Kalpen Modi - Association Director, White House Office of Public Engagement

Kalpen Modi has a background in the arts, education, and Asian American organizing. His educational background includes the University of California, Los Angeles, and Stanford University. Modi previously worked in the private sector as an artist and actor in Los Angeles and New York, and as an Adjunct Lecturer in Asian American Studies, Film Studies, and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania. He also worked on the Obama Campaign in a variety of roles, including the National Arts Policy Committee. He is originally from New Jersey. 

Kiran Ahuja - Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) 

White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) 

Congressman Mike Honda - Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Chair

Since 2001, Mike Honda has represented the 15th Congressional District of California in the U.S. House of Representatives. His district includes Silicon Valley, the birthplace of technology innovation and the leading region for the development of the technologies of tomorrow. Mike has been a public servant for decades during which he has been lauded for his work on education, transportation, civil rights, national service, the environment, and high-tech issues.

Mike was born in California, but spent his early childhood with his family in an internment camp in Colorado during World War II. After a decade living in Chicago, his family returned to California in 1953, becoming strawberry sharecroppers in San José's Blossom Valley. In 1965, Mike interrupted his college studies to answer President John F. Kennedy's call for volunteer service. He served in the Peace Corps for two years in El Salvador, returning with a passion for teaching and fluent in Spanish.

Mike earned Bachelor's degrees in Biological Sciences and Spanish, and a Master's degree in Education from San José State University. In his career as an educator, Mike was a science teacher, served as a principal at two public schools, and conducted educational research at Stanford University.

In 1971, Mike was appointed by then-Mayor Norm Mineta to San Jose's Planning Commission. In 1981, Mike won his first election, gaining a seat on the San José Unified School Board. In 1990, Mike was elected to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, where he led efforts to acquire and preserve open space in the county.

Mike served in the California State Assembly from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, Mike was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and serves on the Appropriations Committee, with postings on that body's Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, Commerce, Justice, and Science, and Legislative Branch Subcommittees. As an appropriator, Mike focuses on directing funding to critical areas such as: access to affordable healthcare; worker training; port and border security; law enforcement and the safety of our neighborhoods; health care for our veterans; recovery from natural disasters, particularly Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ike.

Mike is serving his sixth year as Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), coordinating with his colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucuses to champion the causes of under-represented communities by promoting social justice, racial tolerance, and civil rights.

Judy Chu - Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) Member and House Subcommittee on Immigration Member

Dr. Judy Chu was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Representative of California's 32nd District in July 2009. She immediately got to work representing the interests of her constituents, voting on several environmental bills and working through the night on her first day in office, during a marathon debate on important healthcare reform legislation as part of her first assignment on the House Education and Labor Committee. Rep. Chu has also been assigned to the House Judiciary and Government Oversight Committees.

Previously, she  was elected to the California State Board of Equalization in November 2006. In January 2009, Dr. Chu was unanimously elected Vice Chair of the Board of Equalization. She previously served as BOE Chair in 2008. She also serves as Chair of the BOE Legislative Committee.

Before joining the State Board of Equalization, Dr. Chu served three terms as a State Assembly Member for the 49th District in the West San Gabriel Valley from 2001 to 2006. She was Chair of the Assembly Appropriations Committee, which oversees all legislation that has a fiscal impact on the state.

In addition, Dr. Chu served as Chair of the California Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, Assembly Select Committee on Hate Crimes, and Assembly Subcommittee on Health and Human Services. She was also a member of the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee, Labor and Employment Committee, and Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee.

In 2004, Dr. Chu authored a landmark tax amnesty bill which was estimated to bring in $300 million but actually brought in $4.8 billion in revenue for the state budget without raising taxes. Several states offered tax amnesty that year, and California's was the most successful tax amnesty program in the nation.

Prior to the State Assembly, Dr. Chu served on the Monterey Park City Council for thirteen years from 1988 to 2001, and served as Mayor three times. She began her career in public service as a Board Member of the Garvey School District from 1985 to 1988. Dr. Chu has been dedicated to education for decades, and was a community college professor of psychology for 20 years. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology and a B.A. in mathematics. 

Ami Bera, Candidate for U.S. Congress (CA-03)

Amerish Bera, MD is the Chief Medical Officer for the County of Sacramento. Dr. Bera, a board certified internist, is a physician executive with nine years progressive leadership experience in healthcare management, hospital and medical group administration, managed care and integrated delivery systems. He has demonstrated achievements in strategic planning, organizational and leadership development, clinical and administrative operations, resource management and systems implementation. As Chief Medical Officer, he oversees the management of the County’s safety net healthcare delivery system. In addition to his direct management responsibilities, Amerish has used his knowledge of the local healthcare community to bring stakeholders to the table in an effort to create a community based solution to address the challenge of delivering care to the regions 200,000 uninsured residents. Prior to joining Sacramento County, Dr. Bera served as Medical Director for Care Management at Mercy Healthcare Sacramento, was Assistant Medical Director for Managed Care, and practiced internal medicine at MedClinic Medical Group.

Marissa Graciosa, Director, Fair Immigration Reform Movement

Marissa Graciosa is the Immigration Campaign Coordinator at the Center for Community Change. She directs the Fair Immigration Reform Movement, a national coalition of grassroots organizations fighting for just and humane immigration reform. Prior to working at the Center, she managed the Naisy Dolar aldermanic campaign, and worked at the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights as the Director of Politics and Communications. She is the daughter of Filipino immigrants and hails from Burlington, Wisconsin.

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