Cocktail Reception • Dinner • Auction
Friday, November 13, 2026 • 6PM
Tribeca 360º・ New York City
Honoring Changemakers.
Elevating Communities.
Inspiring Action.
Celebrating 40 Years.
Honoring Changemakers. Elevating Communities. Inspiring Action. Celebrating 40 Years.
CACF Legends
Celebrating board members whose 10+ years of leadership and service shape CACF’s Forward+Fearless future.
Ernabel Demillo
Jarrod Fong
Navneet Kathuria
Larry Lee
H. Sujin Kim
Edward Pauly
Angie Wang
Jennifer Yuen
Deepa Gandhi
Co-founder + COO of Dagne Dover
Alan Muraoka
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 28 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, Disney’s Hamster and Gretel, 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.
In 2026 Alan was inducted into the Emmy Awards Silver Circle for his 27 years of work on Sesame Street.
Mr. Muraoka received critical praise for his Off-Broadway revival of Falsettoland (National Asian American Theater Company). Other New York directing credits include: Avenue Q (off-Broadway Resident Director), Gentleman’s Guide To Love & Murder (2022 Telly Award Winning Virtual Production), The Report (NY Fringe Festival), 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).
Regional Directing Credits: Something Rotten (Utah Shakespeare Festival, The Great Race (Rose Theatre), The Nice List (Bristol Riverside Theatre), 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.
Victoria Chu Pao
President and CEO,
Chinese-American Planning Council
Wayne Ho
Kanika Priya Sethi, MsED, LCSW
CACF Board Member
Hazel Sanchez
Anchor, PIX 11 Morning News
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Hazel Sanchez is an anchor on the PIX11 Morning News from 7-10 a.m. on weekdays.
Before joining the PIX11 News team in 2021, Hazel was a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor at CBS New York since June of 2000.
Prior to joining WCBS-TV in 2000, she was a weekend anchor at WBAY-TV in Green Bay, Wis. She also worked as a news cut-in anchor and assistant producer at WISN-TV in Milwaukee.
Hazel graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee with a BA in Broadcast Journalism.
Hazel is a New York Emmy and Midwest Emmy award winner. Her work has also earned CINE Golden Eagle awards, and recognition from the Wisconsin Broadcasters Association, among others.
Hazel, a proud Filipino American, was named by the Filipina Women’s Network, one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Filipinas in the U.S.” in 2009.
In 2017, she received The Outstanding Filipinos In America Award (TOFA). In 2020 TOFA named her one of the Top 100 Most Influential Filipino Americans.
ALLY
Arlene, Rick, Spencer,
and Emma Brownstein
Dr. Navneet Kathuria and
Dr. Vandana Kumra
Deepa Gandhi and Kush Patel
Jarrod and Leigh Fong
Larry Lee
Joyce Moy, Fintelligent Strategies, Inc.
Victoria and William Pao
Kanika Priya Sethi
FRIEND
H. Sujin Kim
COMMUNITY PARTNER
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Donna H. Lee
Marissa Martin
Cynthia Solis Yi and Kenneth Yi
SUPPORTER TICKET
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
MetroPlusHealth
Elizabeth Wang
The Filipino School of New York & New Jersey
*All listings are as of October 28, 2026
Dean, Asian American / Asian Research Institute (AAARI), CUNY
John J. Chin, Ph.D
Chair Emerita, Korean American Family Service Center
Chair Emerita, Women Cross DMZ
Aiyoung Choi
Jose Davila and Cynthia Wong
Founder and School Director, The Filipino School of New York & New Jersey
Venessa Manzano
Principal and Founder,
Marissa Martin LLC
Marissa Martin
Founder & CEO,
Fintelligent Strategies, Inc.
