STAFF

PROGRAM DIRECTOR, Edward Hsieh, is a lifelong nonprofit leader, advocate and innovator, with over fifteen years experience running nonprofit organizations. Most recently, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the Asian American Civic Association, where he supervised the workforce development team, the youth center, and information technology department, while also spearheading the development of five new workforce development job training programs designed to empower immigrants and underserved individuals. At the same time, Edward served as acting Editor of the Sampan Newspaper, the only Chinese/English biweekly print newspaper in New England, and in that role, he actively spoke on AAPI issues, such as anti-Asian hate and cultural appropriation, and was featured alongside US Senator Markey and on shows like Basic Black with Callie Crossley on WGBH. Prior to that, Edward served as an Executive Director at several nonprofits driving impact through advocacy, educational programming, major conferences, and mass media campaigns. In his free time, Edward is very active in the martial arts community and currently serves as a Tai Chi Chuan instructor at the Harvard University Wellness Center. Edward has an A.B. in Environmental Science and Public Policy from Harvard University.

HEALTH EDUCATION ADVOCATE, Phung Luu, a marketing enthusiast who wants to do things better. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in Economic Information System at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh city and a Master of Science in International Marketing Management at the University of Buckingham in Singapore, she worked for many big companies in Vietnam for seven years and held important positions: Marketing Manager at Yan Media Group and Brand Manager for Kiddy brand at CALOFIC. Before joining AWFH, she was a former Whole Body Team Member of Whole Foods Market, which fostered her sense of being a healthier woman. Being an immigrant who has first-hand experience of dealing with women's health issues and complexity of the U.S healthcare system, Phung finds great empathy with the Asian women living in America and wants to do something. For this reason, she is eager to be a part of AWFH where she can empower individuals with the knowledge and resources necessary to better manage their own health and that of their families. 
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COMMUNICATIONS & EVENTS COORDINATOR, Joanne Trinh, is a visual artist, designer and communications specialist. Originally from CT and with a background in art history, she moved to Boston to work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and the SoWa Art & Design District before finding her way to the nonprofit world. At the Asian American Civic Association, she found her passion of using creative solutions to improve organizations’ communications strategies and amplify the voices of underserved communities. She is excited to continue doing this work at Asian Women For Health and advocating for health equity across communities of color. You can find her painting murals, crocheting, or discovering Boston's best eats. 

PROGRAM COORDINATOR, Kim Huynh, achieved her Bachelor of Art in Public Health at the University of California, Merced in 2017, and achieved her Master in Public Health at San Jose State University in 2020. Kim's research in Asian American Women Experiences on Domestic Violence was presented at the Southeast Asian American Studies Conference in 2020. Kim currently serves as an executive board member for EM Collective, a non-profit organization that serves the AAPI community in the Bay Area. Kim is a community builder and healer that continuous to promote overall health, wellness, and activism through all AAPI communities through her work in program education. Outside of her work and side hustle, Kim is a travel enthusiast, plant mom, nature lover, spiritual practitioner, and coffee addict.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT, Preston Dang, is a current graduate student at the Tufts University School of Medicine, completing his Master’s Degree in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Before moving to Boston, Preston completed his Bachelor of Science at the University of California, Los Angeles, majoring in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, and minoring in Asian American Studies and Global Health. During his undergraduate years, Preston also served as Research and Evaluations director for Asian Pacific Health Corps at UCLA, a student-run health outreach organization that helps promote healthy lifestyles among underserved Asian and Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations in the Greater Los Angeles area. Preston is excited to continue to have the opportunity to serve AAPI populations in Boston in the context of health, as a part of Asian Women for Health. Outside of work, you can find him on the soccer field, on the rock-climbing wall, or inside of a lion head during Lunar New Year.

RESEARCH ASSISTANT, Mi Vu, achieved a bachelor's degree in Health Psychology at MCPHS. Growing up in Vietnam, she experienced mental health issues while not knowing what they were. Immigrating to the US has given her the chance to learn and study those issues. Because of cultural barriers, there are not a lot of Asian Americans who seek help when they experience mental health issues. They think it is a disease or a shame to talk about their own problems with others. Therefore, she wants to utilize her knowledge to help and improve the quality of life among the Asian American community. Joining Asian Women for Health is her first step to getting closer to our community. 

Ambassadors

Amy Hsu graduated from Wellesley College in 2019 with a degree in Psychology. With longstanding interest to care for people at their most vulnerable, she hopes to pursue medicine as a career. Noticing the lower rates at which Asian women complete their preventative services at her full-time job at a community health center, she began volunteering with AWFH by serving its mission to educate, advocate and support the health of minority women. She is excited to officially join the AWFH staff but most of all, to continue working towards improving the health and well-being of communities in Massachusetts.

Andrea Lai is a recruiting coordinator at Pure Storage, a tech company based in Mountain View, California. She was born and raised on the beautiful island of Guam and moved to California to study Accounting and Finance at Santa Clara University. There, she became involved in the Multicultural Student Union and served on the board of the Asian Pacific-Islander Student Union. Andrea is currently the co-lead of the API-SEA Council as part of her work’s diversity employee resource group. Harboring a passion for mental health, she is excited to be a part of the AWFH community and advocate for change.

Jennifer Liu is a second-year undergraduate student at Tufts University from Indonesia studying mechanical and biomedical engineering. She is involved in the Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia Students Association at Tufts and Cornerstone education, an organization that aims to empower the Indonesian youth through education. Jennifer's tenure with AWFH is her first of many steps along a lifelong path of advocacy dedicated to women empowerment and health activism. She is excited to be a part of a community that strives to improve the health and well-being of Asian women.

Rachel Park is a digital project manager and focuses on operations and strategic planning. After graduating with a B.A. in history from Bryn Mawr College, Rachel taught English in Seoul, South Korea for two years. Since then, she has worked on web teams in higher education, healthcare IT, and e-commerce. Rachel’s mission-oriented mindset has led to her involvement in the Boston nonprofit community. She is passionate about raising awareness on Asian women’s mental health, as well as health equity across communities of color.

Thanh Trinh is a scientist with extensive research experience in neurology. She holds a B.A. in Biology from Clark University and is pursuing a Master’s in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University. She was a former researcher-lab manager at UMASS Medical School, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Medical Center, and currently a scientist at a biotech company. Being exposed to academia, clinical settings, biopharmaceutical industry, as well as the diverse and vulnerable populations through her clinic and volunteer work, she is deeply passionate about science, and translating research into practices and policies with the mission to improve healthcare in the long term to help the vulnerable and underserved populations. Thanh finds her passion meets with AWFH's mission, where she strongly believes that legislative action and public policy coupled with education awareness programs can bring great change to holistic healthcare, especially to Asian women and women of color, in a broad range of physical and mental health.