 | Michael Byun, Arts, Culture and Education Committee cochair
Michael Byun has worked for more than 15 years on health disparities and community development. He also sits on regional and national Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) advisory committees and boards. He is a frequent national and regional speaker and presenter on AAPI public policy issues. Byun received his master’s degree in public administration from the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Affairs.
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| Tom Chung, Ph.D.
Dr. Tom Chung was an active participant in student and social movements in Hong Kong during the 1960s and 1970s. He was president of the Hong Kong Federation of Students that was instrumental in mobilizing organizations and students to make changes in colonial politics and social culture.
In America, Dr. Chung’s academic interests have included medical sociology, community studies and practice in aging. He has published books, reports and articles and has won more than a dozen grants and contracts to conduct Asian American studies and training. He was the founding director of the Tufts University International Leadership Institute, in collaboration with several Asian universities and international corporations. His most recent study is a needs assessment of Asian Americans in Greater Cincinnati. He has provided training in community empowerment, accumulated extensive experiences in state government services, and given talks to various government, business,healthcare and cultural groups.
One focus of Dr. Chung’s Asian American activities is on health. He served on the board of a community health center in Boston for 26 years, as treasurer of the Ohio Asian American Health Coalition (OAAHC), as director of the Greater Cincinnati Chinese Chamber of Commerce and currently is executive director of China initiatives at the University of Cincinnati. |
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 | Krishna Grandhi, J.D., M.S., M.B.A., Technology Advisory Committee chair
Krishna Grandhi is an attorney and community activist with a focus on civil rights and immigration issues. He practices primarily in intellectual property and technology law and counsels many start-up companies and medium-to-large corporations in Ohio and around the country.
Grandhi has been actively involved in various cultural and civic organizations in northeast Ohio for more than a decade. In college, he helped build the Indian Student Association at Cleveland State University (CSU). After graduating, Krishna helped create CSU’s first International Alumni Chapter, serving as its president from 2004 to 2010. He also served on the CSU Alumni Association’s Board and was a member of its events committee. Grandhi earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees at CSU, his master’s degree in business administration at Cornell University and his juris doctor degree at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.
An active member in the Northeast Ohio Telugu Association, Grandhi also serves as a board member and president-elect for the South Asian Bar Association of Ohio and a as member of the Asian American Bar Association of Ohio’s board of directors. |
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 | Vi Huynh, Culture and Education Committee chair
Vi Huynh is an experienced healthcare administration professional. He currently is an operations manager in the Miller Family Heart and Vascular Institute at Cleveland Clinic.
He is cofounder and executive committee member for the Cleveland Asian Festival; cochair of the Arts, Culture and Education committee of the Ohio Asian American Pacific Islander Advisory Council (OAAPIAC); and a panelist for the 2013 Ohio Arts Council Arts Access program. Huynh formerly was president of MotivAsians, an Asian professional organization in Greater Cleveland, and a board member of the Cleveland Pops Orchestra.
Huynh is a dedicated volunteer for Hands On Northeast Ohio, where he was the 2008 Volunteer of the Year and received the Kate Madden Leadership in Service Award in 2009. He has also been named to Crain's Cleveland Business “Forty Under 40 Class of 2010” list and Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club's “Top 25 under 35 Movers and Shakers 2011” list. He also is a proud graduate of the 2007 class of Cleveland Bridge Builders, a leadership development and civic engagement program.
He completed his master’s degree in healthcare administration and bachelor’s degree in biology with a minor in music performance from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he also was the drum major for the Marching Tar Heels. |
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| Ronald M. Katsuyama, Ph.D., Council vice chair, Civil Rights and Immigration Impact Committee chair
An associate professor of psychology at the University of Dayton, Dr. Katsuyama has served as director of the Social Science Research Center and the Center for Family and Community Research. Among his research projects are surveys of racial attitudes in the Dayton area and evaluations of prejudice reduction and character education programs throughout the country. He has conducted studies of criminal justice systems, effects of urban revitalization, disparities in issuing contracts and citizen satisfaction. Dr. Katsuyama also has served as a consultant to prosecutors of insurance redlining. He currently teaches research methods, child- and life-span psychology and serves as the vice chair of the OAAPIAC and president of the OAAHC.
