Eddie Au
Eddie Au is owner of Man Hing Imports & Arts of China, Inc. in Chinatown. He immigrated to San Francisco from Hong Kong. For the past 28 years, he has volunteered with the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Nam Kue Chinese School, Charity Development Group, and is a former President of the Chinese Six Companies. As a former immigrant himself, Eddie Au understands firsthand the hardships and barriers newcomers face. He said that the services provided by CNSC help immigrants make a smooth transition. One of the most rewarding aspects of being on the CNSC Board is his ability to help create a support base for immigrants. Speaking from experience, Au says, "CNSC must educate the public about the services the Center provides and should encourage other immigrants in the community to donate their time."

Arthur Chan
Arthur Chan, President of Art¼s Trading Co., is former Chairman and CEO of Gateway Bank. He is also a Director of both California National Bank and National America Bankcorp. He chairs and advises several charitable community organizations, and uses his financial foresight to guide CNSC's Investment Committee. Arthur Chan joined the Board to help CNSC explore new ways of fundraising, such as careful and timely financial investments. "So much energy is spent each year on fundraising events, " says Arthur. ''I would like to free us to focus more on expanding services."

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Danny Chan
Danny Chan, Vice President and Branch Manager of United Commercial Bank, is also a Board Member of the Chinese Community Health Education Council and the Chinese Real Estate Association. Danny Chan has been working in the Chinatown area for a number of years. With a client base of new immigrants, he feels that CNSC matches his dedication to his clientele. "I am very proud of the success of the Annual Emperor and Empress Charity Ball," says Danny. "Without the active participation of all the Board members, we would never succeed."

Basilio Chen
Basilio Chen The legendary Emperors of the Xia Dynasty were said to be wise and knowledgeable. Basilio Chen could have sat among them. He received his degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Cal Poly, graduating cum laude in Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi honor societies. He next attended the MBA program at Florida State. He finished off his studies as a postgraduate researcher at the University of British Columbia. A mind like this is in heavy demand. Basilio is CEO of Evo Tech, a development firm based in Burlingame, specializing in embedded computing technology. He is also Chairman of the Board for Compression Asia, a Pacific Rim technology company with headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. He is also Executive Chairman and CEO of Grand Battery Technologies, a Delaware corporation. The list goes on and on. Since 1997 Basilio has served as the Chairman of the California Republican Party Standing Committee. He has founded and directs the Traditional Tai Chi Chuan Organization of America. He also enjoys golf, researching herbal medicine, and the music of Bossa Nova. This brilliant Emperor lives with his family in the North Bay Area.

Kristina Chew
Kristina Chew, a native of mainland China, is a financial advisor with the San Francisco Associates, Inc. In addition to receiving numerous professional awards, Kristina also serves in many community organizations, such as the American Asian Elderly Humanitarian Society, and the National Chinese Welfare Council. "Happiness lies in helping others," says Kristina Chew, a native of mainland China. She notes that "every CNSC Board member selflessly contributes his or her professional ability to the community." To advance CNSC's services, she realizes that more human and financial resources will be required. "I will strive to obtain the additional support that CNSC needs," Kristina promises.

Peter Chi
Peter Chi is a well-known contributor to community organizations: he is President of the Chinese American Association of Commerce, President of the San Francisco Hau Shang Corporation, Owner and President of the Four Seas Supermarket, as well as Director of The Mirror Journal of Hong Kong.

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Amy Chuang
Amy Chuang works at American Realty and Construction, Inc. Chuang has served as mistress of ceremonies for many events in the Bay Area, Reno and Las Vegas. Her career includes serving as coordinator and director of performers on Taiwan Broadcasting Company and as program hostess with China TV of San Francisco. She is well known in the Chinese community. Currently, she is Vice President of International Buddhism Association, San Francisco Chapter, and Vice President of the Chinese Women's Association of America. Chuang lives in San Francisco. Amy Chuang was recommended by Mrs. Annie Lee to participate in CNSC's Emperor and Empress Charity Ball in 1998. "I realized right away that CNSC is a very organized service agency," explains Amy. "In recent years many immigrants have arrived to a strange and new environment. They need help in various ways. CNSC not only tries to meet their immediate needs, but also anticipates their future welfare by providing computer classes and other programs to help them qualify for better employment."

