Jessie L. Mills (Executive Director)
Born and educated in Malaysia and Singapore until age seventeen, she left for the United Kingdom to train as a State Registered Nurse and Midwife. She is fluent in English, Mandarin, Bahasa Malaysia, Cantonese and two other Chinese dialects and is well traveled in Asia, Australia, Africa, Europe and the USA.
She has nearly 20 years experience in sales, market research, program conception and development across cultures, event planning and intercultural program delivery gained from working in the UK, Singapore and the USA.
Since her relocation from the UK to Indiana in 1997, she has been eager to learn about the different cultures in the United States and has applied her considerable experience to assist international employees and their families as they face the challenges of global relocation.
She recently retired from her position as Director of Corporate Programs and Business Development at the International Center of Indianapolis, to become a consultant. Jessie serves as a Board member on two local not-for-profit organizations in Indianapolis.
Since her retirement, Jessie has set up her own consultancy and training company and is currently contracted by Multinational Companies and International Relocation Organizations.
As of July 2008, she has accepted the position of Executive Director for Asian American Alliance Inc.
Jessie is married to a British International Executive and has two grown children.
Glen Kwok (2007-2008 President)
A native of Washington, D.C., violinist Glen Kwok is the Executive Director of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. Prior to moving to Indianapolis, Mr. Kwok was Director of the D'Angelo School of Music at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Mr. Kwok serves as President of the Indianapolis Consortium of Arts Administrators and President of the Board of the Asian American Alliance. He also is a Vice President of the World Federation of International Music Competitions, based in Geneva. Most recently, he was appointed by Mayor Ballard to serve on the Board of the Indianapolis Economic Development, Inc.
In 2006, Mr. Kwok was awarded the Best and Brightest award by Junior Achievement in the education and non-profit category. He was a member of the Stanley K Lacy Executive Leadership Series Class XXIX and was a recipient of the "Forty Under 40" award by the Indianapolis Business Journal.
Mr. Kwok has performed extensively throughout the United States and Canada, including performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Mr. Kwok received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Indiana University. He continues to remain active as a violinist outside of his administrative duties performing as a substitute violinist with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. He also is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Indianapolis.
Vincent Wong (2007-2008 Vice President)
Vincent Wong is a Global Business Development
Director with Roche Diagnostics Corporation. He was selected for
Indianapolis Business
Journal's "Forty under 40," and has served on numerous community
organizations' Board of Directors, including Dance Kaleidoscope, Indiana
Association of Chinese Americans, and Indiana Chinese Professional Association.
Vincent served as counsel to the Democratic caucus in the Indiana Senate
during the 2000 Indiana General Assembly.
Vincent received his BA from
the University of Notre Dame and law degree from Indiana University,
Bloomington. He also graduated from the
United Way of Central Indiana's Ardath Burkhardt Leadership Program,
and is a member of the Penrod Society.
Vincent has spoken at national
and regional conferences on both technology and Asian American issues.
Vincent has lived in Beijing and London, and
enjoys international travel and business. Vincent is proud to be a product
of Indianapolis' Chinese American Community, and enjoys giving back to
the community that has provided so much for him and his family.
Elizabeth Jackson
Elizabeth (Liz) Jackson, is a registered
nurse and Hospital Performance Improvement Coordinator for Wishard Health
Services.
Her passion and vision for the Asian Americans are reflected in the following statement.
“I will strive to influence all Asians to become proactive, not only within their individual groups, but with other community groups to develop and enhance Asian representation. It is my desire to see all Asian Americans in our community develop reputations as solid, contributing members of growing Indiana communities.”
Liz and her husband, Greg Jackson, have three
children. She works with a number of service organizations including:
Indiana State Nursing
Association, Indiana Nurse Foundation, Big Brother/Big Sister Program,
Asian American
Pacific Islander Nurses Association, Brebeuf High School Mother’s
Association. She is actively involved in church/parish initiatives.
Kanwal Prakash (KP) Singh
Kanwal Prakash (KP) Singh is owner and founder
of KP Singh Designs, since 1972, which specializes in fine architectural
drawings. KP was educated in India and at the University of Michigan
in Liberal Arts, Architecture, and City Planning.
