2022 Board Members
Connie C. So — President
Connie So is an immigrant from Kowloon, Hong Kong and is of Chinese (Cantonese-Toisanese/Yue) ancestry. She grew up in Seattle’s Beacon Hill neighborhood and graduated from the University of Washington with BAs in English and Communications. She received her Master’s in Public Administration from Princeton University and her Ph. D in Ethnic Studies (emphasis Political Science) at U.C. Berkeley. Since 1992, she has taught at the University of Washington’s American Ethnic Studies department and is a Professor of Teaching. Connie has been with OCA Greater Seattle since 1997, having previously served as interim president three times and vice president four times. As a lifelong resident of South Seattle, Connie enjoys staying involved with various activities serving the APIA and South Seattle community. Connie enjoys working with students and helping them get involved with Seattle’s APIA community. In her free time, she plays Klondike solitaire and watches Chinese and Korean dramas.
Bruce Huang — Vice President
Bruce Huang is a first generation Chinese American. He has a BA in Business Administration from the University of Washington. During the day, Bruce is a Information Technology professional. He is a life-long community volunteer since childhood with ventures with IDEC, Kiwanis club, ASUW ASC, UW CSA, and the King County Library. Bruce is a former president of the OCA Greater Seattle board. On the OCA board as the CEOC member representative to the Chinese speaking community, Bruce hopes to ensure materials and information will continue to be available in Chinese and other qualified minority languages.
Alyssa Au — Secretary
Alyssa Au grew up in South Seattle and Kent and is Chinese Vietnamese American. She earned a J.D. at University of Pittsburgh School of Law and a B.A. in in American Ethnic Studies and Political Science at University of Washington. Alyssa is currently an attorney at the Northwest Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit that assists and represents low-income clients experiencing financial difficulties in bankruptcy, debt defense, and other consumer law issues. Alyssa is also a part of Washington Women Lawyers, Asian Bar Association of Washington, and King County Bar Association. She first joined OCA Greater Seattle as an intern in 2012 and joined the board in 2016. In her free time, Alyssa loves cat-napping with her two cats: Tina and Luna. She also enjoys going on picnics, watching scary movies, and eating dim sum with her sister.
Dylan Hartono — Co-Treasurer
Willon Lew — Co-Treasurer
Willon (Will) Lew is a second generation Chinese American born and raised in Seattle. He earned degrees in Environmental Design and Law from the University of Washington. Will is a retired international HR executive (Senior Director, McDonald’s Corporation) formerly based out of Tokyo, Japan supporting a Japanese business market. Upon returning to the United States he was asked to consult for non-profit organizations and small businesses; he does this under the name Seattle Human Edge. Will is currently volunteering administrative services for the World Ventilator Foundation, a non-profit whose mission is bringing life saving air to anyone, anywhere by providing much needed ventilators to those in need. Will joined the OCA Greater Seattle board in 2014. In his free time, Will is writing his family legacy, traveling, and providing support and care for his family which includes four grandchildren. He also enjoys connecting with friends and family over breakfast, lunch, dinner, or coffee and decluttering a lifetime possessions in order to live a more efficient life.
Bernadette Connors — Board Member at large
Francisco Irigon — Board Member at large
Francisco “Frank” Irigon was born in the Philippines in 1947. His father soon joined the U.S. military, and was stationed in Kansas and Germany before ending at Fort Lewis, Washington, where he retired with his family to Tacoma. After attending high school in the Tacoma area, Frank served in the U.S. Army for three years, then used the GI Bill to attend Tacoma Community College from 1968-69, Seattle Central Community College from 1969-70, and then the University of Washington — first for a BA, then an MSW — from 1970-79. While in college, Irigon attended anti-war protests and served in ROTC at the same time. He also became increasingly engaged in the radical Asian youth movement. He was the first Asian American to serve on the UW student government (ASUW), served as Vice-Chair of the UW Asian Student Coalition from 1972-5, and was active in the movement to preserve the Chinatown/ International District.
