Dr. Tam Dinh is an Associate Professor and Program Director of the Social Work Program at Saint Martin’s University. Her teaching and research interests are in the areas of diversity, cross-cultural mental health, and religion/spirituality. Dr. Dinh has over 25 years of working in the community as a social worker, educator, and community advocate. As a social worker, she has worked with gang-involved youth and their families at SafeFutures Youth Center, with elders in home health care at Asian Counseling and Referral Services, and with individuals experiencing severe mental illness at Special Service for Groups. Her last nonacademic position was at the City of Seattle Human Services Department where she [...]

Mohan Gurung was born in Nepal and migrated to the United States in 1993. Prior to his move, he worked at Bir Hospital (the oldest hospital in Nepal) in their Emergency/Trauma, Orthopedic and Dental department for over 13 years. He has volunteered in numerous medical camps and health clinics throughout Nepal including with the Red Cross. He founded the Nepal Seattle Society with the goal to unite all Nepali in the state of Washington to preserve and promote Nepali culture and share it with other communities. In 2004, he established the Everest Kitchen Restaurant to introduce the taste of the Himalayas with a motto of “Eat well, feel well and [...]

First Term Ends 6/30/2020 Lao American by chance, love by choice, and Lao’d by necessity; Commissioner Sisavatdy was the last in his family of 10 to be born in Vientiane, Laos and a refugee immigrant to the US in 1978.  Known to many as simply Ekk, he has built a home and community in Des Moines, WA.  Ekk has worked over 13 years in higher education and is currently the Project Director for the Asian American, Native American Pacific Islander, Serving Institution (AANAPISI) at Highline College.  He graduated from Western Washington University with his Bachelors in Social & Political Effects on Southeast Asians in the US  – Go Vikings!  Ekk [...]

Commissioner Lynette Suliana Sikahema Finau was raised in Mesa, Arizona after her family’s immigration from the Island Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific. An Educator, Lynette holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies on Culture, Literature & the Arts from University of Washington.  She has a dual Master’s Degree both in Education and in Leadership & Change. She is currently a PhD Candidate at Antioch University’s PhD in Leadership & Change Program. With teaching endorsements in English Composition, Literature and History, Commissioner Finau is one of very few certificated Pacific Islander teachers in WA State. She has taught in the Marysville and Tukwila school districts and is currently teaching [...]

Commissioner Lalita Uppala moved to Seattle, WA in 1990 pursuing a degree in public health (environmental toxicology) at the University of Washington. Lalita and her husband, with their two children, have made Bellevue, WA their home for the past 28 years. Following a short stint in toxicology consulting, Lalita stayed home to raise her children, volunteered in school PTSAs and the Asian Indian community organizations before joining the India Association of Western Washington board in 2007. Lalita has served on the IAWW board in several capacities as a volunteer, Secretary, Youth Program Director, President, and currently Community Program Director and Vice President for the organization. As an IAWW board member, [...]

Commissioner Sam Cho is a second-generation Korean American who was raised by Korean immigrants in the state of Washington. By day, he is a staff member working in the state Legislature. By night, he runs his own business as the CEO of Seven Seas Export, a trading company that exports US commodities to Asia. Prior to Seven Seas Export, Sam worked as a political appointee under President Barack Obama. In the Obama Administration, he was the Special Assistant to the Deputy Administrator of the US General Services Administration. There, he helped to manage a federal agency of over 10,000 federal employees and worked on agency-wide strategy and execution for its [...]