About Us
The mission of NAAPIMHA is to promote the mental health and well being of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.
What We Believe and What We Do
NAAPIMHA firmly believes in the following social justice issues:
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Suicide prevention among youth
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Empowering mental health consumers
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Access to high quality affordable mental health services for all
NAAPIMHA believes that these public policies and social justice issues have direct correlation with mental health. Without equality and justice in our healthcare, immigration, education, and social systems there will be no peace in people’s heart and mind.
We accomplish our goals by...
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Working closely with those with lived experience by developing a national network (NAAPIEN)
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Working closely with community-based organizations that address mental health and health related issues
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Providing technical assistance and training to service providers such as cultural competency training, interpreter training, and clinical training
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Advocating for policies that will positively impact the mental health of AANHPI communities.
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Working closely with high school and college students to discuss mental health and develop the next generation of mental health leaders.
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Developing mental health fact sheets in languages such as Hmong, Japanese, Khmer, Korean, Mandarin, Thai, and Vietnamese
Learn more about NAAPIMHA:
Who We Are
Our Team
Pata Suyemoto, PhD (she/they)
Executive Director
Consumer Advocate, Mental Health First Aid & Achieving Whole Health Trainer
pata@naapimha.org
Dr. Pata Suyemoto is a feminist scholar, writer, educator, curriculum developer, equity trainer, mental health activist, jewelry designer, and avid bicyclist. She earned her PhD. from the University of Pennsylvania and did her research on anti-racist education and issues of race and racism. She is the Executive Director for the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA) and is passionate about creating awareness of the unique mental health issues AANHPI communities face and elevating the voices of people with lived mental health experience. She is also the Associate Director of Equity for the Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention (MCSP) and the co-chair of the Greater Boston Regional Suicide Prevention Coalition. Pata is also founder and co-chair of the MCSP Alliance for Equity and one of the authors of Widening the Lens: Exploring the Role of Social Justice in Suicide Prevention – A Racial Equity Toolkit. She has spoken and written about being a suicide attempt survivor and her struggles with chronic depression and complex PTSD. Pata is a member of a number of boards and committees including the MCSP’s Executive Committee and the planning committee for the annual Asian American Mental Health Forum. She is also the chair of the Suicide Prevention Resource Center’s (SPRC) Lived Experience Advisory Committee (LEAC). In 2024, she won the American Association of Suicidology’s Transforming Lived Experience Award and her claim to fame is that she rode her bicycle across the country in the summer of 2012.
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Krystle Canare (she/her)
Deputy Director
Mental Health First Aid Trainer
krystle@naapimha.org
Krystle Canare (she/her) is a proud Filipina American, the eldest daughter of first generation immigrant parents, the descendent of Filipino farmers, fisherman, and warriors, and carries both their generational wounds and legacy as a person with lived mental health experience and as a Deputy Director of NAAPIMHA, the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association, a national organization dedicated to promoting and redefining the mental health of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) across the United States.
Krystle is a national health equity leader with extensive leadership and management experience in the federal government, the nonprofit sector, academia, and AANHPI-serving organizations. Prior to NAAPIMHA, Krystle served as consultant for the Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, an ambassador for the White House Initiative on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders, steering committee member for the National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health, health equity ambassador for the American Psychological Association, staff at the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, National Alliance on Mental Illness, and Georgetown University’s National Center for Cultural Competence, and founding Vice Chair of the Asian Mental Health Collective.
Currently, Krystle serves as Health Committee Co-Chair for the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Mental Health Advisor for the Filipino Young Leaders Program Tayo, and enjoys living as a digital nomad and way finder traveling the country, reconnecting with the land, and living full-time in her RV with her partner and puppy, Evie.
