Board of Directors

Sandy Cha is a community development officer working for the Central California Region of Wells Fargo. A strong supporter and champion of the bank’s community development efforts, she teaches money management skills to students and adults in underprivileged communities as part of her advocacy of financial literacy among low- to moderate- income families and individuals. Her work also focuses on affordable housing, minority business development, and economic independence for women.

Sandy sits on the Wells Fargo Asian Business Services Strategic Advisory Board, a company-wide program that promotes services and tools to support Asian business owners. She also volunteers with the Board of Directors of Central California Asian Pacific Women; the Regional Advisory Committee of ByDesign Financial Solutions;the Advisory Board of the Central Valley Cultural Heritage Institute; and, as co-chair for the Business & Professional Development Committee, the Fresno County Women’s Chamber of Commerce.

She participated in SEARAC's 2007 National Training for Leadership and Advocacy in Washington, DC; and the 2007 Asian Policy Summit and the 2006 Valley Leadership Institute in Sacramento, CA. She is a graduate of Leadership Fresno, class 23, a Leadership Training program through the Greater Fresno Chamber of Commerce. Born and raised in Fresno, CA, Sandy graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in Business Administration and is fluent in both Hmong and English.

Mr. Sourichanh "Noi/Sirch" Chanthyasack currently is an Advertising Account Executive with Idearc Media Corp - Official Publisher of Verizon yellow pages (formerly Verizon Information Services before 11/20/06 spin-off) working in the Bay Area of California. Prior to moving to San Francisco in February 2006, Mr. Chanthyasack spent 10 years on Wall Street providing financial services and wealth management to affluent customers as a Private Banker with JPMorgan Chase Bank , Financial Advisor with Merrill Lynch, and Stockbroker with Investec in New York City. Mr. Chanthyasack is pursuing his MBA in Global Management and is expected to receive his degree from University of Phoenix in late 2007. He received his double major B.A. from Binghamton University (State University of NY) in Economics and Psychology. On campus, he was President of Pan-Asian Student Association, founder of the annual Amer-Asian picnic on BU campus, and played on the men's varsity soccer team. He'a former Asian Pacific American Employee Network (APAEN) leader at Merrill Lynch, OCA-NYC member, Asian Financial Society member, former board member of American Chinese Professional Association (ACPA), and currently serving as Secretary on the Board of Laotian American National Alliance (LANA). Mr. Chanthyasack cares about the development and progress of the SE Asian American community, humanitarian & environmental issues, economical development of less developed countries and peace in the world. He volunteers his time with various non-profits across many communities whenever he has the opportunity. Enjoys interacting with people and helping out whenever possible.

Chheub Bun Heng currently serves as the Immigrant & Refugee Health Program Manager at Massachusetts Asian & Pacific Islanders for Health (MAP), an Asian community based non-profit organization that promotes health, HIV and sexuality awareness, and access to care through community building, education, advocacy and technical assistance. Chheub fled Cambodia as a refugee. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy and Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at Boson. Chheub is a member of the Massachusetts HIV Prevention Planning Group and has a strong background in community outreach, organizing, education and technical assistance. He also serves as a member of the Community Advisory Board for the Institute for Asian American Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.

Van Q. Huynh currently owns a Houston financial advisory services firm representing ING Financial Partners and other well-known investment and insurance companies worldwide. After coming to the United States in 1991 as a Vietnamese political refugee, Van soon recognized the value of and enjoyed freedom and democracy. Strongly committed to community services, Van is the former President of Circle K Club of Broward Community College (1992-1994), Vietnamese Student Association at University of Houston – Downtown (1995-1997). He graduated from University of Houston in 1998 with BBA majors in Finance and Economics.

Although very busy with his Investment Advisory career—working for the past 10 years at different Wall Street firms as Morgan Stanley (1998), UBS (2000), and ING Financial Partners (2002- Present)—Van is very active in different non-profit organizations such as Kiwanis (1998), Vietnamese Community of Houston and Vicinity (Executive Director 2004-2008), and Asia Society of Texas (Advisory Board Member 2006-Present).

Van collaborates with other community leaders and organizations in many humanitarian projects such as Walk for Tsunami (2005), Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Relief Committee (2005-2007), St. Joseph Fire Relief Committee (2006-2007), Mayor Bill White's Grocery Safety Taskforce (2007), Democracy and Human Rights Promoting Committee (2007-2008), etc. A well-respected community leader, Van strongly believes that Teamwork, Discipline, Collaboration and Education are key characteristics of future leaders.

