AIWA’s Board and Staff are committed to Long-term Capacity Building of Immigrant Women and Youth leaders!

Latika Malkani

Board President
Latika Malkani is a partner at Siegel LeWitter Malkani where she exclusively represents employees and labor unions. Latika’s advocacy has included representation of women and men seeking justice and improved conditions in the workplace. Latika litigates employment and other civil law matters, including class actions, wage and hour claims, and enforcement of anti-discrimination laws.

Anna Rodrigues

Board Treasurer

Anna is currently the Experience Design Program Management Lead at Bank of America. One of her early job experiences was at AIWA and she is grateful for the opportunity to re-connect with women’s rights advocacy. She also looks forward to the continued growth of AIWA’s leadership program.

Mila Thomas

Board Member
Mila is a former Organizing Coordinator at SEIU 1021, the union representing workers in the public sector and non-profits in Northern California. She has organized low-wage workers in homecare, clinics, Head Start, childcare and adjunct faculty. An immigrant from the Philippines, she is passionate about women’s rights and sees great potential for AIWA’s leadership framework to empower workers to have a voice in the larger community.

Young Shin

Executive Director
Recognized many times over as a pioneer and visionary leader over a lifetime developing women’s leadership and supporting immigrant rights, Young oversees the coordination of programs and administration.  She earned her JD from Hastings College of the Law.

Lan Fong Lau

Peer Organizer

Lan Fong is a food service worker who has tirelessly conducted outreach to hundreds of immigrant women and their families to attend AIWA classes, events and trainings. She worked as a garment worker when she came to the US, and the piece rate was so low she only made $2 per day. She decided she wouldn’t isolate herself, but would fight for a better job. She says, “If I did not fight for my dream job, it wasn’t going to call me on its own.”

Anupama Chapagain

Nepali Leadership Training Coordinator

Anupama works with various South Asian communities to understand their issues and advocate for them to get the right resources for their personal health and well-being.  She has a Post-Baccalaureate Degree in Women’s Studies and focuses on Women’s Empowerment, Capacity Building, Gender Awareness, Domestic Violence Issues, Career Development, Accessible Healthcare and Income Generating activities for the immigrant community.

Junwei Zhang

Program Assistant
“I think our community is about a group of people being connected and responsible for what happens. However, to make our community better, we must unite and face the difficulties together to improve our community. I joined AIWA to try my best to improve our surroundings.”

Jieshan (Shannon) Liu

Bilingual Program Supporter

“I am a sophomore studying Molecular and Cell Biology at Cal. It’s my pleasure to be a Bilingual Program Supporter at AIWA!”

Eva Poon

Administrative Manager

Eva comes to AIWA with a background in local government, higher education, and non-profits. Most recently, she worked at Stop AAPI Hate and Chinese for Affirmative Action. She provides administrative and operational support for AIWA’s immigrant women and youth leaders.