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Elizabeth Sweet (she/they)
Community Engagement Manager & Director of NAAPIEN
elizabeth@naapimha.org
Elizabeth Sweet (천혁 (Cheon Hye-ok), she/they), is a Korean American adoptee and graduate of the University of Washington’s neuroscience and political science programs. Transracially and internationally adopted from South Korea into a rural town in Washington state on S’Klallam land, she was raised outside of Asian American community and culture. She has since worked to reclaim her Asian identity and reconnect with Korean culture, advocating that there is no singular way to be Asian American. Elizabeth identifies as a queer person of color with lived mental health experience whose identities have shaped her vested interest in mobilizing around racial justice, global liberation, and intersectional advocacy. She is a model minority denouncer, who lived under the control of this deeply problematic stereotype for years until realizing her value existed outside of it. Currently serving as the Community Engagement Manager and Director of the National AAPI Empowerment Network (NAAPIEN) at NAAPIMHA, Elizabeth champions visibility for AA & NHPI issues, decolonization, dismantling mental health stigma, and the convergence of science and cultural knowledge with policy. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys hiking, paddleboarding, discussing Asian representation in film & media, reclaiming/wearing Korean traditional dress or 한복 (hanbok), and being a proud parent to Edamame the corgi!
Aryelle Montecer (she/her)
Project Coordinator
Mental Health Awareness Training Center
aryelle@naapimha.org
Aryelle Montecer (she/her) is a proud, second generation Filipina American from Maryland. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from The Catholic University of America in hopes to support her community’s mental health and to dismantle the stigma that surrounds it. She has been highly involved in leadership within the Filipino American community. She has served as an ambassador for the National Federation of Filipino American Association's Empowering Pilipino Youth through Collaboration (NaFFAA EPYC) program, as well as a fellow and Wellness Coach for the Filipino Young Leaders Program (FYLPRO). She has also served as Culture Chair and Co-Chair for District VI of the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND Inc.) as well as Event Coordinator for The Filipino Organization of Catholic University Students (F.O.C.U.S.).
In her free time, Aryelle enjoys reading, attempting to play the guitar, and journaling. You can also find her in the crowd of a concert from time to time or at the gym.
Jinny Choi (she/they)
Project Coordinator
Friends DO Make A Difference Program
jinny@naapimha.org
Jinny Choi (she/her) is a queer, first-generation Korean-American. She was raised in an ethnically diverse part of New Jersey—in a county with the highest population density of Korean-Americans in the U.S. Jinny is proud to be Asian and hopes to use her lived experiences to inspire and uplift youth.
Jinny graduated from Bentley University with a Bachelor of Science in Management and a concentration in Leadership. She was actively involved with the new student orientation program, served as president of the university’s co-ed business fraternity and the Korean Students Association, and received various leadership awards for her contributions to the
community.
Jinny brings experience from a wide range of industries including consulting, Big Tech, government, youth services, and travel. She has worked as a growth marketer for a DEI consulting firm and as a grant writing consultant for nonprofits.
In her free time, Jinny volunteers at Asian Girls Ignite, a Denver-based nonprofit serving AANHPI girls and women, and takes digital photography and American Sign Language classes. She also enjoys live music (especially K-pop), traveling, strength training, and playing with her two small dogs.
DJ Ida, PhD (she/her)
Senior Advisor & Executive Director Emeritus, Achieving Whole Health Trainer
Dr. DJ Ida has over forty years of experience working with Asian American/Pacific Islander communities. She received her doctorate in clinical psychology and helped establish numerous organizations, including the Asian American Educational Opportunity Program at the U of Colorado, the Asian Pacific Development Center, a specialty mental health clinic in Denver and the National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association. She has served on numerous advisory boards including the US Dept HHS Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration National Advisory Board, Mental Health America, the Annapolis Coalition for Behavioral Health Workforce, the Hogg Foundation and the UC Davis Medical School Center for Eliminating Health Disparities. She received the Robert Wood Johnson Award for Health Equity for her efforts to focus on the impact of mental health on the health and wellbeing of ethnically diverse and linguistically isolated populations. She was the primary author for the Office of Minority Health’s Integrated Care for AANHPIs: A Blueprint for Action (2012). In 2001 she served as a peer reviewer for the Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health: Culture, Race, and Ethnicity and was a contributing author for the Eliminating Disparities for Racial and Ethnic Communities Subcommittee report for the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health as well as the Annapolis Coalition on Behavioral Health Workforce’s paper An Action Plan for Behavioral Health Workforce Development. In an effort to improve the quality of care for AANHPIs she helped develop Growing Our Own to train clinicians on how to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services; Achieving Whole Health to train community members to become Wellness Coaches; and the Mental Health Interpreters Training to work in mental health settings recognizing the unique challenges faced when interpreting with immigrant and refugee populations.