Sarah R. Kith is an ombudsman at the American Red Cross. As an organizational ombudsman, she serves as an informal, neutral, independent and confidential “off the record” resources for conflict resolution. She is an activist and a community leader who works with many from across diverse backgrounds, bringing ideas and creating synergy to accomplish the groups’ goals. In 2002, Sarah was one of 500 international facilitators for the America Speaks organization that hosted Listening to the City, to remember and rebuild lower Manhattan that engaged 5000 survivors from the New York/ New Jersey/Connecticut, impacted by 9/11 event to discuss the future footprint of the twin towers.

Sarah has held numerous leadership roles in various Cambodian American organizations, including the past president of the Cambodian Investment Group. She is the current Chair for the Night of Apsara Second Annual Fundraiser in support of Friends Without A Border (FWAB). Night of the Apsara is a loosely organized ah-hoc planning group consisting of predominantly Cambodian-Americans who sponsor an annual fund raising event to support the Angkor Hospital for Children, providing Cambodian children access to healthcare.

Sarah earned her undergraduate degree in an Interdisciplinary Study better known as CLEG (Communication, Legal Institution, Economics, and Government) from the American University in Washington, D.C. and her master's degree in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from the George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Pa Lai V. Lee was admitted to the California bar, 1998. She practices in areas that include civil litigation, labor and employment. Her litigation experience includes having represented clients in both state and federal courts. He clients include both private and public entities, with matters varying from business and probate law to personal injury and insurance defense. Pa Lai has also represented clients at administrative and court hearings on matters relating to public benefits and unemployment compensation benefits. While attending law school (New England School of Law, Boston, Massachusetts) Pa Lai was a student attorney working on family law matters, including dissolution, custody, and support modifications. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Fresno County Young Lawyers Association, and is the Vice-President of the Board of Directors for the Lao Family community of Fresno, Inc.

Anhlan P. Nguyen believes the future is in the hands of the young. Her accomplishments include the establishment of the Vietnamese Youth Center of Toronto, and the National Youth Leadership Development Camp "Len Duong" for young community activists from across USA and Canada; and the hosting of numerous community programs aimed at helping and developing Vietnamese-American youths. She is also the organizer of the "Thank You, America" luncheon honoring local charities that help Vietnamese refugees relocate and become acclimated in their new homeland. Nguyen's passion has inspired her to lead numerous humanitarian efforts for the hurricane and flood victims in Central America and in Vietnam. She was selected as one of the Five Outstanding Young Houstonians by the Houston Jaycee (Junior Chamber of Commerce) in 2000, and was the Honoree of the Asian-American Heritage Month of 2001 by Houston METRO Transit Authority. She currently serves as the President of the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association, a national non-profit organization based in Houston, Texas with four chapters in Austin, Dallas Fort Worth, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee, and San Diego, California.

Willie Ngoctuan Nguyen teaches in the Civil Justice Clinic at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, the oldest law school in California. He co-teaches the clinic’s Individual Representation course and supervises students representing low-income clients in wage and hour, landlord-tenant, and Social Security benefits cases. Prior to joining U.C. Hastings, Willie was a staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center (“LAS-ELC”), where his work focused mostly on combating discrimination against immigrant workers based on their national origin and/or limited English proficiency. While at the LAS-ELC, Willie represented workers in cases before the United States Supreme Court and the United States Courts of Appeal for the Fifth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits. Before attending law school, Willie was a Teach for America corps member, and taught a Vietnamese bilingual elementary class in Oakland Unified School District, where he taught Vietnamese-American children, many of whom were limited English proficient recent immigrants to the United States.

Willie is on the board of the Southeast Asian Resource Action Center and of the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area ("AABA"), and was formerly a co-chair of AABA’s Civil Rights Committee. He was also a volunteer coach for the Palega Bulldogs, a youth lacrosse team whose players are from underserved, urban communities in San Francisco. Willie received his B.A. in psychology from Trinity University in San Antonio, TX and his J.D. from the University of California – Los Angeles School of Law.

Christine Plautz is the grants manager at Circle of Service Foundation and previously had been the administrative director and grants manager at Girl's Best Friend Foundation. Christine believes strongly in the representation of people of color in decision making rolls at grantmaking instituitions and is able to promote this through her roles as chair of the Chicago Chapter of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, a national membership and philanthropic advocacy organization dedicated to advancing philanthropy and Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, and co-chair of the Chicago Asian Gicng Circle.