Kendall Kosai — Board Member at large
Kendall Kosai is a 4th generation Japanese American born and raised in Puget Sound. He received a BA in Political Science and Minor in Japanese Language at the University of Washington. Kendall was on the OCA National staff from 2012 to 2019 and was the former deputy director. Kendall is currently Associate Regional Director at Anti-Defamation League Pacific Northwest, a leading anti-hate organization advocating for justice and fair treatment of all, creating anti-bias leaders, and strengthening community response to hate. He is also the current vice president of White River Buddhist Temple. Kendall joined the OCA Greater Seattle board in 2019. In his free time he enjoys traveling (not during a pandemic) and golfing.
Travis Quezon — Board Member at large
Travis Quezon was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai‘i and is descended from Filipino settlers in Hawai‘i. He has a BA in English from the University of Hawai‘i. Travis moved to Seattle in 2012 and currently lives in Federal Way. In Hawai‘i, Travis has been the interim editor of the Honolulu Weekly and executive editor of The Hawaii Independent. He received a Hawai‘i Publishers PAI award for enterprise reporting on Honolulu’s homeless communities in 2008. Travis has also worked as a freelance journalist for Reuters and Bloomberg. In Seattle, Travis has been the editor in chief of the International Examiner and executive director of The Seattle Globalist. Most recently Travis has doing communications and youth work with Asian Pacific Islander Coalition Advocating Together for Health and International Community Health Services. In his free time, Travis enjoys playing video games and volunteering for the community.
Terry Yaplee — Board Member at large
Terry Yaplee is a third generation Chinese American that was born in Hong Kong and grew up on Beacon Hill. He graduated from Cleveland High School and attended Seattle Central Community College after serving in the army as a CH-47 helicopter mechanic. Terry is a Vietnam Combat Veteran and is a lifetime member of the Nisei Vets. He is an executive board member on the Nisei Veterans Committee and was a past 2nd, Vice Commander. He retired from Boeing in 2013 as a Fabrication Manager and a Lean Manufacturing Consultant. Terry was most recently driving a bus for Keiro Northwest and for Legacy House/PACE before the COVID-19 pandemic. Terry joined OCA Greater Seattle in 2018 and became a board member in 2019. In his free time, Terry enjoys fishing, gardening, traveling, and spending time with his family and grandsons.
John Yasutake — Board Member at large
John Yasutake was a mediator with the King County Dispute Resolution Center. He graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Sociology, minoring in Political Science. He is married with six adult children and four grandchildren and a native of Seattle with four-plus decades of community service volunteering in numerous organizations including coaching high school and youth basketball, softball, and track. He worked at the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service as a Conciliation Specialist.
Interns:
OCA Greater Seattle interns at a 2019 MLK workshop on APIAs and Bullying. From left to right, front row: Amanda Quach, Phan Su, Katherine Kang (a workshop attendee from University Prep), Leyi Lei, Daniel Doan, Connie So (OCa Greater Seattle board member), Wen Eckelberg (representing ACRS). Back row, left to right: James Doan (representing ACRS), Johnny Do, Jaren Tilley (workshop volunteer), Han Eckelberg. — Photo courtesy of Julie Son.
OCA-GS interns that organized the Golden Circle dinner for 2014. Front row: Angelo Salgado, Lauren Wong, Derek Dizon, Sera Wang, Third Andresen. Second Row: Jill Redosendo, Jacqueline Wu, Emily Huynh, Connie So (VP), Jael Yamamoto, Kevin Chao, Tony Vu, Steven Chen, Maxwell Hamzah.
Interns for 2014 at Spring Luncheon. From Left to right, clockwise from 6p: Alyssa Au, Chi Saeteurn (Treasurer), Chris Patterson, Maxwell Hamzah, Sucheng Wang, Kevin Chao, Angelo Salgado, Jill Redosendo, Jacqueline Wu, Sera Wang.
Walk for Rice participants, 2013.
