Board of Directors

Steve Arounsack teaches at California State University, Stanislaus. He has worked alongside the Lao diaspora and Southeast Asian groups for almost 15 years in various capacities. Along with serving on multiple boards and national organizations, he has published numerous articles and papers on the Lao, including acculturation experiences, history, and identity. At age 19, he became Editor-in-Chief of Lao Vision Magazine, the nation's first Lao-American hybrid publication. Later, he founded and became president of Pacific Arc Media LLC, a digital media company that highlighted Southeast Asian culture. In over a decade of multimedia experience in digital video, web, and print, Dr. Arounsack's productions have been showcased on PBS, satellite television, at universities, and theatre venues across the nation. His media projects have been funded by the Ford Foundation, Texaco Foundation, and the California Council for the Humanities among others. Additionally, Dr. Arounsack coordinated the first two Lao International Film Festivals for the Center for Lao Studies.

Dr. Arounsack has traveled to Laos numerous times in the last 15 years to document conditions there. He co-developed a touchscreen program for the Legacies of War project to educate the public about the secret bombings in the 1960s and 70s; he is also serving as the media director for the Lao Oral History Archive.

Dr. Arounsack holds a Ph.D. in ecology from the University of California, Davis. He was part of the inaugural class of prestigious national Gates Millennium Scholars (2000-2005), a fellow with Sustainable Communities Leadership Program (2002), and a fellow for the American Leadership Forum (2009-2010).

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.

Mark Franken retired in July 2007, after 32 years of working on the behalf of refugees and immigrants through Catholic Church organizations. He began his career as a sponsor of refugees from Vietnam, who he had worked with during the Vietnam war. He also began in 1975 volunteering with the Catholic Charities agency in Columbus, Ohio, helping to resettle refugees from Southeast Asia and elsewhere, later becoming director of Migration and Refugee Resettlement Services of the Catholic Diocese of Columbus.

In 1980, Mark became Coordinator of the Southeast Asian Program for the U.S. Catholic Conference (later named U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops [USCCB]). After several different positions with the USCCB, in 1997, Mark became the Executive Director of USCCB’s Migration and Refugee Services. In this capacity, Mark lead the Church’s public policy work in the immigration/refugee field, administered a range of national refugee resettlement-related programs, and directed the Church’s pastoral care outreach to newcomer populations in the United States.

Mark has been involved in a number of national and international boards of directors, including as past chair of the Refugee Council USA. Since retiring, Mark has provided management consultancy services to immigrant- and refugee-serving organizations and is currently serving as interim executive director for the Catholic Legal Immigration Network, Inc. (CLINIC). Mark has also been pursuing his long-time hobby: designing and installing Asian-inspired gardens.

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.

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.

Yuvora Nong currently practices immigration law in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area with the law firm of Nong, Dua and Patel, LLC. He previously served on the board of directors of the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center and the Cambodian American National Council. He is currently the attorney for the NAKKUSA Temple in Manassas, Virginia and the Cambodian Education Excellence Foundation.

Yuvora has participated in many efforts to assist Cambodians, as well as other low-income and language deficient Asian-American groups by increasing access to legal assistance through like organizations and direct pro-bono assistance. Yuvora is a graduate of the University of Florida, College of Liberal Arts, with a degree in Economics and Political Science, and a graduate of the Florida State College 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.

Kim Thuy Seelinger is a staff attorney at the Center for Gender & Refugee Studies (CGRS), through which she also co-teaches the Refugee and Human Rights Clinic at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. Her legal work involves appellate litigation, policy advocacy, and training efforts on behalf of women seeking refugee protection in the United States. Kim joined CGRS in July 2007 after helping to develop the clinical law program at Yunnan University, PRC, as a Yale-China Association Clinical Legal Education Fellow. Before that, Kim was a staff attorney at the Lutheran Family & Community Services Immigration Unit in New York City. Kim has broad experience in the areas of asylum, general deportation defense, and family-based immigration. Her current interests include the intersection of women's rights and health status abroad, as well as the ongoing psycho-social needs of refugee communities here in the US. Kim graduated with honors from the University of Virginia, with an interdisciplinary degree in Government, French, and Literature. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law.

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.