Advisory Board and Staff
The CAPAA has an advisory board made up of 12 Governor-appointed commissioners representing the state's rich APA diversity. The commissioners advise the Governor, state and local public officials around issues that concern the APA community. Each commissioner serves a three-year term and may serve for two consecutive terms. Commission meetings are open to the public.
The CAPAA has an open application process. If you would like more information, please call our office, (360) 725-5667.
The executive director is appointed and serves the Governor directly. Except for interns, the remaining staff is a full-time employee of the state.
Board of Commissioners
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Doug Heyamoto, Chair Spokane County An active member and past president of the Spokane chapter Japanese American Citizens League. Doug has been the co-chairman of Japan Week, a seven-day celebration of Japanese culture held annually in Spokane. He has served on the executive council of Hifumi En, a 40 unit apartment complex serving the housing needs of the issei and nisei members of the community. Doug is a practicing architect and will be president of the Spokane chapter American Institute of Architects in 2005. |
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Thi Huynh, 1st Vice-Chair Snohomish County Born in Vietnam, Thi escaped the country with his family by boat when he was two years old. He spent six months at a Malaysian refugee camp before coming to the US in 1980. As newly arrived immigrants, Thi's family lived in White Center for a number of years before moving north to Snohomish County. Thi attended the University of Washington where he earned his B.A. in Southeast Asian Studies and Political Science. He went on to earn a law degree at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Currently, Thi has a law practice in south Everett with a focus on real property. He is on CAPAA's Economic Development committee and is interested in fostering trade with SE Asia. He has visited China and Vietnam several times, most recently on a trade mission led Secretary of State Sam Reed to Vietnam and China. |
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Ron Chow, 2nd Vice-Chair Pierce County Ron Chow is a Chinese American and has resided in the Puget Sound area since 1978 and he is the Co-Founder and President of Seattle Pacific Trading, LLC as well as Retail Restaurant Developement, LLC. Ron has extensive knowledge and experience in promoting international trade and cultural exchange between China and the U.S. |
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Tony Lee, Immediate Past Chair King County Chinese American Tony Lee is the advocacy director of the Fremont Public Association. He lobbies and advocates around low-income and refugee and immigrant issues. Tony is a current and founding member of the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) of King County and has served on the board of Interim. |
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Habib M. HabibSnohomish County South Asian Habib M. Habib is the chair. He is the President of the India Arts and Heritage Society and an accountant in private practice. Interested in politics, he serves on the boards of Asian Pacific Islander Coalition (APIC) of King County and Asian Pacific American Coalition on Equality. |
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Elliott Kim Pierce County Korean American Elliott Kim is active on several boards and committees. He is a member of the Washington State Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) and also a member of KOAM-TV (cable channel 257) Board of Governors. He is a founder of the Korean American Voters Alliance (KAVA). He is a member of Pierce County Sheriff's Department Outreach & Planning Group. He is interested in political empowerment, minority crime prevention including victim/family advocacy, social service for cross-culture issues, and increasing international relations which include cultural and educational exchanges and economic development. |
Faaluaina (Lua) PritchardPierce County Pacific Islander Lua Pritchard is the chair of the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition of Pierce County. She is also the executive director of both the Korean Woman's Association and the Pacific Villa Housing Development Council. Her interests focus on social service, primary/secondary education and food/nutrition education fields. |
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Tanya TranCowlitz County Currently the president of Women of Vietnam and a co-founder and board member of the Vietnamese Friendship Association of Cowlitz County, Tanya Tran has a background specializing in elementary education. |
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Felicito Abille Jr. Kitsap County Fel is a Filipino American born and raised in Honolulu Hawaii. He moved to Washington State in 1974 to continue his education and start his career in Law Enforcement. He is a veteran detective immersed in the Forensic field and Crime Scene technology. He is also a certified latent fingerprint examiner, providing expert testimony in Superior Court cases. His major career undertakings include training and education at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia and the elected position of President to the International Association for Identification, Pacific Northwest Division in 2001-2002. This is a Law Enforcement forensic association comprised of multi-agencies of the Northwestern U.S. and Canada. Fel has been involved in his community and is a past board member of the local YMCA. He was a member of that voluntary board for five years and helped develop YMCA outreach programs for the children of the low income families in the greater Kitsap area. Fel’s parents have been heavily involved in the community and Fel’s mother, Florence, is a founder of the Filipino Women’s Club of Kitsap County and remains an active member of that association. Fel embraces his present position in the Commission of Asian Pacific American Affairs and envisions being a liaison to his community. |
