CATALYST FOR CHANGE AWARDS
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2023 • 6PM
Cocktail Reception • Dinner • Auction
Tribeca 360° 10 Desbrosses St New York NY, 10013
Join the movement for equity for Asian American and Pacific Islander children and families.
Honoree
HONOREE
June Kwan
Entrepreneur, mother of Oscar winner Daniel Kwan, and exemplar for our community.
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When Daniel Kwan accepted the Oscar for Best Screenplay, along with his Co-Writer Daniel Scheinert, he dedicated his award to his mother, June Kwan, who ‘sacrificed her creativity so that I could have mine’. We honor June for her courage and vision in forging new paths for her children - and herself.
June Kwan immigrated from Taiwan over 40 years ago to pursue a masters in computer engineering. June left a career in the technology industry to spend 17 years as a stay at home mom of four wonderful children. After her last child went to college, she brought her own creativity to the restaurant industry, successfully bringing the Han Dynasty brand to NYC in multiple locations. June then started her own brand, Spicy Moon, a vegan Szechuan restaurant/bar. More recently, she launched Joy Love Club, a modern Chinese restaurant in Chelsea.
Today June owns eight restaurants, sharing ownership with her managers. June’s dream is to drive an RV across the USA, hiking, dancing and singing along the journey.
HONOREE
Preet Bharara
Partner, WilmerHale; former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
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Preet Bharara served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York from 2009 to 2017. Bharara oversaw the investigation and litigation of all criminal and civil cases and supervised an office of over 200 Assistant U.S. Attorneys, who handled cases involving terrorism, narcotics and arms trafficking, financial and healthcare fraud, cybercrime, public corruption, organized crime, and civil rights violations. The New York Times dubbed Bharara one of “the nation’s most aggressive and outspoken prosecutors." In 2012, TIME Magazine included Bharara on its list of 100 most influential people in the world. In 2017, Bharara joined the NYU School of Law faculty as a Distinguished Scholar in Residence. He is the co-founder of CAFE Studios and the host of CAFE and the Vox Media Podcast Network’s Stay Tuned with Preet, a podcast focused on issues of justice and fairness. In 2022, he joined the law firm WilmerHale as a partner, focusing on strategic counseling, crisis management, and investigations. Bharara graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College and from Columbia Law School, where he was a member of the law review. He is the author of a top five New York Times bestselling book, "Doing Justice: A Prosecutor's Thoughts on Crime, Punishment, and the Rule of Law,” and a children’s picture book, “Justice Is…: A Guide for Young Truth Seekers.”
Co-hosts
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TV Journalist and Educator
Ernabel Demillo is an Emmy-award winning New York City broadcaster and journalism educator.
Ernabel Demillo hosts and reports for CUNY-TV’s Emmy-award winning “Asian American Life,” a magazine show focusing on the fast growing and dynamic Asian American community. She recently won a 2nd Telly for Best Historical Story featuring one of the AAPI heroes during 9/11. In 2021, after multiple Emmy nominations, she finally won an Emmy for her short documentary on a Philippine-based feeding program.
Prior, she worked as a reporter and anchor on the Emmy-award winning FOX morning news show, “Good Day New York.” Before coming to New York, she was a reporter for the Orange County Newschannel in California and the CBS-affiliate in Sacramento.
She is also a tenured Journalism professor at Saint Peter’s University and currently serves as faculty chair of the Department of Communication and Media Culture. She started the journalism program in 2008. She is the recipient of a 100K grant from the New Jersey Civic Information Consortium in partnership with the media start up Slice of Culture to help fill the void of local news reporting in Hudson County New Jersey.
Raised in San Francisco, Ernabel has lived all over the country, from Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., and New York. She now lives on the Jersey Shore with her husband and daughter.
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Television and Broadway Actor/Director/Producer
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Alan Muraoka is an Emmy Award winning actor/director/and producer. He is most recognizable for his role in the Emmy-winning series, Sesame Street, where he has played Alan, the proprietor of Hooper’s Store for 25 seasons. With Sesame Street Alan has performed at the White House (for the Obamas and the Bidens), the Pentagon, Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, and with the Boston Pops, Alan has appeared in 7 Broadway shows; Disney’s Aladdin, the Roundabout Theatre revival of Pacific Overtures, The King and I, My Favorite Year, Shogun, the Musical, Mail, and most notably Miss Saigon, where he played the lead role of the Engineer. He is featured in the films, It Could Happen to You, and Day of Independence. Other television credits include Curb Your Enthusiasm, City on The Hill, 30 Rock, Brotherhood, Late Night With David Letterman, and The Tonight Show, as well as numerous commercials.
As a director of both television and theatre, Mr. Muraoka received a 2021 Emmy Award for co-directing Sesame Street: The Power of We. He also received a 2021 NAACP Image Award nomination as Best Director for this show. He was nominated for 3 Emmy Awards for Sesame Street-See Us Coming Together, an AANHPI special which introduced the first Korean American muppet named Ji-Young. He co-directed Sesame Street: Family Day, which introduced the first same-sex family to the show, and the show received the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Best Children’s Program.