Berta J. Romero is a consultant with over 30 years experience working in the refugee field. Beginning in Thailand as a TEFL instructor with the U.S. Peace Corps, she began her stint with the U.S. Refugee Program in 1976, where she was instrumental in the processing and eventual resettlement of over 100,000 Southeast Asian refugees to the United States. Moreover, she was the founder of the first refugee women's project in Thailand and liaised with women's self-help programs in the Refugee Processing Center in the Philippines. In the United States, she has worked with multiple coalitions at the national level focused on fair and just immigration and refugee policies. Ms. Romero served as the first Coordinator/Director of the Refugee Council USA, a coalition of U.S. based NGOs dedicated to promoting the protection of refugees and asylum seekers, and of which SEARAC is a member organization, from 2000 through February 2006. She successfully guided the coalition from its beginnings in 2000 to its national and international recognition garnered today. Throughout her career, Ms. Romero has maintained a strong commitment to refugee protection. She has served a three years term as SEARAC's Secretary of the Board and a member of the Executive Committee. Currently, she is a Wellness Consultant, a Potter, as well as a contractor on refugee issues and programs.

Jay W. Stansell is an Assistant Federal Public Defender in Seattle, Washington, and a 1988 graduate of the University of Washington School of Law. During the past seven years, he has represented over 1000 non-citizens, including many Cambodian Americans, facing indefinite detention by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. During that litigation, Jay argued before the United States Supreme Court on behalf of Kim Ho Ma, resulting in the decision in Zadvydas v. Davis, 533 U.S. 678 (2001), in which the Supreme Court held that the INS could not indefinitely detain non-citizens who have been ordered deported and who cannot be returned to their countries of origin. Since the signing of a repatriation agreement with Cambodia, Jay has been active in advocacy surrounding the deportation of refugees back to Cambodia. He and his wife, Dori Cahn, are authors of a chapter in the book Race, Culture, Psychology and Law, dealing with the Cambodian deportations. They have traveled frequently to Cambodia with their two sons, and the family recently returned from a seven months stay, during which Jay taught International Human Rights Law at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh.

Khamphoui Singvongsa is currently working as a Family Resource Supervisor at Illinois Action for Children. Currently, Khamphoui is serving as a president of the board of directors of Lao American Community Services in Chicago, Illinois; president of Laotian Catholic Community of Chicago-Elgin, Illinois; national conference co-organizer of National Lao Catholic Pastoral Center headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and as a board member of North Side Community Federal Credit Union in Chicago, Illinois. He was a former member of the board of directors as co-vice president of Lao American Association of Illinois and a former member of the board of directors as first vice president of the Organization of the NorthEast (ONE). In Fall of 2007, Khamphoui was selected to help with the Archdiocese of Chicago Initiatives in Pilgrims for Justice Initiatives as a witness to talk at various parishes to help promote a better understanding about immigrants and refugees. In addition, Khamphoui has served as a member on Chicago Commission of Human Relations’ Asian Advisory Council; Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White’s Asian Pacific American Advisory Council; and Illinois State Treasurer Alexis Gian lias’s Asian Advisory Council.

Khamphoui received a B.A. in Philosophy and Theology from Loyola University of Chicago and M.S. in Management from National-Louis University, respectively.

Phitsamay Sychitkokhong Uy, the Chair of SEARAC's Board, is a doctoral candidate at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her research focuses on Southeast Asian educational experiences. Her teaching experiences include being an elementary teacher, a literacy specialist, and an Asian American studies instructor. As a consultant, she has developed planning and evaluation strategies for community-based organizations in the Southeast Asian and Asian American communities. Phitsamay is currently working as a research assistant for the Education Development Corporation, as a diversity trainer for the Anti-Defamation League, and as an editor of the Harvard Educational Review. She received a B.S. in Human Resource Management and M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction both from Boston College and a M.Ed. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard University.

ThaoMee Xiong, currently works for the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota as a Staff Attorney. She is committed to public interest law and dedicated to working with low-income communities of color. She has worked for the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization of Migration, the Public Defender’s Association of Philadelphia, and the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis. She received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her Master’s in Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Additionally, ThaoMee co-produced Goodbye, Wat ThamKrabok, with former SEARAC Executive Director KaYing Yang and Va-Megn Thoj. The film documents the journey of a young Hmong refugee woman’s experiences from Thailand to the United States. She also co-authored, One Hmong Woman’s Pioneering Journey Towards Activism: “In My Heart I will Always Be Hmong” a chapter in a women’s anthology.