Joyce Moy
Retina Specialist,
Greenwich Ophthalmology
Jerry Tsong, MD
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Farhad Asghar
BOARD CO-CHAIR
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Chief Growth Officer, Bottom Line -
Donna H. Lee
BOARD CO-CHAIR
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Professor of Law, City University of New York School of Law -
Jessica Lee
BOARD VICE CHAIR
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Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships and Philanthropic Advancement, New York Women’s Foundation -
Angela Tolosa
BOARD SECRETARY
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Senior Advisor, NYC Administration for Children’s Services -
Margaret Chu
BOARD TREASURER
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Independent Board Director, NASDAQ: MSAI
Former CFO, Vox Media
Former EVP, Horizon Media -
Arlene Brownstein
Head of Regulatory Reporting, Fund Finance, iCapital
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Erika Chou
Founding Member & Creative Director at Rivers and Hills Hospitality Group
Former Partner, Bespoke Only -
Annesa H. Lau
Director, Workforce Transformation and Digital Innovation, Office of the Chief Operating Officer, Port Authority of NY and NJ
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Larry Lee
BOARD CHAIR EMERITUS
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Executive Director, Womankind (retired) -
Vanessa Li, Ph.D.
Founder and Director Of Clinical Services, The Pond Psychology Practice
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Kapil Longani
Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
General Counsel for the State University of New York
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Ling Marquardt
Founder, Chamberlain Strategies
Former VP/COO Team, Goldman Sachs’ External Investing Group (XIG)
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Abja Midha
Executive Director, Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS)
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Edward Pauly
Director of Research and Evaluation, The Wallace Foundation (retired)
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Meenakshi M. Rana, MD
Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
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Kanika Priya Sethi, MsED, LCSW
Social Worker, Association to Benefit Children and Resilient Mind Psychotherapy
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Cynthia Solis Yi
Former Chief Revenue Officer, La Cocina
Former Board Trustee, Las Lomitas Elementary School District
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Karen Tai
Former Vice President, Neuberger Berman and Point72 Asset Management
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Vivian Young
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Mila Atmos
2025
Host and Executive Producer, Future Hindsight
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Brad Lander
2025
New York City Comptroller
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James Rhee
2024
Founder and Bestselling Author, red helicopter; Howard University Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship; CACF Board Member -
Maya Wiley
2024
Civil Rights Activist, CEO at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights -
Preet Bharara
2023
Partner, WilmerHale; former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York -
June Kwan
2023
Entrepreneur, mother of Oscar winner Daniel Kwan, and exemplar for our community -
Dave Lu
2022
Co-Founder and President, Expo; Founder and Managing Partner, Hyphen Capital; Co-Organizer, Stand With Asian Americans -
Dr. Kevin Nadal
2022
Distinguished Professor, City University of New York; President, Filipino American National Historical Society; Leading Scholar on Microaggression Theory, Filipino American Psychology, and Queer Psychology -
Chau Trinh-Shevrin, DrPH
2021
Professor in the Departments of Population Health (DPH) and Medicine at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine -
Sesame Workshop
2021
(accepted by Jeanette Betancourt, Ed. D, Senior Vice President, Social Impact) -
Jason DaSilva
2019
Film Director, Producer, Writer and President, AXS Lab and Founder of AXS Map -
Eva Noblezada
2019
Tony Nominated Actress, Theater and Film -
Ram Raju
2019
MD, MBA, FACHE, Senior Vice President and Community Health Investment Officer of Northwell Health -
Project by Project
2019
(accepted by Liliana Chen, Co-Founder) -
Hari Kondabolu
2018
Comedian & Writer -
Larry Lee
2018
Executive Director, Womankind -
Ayesha Vera-Yu
2018
CEO & Co-Founder, ARK, Ruralkids.org -
Vishaan Chakrabarti
2017
Author; Founder, Practice for Architecture and Urbanism -
Lisa Ling
2017
Award-Winning Journalist and TV Presenter
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Suyin So
2017
Founder and Executive Director, Central Queens Academy Charter School -
The New American Leaders Project
2017
(accepted by Sayu Bhojwani, Founder and President)
Join us this November as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary and how we aim to move FORWARD and still be as FEARLESS as ever in service of our community!
The Catalyst for Change Awards is CACF’s premier annual celebration honoring the visionaries who are driving bold, lasting change for AAPI communities. From trailblazing executives and educators to cultural icons and grassroots champions, our past honorees represent the best of media, business, philanthropy, arts, and leadership. They are united by one thing: a commitment to equity, justice, and the power of community.
You may also purchase tickets or donate by check.
Please make checks payable to:
Coalition for Asian American Children and Families
Attn: Gala
50 Broad Street, Suite 1002
New York, NY 10004
For more information please reach out to gala@cacf.org or call (332) 203-2555.
