Awards
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Awards
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THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ASIAN AMERICANS PROFESSIONALS ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF THE PRESTIGIOUS 2002 SCHOLARSHIP AND LEADERSHIP AWARDS -Two
High School Seniors Each Win $2500 College Scholarship New
York, New York, May 7, 2000 – The New York Chapter of the Scholarship Awards NAAAP-NY will award high school seniors Wendy Cheung from Stuyvesant High School and Yin Zhao from Herbert Lehman High School. Each will receive a one-time $2,500 NAAAP-NY College Scholarship. A nine-person committee, chaired by S. Chau Cheng, evaluated candidates on the basis of academic excellence, community service, and responses to two essay questions. The essay questions asked the applicants to describe an experience that shaped who they are today and to explain how to increase the visibility and power of Asian Americans in New York. Finalists were invited for interviews with NAAAP-NY Scholarship Committee. The scholarship program was begun in 1988 and it is regularly funded by the Association from portions of proceeds of various NAAAP-NY events. Wendy Cheung was featured in a MTV special presentation on Martin Luther King's Day that showcased five New York City public high school seniors who have achieved academic and personal success, despite collectively facing illness, abuse, poverty, homelessness and abandonment, and emerged as leaders in their schools and communities. In addition, Wendy has received award from ARISTA National Honor Society and is a National Merit Scholarship Commended Student. She has published story in "Yell-Oh Girls!" Anthology, and has received honorable mention on essay contest of Chinatown Health Clinic. Wendy is also the recipient of the Tracie Morris Creative Writing Award. Yin Zhao is expected to be the valedictorian of her graduating class at Lehman High. Despite coming to the United States only 4 years ago, Yin has received the highest academic achievement in English writing and the Principal's Leadership Award. In addition, she has received the International House Awards Ceremony in Spanish, and Awards for Chemistry and Forensic science. Both seniors are active with community service and in extracurricular activities. Wendy is the chairperson of the Interact Club - an international service club, and a member of the Key Club - a community service club. She is also a tutor at the Starting Line, a English tutorial program. She participates in the CreateNow Writing Workshop, Urban Voices - a youth media production, Youth Speaks - a writing workshop, Crimson Kings - a Drum Corps, and in Chinese School. Yin volunteers at the Bronx Children's Psychiatric Center and the American Red Cross. She is the President of the National Honor Society, Secretary of the Asian American Club, and the Editor of the School Newsletter. In addition, she is an Executive Member of the College Prep Board and a representative of the Student Council. Leadership Awards That same evening, the Association will also present the prestigious Leadership Awards to June Jee, director - Community Affairs of Verizon Communications and Veronica Tsang, vice president in Workplace Financial Services at JPMorgan Chase. This is the awards' inaugural year and will be given annually to Asian American professionals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to their companies, fellow employees, and the community in which they live. June Jee is currently a director in the Verizon Communications Community Affairs' group. She is responsible for Verizon's involvement in the community. She serves as liaison between the corporation and community organizations locally, and at times, with Asian-American organizations at the national level. June is also responsible for managing a component of Verizon Foundation's philanthropic programs. June joined Verizon in 1980 as a business service representative. In 1990, she became a manager in the Customer Outreach and Education group responsible for disseminating consumer information to Verizon's diverse customer base including seniors, low- income, differently-abled and language dependent communities. Prior to her current position, she was staff director of the Ethnic & Premium Markets group responsible for the planning, development and implementation of the first Verizon Asian Marketing Unit, as well as events planning in the ethnic market. As an active member in the community, June currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors at the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, Second Generation Productions, United East Athletic Association, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies in Washington, DC. June is also president of the Asian Focus Group of Verizon, an employee resource organization addressing the professional needs of Asian-American employees in Verizon. June received her BA in Art from City University of the New York and received a certificate in Corporate Community Relations from Boston College. Veronica Tsang is a vice president in Chase Workplace Financial Services at JPMorgan Chase. She is a graduate of Pace University and Smith Management Program of Smith College. Prior to joining WFS, Veronica was the manager for the Chase Headquarters Branch and Market Manager for the Chinatown Market. During her tenure in the Chinatown Market, she initiated local marketing programs to educate the Asian community about financial products and services. As a result of her outreach, Chase became the first bank to open 7 days a week to meet the needs of the Chinatown community, and deposits at the Chinatown branch grew over 600%. Veronica has worked tirelessly to promote Asian culture in the workplace. Since 1994, she has been a member of Chase's Diversity Council and is an active member of the Chase Asian Pacific American Networking group. She has mentored many Asian employees as part of the bank's retention strategy. Veronica has also been the Chase team manager of the Hong Kong Dragon Boat race. Veronica is one of the founders of the Chinese Gift of Life, which provides free open-heart surgery in the U.S. to needy children from China with congenital heart disease. As past president of Rotary Club of Chinatown New York, Veronica led the Rotarians in raising funds for scholarships to outstanding students of local high schools. Veronica is also on the board of the Chinese American Planning Council, the largest not-for-profit organization serving the Asian community on the East Coast. "As Asian American professionals continue to make their respective marks in society, we are pleased to witness the exciting growth of Asian American professional networks or APA groups established within corporations, government, and nonprofits. To NAAAP, these networks are valuable in bringing Asian American professionals together. The collective presence of Asian American professional networks is important to influence positive change and acceptance within institutions. NAAAP decided to combine our inaugural Leadership Award with our College Scholarship Program to encourage connections across multiple generations of Asian Americans with role models like June Jee from Verizon Communications, Veronica Tsang from JPMorgan Chase, and our keynote speaker, Frank Wu, an author and a professor at Howard University School of Law," said Julie Huang, president of NAAAP-NY.
Keynote Speaker - Frank Wu The keynote speaker of the dinner, Frank Wu, is on the
faculty of the Howard University School of Law, in Washington, D.C.
Professor Wu's Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White was published
by Basic Books in January 2002 and his ongoing book tour includes more
than six dozen events around the country. His co-authored textbook,
Race, Rights and Reparation: Law and the Japanese American Internment,
was published in May 2001 by Aspen. His more than 200 articles have
appeared in periodicals such as the Washington Post, L.A. Times, Chicago
Tribune, Toronto Star, Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Chronicle
of Higher Education, National Law Journal, Legal Times, Asian Week,
A. Nation, Progressive magazines. He is a member of the Board of Trustees
of Gallaudet University, founded to serve the deaf and hard of hearing;
and a hearing committee chair for the D.C. Bar Board of Professional
Responsibility, which adjudicates attorney discipline cases. He was
appointed by Mayor Anthony Williams as Chair of the D.C. Human Rights
Commission, and he served from 2001 to 2002. He has appeared on the
Oprah Winfrey show, Lehrer Newshour, Now with Bill Moyers, O'Reilly
Factor, BET, Fox, CNN, MS-NBC, BBC Radio, National Public Radio, and
Voice of America. |
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