The Scholarship & Leadership Awards dinner featured our keynote speaker, Dr. Mona Siu-Kan Lau, Global Head of Diversity at UBS AG. Dr. Lau is a Managing Director, member of UBS Group HR Committee and ex-officio member of the internal UBS Investment Bank Board. Our Master of Ceremonies, Wallace Chin, NAAAPNY Director guided us through the evening that included a delicious gourmet dinner, student speeches, Leadership Awardees speeches and Silent Auction winners that made for a wonderful event.

Special thanks for our corporate sponsors for their generous support of the Scholarship & Leadership Dinner. The roster includes: Colgate-Palmolive, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase UBS, Prudential Financial, and Ernst & Young. NAAAPNY would like to thank these corporate sponsors for their continued financial support. Also, we would like to extend many thanks to the following for their contributions to this year’s Silent Auction: Bobby Vans Steakhouse, Eleven Madison, Hair Toto Group, Jack Lin Massage Treatment Center, Jewelry Kingdom, Manhattan Travel Inc. Konica-Minolta Imaging Solutions, Murals at 54th, Pephoto.com LLC, Randy Zwik, Second on Second, Sevelin Products, Tinny Beauty, Trisports.com, Victoria Cruises, and Warwick Hotels.

Listed below are brief bios of our 2005 Scholarship and Leadership Award winners:

2005 Scholarship Awards

NAAAP-NY will award high school seniors Shelley (Xuexing) He from Lafayette High School and Kent Yoon Kim and Nina Ma, both from Stuyvesant High School, each with a one-time $2,500 NAAAP-NY College Scholarship. The scholarship committee, chaired by Jerry Pi, evaluated candidates on the basis of academic excellence, community service, and responses to two essay questions. The scholarship program, which began in 1988, is funded by NAAAP-NY through portions of proceeds from its various events and corporate supporters.

Shelley (Xuexing) He is active in her school and community. Some of her accomplishments include her selection as Valedictorian at her graduation and a member of the National Honor Society. Also, she was a recipient of the New York State Award for Excellence and New York City Mayor’s Scholarship for High Achievement. Currently, Xuexing is a volunteer in a Buddhist Temple in Chinatown, a member of the Painting Club and President of the Chinese Club.

Kent Yoon Kim is Vice President of Events for the school’s chapter of the National Honor Society and President of the Stuyvesant High School Asian American for Social Activism. In his spare time, Kent enjoys practicing Tae Kwon Do, which he has taken since the age of five. In 2001, he won the New York State Junior Championship for his age group, and as a result participated in the Junior Olympics for Tae Kwon Do in Tampa, Florida.

Nina Ma is a cancer survivor. She overcame four years of chemotherapy, but remained at the top of her class. Because of this experience, her goal is to become a pediatric hematologist. She plans to attend medical school after her undergraduate studies. Outside of school, she has earned various awards for her performance in Chinese school, her volunteer work at NYU Downtown Hospital, and her participation in community charity events. Family, friends and community service will always remain the three most important things in her life.

2005 Leadership Awards

Bunty Bohra is a Vice President in the Structured Finance Product Group within the Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities Group within Goldman, Sachs & Co. Bunty is head of the structured product syndicate desk, which is responsible for new issue distribution of asset-backed securities, commercial and residential mortgage-backed securities, and structured portfolio credit products. Bunty also serves on the Steering Committee for the firm’s Asian Professional Network and as COO of the firm-wide MIT undergraduate recruiting team.

Katie Chang is a Vice President and Manager at JPMorgan Chase Bank. She has worked at JPMorgan Chase for over 18 years. Katie also serves as Vice Chair of the firm’s AACTION (Asian American Coalition to Influence, Organize, and Network) and has served on the Advisory board of the US Pan Asian American Chamber – Southwest (USPAAC) since 2000.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to our volunteers, attendees, and sponsors for making our Scholarship & Leadership Dinner another big success.