Leadership

OfficersBoard of DirectorsCommittee Chairs

President

Tim Higashide, tim@naaapcolorado.org

As the President of NAAAP Colorado, Tim is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the venture. His strong leadership skills is effective in working with all NAAAP members and assuring that NAAAP projects are accomplished successfully. After graduating from the University of Colorado-Boulder, he has been actively involved with the Asian-American Community in Denver area. Currently Tim is attending the University of Colorado-Denver for MBA and MS Finance. Having spent over 14 years in Japan, Tim is also fluent in Japanese.

Vice President of Operations

Joanne Liu, joanne@naaapcolorado.org

Joanne Liu is a native of Boston, MA and moved to Colorado in July 2010. She attained her B.A. in English/American Literature and Secondary Education from Brandeis University in 2003 and spent two years teaching middle school students with special needs in Washington, D.C. as a Teach For America Corps Member. During that time, she received her M.A. in Special Education. For the past four years, she has been the Special Education Director for the MATCH Charter Public High School in Boston, MA. Currently, she is the Assistant Principal of West Denver Preparatory Charter School in Southwest Denver. In addition, she enjoys committing her time to the Asian community. She has been active with the National Association of Asian American Professionals since 2006 as a NAAAP Boston member and Community Service Committee Co-Chair and now as NAAAP Colorado's Vice President of Operations.

Vice President of Strategic Relations

Evan Osborn, evan@naaapcolorado.org

Evan is a Filipino-American who graduated from the University of Colorado Denver and Metro State with degrees in Business Management and Political Science. After graduating, he has pursued a career in Finance. He has previously held positions as Financial Analyst, Business Assessment Analyst and as a Portfolio Accountant in hedge fund accounting. Evan currently works as an Alternative Investments Fund Administrator with Alps Price Meadows, a division of ALPS Funds Services that is currently the #1 hedge fund administrator in funds with $100 million to $1 billion in assets under management. Since 2008, Evan has contributed to NAAAP-Colorado as a volunteer in several capacities. His past leadership roles in NAAAP include; Director of Programming and the Vice Chair of the 2009 National Convention.

Secretary

Ivo Yueh, ivo.yueh @naaapcolorado.org

Ivo Yueh is a Microsoft certified software engineer with over 10 years of leadership and software development success. He has prepared and facilitated numerous professional workshops and organized several community events. Since joining NAAAP Colorado 3 months ago, he has been very active on the Leadership Committee. Not only has he helped prepare the Public Speaking & Leading in a Multi-Generational Workplace workshop and served as an activity leader, but he has been appointed the Vice President of Membership in NAAAP L.E.A.D.’s Toastmasters club as well as the lead on L.E.A.D.’s mentor program initiative.

Treasurer

Clifton Moy, clifton.moy@naaapcolorado.org

Clifton was born in Illinois and was moved here when he was 3, so he is very familiar with Colorado. Clifton joined the Air Force in 1996 and was out of the state stationed at various air bases for his 5 years with active duty. He then joined the Colorado Air National Guard where he is still employed, and returned home to be closer to his family. Clifton is presently attending Metropolitan State College of Denver, soon to be Denver State University, pursuing a degree in Aerospace Systems Engineering. Clifton met his wife, Jessica, in 2008 and was recently married in June 2010.

Julie Belleza was the NAAAP Colorado Technology Chair in 2009 and 2010. She is a software development engineer at Qwest Communications. Her various involvement within the Denver Asian community includes: guitarist for the Philippine Rondalla of Denver, Dragon Boat paddler for the PASCO and Qwest Communications teams, Dragon Boat Team Captain for Qwest Communications, and volunteer at the 2009 NAAAP Convention. Julie received a MS in Information Technology from the Daniels Business College at the University of Denver. She attended Washington University in St. Louis, graduating with a BS in Electrical Engineering, minors in biology and music.

Donna H. Hansen is passionate about education and community building. An active member of the National Association of Asian American Professionals, J-Spot, Japan America Society of Colorado, National Association of REALTORS, Colorado Association of REALTORS®, Denver Board of REALTORS®, Metrolist Certified Professionals, a Transnational Referral Certified Broker, Metro State Alumni and Examiner.com she is engaged in the larger community. A lover of all things green: gardening, reusing, recycling and growing she hopes to build the membership of NAAAP and expand it's reach into the community. Membership Advisor

Tim Higashide has strong leadership skills effective in working with all NAAAP members and assuring that NAAAP projects are accomplished successfully. After graduating from the University of Colorado-Boulder, he has been actively involved with the Asian-American Community in Denver area. Currently Tim is attending the University of Colorado-Denver for MBA and MS Finance. Having spent over 14 years in Japan, Tim is also fluent in Japanese.

Hung Lieu lived in Colorado since he was 6. Attended Colorado School of Mines and graduated with a bachelor's in Electrical Engineering. Currently working at Oracle as a Senior Systems Engineer. Was a paddler for NAAAP/Sun at the Dragonboat Festival for 2 years. He enjoys motorcycling, snowboarding, hiking, fitness and long walks on the beach Technology Advisor

Michelle Liu was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ and graduated from Arizona State University with a BA in Supply Chain Management. Having been active with the Arizona Chinese community since childhood, she understands the value of being involved with the community and the importance of working together.

In 2003, Michelle's motivation to see Asian American Pacific Islanders gain visibility and opportunities through leadership development was amplified, after interning for the White House Presidential Personnel Office and assisting the White House Public Relations Office for AAPI. Shortly after moving to Denver, she saw a need and filled the role as Secretary for the newly established NAAAP Colorado chapter. NAAAP Colorado's mission is aligned with her passion of helping others by offering the leadership development and mentoring that was offered to her through college, family, and advisors. In 2010, Michelle became the second President and Chairman of the Board.

