The First 90 Days

I would like to congratulate the NAAAP Seattle Board of Directors for completing the first 90 days of 2010 with a whole lot of enthusiasm and with a superior attitude for driving for results. As a volunteer Board with full time careers and families, I know of the challenges of balancing work, life and Board duties. I am proud of the leadership shown by this chapter for upholding the mission and vision for NAAAP.  On behalf of our membership, sponsors, and executive board, "Thank you."

As a summary, here are the results from the first 90 days of 2010:

• David Eam and Herbert Pang, Community Service and Membership Chairs, organized a community event to serve 80 families at the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Washington among other community service events. (Note: Kevin Chang, will be the new Membership Chair replacing Herbert)

• Jenny Xu, Social Chair, coordinated the first Eastside social event with 80 people in attendance and a women networking event launching the Women in Naaap program locally.

• Andy Yip & Ki Kim, NAAAP Past presidents threw a volunteer appreciation event for last year’s volunteers.

• Lynn Huynh, Treasurer, reconciled our actual from budget and maintained chapter financial health.

• Casey Huang, Scholarship Chair, is launched on our first College scholarship to be awarded in the first half of 2010.

• Julie Pham, Marketing Chair and Marian Liu, VP of External affairs, are working to expand the reach of the NAAAP message while creating a positive brand to increase value for members and sponsors.

• Hang Chen, Professional Development Chair, worked with Kaplan to deliver an MBA Strategy Seminar.

• Rebecca Deng, Natl. Rep, & I, represented the Chapter at the NAAAP National Retreat in Connecticut.

• Amy Duong, Student Relations Chair, is working on creating relationships with student groups across the Puget Sound.

• Vivian Hauer, Newsletter Chair, has implemented an events calendar to be shared at our all of our events.

• Erik Kalinka, Technology Director, is working on updating our technology to the National Back Office.

• Liz Tran, Fundraising Chair, emceed our Haiti fundraising event and created a fundraising strategy.

• Roxanne Tam, Board at Large, led a committee in updating our chapter by-laws.

• Nancy Ko, Board at Large, planned and executed our chapter's Board Retreat resulting in a strategic plan for membership, professional development, social and community areas.

• Jen Phang, VP of Operations, recruited top professionals for election to the Board of Directors.

As you can see we're up to creating a vibrant and engaged community of professionals that improve our communities and create competitive professional advantages.

If you would like to know more about NAAAP Seattle and NAAAP and are thinking about joining our membership, please visit our website at http://seattle.naaap.org/Welcome.do or http://www.naaap.org/

Figure. NAAAP Board of Directors at the Haiti Relief event held in February. (l to r) Future Board Member, Kaiden Yip; Andy Yip, Ki Kim, David Eam, Tanatha P., Liz Tran, me, Amy Duong, Jen Phang, and Hang Chen.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Precision Questioning & Answering (Vervago)

In this video, CJ (Allison Janney) is the Press Secretary in NBC's hit show the West Wing. She's prepping for a news briefing.  As you'll soon see, she's using precision questioning to speed up decision making and to have a deeper understanding of issues. 

Pretty amazing, huh? Now ask yourself, "What would your workplace be if you interacted with precision questioning and answers?" Also, "what would it be like in your 1:1's with your managers or direct reports, in meetings, and in presentations?"

If you're interested in knowing more and where to get training, you can visit these links.

• Vervago: http://www.vervago.com/video_precisionqa.html  
• Vervago Skill Sharpener: http://www.vervago.com/resources.html  
• History: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_questioning  

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Human Trafficking and Women's Safety (APIWFSC)

Leaders need to know the issues surrounding their communities and two issues that are oftentimes ignored or shunned is human trafficking and women's safety.  Human trafficking is the smuggling of persons in and out of a country while women's safety is related to domestic violence or the sex trade. One Seattle organization raising awareness is the Asian Pacific Islander Women and Family Safety Center (APIWFSC). According to Lan Pham, APIWFSC's Executive Director, when asked about identifying a victim, "many of the victims do not speak English and are unfamiliar with US customs; are confined to a room to work, eat and sleep; and are unaware that what is being done to them is a crime".  And according to Ye-Ting Woo, Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, convicted persons involved in sex trafficking of a minor could face 15 years or a life sentence. Yes. This is a tough problem space and one that in recent years there has been more awareness created, but it's an ongoing problem that's being managed through educational efforts and our judicial system.

Let's take a step back for a moment and let me create some context for you because I am not an authority or expert on these issues, but because of my experience with the Executive Development Institute (EDI) I learned about the issues and took action. As many of you know, NAAAP Seattle and EDI are partners in developing leaders within the Asian community ---NAAAP Seattle with our professional development events, webinars, and conferences and EDI with their Leadership Discovery and Navigating Leadership Programs. You've probably by now have seen our efforts to share with our members opportunities to participate in EDI's 8-month Leadership Discovery program. Many of EDI's graduates become leaders at work and in their communities showing the value of program. We recognize this and are delighted with our partnership.

So that's the context of this post, as part of my own participation in EDI's Leadership Discovery Program, I worked with the APIWFSC with my team members: Michele Lee (Microsoft), My Huynh (Wells Fargo), Rajit Jain (Boeing), and Greg Nomura (Liberty Mutual). We set out to bring our business expertise and professionals skills to the organization. Our assignment was to create a marketing plan and assist with raising funds to sustain and grow APIWFSC efforts in addressing human trafficking and women's safety. As part of the experience we led a visioning session, launched our marketing at the Asian community picnic, and executed on our fundraising efforts at the Microsoft 2008 Giving campaign and at the APIWFSC's 15th Anniversary Fundraiser.

We captured our experience in pictures and they're here for you to share in our experience.

 MAY 2008: Learning the issues. Pictured (L to R) Michele Lee (Microsoft), Judith Panlasigui (APIWFSC)

 JUNE 2008: Visioning Session. Pictured (L to R) Greg Nomura (Liberty Mutual), Michele Lee (Microsoft)

 Pictured (L to R) Michele Lee (Microsoft), Rajit Jain (Boeing)

 AUGUST 2008: Asian Community Picnic.

 

 Pictured (L to R) Lan Pham (APIWFSC), me, Marlina Hales (Microsoft), and Ye-Ting Woo (Attorney)

 Pictured (L to R) Greg Nomura (Liberty Mutual), Greg's kids, Mike and Lan Pham (APIWFSC), My Huynh (Wells Fargo) and me. 

This weekend EDI kicks off their 2010 Programs and I want to wish everyone in the program good luck and many future successes. It's an experience they'll always remember. Now, if you're thinking about enrolling in the 2011 programs, start talking to your management now and have this as part of you career development plan.  If you want to get involved with human trafficking and women's safety, visit the APIWFSC's website.

Regards,
Gil Gido
NAAAP Seattle
President

Links:

• APIWFSC: http://www.apiwfsc.org/
• Asian Domestic Violence Fact Sheet: http://www.apiwfsc.org/statistics.html
• WA State Human Trafficking website: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/region10/programs/region_10_trafficking.html
• FACT Sheet: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/trafficking/about/fact_human.pdf