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| Yung-Chen Lu, Ph.D.,Council chair
Dr. Yung-Chen Lu is a professor emeritus of the mathematics department at The Ohio State University. During his tenure, he has received several teaching and service awards.
In the Asian community, Dr. Lu is deeply committed to his voluntary services. He joined the board of Chinese Associations of Central Ohio (1984) and was chair of the Columbus Chinese School (1988-89). He is founder and president of the Asian American Community Service Council (since 1994) and the founder and manager of the Asian Senior Meal program (since 1994). Also in 1994, Dr. Lu proposed the Columbus Asian Festival; he still cochairs what has become the largest Asian festival in the U.S. He also founded the Asian American Commerce Group (1993). He has been involved with several Asian American health and dental activities, including chairing the Advisory Board of the Asian Health Initiative (since 1996) and initiating and managing Asian Health Conferences (2002 and 2005, respectively). Dr. Lu has chaired the OAAPIAC since 2010.
Wider community contributions include membership in Charity Newsies (since 1991), LifeCare Alliance (six years), and the Central Ohio Breathing Association (two years). He also served as a chairperson on the Greater Columbus Events Council in 2007. He currently is a board member of the Central Ohio Diabetes Association and Greater Columbus Arts Council.
Dr. Lu’s volunteer work has been recognized by the Columbus Dispatch (Community Service Award, 2000), the Asian American Commerce Group (Community Service Award, 2000), the Organization of Chinese Americans (Community Leadership Award, 2006), the Ohio Commission on Minority Health(Community Leadership Award, 2009), the Ohio Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission (Governor’s Humanitarian Award, 2012), the Asian Leaders and Legends Gala (Asian Legend, 2012) and Medical Mutual (Most Outstanding Volunteer Award, 2013). In 2013, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame for Outstanding Volunteers. |
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| Dr. Cora Munoz, Ph.D., R.N., Health Issues and the Health Care System Committee chair
Dr. Cora Munoz is a professor emeritus and adjunct professor at Capital University. She is an author, academic scholar, consultant, national and international speaker, Fulbright Scholar, diversity trainer, health advocate, and community worker. Her clinical specialty is psychiatric mental health and transcultural nursing with expertise in cultural competence.
She has served for many years as the Governor-appointed commissioner of the Ohio Commission on Minority Health. She is the vice president of the OAAHC, has been a member of the OAAPIAC since it started and has served as chair of the OAAPIAC’s health committee. Currently she is chair of the Asian Festival Corporation’s board of directors and has served in various boards and advisory groups related to health and mental health. She is the founder of the newly organized Philippine Nurses Association of Central Ohio and serves as a board member of the Columbus Sister Cities International.
Dr. Munoz has received numerous awards and recognitions for leadership, her contributions to the nursing profession, and minority and community health advocacy. She completed her nursing graduate studies from Columbia University and The Ohio State University.
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| Rebecca Nelson, M.A.
Rebecca Nelson serves as convener for Ohio State's Bias Assessment and Response Team and as a program director for human resources in the Student Life Division at The Ohio State University (OSU). In her years with OSU, Rebecca has served as assistant vice president for Student Life, director of the Multicultural Center, program manager for Community Development with the OSU Medical Center, assistant director of the Office of Minority Affairs (now called the Office of Diversity and Inclusion), and as an academic adviser for honor students.
Nelson also currently serves as a member of the Governor-appointed OAAPIAC, commissioner of the Columbus Community Relations Commission, member of the OSU Faculty Senate Diversity Committee and member of the OSU Outreach and Engagement Council. She also has participated in board service with several community organizations.