Allyson Goto, A.B. (she/they)
Program Consultant
Allyson Goto is a fourth generation Japanese-American from Colorado. Allyson received her Bachelor of Arts from Brown University in Sustainable Development and Public Policy. Prior to working with NAAPIMHA, Allyson worked at a public health department as a special projects coordinator focused on community-based projects related to food justice and systemic change. While working in public health Allyson collaborated closely with community members, policy makers, funders, and community based organizations. Her work included organizing community coalitions, educating on and advocating for local policies, and advising in discussions for equitable federal funding distribution during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also served as a member of the internal equity action committee for the department and lead racial equity committees around food justice efforts with the local Food Policy Council.
Allyson is passionate about ensuring mental health is accessible to everyone in the AANHPI community and believes that re-imagining what mental health means is a beautiful and important way to achieve this vision. Her own journey around mental health has included exploring the intergenerational trauma that remains from her family's incarceration during WWII and the ways in which her cultural upbringing has impacted her understanding and relationship with mental health. Outside of work she enjoys caring for her mental health through gardening, fly fishing, DIYing, traveling, and photography.
Zoë Cain (they/she)
Resident Artist & Illustrator
Zoë Cain is a queer, Korean-American illustrator, art teacher, and mental health advocate. They are passionate about “art with impact” and have created illustrations for nonprofits including NAAPIMHA, TaskForce, and Half the Story. Zoë is an experienced online crisis counselor, Rare Beauty Ambassador, and MTV Mental Health Youth Fellow. They are a social media advocate, drawing and writing about their identity and lived experience with mental health challenges to create community, share culturally relevant resources, and normalize conversations about mental health.
Mental Health Awareness Trainers
Michelle G. Garcia (she/her)
Youth & Adult Mental Health First Aid Trainer
Michelle G. Garcia is a second-generation Filipina American who is dedicated to supporting the mental health of Asian youth, families, and communities. A macro-level social worker by training, Michelle began her career in global health & education. She developed programs in human rights, refugee resettlement, higher education, and JEDI training across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, New York, and Boston.
Following her own lived experience as a trauma survivor, Michelle transitioned into the mental health field. In 2019, she founded Thriving Asians - an organization dedicated to advancing the mental health & holistic success of pan-Asian communities. In her role as Founder & Director, Michelle developed the AANHPI/Filipinx Mental Health Leadership Program Series which provides culturally- grounded mental health education & training reflective of Asian values & perspectives; messages mental health as a foundation for holistic success; and promotes leadership in shaping mentally healthier families, communities, and future generations. Michelle leads Thriving Asians community programming & consulting services which have made impacts in reaching 1,500+ community members in North America, Asia, and the Middle East.
With NAAPIMHA, Michelle serves as a Mental Health First Aid Trainer. She is also an Achieving Whole Health Coach through her role with FYLPRO (Filipino Young Leaders Program). She led Thriving Asians in serving as a community partner & endorsing organization for the national resolution to recognize AANHPI Mental Health Day.
Outside of work, Michelle enjoys traveling, photography, cooking, and going on dates with her husband.