Mr. Muraoka received critical praise for his Off-Broadway revival of Falsettoland (National Asian American Theater Company). Other New York credits include: Avenue Q (off-Broadway Resident Director), Gentleman’s Guide To Love & Murder (2022 Telly Award Winning Virtual Production), The Nice List (Virtual Musical), The Report (NY Fringe Festival), Kung Fu (Signature Theatre-Assistant Director), Ann Harada: American Songbook (Lincoln Center),), Telly Leung: Playlist and What Makes a Man? (54 Below), Grand Hotel (NYU/Cap 21), John Tartaglia AD-LIBerty (Joe's Pub), & Christmas Eve With Christmas Eve (BC/EFA Benefits). Regionally: Clue (Dallas Theatre Center), Elf (Pioneer Theatre), Gold Mountain (Utah Shakespeare Festival), Awesomer & Awesomer (Legacy Theatre), South Pacific (Olney Theatre), Once On This Island (Olney Theatre), At the Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City: The King and I, Xanadu, Disney’s High School Musical and Disney’s High School Musical 2. Other regional credits include Disney's High School Musical (MUNY, Casa Manana), Urinetown (Trinity University), and Associate Director for Up In The Air(Kennedy Center). He has directed for Jazz at Lincoln Center and for the ABC Talent Showcase.
Mr. Muraoka is a graduate of UCLA, where he received the Carol Burnett Musical Comedy Award for performance. He was also the 2004 recipient of the APEX Inspiration Award and the FCC's 2007 Role Model of the Year Award. Please visit his website at: www.alanmuraoka.tv. You can also follow him on Instagram @alanathoopers.
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TV journalist, public speaker, moderator and director/producer
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Vivian Lee (she/her) is an Emmy-winning TV journalist, public speaker, moderator and director/producer in New York.
She is currently a correspondent with Asian American Life, a production of CUNY-TV. Before that she was an anchor and reporter for NY1 for 12 years. Her work includes live, continuous coverage of the COVID pandemic, Black Lives Matter protests, and public reaction to breaking news of Joe Biden’s 2020 election.
As an anchor and reporter, Vivian has covered numerous stories of national and international importance, including Donald Trump’s election campaign, Hurricane Sandy’s devastation of the city’s coastal communities, and Pope Francis’ election at the Vatican. Vivian was the first reporter from New York City to break news of the cardinals’ decision while reporting live in St. Peter’s Square.
Vivian also hosted Spotlight New York, a weekly magazine show exploring the creative landscape of the five boroughs of NYC, its arts and cultural institutions, and up-and-coming performers as well as legacy artists. Her work was recognized in 2020 with an Emmy Award for her story on Manhattan’s famed Joe’s Pub.
Vivian’s career in New York started at WNBC in 2002, where she was a general assignment reporter covering local politics, transit, healthcare and education issues. Prior to that she was CityTV Toronto's parliamentary correspondent and federal affairs reporter in Ottawa, Canada.
Vivian began reporting while completing her journalism degree at Carleton University in Ottawa, with stints at CJOH-TV Ottawa, ATV-ASN News Halifax, and A Channel Calgary, where she co-anchored the award-winning weeknight evening news show “A Channel News@Night.”
Vivian has received numerous awards recognizing her industry and community contributions, including the New York Women’s Foundation’s 2021 “Pillars of Courage” award, shared with four of her former NY1 colleagues. Vivian co-hosts a podcast with the same colleagues called The 5 Of Us. She also received KAFSC’s 2019 Lifetime Engagement Award. A featured speaker on numerous panels and workshops discussing ageism, gender discrimination and Asian American identity,
Vivian currently serves as co-chair of KoreanAmericanStory.org and lives in New York with her husband and two daughters.
Auctioneer
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HUNT Auctioneers
Paul Florez-Taylor is head auctioneer at HUNT Philanthropy, a fundraising consultant, and a graduate of World Wide College of Auctioneering. His affable and extroverted personality creates an authentic and exciting atmosphere—which helps shatter fundraising goals at galas. Paul is a widely published author, and has held sales and editorial positions at Marvel, Alyson Books, Hachette and HarperCollins. Paul enjoys fencing.
ALLY SPONSORS
FRIEND SPONSORS
COMMUNITY PARTNER SPONSORS
SUPPORTER SPONSORS
HOST COMMITTEE
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Farhad Asghar
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Arlene Brownstein
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Art Chang
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Anjali & Don Chen
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John Chin
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Willing Irene Chin-Ma
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Yvonne Choi
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Navneet Kathuria
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Annesa Lau
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Donna Lee
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Jessica S. Lee
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Larry Lee
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Matthew Lee
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Dr. Moses S. Lee
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Vanessa Li
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Bill Linehan
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Abja Midha
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Sumie Okazaki & Allen Poteshman
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Victoria Chu Pao & William Pao
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Sonal Patel
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Edward Pauly
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Achala Raghu
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James Rhee
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Abigail Thérèse Rogado
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Beesham A. Seecharan
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Kanika Priya Sethi
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Suyin So
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Cynthia Solis Yi
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Norma Tan
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Angela Tolosa
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Vivian Tseng
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Jennifer Yuen & Dr. Stanley Yang
The Catalyst for Change Awards honor leaders who are a force for positive change in the AAPI community.
Past honorees include AAPI leaders in media, education, business, philanthropy, arts and culture, and leadership development. The evening draws over 300 diverse and influential New Yorkers, many who are leaders, innovators and changemakers themselves, who are interested in investing in the AAPI community.
You may also donate by check!
Please make checks payable to "Coalition for Asian American Children and Families" and send to:
Coalition for Asian American
Children and Families
50 Broad Street, Suite 1002
New York, NY 10004
If you have any questions regarding our 2023 Catalyst for Change Awards Gala, please contact Alex Breitman at alex@wingo.nyc.