Patty Dingle
Patty Dingle joined the CNSC Board at the request of a well-respected community member, and she has absolutely no regrets. While she has always supported CNSC through her work as promotion director at KTSF, she feels "being on the Board has allowed me to better see the inner workings of CNSC and ultimately experience the end result everyone's efforts." She believes that CNSC can generate support from corporations and other groups by proactively showing them the important role immigrants play in the community.

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Carol Gee
Carol Gee is a practicing attorney as well as the part-time director of the Paralegal Studies Program at the University of San Francisco. She is also a board member of both the Aids Legal Referral Panel as well as the Home Equity Fraud Prevention Program of the Bar Association of San Francisco. "I started my career working in a Chinatown nonprofit," says Carol Gee. "Joining the CNSC Board is my way of showing my gratitude for the chance I was given - my first job in the San Francisco Bay Area." Carol finds CNSC to be an organization that is well worth supporting, with goals that benefit the greater society, not just one group. "We are not content to stand still," adds Carol, "but we are growing and striving to meet new challenges. CNSC is positioning itself to be a leader in its field."

Genny Hom-Franzen
Genny Hom-Franzen is AT&T Area Public Relations Director, responsible for community public relations and philanthropic efforts. She serves on the board of the Asian American Arts Foundation, the advisory committee of the "Growing Up Asian In America" Contest and is CO-chair of the Cherry Blossom Festival Senior Appreciation Brunch. Genny Hom-Franzen primary motivation for joining the CNSC Board was to give back to the Chinese community. "I went through this stage where I didn't associate much with my culture and heritage. Now I am making up for lost time, " she says. Hom-Franzen adds that it has been gratifying to work side by side with CNSC's stellar group of individuals and community leaders. "Seeing CNSC's dramatic growth and expansion in the past three years and knowing that I was a part of it has made me very proud."

Katherine Jew-Lim
Katherine Jew-Lim is a Pacific Bell Manager in Marketing Professional Development at the Center for Learning. She is on the board of Asians for Corporate and Community Action, a member of the Chinese Hospital Auxiliary, and a volunteer in the San Francisco School District. Katherine Jew-Lim joined CNSC to help make new immigrants good citizens. "One real reward," says Katherine, "is working with Teresa Wu, a role model in the 'art of persuasion' who genuinely cares about the people she serves." Katherine hopes to recruit former CNSC clients to help with fundraising. "Donors need to hear their stories: benefits to newcomers help us all."

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Joseph Kwok
Joe Kwok has been a dedicated supporter of Chinese Newcomers Service Center since he was president of SF Chinatown Lions Club, 15 years ago. His friends on the CNSC Board asked Joe to help with CNSC's fundraising efforts so he came up with the idea of targeting the annual Lions Club "Miss Teenage Chinatown" as a fundraiser for CNSC, expanding the event and pointing it toward specific community support. Over $10,000 was raised for CNSC that first year. This tradition endures: the Lions Club Miss Teenage Chinatown event still raises money for local agencies, one of which is still CNSC. Joe went on to join the Center's Board of Directors, and in this capacity helped expand CNSC's own fundraising efforts. He suggested the Charity Ball concept, using Emperor and Empress candidates to compete for the crown by raising money for the Center.    Active in many community organizations and charities, Joe is so supportive of the Center because he believes it provides a vital service. He is impressed by the dedication of the staff as well as the Board. "The Board members are not just there for the title," says Joe, "but are really involved and hard working." He compliments the leadership of the executive director Teresa Wu, who is " doing a great job".
   Helping new immigrants integrate into their environment faster and easier was the primary motivation for Joe Kwok to join the CNSC Board. Rallying support from the community is Joe's strength and his reward: "The most exciting experience for me was to witness the success of the first year's Emperor and Empress Charity Ball. And then, to see it repeated year after year was even better!" Joe wants CNSC to be more visible to remind the community that there are newcomers who need support every year.

Peter T. Lam
Peter T. Lam, a Hong Kong native, completed his architectural education at U.C. Berkeley. He is President of Asian American Architects and Engineers. He is also active with the PTA, the Boy Scouts of America, and the Peninsula Chinese Club.

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Faye Lee
Faye Lee Faye Lee is a partner at Bresler and Lee, a San Francisco-based law firm emphasizing business litigation, probate and estate planning. A graduate of San Francisco Law School, Lee serves as chair of its Planned Giving Program, and president of the law school's Alumni Association, the first Asian to hold that position. Recently the School recognized her as 1998 Volunteer of the Year. She is also active with Self-help for the Elderly. A frequent lecturer on wills, revocable trusts, special needs trusts and charitable trusts, Lee lives in San Francisco with her husband and law partner, Peter.