In addition to volunteering for NAAAP Colorado, she is a fully engaged Lead Supply Chain Project Manager with Qwest Communications. Michelle truly loves her field and enjoys identifying methods to reduce costs and increase process efficiencies. . Ex-Officio

Kirk Matsuzaki is a So-Cal native who moved to Denver in July 2010. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the California State University of Northridge and is currently enrolled in the MBA program at UC Denver, specializing in sustainability. Kirk is an intern at Boulder Community Hospital and an Account Executive for Independent Producers of America, Inc. He loves 90's music, sports, the outdoors, and is an avid Los Angeles team sports fan. He is excited about getting more involved with the Asian American community in Colorado. Leadership Advisor

Marketing Advisor position available

Programming Advisor position available

Jay Zheng is a seasoned professional with innovative thought leadership and practical experience in culture and global business integration. His business development-centric and people-focused approach has enabled organizations to connect business objectives with diversity and inclusion, global talent development and employee engagement.

Mr. Zheng recently joined Prudential Financial to pursue his dream in entrepreneurship. His previous career includes 14 years of progressive corporate business integration experience with Sun Microsystems, StorageTek and Xerox.

In addition to on-the-job achievements, Mr. Zheng is a respected leader in Diversity and Inclusion in corporate and community; in Colorado and across the nation. He transformed the Asian Employee Resource Group (ERG) practice at StorageTek and Sun Microsystems from culture-centric to business partnership in global talent management and business development. He is the founder and President of the Colorado chapter of National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP) and serves on the Board for NAAAP National.

Mr. Zheng was named by Diversity Edge magazine as a 2008 Diversity Champion. He facilitated Asian ERG discussion at the Network & Affinity Leadership Congress (NALC) 2009 and was a panelist several times at NAAAP Conventions and NALC on Diversity and Inclusion and Asian ERG development practice.

He received MBA in Marketing, E-Commerce and Entrepreneurship from Simon Business School, University of Rochester, and MS in Polymer Chemistry from Rochester Institute of Technology. He received his BS in Chemistry from Shanghai Teacher’s University in China. Community Relations & Sponsorship Advisor

Community Relations

Position available

Finance

Position availalble

Leadership Development

Jessica Moy, Jessica.moy@naaapcolorado.org

Jessica Moy is a native of Littleton, Colorado. She first became interested in Asia with her experience of growing-up with exchange siblings from Japan. She traveled to Japan at the age of 14 and continued her Japanese studies while getting her B.A. in International Studies at Colorado State University and on the Japan Exchange Teaching Program as a Coordinator for International Relations in Boulder's sister city, Yamagata, Japan. Jessica returned to Colorado in 2006 to get her M.A. at the University of Denver in International Relations with a focus on Chinese language and politics and spent four months at Beijing University. She met her husband, Clif, upon graduation and now works at the Program for Teaching East Asia at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Marketing

Mary O'Brien, mary.obrien@naaapcolorado.org

Mary O'Brien is a native of Colorado. She graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver as a Bachelor of the Arts in English in 2005, earning a portion of her degree in London, United Kingdom. Mary is passionate about her career as a Manicurist and mentors other Nail Professionals as an Education Ambassador for CND (formerly Creative Nail Design), the world leader in hand and foot beauty. Mary is eager to serve with NAAAP Colorado, hoping to make membership a more interactive and connected experience for members in 2010.

Membership

Alexandria Joo, alexandria.joo@naaapcolorado.org

Alexandria Joo was born in Littleton Colorado, and moved to Korea with her family when she was three years old. She returned to Colorado after living in Korea for ten years. She graduated from University of Colorado - Denver with B.S. double major in Marketing and Management with a Minor in Economics. She currently works at Davis Graham and Stubbs, LLP, as a legal document clerk and is also working as an administrative assistant for the Miss Asian American Colorado Leadership Program. She is anticipating going back to school to study Law or get an M.B.A. She enjoys being involved with the Asian American community and is eager to be a part of NAAAP.

Programming

Ann Nguyen, ann.nguyen@naaapcolorado.org

Ann Nguyen was born in Toronto, Canada and moved to Boulder, CO when she was 6 years old. She received her Bachelors of Science in Retailing and Consumer Sciences from the University of Arizona in Tucson, AZ. Ann has worked in the retail industry for 10 years now and is currently a Merchandising Manager for Banana Republic. She enjoys volunteering, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. She is excited to be leading the Programming Committee in planning rewarding and engaging events.

Lynn Tran, lynn.tran@naaapcolorado.org

Lynn Tran is a Colorado native with a BA in Communication from the University of Colorado Boulder. She feels fortunate because she has had the opportunity to explore her career options; from to being self-employed in a marketing firm, to working in the corporate setting of Coors Brewing Co., to being an office manager at a successful chiropractic clinic in Denver. With her well-rounded professional experience, she has returned to school at the University of Colorado Denver to work on her post-baccalaureate to pursue a career in preventative medicine. Outside of school, Lynn teaches Hatha Yoga at various locations throughout the Denver Metropolitan area. She also volunteers as a cultural mentor for Burmese refugees through the Lutheran Family Center. Her goal as the co-chair of the programming is to offer valuable events that promote NAAAP’s vision of making leaders.

Sponsorship

Position availalble

Technology (acting)

Hung Lieu, hung.lieu@naaapcolorado.org