Our Mission
Founded in 1992, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, is the first and only national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, most of who are union members, and our allies advancing worker, immigrant and civil rights. APALA is dedicated to promoting political education and voter registration programs among AAPIs, and to the training, empowerment, and leadership of AAPIs within the labor movement and APA community. Furthermore, APALA works to defend and advocate for the civil and human rights of AAPIs, immigrants and all people of color, and continues to develop ties within international labor organizations, especially in the Asia-Pacific Rim. APALA DC Chapter serves as the bridge connecting and organizing our local members with the broader labor movement.
Founded in 1992, the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), AFL-CIO, is the first and only national organization of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) workers, most of who are union members, and our allies advancing worker, immigrant and civil rights. APALA is dedicated to promoting political education and voter registration programs among AAPIs, and to the training, empowerment, and leadership of AAPIs within the labor movement and APA community. Furthermore, APALA works to defend and advocate for the civil and human rights of AAPIs, immigrants and all people of color, and continues to develop ties within international labor organizations, especially in the Asia-Pacific Rim. APALA DC Chapter serves as the bridge connecting and organizing our local members with the broader labor movement.
2017 - 2019 APALA DC Board
Co-Presidents
Atley Chock (OPEIU Local 2, Solidarity Center)
I would like to be a board member of APALA-DC to support and empower our members and other Asian/Pacific Islander (API) workers in the DC area. As a board member, I would work with our membership to mobilize API support around local and national labor policies, and identify workplaces where organizing trainings, connections to unions, or support for workers within their unions is needed. As I manage programs that support the capacity building of workers and worker organizations in Asia, I also look forward to building stronger connections between the local API labor movement and our sisters and brothers who lead the labor movement in different parts of Asia. Finally, I would work with our membership to broaden APALA-DC solidarity to engage across communities of color on social justice issues affecting our communities as a whole.
Jillian Matundan (AFSCME International)
Jillian is the Director of Conference and Travel Services for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and has had a varied career with the union, working previously as the Assistant Director of the Data and Analytics Division and of the Organizing and Field Services Department before that. Prior to moving to DC, she was working the field for AFSCME as an Eastern Region Field Coordinator and the New York State Political Staff Representative. Before joining the labor movement, she worked for the Citizens Union Foundation in New York, one of the oldest good government organizations in the city, on election reform issues and has been published in The Gotham Gazette. She was a New York City Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in 2002 and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy Executive Education Program and Washington College in Maryland, where she holds a BA in Political Science and Drama and a minor in history. In her spare time, she volunteers in animal rescue and plays violin and string bass in the Reston Community Orchestra and the McLean Symphony. She also is an endurance cyclist and raises money through Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Vice Presidents
Dee Pha (Unorganized Worker)
Dee Pha is a second-generation Hmong-American who is a recent alumnus of the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities where she studied Strategic Communications, History and Asian American Studies. During her undergraduate years, she formed the first AAPI coalition at the University of Minnesota whose goal was to secure more academic resources for Hmong, Southeast Asian and Asian American students. Dee is passionate in advocating for the rights of all communities of color. Dee is also serves on the boards of Maryland’s American Planning Association Emerging Planners Group and Sparks National Magazine.
Hai Binh Nguyen (NTEU)
My vision for APALA-DC is to provide critical support to APA groups coming to DC to push for a progressive national APA agenda. That's our role in the resistance.
Kim Hall (Unorganized Worker)
Hailing from Richmond, VA, Kim Hall graduated from the University of Virginia in May 2016 with a degree in Economics and a minor in Religious Studies. Upon graduation, she interned at the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). Through her work at APALA, she gained a love for cultivating awareness for issues of the labor movement, education, economic justice, and gender, as it pertains to communities of color. In her free time, Kim enjoys exploring new coffee shops, collecting garden gnomes, and catching up on the latest from The Real Housewives franchise.
Marlan Maralit (Unorganized Worker)
An organizer by trade, Marlan is currently working as a Training Specialist with the Learning and Development Department at USPS. He has extensive work experience with training and leadership development work with a number of non-profit and labor organizations, including AFSCME, APALA National, and the Center for Community Change. As a longtime resident of the DC Area, he is committed to idea of supporting grassroots based, community building efforts throughout the area.
Tarn Goelling (IBEW Local 26)
I am a journeyman electrician, member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 26. I currently serve as the National Grassroots Coordinator in the Political/Legislative Affairs department of the IBEW international office. This year marks 11 years in the trade, and 4 years at our international office as an International Representative. As a first generation immigrant and a first generation union member, the labor movement has knitted together all the values that I hold dear, namely: community & voice. Educating my community on workers’ issues and empowering others to speak out against injustice is at the core of building a thriving democracy.
Thoa Hoang (NTEU)
Thoa Hoang is a D.C transplant originally from northern California. She is a Program Analyst in the Policy and Program Development Division at USDA-FNS where she provides partners with programmatic support to achieve the organization’s vision of ending hunger and improving nutrition in America. Prior to her cubicle and desk job, Thoa was a community organizer, advocating for a higher minimum wage at Working Partnership (WPUSA) in San Jose, California.
Co-Secretaries
Eddie Junsay (Unorganized Worker)
Eddie began his activism as an undergraduate at UC San Diego where he worked to implement sustainable campus policies that minimized the university’s negative impacts on people and the environment. After graduating, he stayed in San Diego for two years to work on empowering underrepresented communities and winning local policies for fair wages, immigrants’ rights and a more inclusive democracy. His passion for organizing took him to DC to implement APALA's civic engagement program to increase voter turnout in Asian Pacific American communities. He currently works with Power Shift Network as the Environmental Justice Network Organizer. Now on the APALA DC board, Eddie hopes to empower AAPI workers to create meaningful change for our communities. When he is not organizing, Eddie enjoys live theater and playing music. He is most famous for his performances of old RnB hits which he puts on everyday in his shower.