Danson Leung
Danson's Leung has a long career of public and management accounting. It is this vast experience he puts to good use at the Chinese Newcomers Service Center as a volunteer. Danson Leung's involvement on the CNSC Board has enabled him to have direct contact with the Chinese community through his income tax and small business seminars, and he's thankful. "As a board member, I am excited to report to the board how CNSC can do better to help the community, " he says. "CNSC should also promote and market the center in the public media to get support from the community so we can expand CNSC's services," he says.

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Allen Mark
Allen Mark is Vice President and Partner for H&W Enterprises, a real estate investment and development company. He participates in numerous organizations and foundations to promote education in China: Peninsula Chinese Club, Project Hope, Self-help for the Elderly, and Stanford Asian Pacifca Club. Allen Mark remembers the difficulties of being a minority immigrant "I felt lost, confused by the new language, and unsure of my odds for success," he reminisces. CNSC's reputation of excellence drew him to the Board. "The greatest reward is seeing the development of new job training programs such as computer training classes and hotel service job training: CNSC provides new survival skills."

Kenneth Quan
Kenneth Quan is a senior financial planner with New York Life and former Treasurer of the Chinese American Kiwana's Club. Ken is currently an active member of Kwan's Association and the Friends of Hong Kong & Macao Association.

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Gayle Tang
Gayle K Tang, a Registered Nurse, is Director of Multi Cultural Services at Kaiser San Francisco Medical Center. She coordinates the Volunteer Interpreters Program and developed Kaiser's trilingual reference manual for medical interpreters. Although, she sits on several community boards and committees as well as teaches part time at City College, she has always given her time freely to CNSC.
Soon after joining the CNSC Board, Gayle was asked to become one of our candidates for the Emperor and Empress Charity Ball. Being a very modest and quiet person, she found this quite a difficult task, as you can imagine. Yet with the backing of Kaiser Permanente, her coworkers, family, and friends, she raised thousands of dollars that year. Then, every year after that, she has assisted the campaigns of other Emperor and Empress candidates. Gayle has raised over $80,000 for CNSC through every kind of fundraising tactic: baking cookies, introducing candidates at the Oakland Chinatown Street Fair, or hawking raffle tickets in a last minute rush before the Ball.
Gayle says one of the reasons she has given so much to CNSC is because she believes in the importance of providing multilingual services to clients and building partnerships that will ultimately help immigrant families give something back to the community. She says she has learned so much from the staff and board, but we say that she has taught us so much as our former board President and board member.

Ginny Poon Yamate, President of the Board
Ginny Yamate is Community Relations Manager and producer of SUNDAY ON SEVEN, ABC's weekly public affairs magazine. Yamate is responsible for working directly with representatives of Bay Area community groups to publicize their activities and she presents periodic educational workshops on media access and publicity guidelines. SUNDAY ON SEVEN airs on Sunday mornings and features Bay Area issues, community organizations and leaders. As producer of the program, Ginny highlights the Bay Area's rich cultural diversity and profiles individuals and projects that make a difference. She also produces "Profiles of Excellence," an ABC7 special that airs quarterly. In 1995, SUNDAY ON SEVEN was presented with the "Best Public Affairs Program in Markets 1-30" by the National Broadcast Association for Community Affairs. Yamate's productions have won many awards during her 27 year broadcasting career. Yamate joined ABC7 in 1979 as Assistant Director of Public Affairs. She was promoted to Community Relations Manager in 1984. Her first job in San Francisco was with KABL Radio and she later worked in public affairs and production for KPIX-TV.
Yamate has been active in many community groups. She is currently vice-president of both the Board of Directors of Chinese Newcomers Service Center and of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation. Ginny is a member of the United Way's San Francisco County Leadership Board and also serves on media advisory committees of the St. Anthony Foundation and the Salvation Army. A past president of the Bay Area Radio and Television Public Affairs Directors Association, she has also served on the boards of Volunteers to San Francisco General Hospital and Catholic Social Services of San Francisco. Awards: International Film & TV Festival of New York National Association of Black Journalists California Governor's Committee for Employment of the Handicapped California School Boards Association Media Awards Northern California Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences National Broadcast Association for Community Affairs Eugene Block Journalism Award of the San Francisco Human Rights Commission St. Francis Media Award Hospital Council of Northern California.

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