2019 Board Members
Akemi Matsumoto actively volunteers in the API community as she has for the last three decades. She has served on the Boards of the Seattle Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League, The Washington State Commission on Asian American Affairs, The Asian Community Leadership Foundation and APACE when it was a state-wide coalition from 1998–2000. She believes in self and community empowerment through active involvement and organizing. She retired from Bellevue Community College where she lead institutional efforts in racial justice: Courageous Conversations for students, faculty, staff and administration talking together. She is a national trainer on cultural competency and cross-cultural communication.
Stanley Tsao has many years of community outreach experience working with The Connections Group team. Stanley has managed outreach programs for numerous government initiatives and providing better government access to minority and immigrant communities. He has worked closely with a broad range of community groups, government agencies and non-profitorganizations. He also manages Connections’ production projects from direct mails to media productions. Previously, Stanley had served as a board member with Young Professional International Network at World Affairs Council and as the board chair at Safe Futures YouthCenter in West Seattle. Tsao has an undergraduate degree in economics and political science from Simon Fraser University in Canada.
Sofia Aragon is the Executive Director of the Washington Center for Nursing, a nonprofit corporation focused on solving the state’s nursing shortage. She immigrated to Seattle at the age of three with her parents. She is a registered nurse and an attorney by training, graduating from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics, Seattle University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, and a Juris Doctor from Loyola University-Chicago. Her previous roles include hospital nurse, community health clinic nurse, legislative liaison for WA State Department of Health and Governmental Affairs Advisor for the WA State Nurses Association. Her passion is supporting aspiring and current nursing and legal professionals as adjunct faculty for the Seattle University College of Nursing and Seattle University School of Law, and developing continuing legal education programs with the WA State Association of Nurse Attorneys. Her hobbies are travel and sports.
Amy Nguyen is the Community Programs Strategic Advisor for Your Voice, Your Choice, a participatory budgeting program with the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods. In her work, she strives to center communities of color and other underrepresented groups within government and budget processes. Her experience in policy analysis, nonprofit management and community organizing spans New York City, New Orleans and Seattle. Amy worked as a Legislative Aide for Seattle City Council advising on policy issues related to planning, land use, parks, utilities, immigration and civil rights. In the past, she has managed delivery of the free statewide legal hotline for the Louisiana Civil Justice Center in New Orleans and worked as the Project Manager for the Emmy award winning documentary, Herman’s House that looked at solitary confinement, race and the meaning of livable spaces.
Rachtha Danh works and lives in Seattle’s Chinatown International District. He works in Property Management and Community Initiative programs of SCIDpda. He serves on the board of Downtown Seattle Association Residents’ Council and Solid Waste Advisory Committee. As a first generation of a refugee family, he understand the importance of giving voice to those often over-looked in American political systems
Kim-Khanh Van graduated from the University of Dayton- School of Law with extensive legal experiences working at the Criminal Law Clinic and interning at an Immigration Law Firm. She currently is a member of the Washington State Bar Association, American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), and a few other legal associations. Ms. Van enjoys volunteering her time as a pro bono attorney for the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project (NWIRP) and King County Bar Association. She was recognized for her pro bono work with DACA issues by the AILA WA chapter in 2013.