Monica Thammarath (NEA Staff Organization)
APALA is an important organization that really pushes the labor movement to look at race and equity and pushes the AAPI community to look at economic and worker issues. APALA-DC has a particularly important role being located in the nation's capitol, especially in light of the 2016 elections. I'm excited to work with our sisters, brothers, and community to strengthen APALA-DC.
Co-Presidents
Atley Chock (OPEIU Local 2, Solidarity Center)
I would like to be a board member of APALA-DC to support and empower our members and other Asian/Pacific Islander (API) workers in the DC area. As a board member, I would work with our membership to mobilize API support around local and national labor policies, and identify workplaces where organizing trainings, connections to unions, or support for workers within their unions is needed. As I manage programs that support the capacity building of workers and worker organizations in Asia, I also look forward to building stronger connections between the local API labor movement and our sisters and brothers who lead the labor movement in different parts of Asia. Finally, I would work with our membership to broaden APALA-DC solidarity to engage across communities of color on social justice issues affecting our communities as a whole.
Jillian Matundan (AFSCME International)
Jillian is the Director of Conference and Travel Services for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and has had a varied career with the union, working previously as the Assistant Director of the Data and Analytics Division and of the Organizing and Field Services Department before that. Prior to moving to DC, she was working the field for AFSCME as an Eastern Region Field Coordinator and the New York State Political Staff Representative. Before joining the labor movement, she worked for the Citizens Union Foundation in New York, one of the oldest good government organizations in the city, on election reform issues and has been published in The Gotham Gazette. She was a New York City Coro Fellow in Public Affairs in 2002 and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy Executive Education Program and Washington College in Maryland, where she holds a BA in Political Science and Drama and a minor in history. In her spare time, she volunteers in animal rescue and plays violin and string bass in the Reston Community Orchestra and the McLean Symphony. She also is an endurance cyclist and raises money through Team in Training for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Vice Presidents
Dee Pha (Unorganized Worker)
Dee Pha is a second-generation Hmong-American who is a recent alumnus of the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities where she studied Strategic Communications, History and Asian American Studies. During her undergraduate years, she formed the first AAPI coalition at the University of Minnesota whose goal was to secure more academic resources for Hmong, Southeast Asian and Asian American students. Dee is passionate in advocating for the rights of all communities of color. Dee is also serves on the boards of Maryland’s American Planning Association Emerging Planners Group and Sparks National Magazine.
Hai Binh Nguyen (NTEU)
My vision for APALA-DC is to provide critical support to APA groups coming to DC to push for a progressive national APA agenda. That's our role in the resistance.
Kim Hall (Unorganized Worker)
Hailing from Richmond, VA, Kim Hall graduated from the University of Virginia in May 2016 with a degree in Economics and a minor in Religious Studies. Upon graduation, she interned at the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA). Through her work at APALA, she gained a love for cultivating awareness for issues of the labor movement, education, economic justice, and gender, as it pertains to communities of color. In her free time, Kim enjoys exploring new coffee shops, collecting garden gnomes, and catching up on the latest from The Real Housewives franchise.
Marlan Maralit (Unorganized Worker)
An organizer by trade, Marlan is currently working as a Training Specialist with the Learning and Development Department at USPS. He has extensive work experience with training and leadership development work with a number of non-profit and labor organizations, including AFSCME, APALA National, and the Center for Community Change. As a longtime resident of the DC Area, he is committed to idea of supporting grassroots based, community building efforts throughout the area.
Tarn Goelling (IBEW Local 26)
I am a journeyman electrician, member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 26. I currently serve as the National Grassroots Coordinator in the Political/Legislative Affairs department of the IBEW international office. This year marks 11 years in the trade, and 4 years at our international office as an International Representative. As a first generation immigrant and a first generation union member, the labor movement has knitted together all the values that I hold dear, namely: community & voice. Educating my community on workers’ issues and empowering others to speak out against injustice is at the core of building a thriving democracy.
Thoa Hoang (NTEU)
Thoa Hoang is a D.C transplant originally from northern California. She is a Program Analyst in the Policy and Program Development Division at USDA-FNS where she provides partners with programmatic support to achieve the organization’s vision of ending hunger and improving nutrition in America. Prior to her cubicle and desk job, Thoa was a community organizer, advocating for a higher minimum wage at Working Partnership (WPUSA) in San Jose, California.
Co-Secretaries
Eddie Junsay (Unorganized Worker)
Eddie began his activism as an undergraduate at UC San Diego where he worked to implement sustainable campus policies that minimized the university’s negative impacts on people and the environment. After graduating, he stayed in San Diego for two years to work on empowering underrepresented communities and winning local policies for fair wages, immigrants’ rights and a more inclusive democracy. His passion for organizing took him to DC to implement APALA's civic engagement program to increase voter turnout in Asian Pacific American communities. He currently works with Power Shift Network as the Environmental Justice Network Organizer. Now on the APALA DC board, Eddie hopes to empower AAPI workers to create meaningful change for our communities. When he is not organizing, Eddie enjoys live theater and playing music. He is most famous for his performances of old RnB hits which he puts on everyday in his shower.
Monica Thammarath (NEA Staff Organization)
APALA is an important organization that really pushes the labor movement to look at race and equity and pushes the AAPI community to look at economic and worker issues. APALA-DC has a particularly important role being located in the nation's capitol, especially in light of the 2016 elections. I'm excited to work with our sisters, brothers, and community to strengthen APALA-DC.
|
|
|
|