Kevin Faleulu Niuatoa (he/him)
Adult Mental Health First Aid Trainer
Kevin Faleulu Niuatoa, the youngest of eight children to Rev. Fautua Sr. and Mata’u Niuatoa, proudly identifies as a Samoan American. Raised in San Francisco’s Hunter’s Point/Bayview Area, Kevin witnessed the impact of community service through his parents’ dedication to their village, family, and faith. He graduated from J Eugene McAteer High School in the Bay Area and eventually continued his academic journey at the Kanana Fou Theological Seminary in American Samoa, earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Divinity in 2015. His pursuit of knowledge led him to Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, where he received a Masters in Divinity in 2018 and a Masters in Theology in 2019. Currently, Kevin serves as the Pastoral Care Counselor for the Pacific Islander Wellness Initiative at RAMS, Inc.
He is a certified Mental Health First Aid Instructor for both Youth and Adult Certifications, as well as conducting psychoeducation workshops using NAAPIMHA’s Achieving Whole Health curriculum. Kevin also facilitates support groups like “Coffee Break with the Fellas,” “Weaving Resources for Clergy/Community Leaders,” and “Talanoa for Wellness.”
Beyond his professional role, he ministers at The First Samoan Congregational United Church of Christ in San Francisco, “Light of Life,” where he combines his cultural roots and faith to serve his community.
Maureen P. Medina (she/her)
Adult Mental Health First Aid Trainer
Maureen is a proud Filipina and the author of My Fears Out Loud, her debut poetry collection. She holds generative writing workshops that incorporate somatic expression & foster a sense of safety & agency to explore the full human experience. Her movement is informed by her belief that all oppression - and therefore, all liberation - is connected. She believes that we must bear witness to ourselves and the world at large in order to heal individually and collectively.
Maureen has served marginalized populations for over 15 years in multiple capacities and, most recently, is a Certified Adult Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor. She is certified in both Adult and Youth MHFA; and has certificates for The Biology of Trauma & Healing, Providing Trauma-Informed Care, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and Achieving Whole Health: Balancing Body, Mind and Spirit (with NAAPIMHA). Maureen has received trainings on Emotional Well-Being, Art, and Youth Work; Self-Awareness through Active Citizenship; and Transitioning into the Labor Market. She is always learning about suicide safety, normalizing & embodying mental health care, somatic healing, mutual aid/community building, and therapeutic art.
Maureen is committed to fostering spaces that center agency and consent. She hopes to inspire the pursuit of total and collective liberation through her work.
Interns
Board of Directors
Joshua Ang Price (he/siya)
Board Member
Joshua Ang Price (he/siya) 洪中美 is a Filipino American government relations executive, former elected official, elections expert, and voting rights advocate based out of Jacksonville, Florida. He currently serves as the CEO of Hybrid Strategies, a strategic consulting firm specializing in government communications, community projects, and fundraising for nonprofit organizations.
Born and raised in Arkansas, Josh is a former Election Commissioner in Arkansas’s most populous county and former candidate for Arkansas Secretary of State, during which he won a TOFA (The Outstanding Filipinos in America) Award and was endorsed by the Reverend Jesse Jackson for his work in protecting voting rights. Before moving to Florida in 2024, Josh served as the DNC Voter Protection Director for Arkansas and as the Secretary of the Democratic Party of Arkansas -- the first AANHPI to hold a state officer position within a political party in Arkansas. Josh has nearly 10 years of experience serving with the federal government, including senior leadership roles with the Delta Regional Authority (DRA) and with the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Arkansas District Office during the pandemic and consulting roles with the U.S. State Department on international Democracy initiatives.
Inspired by his mother, a psych nurse from the Philippines who devoted over 30 years to caring for abused and molested children and adolescents, Josh actively supports mental health initiatives, especially among minority youth. Josh is also a survivor of childhood gun violence and has used this traumatic experience to fuel his passion for mental health advocacy and anti-Asian hate initiatives.
Josh earned his BS in Sociology and Public Administration from the University of Central Arkansas. He has fielded over 200 media interviews, including with Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, NextShark, Asian Journal, and in Philippine media TFC ABS-CBN, the Fil-Am Magazine, and he serves as a regular political commentator for Balitang America and Bombo Radyo Philippines.