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Jagdish Sharma Snohomish County Asian-Indian Jagdish Sharma is the founder/chairman of the Indo-American Friendship Forum (IAFF) since its inception in 1994. Jagdish is the director at-large of the Ethnic Heritage Council, Seattle. He is also Vice President of the Nargis Dutt Cancer Foundation (NDCF is a non-profit organization) since 2002 and a founding member since its inception (1997). Jagdish is also the India Association of Western Washington (IAWW) Advisory Committee Coordinator. He continues to voluntarily and passionately engaged in voicing the needs and rights of Asian Americans in the State of Washington. |
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Rey Pascua Yakima County Rey Pascua resides in Sunnyside in the Yakima Valley. He is a retired Washington State child welfare services manager. Pascua was appointed in 2007, and is serving his second term on CAPAA, having been on the Commission during its transition from an Advisory Council to a legislatively created commission in 1974. He was an appointee of Governors Evans and Gregoire. Pascua also served as the Legislative Liaison for the Commission in 1980, focusing on bilingual education, health, and civil rights issues. Pascua has been an officer for the Filipino-American Community of the Yakima Valley for over 24 years, and has been the president of the 350 member organization for the last nine years. He helped created the Mabuhay Foundation and the Yakama Valley Chapter of the Filipino-American National Historical Society. He is instrumental in diversity work and historical preservation in central Washington state. He is a sports reporter/photographer for the Valley Publishing Company, an assistant track and field coach at Sunnyside High School, a Filipino-American historian, and is an avid outdoorsman and sporting event spectator. He has been married to Sandra for 35 years, and they have two children, Tiffany and Matthew. |
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Bee Cha, King County Bee Cha is a King County Hmong immigrant. He and his family arrived in Seattle 1989 and have settled in Bellevue since. He is the Hmong Coordinator for Washington State University Extension Small Farms Team. He teaches Hmong farmers in King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties to develop farm business plans through Cultivating Success Courses and Natural Resource Conservation models. He was president of Eastside Hmong Association from 2005-2007. He is a board member for Eastside Hmong Association 2007-2009, and the National Immigrant Farmers Initiative 2008 to present. He is the coordinator/facilitator for Hmong Farmers Association of Washington, and Hmong Farmers Relief from 2006 to present. He is a committee member for National Hmong Grave Desecration Committee from November 2007 to present. He was a board member and representative for Lao Highland Association from 1994-1996, and President and Founder of Hmong Youth Clan Club 1993-1999. His vision is to be a voice for API community in Washington State. |
Staff |
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Ellen Abellera, Executive Director A dynamic community leader with strong networking and collaborative skills. She is goal and process oriented, knowledgeable and passionate about Asian Pacific American issues, and has extensive experience in organizing grassroots participation. She is an ardent advocate for social justice. Ellen Abellera is one of the most politically astute women in the Asian Pacific American Community. In 1990, as President of the Filipino American Political Action Group (FAPAGOW), she formed a coalition of 12 Asian American communities in collaboration with the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) for a joint Voter Registration/Education Drive at the July 4th swearing in of new citizens. This program continues to this day. As Partnership Specialist for the Census Bureau, she coordinated five counties including: King, Snohomish, Skagit, Island and Whatcom to promote Census 2000 to elected officials, community- and faith-based organizations, schools and Indian reservations, business and labor as well as working in Eastern Washington and Kitsap County on her own. Ellen won the Community Voice Award of the International Examiner, the Presidential Community Service Award of the Alpha Phi Omega, the VIP Award from the Philippine Herald and Filipino American National Historical Society, and was recently nominated for the 2002 Jefferson Award from the Seattle Post Intelligencer. |
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Jared M. Jonson, Executive Assistant Filipino American Jared Jonson is a recent graduate of Washington State University, obtaining a degree in Political Science Pre-Law and Comparative Ethnic Studies. At WSU, he was involved in multiple leadership roles, most recently serving as Director of Multicultural Affairs for the Associated Students of WSU in 2007. While at WSU he received the President’s Award in ’06 & ’07 and was selected as the outstanding undergraduate senior for the College of Liberal Arts. His leadership efforts at WSU focused on representing the interests of all minority students in the areas of equity, diversity, recruitment, retention, and leadership development. He hopes to focus his efforts with CAPAA in the areas of APA youth civic engagement, domestic violence and higher education. He eventually plans to attend law school to study international law. |