KP has been a resident of Indianapolis since 1967. He is one of the founding
members and past President of the International Center of Indianapolis.
He actively supports many international, cultural, interfaith, and race
relations activities in Indiana.
KP is the author of a recently published book, The Art and Spirit of
KP Singh~ Selected Drawings & Writings (2003 Guild Press- Emmis Publishing).
KP is a regular contributing writer for The Indianapolis Star and other
ethnic national publications.
KP’s APA VISION
To see Indianapolis become a world-class city: "Where all cultures,
faiths, and diverse spectrums of thought, offerings, and programs are
encouraged and prosper. Where new immigrants
step forward and build their communities with all their talents, gifts,
and spirit and help dispel some of the stereotype
perceptions about their ethnic origin, cultures, traditions, and their
commitments to the new nation: United States of America."
Terence T. Yen
Terence T. Yen, Ph.D. is a Retired research
scientist of Eli Lilly and Company. He teaches at Indiana University School
of Medicine as Adjunct Professor
and is a Consultant for pharmaceutical research and development. Terry
also is one of the founding members, serving on the Alliance Board since
its inception in 1999. He strives to encourage other Asian Americans
to make contributions to the community through the strength of diversity
and inclusion. He and his wife Margaret have lived in Indianapolis for
38 years. He enjoys traveling, arts and performance concerts and ballroom
dancing. His past and present contributions to other community/professional
associations include: the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indiana Chinese
American Association, American Diabetes Association, North American Association
for the Study of Obesity, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology Society of Chinese Bio scientists in American.
Ralph Taylor
Ralph Taylor is a Program Officer for the Central Indiana Community
Foundation. Ralph works in the areas of Youth Development, Education, Environment,
Civic, and Inclusiveness. He is the lead staff person for the Summer Youth Program
Fund (SYPF) collaborative with eleven local funders and one national funder. SYPF
funds ($1.8 million) summer programs of youth service agencies in Indianapolis. Ralph
is also the lead staff person for CICF's Sam H. Jones Creating Greater Awareness Forum
Series and the Uncommon Common Ground Series that spotlights the invisible communities
of the Greater Indianapolis Area.
Prior to joining CICF, Ralph was Director of Community Service for the Indiana Youth
Institute. In addition to IYI, he has served as Recreation Administration for Indy Parks,
as an Extension Educator with the Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service, and as
a teacher with IPS.
Current community and civic activities include Asian American Alliance, Inc. Board,
Immigrant Welcome Center Board, Rotary Club of Indianapolis, Coburn Place Safe Haven Board
Member, Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame Board Member, Pacers Foundation Grant Review Committee,
Indianapolis Association of Chinese Americans, Purdue Alumni Association of Indianapolis,
the Big Ten Conference Advisory Commission on behalf of Purdue University, 100 Black Men
of Indianapolis, and United Way's Successful Kids Impact Council. Past community involvement:
Arts Council of Indianapolis Board, Planned Parenthood Board, The Indiana Council On Adolescent
Pregnancy Board, Indiana Sports Corporation CHAMPS Proposal Review Panel, 7001 of Indianapolis
Board, Indianapolis Naturally Steering Committee, Social Health Association of Central Indiana
Board, Purdue Marion County Extension Service Board, Concerned Male Group of Greater
Indianapolis Co-Founder.
Ralph is a native of Indianapolis, IN and is a graduate of Purdue University.
Mie-young Reed
Mie-young Reed has been with the Westin Hotels for 20 years. She has been in Hotel Operations for
12 years and Director of Human Resources from 1998 to present. She is the Director of Diversity
for Human Resources Association of Central Indiana, member of Indianapolis Urban League Advisory
Council, member of Regional Diversity Council for Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Board member of
Minorities of Hospitality, and a chairperson of Indianapolis Hotel and Lodging Directors of
Human Resources. She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Seoul, Korea. She moved back to Ohio
in 1980. Under her direction, Westin was awarded the Urban League President’s Award in 2004 and the
Mayor’s Diversity award for Workforce in 2005. Mie and her husband, Greg, have two girls
and live in Carmel. Mie is an active member of Korean Presbyterian Church in Carmel.