Erin Henderson Lacerdo (she/her)
Board Member
Erin Henderson Lacerdo, LCSW, IECMH-E, is the first executive director for the Association for Infant Mental Health in Hawaii (AIMH HI), where she is charged with establishing our state's first agency focused on promoting Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. Erin co-developed the Promising Minds Fellows Program, the only statewide program aimed at building an IECMH-focused direct service and consultation workforce. Her model focuses on creating capacity for early childhood providers to understand and embrace the basic tenants of IEMCH, and building a network of consultants able to provide support to those working with the 0-5 age group. Erin is a former home visitor for families with young children, has a background in providing clinical treatment to families with young children, and is a proud mommy of a 2 and 4-year-old. Erin is humbled to join the NAAPIMHA Board of Directors in hopes of providing the perspective of a Native Hawaiian mental health practitioner and ties to the Hawaiian community.
Samira Khan (she/her)
Board Member
Samira Khan is a dynamic leader in health equity, rooted in her identity as the eldest daughter of Pakistani Muslim immigrants. Her career is driven by a commitment to dismantling cultural stigma and addressing systemic barriers within AANHPI communities. With a decade of leadership in public health, Samira combines her lived experience as a first-generation American with expertise in research, advocacy, and cross-cultural care, championing community-driven solutions. Her journey began at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, where, as an undergraduate student, she worked in a lab researching the influence of aerobic exercise on cognition and symptoms in individuals with schizophrenia, igniting her dedication to equitable mental healthcare. This passion was further shaped by global health work in rural India, where she studied primary healthcare systems, solidifying her commitment to equity.
As President of the South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA), she spearheads initiatives to destigmatize mental illness, address intergenerational trauma, and combat health misinformation in partnerships with AANHPI organizations. Under her leadership, SAPHA has gained national recognition for bridging public health frameworks with grassroots advocacy. Her equity work is refined through fellowships in Climate Health (Cambridge Health Alliance) and Health Equity (Institute for Healthcare Improvement), advancing her holistic approach to tackling social determinants of health.
Professionally, Samira serves as Assistant Director of Research and Clinical Initiatives at Mount Sinai’s Respiratory Institute, leading innovative projects to improve respiratory health outcomes. She also manages groundbreaking research on sleep apnea and cardiovascular disease, leveraging epidemiology and machine learning to address care disparities. She holds an MPH (Hofstra University) and a B.S. in Psychology (CUNY City College), anchoring her work in dismantling systemic barriers.
Informed by her dual lens as a first-generation American and advocate for cross-cultural competence, Samira centers community voices in every endeavor, from mentoring emerging leaders to shaping policy-driven solutions. Committed to NAAPIMHA’s mission, she brings expertise in research, advocacy, and coalition-building to advance holistic well-being for AANHPI communities. Beyond her work, she enjoys photography and travel as tools to document cultural heritage and amplify lived experiences. Based in New York, she draws daily inspiration from her roots and the resilience of those she serves.
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Francis Lu, M.D. (he/him)
Board Member
Francis G. Lu, MD, is the Luke & Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry, Emeritus, at the University of California, Davis. As a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), Dr. Lu has contributed to the areas of cultural psychiatry including the interface with religion and spirituality, psychiatric education, diversity and inclusion, mental health equity, and psychiatry and film. He is one of the original members of the NAAPIMHA Board serving since 2001 including being the President from 2007 to 2012. In 2008, the Association for Academic Psychiatry awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award. The APA awarded him Special Presidential Commendations in both 2002 and 2016 for his contributions to cultural psychiatry, and in 2020, the APA Distinguished Service Award. In 2020, the Society for the Study of Psychiatry and Culture awarded him its Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021, the American College of Psychiatrists awarded him its Distinguished Service Award. He leads annual film workshops at Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA, since 1987, and Door County Summer Institute since 2014.
