Our Team
LEAP Board of Directors
Officers
-

Linda Akutagawa
PRESIDENT & CEO
Los Angeles, CALEAP
-

Rachel Gabato
TREASURER
San Francisco, CASenior Director, Product Management Merchandising Innovation Technologies at Walmart
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Patricia “Denise” Lopez
VICE CHAIR
Los Angeles, CAProfessor, Organizational Psychology at Alliant International University
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Annabel Sheron
SECRETARY
Chantilly, VAFormer Senior Engineering Manager, Arcfield
-

Wen-Fu Wu
CHAIR
New York, NYManaging Director, Deputy CIO
and Head of Fixed Income at TIAA
Directors
-

Arti Arora
Atlanta, GA
Vice President, Global Scientific & Regulatory Affairs at The Coca-Cola Company -

Tami Bui
Livermore, CA
Senior Government Affairs Manager at Turo
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Kenneth Chung
Southlake, TX
Former Executive Vice President, Commercial Insurance at Chubb Group
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Carlo Dela Fuente
San Jose, CA
Chief of Staff, Director of Business Operations at Cisco Collaboration and Artificial Intelligence at Cisco -

Sylvia Fulton
Minneapolis, MN
Vice President, New Stores & Remodels at Target -

Jeff Hong
Glastonbury, CT
Managing Director, Business Strategy at Accenture -

Shu Han Journay
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX
Chief Financial Officer at E8
-

Ursula Quan
Honolulu, HI
Chief Human Resources Officer at The Hana Group -

Lillian Teng
Rockville, MD
Senior Director, Cybersecurity Leader -

Tammy Tran
Rosemead, CA
Principal Manager, Supplier Diversity and Development at Southern California Edison -

Chris Yu
Santa Clara, CA
Lead UX Designer at Docusign
-

Meyling Ly Ortiz
Plano, TX
Managing Counsel, Toyota Motor North America
LEAP Staff
Management Team
-

Linda Akutagawa
PRESIDENT & CEO
(213) 485-1422 ext. 4115
lakutagawa@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗
Download Headshot ⇗ -

Grace Toy
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
(213) 485-1422 ext. 4117
gtoy@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -

Lisa Tan
DIRECTOR OF FINANCE
(213) 907-7539
ltan@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -

Alexander Cena
CHIEF PROGRAMS OFFICER
(213) 281-0255
acena@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -
Jeanelle Chang
CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER
(213) 810-8644
jchang@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗
Development Team
-

Celine Hoang
DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
(323) 646-0655
choang@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -

AV Phan
COMMUNICATIONS & DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR
(323) 449-8898
aphan@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗
Program Team
-

Chingcha Vang
SR. PROGRAM MANAGER
(323) 572-5992
cvang@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -

Elaine Chiu
PROGRAM MANAGER
(323) 646-7899 echiu@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -

Eledy Vargas Gonzalez
OPERATIONS MANAGER
(213) 453-7840
evargas@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -

Lauren Kojima
SR. PROGRAM COORDINATOR
(213) 631-6980
lkojima@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn ⇗ -

Dara Sengchanthavong
PROGRAM COORDINATOR
(213) 309-6944
dsengchanthavong@leap.org
Let’s Connect on LinkedIn⇗
2025 LEAP Faculty
Abe Ali
VP, Human Resources
Mt. San Antonio College
Ambrosia Kaui
Director, Grants and Contracts
Coalition for Asian American Children and Families
Ashley Diersch
Chief Advancement Officer
Paws with a Cause
Audrey Yamagata Noji
VP, Student Services
Mt. San Antonio College
DP Venkatesh
Chief Growth Officer
Cisco Collaboration
Eric Ramones
Associate Vice Chancellor, Human Resources
West Valley - Mission Community College District
Ernelyn Navarro
Coach and Consultant
Pearl Coaching
Fatima Bustos-Choy
Principal Coach
WholeMind Power Consulting
Frank Chong
President, Retired
Santa Rosa Junior College
Gabriel Esteban
President, Emeritus
DePaul University
Grace Toy
SVP of Administration & CFO
LEAP
Henry Gee
Vice President, Student Services, Retired
Rio Hondo College
Jae Requiro
Vice President, DEI
AEG
Jessica Li
Co-funder/Principal Consultant
HealingEquityUnited
Joan Torne
Associate Vice Chancellor & Chief of Staff, Human Resources
CSU Systemwide Human Resources
Jono Luk
Chief Product Officer
SumerSports
Kay Takano
Career Coach
Kay Takano Coaching
Kham Moua
National Deputy Director
Southeast Asian Resource Action Center
Leroy Morishita
Interim President, Retired
California State University, Los Angeles
Linda Akutagawa
President & CEO
LEAP
Lori Ideta
Interim Vice Chancellor for Students, Emerita
University of Hawai'i at Manoa
Nancy Cam-Winget
Cisco Fellow
Cisco
Paraag Maddiwar
Executive Director
Asianati
Pat Hayashi
Associate President, Retired University of California, Systemwide
Raymond Partolan
Program Officer
State Infrastructure Fund at NEO Philanthropy Inc.
Richard Yao
President
California State University Channel Islands
Rosie Abrahm
Former Chief Operating Officer
The Leader Project
Rowena Tomaneng
Deputy Chancellor of CA Community Colleges
California Community Colleges
Roxanne Raymundo
Vice President of Partner Operations and Success
Cisco
Sally Chan
Executive Advisor
Paramount Veterans Network
Sherwynn Umali
Deputy Chief of Staff
University of California, Irvine
Stacy Lee
Programs Specialist II
Mount San Antonio College
Stephanie Fujii
President
Arapahoe Community College
Stephanie Lowe
Chief Coach & Consultant
Power Within Coaching & Consulting
Vi Ly
Dean, Academic Affairs
Los Angeles City College
Wyman Fong
Vice Chancellor Human Resources, Retired
Chabot-Las Positas Community College District
