (www.catalyte.io), a workforce data science company and one of the fastest growing providers of software engineering services in the United States. It produces diverse, affordable and sustainable
software engineering talent for the world’s most progressive companies. Catalyte closes the talent gap by leveraging an AI-based algorithm to identify exceptional individuals with the aptitude to become great developers and with a
proprietary talent transformation program that creates ready-to-hire software engineers.

Prior to Catalyte, Mr. Hsu was CEO of Symbio, a global software engineering and R&D services company. He transformed Symbio from an early stage startup to a global diversified IT services company. Together with its parent company VXI, Symbio had over 23,000 employees around the world.

Before joining Symbio, he was the founding CEO of Trilogica, a data aggregation software company, and the founding CEO of Epitome, a banking applications company. Mr. Hsu began his career in investment banking focused on mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Hsu has also co-founded or been a founding investor in over thirty other companies in the United States and Asia. He received his bachelors from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and was named by Chief Executive Magazine as one of the world’s Top 12 Young Global Leaders of Tomorrow and as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

Mr. Hsu is a founding member of the Markle Foundation’s Rework America Task Force, focused on modernizing the nation’s outdated labor market and unlocking economic opportunity for American job seekers, workers and businesses. He is also a board member of Welcoming America, which helps cities in the US be more welcoming of new immigrants.

Tony Lau

Minh Ngoc Le

Minh Le has been a long time advocate for empowerment of the Asian and Vietnamese community in the U.S.. From 2001-2003 she served on the Board of Asian American LEAD, a non-profit organization which supports low income and underserved Asian American Youths. As a believer in civic participation, Ms. Le helped organize Asian Americans during the 2008 and 2012 election cycles and also served on various political committees at the national and state level. Ms. Le also served as Commissioner to Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian American Affairs during the O’Malley administration. She is also served two terms as an elected Council Member of Chevy Chase Village, a municipality just outside of Washington, D.C. Currently, Ms. Le is a member of the Kennedy Center Community Advisory Board.

Ms. Le received her Master degree in International Affairs with a concentration in Economics from the George Washington University. She worked in the field of International Development focusing on agribusiness, micro-finance and humanitarian assistance before taking a break to raise her family. Currently, she owns her own business as an Empowerment Coach, helping to empower women in business, civic engagement, and their personal lives.

Minh Le is married and has two children. She also has a friendly dog called Tabasco.

Jimmy Lynn

Jimmy Lynn, a veteran of 30 years in the Sports and Entertainment sectors, is one of the pioneers of the Digital Sports space and is regarded as one of the leading relationship brokers and connectors in the global sports industry. He is a co-founder and Vice-President of Kiswe Mobile, the world’s most advanced cloud-based social-gamified mobile video platform. Previously, he worked at AOL for 14 years as VP, Strategic Partnerships and Development. Lynn is in his 14thyear teaching at Georgetown University – in the McDonough School of Business and School of Continuing Studies. He’s heavily involved in philanthropy and has received a number of awards, including from AA LEAD, Time Warner’s prestigious “Andrew Heiskell Community Service” award and from the DC Mayor’s Office for outstanding dedication to the AAPI community. Lynn has a BA in Communications and MBA in Marketing from American University. Last year, he received a distinguished alumni award for outstanding achievements.

Margery Myers

In Memoriam

I am a native Washingtonian, retired Family Physician, mother of three – a Sitar playing rock musician, a professional Hockey team COO, and an Historian – and adoptive mother of Tuan(Thomas) Trang, who back in 1994 introduced my late husband, Foreign Service Officer, Robert P. (Bob)Myers, to the community of recently arrived Vietnamese refugees living in Mt. Pleasant. This is the group for whom Sandy Dang founded AALEAD, which Bob and I supported from the start. I continue to enjoy being a part of this vibrant, ever changing community.