Pooja Mehta (she/her)
Board Member
Pooja Mehta is an outspoken South Asian Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advocate and has been driving change in communities across the United States for the last 10 years. As a professional with direct lived experience and a suicide loss survivor, she is eager to further the dialogue around the role public health and personal perspective plays in mental healthcare while leading conversations that change the way we think and talk about mental health as a society.
A child of Indian immigrants raised in Morrisville, North Carolina, Pooja’s values of community, compassion, and challenging norms carry through everything she does. Pooja holds a Masters in Public Health from Columbia and is a leading voice in mental health advocacy thanks to her firsthand experiences ranging from psychiatric hospitals to town halls to Capitol Hill. Her work has been featured in a variety of platforms, podcasts, and articles, including NPR, CNN, WebMD, and TEDx.
Pooja currently works at North Carolina Asian Americans Together, spearheading a first-of-its-kind statewide pilot program that supports in-community mental health education and stigma reduction efforts for the AAPI community. Additionally, she is the Second Vice President of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and heads the MHLC Youth Advocacy Cohort. Pooja is also the proud founder of the Raj Mehta Day of Good, an international day of doing good hosted annually on her late brother’s birthday.
In her spare time, Pooja enjoys making stained glass, line dancing, and catching up on TV shows with her cat, Pepper.
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Janet Namkung (she/they)
Board Member
Janet is an active leader who is passionate about social and restorative justice through capacity building. Janet began their career in nonprofit – advocating for the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Janet worked on national issues such as immigration, civic engagement, census, education, and mental health. Janet previously worked with OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates, Council of Korean Americans, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. They co-founded a BIPOC-focused teletherapy company. She also served as a Commissioner on Mayor Bowser’s Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Community Development, on the Board of Directors of the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership, and as Chair of the DC Chapter of Service Year & AmeriCorps Alums. In partnership with NAAPIMHA, Janet co-founded the Asians* in Focus project, a creative and mental health nonprofit, along with FIERCE womxn leaders.
Janet received a B.A. in Psychology from Ramapo College of New Jersey. Janet is a PROUD New Yorker, a lover of food vacations, and always down for karaoke. Janet currently lives in Houston with their partner, Jae, and their three furbabies, Dubu, Kimchi, and Bori (@meongmeong.yaong).
Audrey H. Paek (she/her)
Board Member
Audrey H. Paek is a nonprofit leader and advocate for health equity, education, and social justice, with over two decades of experience driving social impact through community engagement, diversity initiatives, and mission-driven projects. A passionate ballroom competitor, she co-founded Visionary Steps Charitable Foundation, providing scholarships and resources for aspiring amateur dancesport athletes.
Previously, Audrey was an executive recruiter specializing in nonprofit fundraising and served as Diversity Initiatives Manager and Assistant to the President at GBH, co-leading station-wide inclusion programs. She has held leadership roles across multiple organizations, including Vice President of the Smith College Alumnae Association and currently serves on the board of its Boston chapter. She is also an Advisory Board member of the Commonwealth Seminar, supporting diverse leaders in civic engagement and advocacy.
Her extensive work with Asian Women for Health included co-chairing the Asian American Mental Health Forum, producing and hosting the Resilience to Radiance podcast to amplify the voices of AANHPI women and their lived experiences, and emceeing their annual fashion benefit. She has also chaired the Asian Task Force Against Domestic Violence (ATASK) and served as President of NAAAP-Boston, leading advocacy and coalition-building for AANHPI communities.
A proud Smith College alumna, Audrey is deeply committed to ensuring AANHPI communities are seen, heard, and valued for their culture, history, and contributions. As a NAAPIMHA board member, she looks forward to leveraging her leadership and experience to advance AANHPI’s mission, broaden its impact, and drive meaningful systemic change. Outside of work, Audrey enjoys salsa dancing and time with her rescue dog.