Rebecca received her bachelor’s degrees in English and political science from Linfield College and her master’s degree in education from OSU. |
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| Bounthanh L. Phommasthit, B.S.W., M.S., Council secretary
Bounthanh is chief financial officer and cofounder of Diversified Health Management, a family business that serves the health and social services needs of former southeast Asian refugees, mainstream elders and disability populations. Previously, her employment with local and state government entities established her formal experiences working with refugee-immigrants and mainstream populations in the area of health and social services. Her roles at local, state and regional levels centered on program development, project management, community health planning and development, with a focus on building strong communities. She draws energy from the experiences of refugees and immigrants, minority groups, and other underserved populations and from learning about their strengths in addressing health issues.
Bounthanh commits numerous hours of service to professional and civic activities, including the OAAPIAC, the OAAHC, the Asian Festival Corporation, the Lao Mutual Assistance Association (of which she is a cofounder) and the Wat Buddha Samakidham (Buddhist temple). She also is cofounder of the Jhai Foundation, a non-governmental agency that ships medical supplies, digs wells and improves health and social well-being for individuals with low social economic status in Laos and other countries around the world.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in social work from Capital University and a master’s degree in human services management from Franklin University. |
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 | Radhika Reddy, M.A., M.I.S., M.B.A., Economic and Workforce Development Committee chair
Radhika Reddy, founding partner of Ariel Ventures and Ariel International Center, has 30 years of experience providing public-private finance, IT and business advisory services for small and international business, real estate, renewable energy, and economic development projects.
She has developed a historic 50,000-square-foot building as an office and research lab facility in the Cleveland Health Tech Corridor, designated as an Ohio Hub of Innovation and Opportunity. She also developed a historic 70,000-square-foot building located in Cleveland’s AsiaTown district to create the Ariel International Center, a one-stop international business incubator, office, and an international business and intercultural event center.
Reddy is a member of the OAAPIAC and the Board of Regents Task Force for Commercialization of Technology. She also served on the global markets advisory team for Ohio. Reddy was awarded the 2007 Commercial Real Estate Women Cleveland Leadership award and the 2002 International Business Woman of the Year award for northeast Ohio. She was recognized by Inside Business as a 2003 and 2009 Athena Award finalist for her outstanding accomplishments as a female business leader and was nominated to the Leadership Cleveland Class of 2009. Reddy is a published author and has presented at various national and international conferences in the areas of international business and tax and federal tax credits. |
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 | Diment Singh
Diment Singh was born and raised in Fiji. As a child, he moved to California, where he spent the majority of his formative years. He completed his undergraduate studies at University of California, San Diego, and his doctorate in pharmacy at University of California, San Francisco. He moved to Ohio with his wife in 2010 and currently resides in Toledo.
As the manager of a pharmacy within an underrepresented community, he is very much aware of the health disparities present in the minority community. He aspires to bridge this gap and welcomes open dialogue between people in all walks of life. He hopes to become more involved in the Asian American/Pacific Islander community and to further their causes. |
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 | Rameshwar Srivastava, M.S.,FSS,
CStat
Ramesh Srivastava is an
international consultant (statistics and evaluation) and a
community leader. He was the President, Asian American Council,
Dayton (2010 & 2011), member of Ohio Asian American Health
Coalition (OAAHC) executive committee, advisory council
member-Dayton Council on Health Equity. He is a Statistics Without
Borders (SWB, American Statistical Associan) Volunteer. He was Manager, Evaluation Systems,
ADAMHS Board for Montgomery County and Adjunct Faculty, Sinclair
Community College. He previously served as Assistant Professor in
the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at Central State
University, Ohio and was the national Evaluation Coordinator of the
Family and Community Violence Program (FCVP) Program. He also
served as Research Assistant Professor of Social
Sciences/Statistics at the University of Virgin Islands,
Commonwealth Expert in the British Virgin Islands, and United
Nations Advisor in Africa. He is a life Fellow of the Royal
Statistical Society and a Chartered Statistician, UK. He received
his master's degree in Statistics from Banaras Hindu University,
India. He has authored and coauthored several articles in the field
of statistics and evaluation. In addition to USA and India, he has
worked in Ghana, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Oman, the British
Virgin Islands and the US Virgin Islands. |