Dr. Rajan Natarajan

Dr. Rajan Natarajan is the Founding Chairman/CEO of Global Alliant, Inc. which is one of the fastest growing technology companies in the capital region. He was appointed as the Deputy Secretary of State for 4 years and then he served as Commissioner of Transportation for one term in the State of Maryland. Presently, he is serving on the Maryland State Cybersecurity Executive Board and University of Maryland Board of Visitors. He has served on multiple boards and chambers that included Board Member of Maryland Chambers of Commerce, President of the Maryland-India Business Roundtable, C-Chair of US-India SME Council, Executive Board Director of the Asian-Pacific American Chamber of Commerce, and Commissioner of the Governor’s Commission on Maryland Real Estate Development. Dr. Natarajan is a successful entrepreneur and founded two fast growing technology firms and also a public servant. He has been instrumental to promote US-Asia investment, trade, and diplomatic opportunities for the past 15 years. Dr. Natarajan has won numerous honors and awards including the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Small-Business Innovation Research Award, 2014 Leadership Maryland Award, Outstanding Achiever Award, Community Civic Leadership Award, U.S.-India Outstanding Leadership of the Year in 2018, and Indian Young Scientist Merit Award. In addition to his Ph.D. in Biotechnology, he holds two master’s Degrees in Biosciences from the University of Madras, India, and an MBA from Michigan State University, obtained a US patent, and has authored 50 research publications. He has delivered more than 110 keynote speeches and provided more than 70 television interviews.

Valerie Pelton

Valerie J. Pelton is an attorney, mediator and former U.S. Air Force Signals Intelligence and Adversary Electronic Combat Operations Officer who has represented U.S. and international technology, telecommunications and aerospace companies. She currently works for the U.S. Postal Service. She is admitted to practice in Texas, Virginia, New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia. Ms. Pelton was awarded a Master of Laws (Highest Honors) in National Security & U.S. Foreign Relations Law from The George Washington University (“GWU”) Law School, a Masters Certificate in Government Contracting from the GWU Business School, a J.D. from Whittier College, an M.A. in Political Science by the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, and a dual baccalaureate in Modern European Studies and French from Vanderbilt University. She is active in Washington area business, legal and sailing groups and is studying Chinese culture and Mandarin language at GWU’s Confucius Institute. Ms. Pelton Co-chairs the International Committee of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia and serves on the Advisory Boards of Devotion to Children and Asian American Youth Leadership, Empowerment and Development. Her work is published in the Journal of Air Law and Commerce, The International Lawyer, Journal of World Energy Law & Business, Texas Tech Administrative Law Journal and Journal of Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems.

Amee Shah

Amee Shah serves as the CEO of Artemis Consulting, Inc., a professional services firm offering IT technology solutions and management consulting services to the commercial and public sectors. She has considerable experience in fostering business partnerships and realizing success for her clients while providing IT management, program management, organizational transformation and business process improvements services to public and commercial clients. Ms. Shah has previously worked with IBM and SRA International. She is a Project Management Professional (PMP) with a Bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College, a Master’s degree in International Relations from The American University, and a Masters of Business Administration from the Robert H. Smith School at the University of Maryland. Before joining the AALEAD Advisory Board, she served as the Member of the AALEAD Board of Directors for four years. She is a strong supporter of the Girl Scouts of the National Capital Area, leading and co-leading troops for many years.

Nina Un

Ki Wilson

Ki Wilson is a Director of the Global Network Field Operations for the Verizon Potomac South region. In his present assignment, he leads a multi-discipline team responsible for delivery of Voice, Data, and Video products and services for domestic and global customers throughout Potomac market segment. Ki has over three decades of telecommunications experience, including 10-year tenure in the United States Air Force prior to joining the former Bell Atlantic Company of Virginia in 1990. Originally from South Korea, Ki holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems and Executive Leadership Development Certificate from Wharton-Penn University. Ki currently serves on the board of Verizon Asian Pacific Employees for Excellence (APEX) Employee Resource Group and Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Washington Metropolitan area.

Eun Yang – Honorary Member

Eun Yang anchors News4 Today, the #1 rated morning news in Washington for which she has won 2 EMMY awards. Yang joined News4 as general assignment reporter specializing in covering breaking news for News4 at 11. She then anchored the weekend editions of News4 Today. Yang has been the first to tell Washington area viewers about breaking overnight news, severe weather, and major Washington stories since 2010. Her field anchor assignments have included the Inaugurations of presidents, visits by two Popes, Opening Day at Nationals Park which she covers every year, and the Winter Olympics in South Korea. In addition to anchoring News4 Today, Yang files compelling community stories about people and organizations important to the Washington area. She also won an EMMY for hosting a local restaurant show called Foodies: DC for several years. Before joining News4, Yang worked at the National Geographic Channel in Washington and WUSA-TV.

Yang was named Alumna of the Year by the University of Maryland Asian Studies Program and serves on the Board of Visitors for the Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She was inducted into Montgomery County’s Women’s History Archives. Born in Seoul, Korea, Yang moved to the Washington area before she was three. She grew up in Prince George’s County and Montgomery County, attended Paint Branch High School and graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Maryland.

She and her husband are raising their three kids in Washington, DC.