Sudarshan Pyakurel (he/him)
Board Member
Sudarshan Pyakurel MA, MSW-LSW is the executive director of the Bhutanese Community of Central Ohio (BCCO). He and his family escaped from the systematic and forcible exile of the Lhotshampa people of South Bhutan in 1992 and spent 17 years in a refugee camp in Nepal. He resettled in the U.S. and moved to Cleveland in 2010. He now resides outside of Columbus and, besides supporting refugees and immigrants with post-resettlement support, continues to advocate for linguistically- and culturally relevant mental health services for underserved communities like his own as well as the active preservation of the Lhotshampa history. Sudarshan is a Steering Committee member of SAMHSA’s National Network to Eliminate Disparities in Behavioral Health, Refugee Congress Honorary Delegate from Ohio, and New American Advisory Committee to Governor Kasich’s Office.
Noel Ramirez (he/him)
Board Member
Dr. Noel B. Ramirez has been a clinical social worker in the Philadelphia Metro Area for 18 years. His professional and personal passions focus on the intersection of identity, integration, and wellness, and he has directed, facilitated, and been a part of projects that promote access and healing for communities that he lives and walks in: people affected and living with HIV, various recovery communities, LGBTQIA, and BIPOC communities. He is an award-winning business owner and psychotherapist who founded Mango Tree Counseling & Consulting, an Asian-American mental health group practice in the Philadelphia metro area serving Pennsylvania and New Jersey residents. Outside the mental health space, Dr. Ramirez is a Senior Lecturer for Columbia University’s Graduate School of Social Work, teaching decolonization, psychopathology, and couples therapy courses. He is currently completing the final requirements for his certified sex addiction therapy (CSAT) credential. He has graduate degrees in Social Work (University of Pennsylvania) and Public Health (Drexel University) and a doctorate in behavioral health (Arizona State University). He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia.
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Marielle Reataza (she/siya)
Board Member
Dr. Marielle Reataza has served as the executive director and CEO at the National Asian Pacific American Families Allied for Substance Awareness and Harm Reduction (NAPAFASA) since 2021, having joined NAPAFASA in 2018 and worked briefly at Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership in 2021. Her professional background involves secondary science public school education, graduate education, medicine, laboratory and clinical research, and health policy and law, formally studying biochemistry, medicine and surgical practice, and the US healthcare system and health systems implementation and evaluation. As the leader at NAPAFASA, it’s important to work closely with NAAPIMHA to ensure that our work and strategies are complementary and serve the common purpose of improving the mental health and whole-person well-being of the communities we serve. Dr. Reataza was born in the Philippines and moved to Los Angeles at the age of 5. She is an advocate for centering peoples’ lived experiences in order to attain more equitable and accessible behavioral health services.
Susie Reece (she/her)
Board Member
Reece is the director of Lived Experience Initiatives for the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. In that capacity, Reece leads the development of multi-organizational inclusion practices, provides guidance to national experts in the field, and develops international recommendations for centering lived experience in any field. Reece bolsters lived experience engagement by elevating the voices of lived experience experts from diverse backgrounds and perspectives.
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Nira Singh (she/her)
Board Member
Nira Singh, PsyD, Clinical Director of the Cultural Development and Wellness Center of Aurora Mental Health and Recovery, is a second generation, South Asian, licensed psychologist, health equity advocate and behavioral health leader. She has served for over 30 years in community based, non-profit settings, working with and advocating for underserved and marginalized communities with a strong focus on programs for immigrants, refugees, asylees and asylum seekers.
It has been Dr. Singh’s life commitment to dismantle barriers to needed care and services. From her early years in the field of domestic violence, she has worked within agencies and on several coalitions to address cultural responsiveness and humility in the training of service providers and models of service delivery. She has been involved in developing and implementing trauma informed, community and client centered, strengths-based services at various agencies in Colorado and the California Bay Area. She has served as the Director of Behavioral Health and member of the Executive Leadership at Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI), Director of Children Youth and Family Services at Richmond Area Multi-Services (RAMS) and as the Director of Refugee Foster Care Services at Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County (CCSCC).