Young Hee Yedinak
MY JOB
As Community Affairs Senior Producer at WTHR-TV Channel 13, my primary responsiblities are to coordinate/produce the station's community campaigns and special projects. In that capacity, I work closely with a variety of community partners in Central Indiana and that helps me to understand what's going on in our community, and what's percolating under the radar screens.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
I currently serve on the board of the Writers Center of Indiana, a community-based literary organization for writers and readers; I am on the planning committee of the Indiana Black Expo Employment Opportunity Fair which is part of the annual Black Expo Summer Celebration; I am also on the marketing committee of the United Christmas Service which helps needy families during the holidays every year. I have held various officers position at Castleton Toastmasters club, a volunteer organization aimed at helping to improve communication and leadership skills of the membership; and from time to time, I volunteer with women's CRHP groups (Christ Renews His Parish) at my church.
VISION
In order to attract more Asian Americans to civic leadership positions in our community, we need to:
1) Educate them about opportunites that exist
2) Engage them (actively recruit them to get involved and provide their names to local organizations)
3) Establish a support system (networking/mentoring) to enhance their community service experience
4) Exposure-let the people of Indianapolis know about the good work being done by Asian Americans.
M. Amin Khan, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Manufacturing Science and Technology
Eli Lilly and Company
Amin Khan is the Executive Director of Manufacturing Science and Technology at Eli Lilly and Company. He is a member of both the Manufacturing Policy Committee and Global Product R&D Operations Committee. Dr. Khan joined Lilly in June 1998 as a R&D Director, in the Product Research and Development function. Prior to this he was Vice President Research (10/95-6/98), and Director Advanced Technology (6/93-9/95) at West Pharmaceutical Services where he was the founder of their Pharmaceutical Sciences enterprise. He served at Enzytech, Inc in a variety of scientific leadership roles (1989-1993) with responsibility for research and development of polymeric depot delivery systems for therapeutic proteins. At Lilly, Dr. Khan founded a new function working in small molecule lead optimization in June 1999. The role of this Biopharmaceutics organization has been to integrate a pharmaceutical sciences approach into the discovery and optimization of compounds as drug candidates, and to address absorption and developability issues for compounds prior to preclinical development. He was recognized for his biopharmaceutics contributions to Lilly Research Laboratories and promoted to Distinguished Research Fellow in January 2002. Dr. Khan holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences (1989) from the University of Nottingham, U.K. and a B.Sc. (with honors) in Biophysical Sciences from East London University, U.K.
Ping Poulsen
Ping Poulsen is president & CEO of Safis Solutions, LLC, a regulatory compliance consulting firm located in Indiana University's Emerging Technology Center in downtown Indianapolis. The company, which Ping started in 2002, assists pharmaceutical and medical device companies with FDA regulatory approval, clinical trials, quality systems, and computer system validation for their therapeutic and diagnostic products and manufacturing facilities.
Ping was born and grew up in China. She has been living in the U.S. for 19 years, the last 12 in Indiana. She is married to Don Poulsen and has a daughter who is a senior at IU Bloomington.
Ping's hobby is table tennis. She won the state title in 2003 in the Women's Open Division. In 2006, with Alan Grambo as her partner, she won the Indiana State Games mixed-doubles championship.
Jill Robinson Kramer
Lumina Foundation for Education
Senior Program Officer
Jill Robinson Kramer, a senior program officer for Lumina Foundation for Education, helps manage the Foundation' grant review process and coordinates its Indiana grant portfolio. She also represents the Foundation on the National Rural Funders Collaborative Steering Committee.
Kramer has spent her career working for nonprofit organizations. After college she joined The Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis-based policy think tank, as assistant director of special events. In addition to coordinating the Institute's events, she also assisted with marketing, public relations and fund raising. In 1999, Kramer joined the organization that would later become Lumina Foundation. Lumina Foundation is a private, independent foundation dedicated to higher education access and success.
Kramer earned a master's degree in philanthropic studies from Indiana University in Indianapolis and a bachelor's degree in communication and Spanish from Hanover College in Hanover, Indiana.
Kramer is an active member of the Indianapolis community. She serves on the boards of Castleton United Methodist Nursery School and the Asian American Alliance. She also volunteers for College Mentors for Kids and First Meridian Heights Presbyterian Church. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband Ray, daughter Lucy and son Theodore.