Dr. Singh has enjoyed teaching, supervising and mentoring multidisciplinary providers and teams for over 20 years. She served as Adjunct Faculty at the California School of Professional Psychology, as both faculty and Director of APA internship programs, and faculty and consultant for Peer Certification programs. She is a proud graduate of RAMS’ APA accredited National Asian American Psychology Training Center Doctoral Internship Program, the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (CAUSE), Leadership Education for Asian Pacific (LEAP), and NAAPIMHA’s Achieving Whole Health.
Dr. Singh has worked to develop and lead comprehensive, collaborative, and integrated services that serve the whole health needs of diverse community members and recognize the many paths to wellness. She has served on key committees and forums at the local, state, national and international levels such as Santa Clara County Behavioral Health Contractors Association, California Behavioral Health Association, SAMHSA’s Office of Behavioral Health Equity to support a more culturally and linguistically responsive 988 program, the White House Initiative On Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Behavioral Health Convenings, and International Asian Pacific Islander Domestic Violence Conferences. She is honored to serve on the board and to advance the mission, vision and goals of NAAPIMHA.
Halaevalu F. Vakalahi (she/her)
Board Member
Halaevalu F. Ofahengaue Vakalahi, MSW, MEd, PhD – is a Pacific Islander woman, born in Tonga and raised in Hawai’i. She is currently the President and CEO of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE). Prior to joining CSWE, she was Professor and Dean of the College of Health and Society at Hawai’i Pacific University (HPU). Prior to HPU, she was Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Social Work at Morgan State University; Associate Professor and MSW Program Director at George Mason University; BSW Coordinator at San Francisco State University; Assistant Professor and Department Chair at BYU-Hawai’i; and Assistant Professor at New Mexico State University.
Her areas of teaching include social policy, human behavior and the social work environment, and organizational leadership. Her two areas of scholarship are: Pacific Islander culture and community, and Women of Color in academia, in which she has contributed extensively to the existing literature through articles, chapters, books, and other communication media. Her educational background with a B.S. in Business Management (BYU-Hawai’i), MSW (University of Hawai’i-Manoa), and M.Ed. and PhD in Social Work (University of Utah), have informed her leadership, scholarship, teaching, and service which she hopes has forwarded social and economic justice in some small way.
Ed K. S. Wang, M.S., Psy.D. (he/him)
Board Member
Ed is the proud grandfather of two inquisitive and creative granddaughters. He is an up-cycler of arts, a gardener, an author, a trauma researcher, and a storyteller. The Pandemic, human atrocities, hate crimes against Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, and social injustices brought about writing the book Mending Education: Finding Hope, Creativity, and Mental Wellness in Times of Trauma. He is one of the co-founders of the Virtual Teachers' Lounge for Today (VTL4Today), a national support group for educators.
Ed explores the importance of individual ethnographic narratives, family, and community oral history on well-being. His Trauma-informed Care: Hope, Strengths, Resilience, Growth, and Healing, one of the two skill-based curricula, addresses the effect of Adverse Childhood Experiences and toxic stress on children and their families. The culturally responsive curricula include customization for community mental health agencies, schools, child protective services, housing stabilization programs, and youth development agencies.
After serving as clinical director of two nonprofits, he retired as the former Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the former Director of Adults and Children Services of Metro-Boston of the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. In addition to the House and Senate citations of his public stewardship on mental health, he received the 2015 Community Hero Award from the Massachusetts Asian American Commission. Born in Hong Kong, he was the first Asian American clinical psychologist appointed to the National Advisory Council of Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration.
Ed is currently the Director of Policy and Planning at the Division of Global Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He mentors public sector psychiatry in practice, program, and policy development. He founded The Consortium for Advancing Mental Well-being of Children and Young Adults. An international consortium of researchers, health and mental health providers, advocates with lived experience, focuses on improving the social and emotional well-being of youth, adolescents, and young adults across the globe.