Rini Banerjee has two decades of experience in philanthropy. An Integrated Capital Fellow at RSF Social Finance, she has served as Executive Director at Foundation for a Just Society, Program Officer at the Overbrook Foundation, and Program Director at the New York Women’s Foundation. She is a trustee of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation and Board member of Funders for Reproductive Equity, and has co-created or served on groups including the NYC-based Asian Women’s Giving Circle, Philanthropy Advancing Women’s Human Rights, the Groundswell Fund, and the Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing. She was a past Board Chair of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP) and past Board member of South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!). She holds a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University and a BSc in finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Chitra Aiyar brings over 25 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including serving as Executive Director at Sadie Nash Leadership Project and Senior Staff Attorney at African Services Committee, teaching graduate courses on nonprofit administration at Baruch and CUNY’s School of Professional Studies. As a capacity builder and researcher, Chitra helped nonprofits secure over $2 billion in PPP loans during the pandemic and authored a report that is shaping innovative retirement plan designs for nonprofit workers. She recently completed an LLM in Taxation to better understand how tax policy affects wealth distribution and the nonprofit ecosystem. A longtime volunteer with Giving Circle grantee Andolan (funded in 2007 and 2013 for a theatre and film project) she is excited to bring a grantee’s perspective to the Steering Committee.

Leslie Chang is the author of the poetry collection Things That No Longer Delight Me. She received a BA from Harvard College and an MFA from Columbia University and served on the board of Kundiman, an organization supporting Asian American writers, through 2016. Leslie joined AWGC in 2020. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

Lily is a nonprofit fundraiser, social justice advocate, writer, and attorney. She is currently the Chief Strategy Officer of Girls Inc. of NYC and Executive Director of Asian Boss Ladies. Prior to Girls Inc., Lily served as the Director of Development of Lawyers Alliance for New York, the Director of Development & Communications of Girl Be Heard, and has also worked at the Hedge Fund Law Report, Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, South Brooklyn Legal Services, and Earthjustice. She is an Aspen Institute Fellow, an inaugural member of the Omega Institute Juno Leadership Collective, and former Board Member of the Chinese American Education Association of California. She received a JD from NYU School of Law, and BAs in Philosophy and Political Science from UC Irvine. She lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn with her husband and two children.

Lisa is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer and editor for progressive causes. She is the author of a book of poems, Mouth, and a novel, Activities of Daily Living (W.W. Norton), inspired by the life and work of the performance artist Tehching Hsieh. It was a finalist for the PEN/Hemingway Award and Gotham Book Prize and named a Best Book of 2022 by the New Yorker and Vogue. Born in Taipei, she holds a BA from UC Berkeley and an MFA from the University of Iowa and is a member of the NYC Books Through Bars collective and the editorial board of Kaya Press, an independent publisher of writers from the Asian diaspora.

Angela joined AWGC in 2012. She is a senior program officer at the Freedom Together Foundation, which seeks to help people who have been denied power to build it, so they can change unjust systems and create a more democratic, inclusive, and sustainable society. Previously, she was at NYU Law, Fund for the City of New York, Open Society Foundations, and Lawyers Alliance for New York. Angela holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the NYU Wagner School of Public Service and a Bachelor’s in Politics from NYU. She is proud to be an immigrant from Taiwan.

Kathleen (Kat) is an actor, singer, screenwriter, producer, and video editor, with a BFA in Film Production from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MFA in Acting from the New School for Drama. She also serves as an Artistic Board Member for the theater company Revolution Shakespeare in Philadelphia. She has appeared in film and television in Ella McCay, Law and Order:SVU, Maniac, Broad City; and for theater Noises Off, Avenue Q, and Are You There, Truman?. She is very grateful to be a part of creating and promoting change through intergenerational Asian sisterhood with AWGC. In her spare time she enjoys libraries, knitting, cooking, a good adventure, a good hike, and spending time with family and friends.

A founding member of AWGC, Aiyoung is passionate about many things. Born in Korea, she grew up in China, Taiwan, and Japan, coming to the US to attend Knox College. She firmly believes in the power of art to inspire, embrace, and heal. She is deeply committed to ending all forms of violence against women, upholding LGBTQ rights, supporting the leadership of women and youth, and building peace on the Korean Peninsula. A former artist, teacher, editor, publicist, and human resources manager, she is a mentor, coach and consultant to nonprofits, and serves on several boards. Currently, she is Board Chair of Women Cross DMZ, an organization of women peacemakers that launched Korea Peace Now! a global campaign to bring an end to the 70-year-old, still un-ended Korean War. Aiyoung and her husband Gene are blessed with many grandkids, and she especially loves creative cooking, all types of music and dance, and traveling.

Melinda is an advocate for equity and the Asian American community. She is a founding member of the Asian Women Giving Circle, is on the Steering Committee of the Asian Affinity Roundtable and volunteers for the Asian American Justice + Innovation Lab.  She was on the board of the Girls & Boys Projects (Institute for Labor & Community), a New York Cares volunteer, served on the Grants Advisory Committee of the New York Women’s Foundation and has worked as an account director at IW Group and a paralegal in Time Inc. She enjoys figuring out her family’s complicated Chinese American genealogy and relaxes by watching really bad and really good television.

Shinhee is a founding member of AWGC. She is a psychotherapist who divides her time among the New School University Counseling Services, her private practice, and writing on race and psychoanalysis. Her work and research focus around Asian American mental health, literature, psychoanalysis, art and social activism. She is the co-author with David Eng of Racial Melancholia, Racial Dissociation: On the Social and Psychic Lives of Asian Americans (Duke University Press). Shinhee aspires to be a salsa dance queen.

Cassie Henry is Chief Operating Officer at COURIER Newsroom, one of the fastest-growing independent news media networks in the United States, where she oversees strategy, operations, finance, revenue and organizational growth. With a background spanning political campaigns, media, finance, and management consulting, she specializes in building systems to make sustainable growth possible and aligning teams around clear strategic priorities. Born in Jakarta and raised in Houston, Cassie brings both a global perspective and a deep commitment to community-driven impact. She is honored to support the mission of Asian Women's Giving Circle and its work advancing racial, gender, and economic justice through the power of collective philanthropy.Description goes here

Helen Koh is a specialist in East Asian culture and history. She has been on the faculty of Columbia University and is the founding director of Art Science Connect, an initiative of the CUNY Graduate Center that bridges art and science through research, public programs, and conferences. She is writing a biography of video artist Nam June Paik.

Pat is Chief of Staff at Custom Collaborative which supports no-/low-income and immigrant women to get good-paying jobs or start a sustainable business in the fashion industry. Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer at The Century Foundation after serving as interim Executive Director at various nonprofits undergoing leadership changes. Earlier, she was Managing Director at the National Employment Law Project, and Vice President for Finance & Administration at the F.B. Heron Foundation. She has also held executive positions in the corporate/ entrepreneurial sectors. Pat is an avid sailor, quilter, traveler, and the adoring baachan (grandmother) to two grandsons.

In 2025, Hali Lee was named to the inaugural Time 100 Philanthropy in recognition of her work building collective giving. In 2021, she was named to Forbes’ 50 Over 50: Impact in recognition of her work as a founder of the Donors of Color Network, the first-ever national network of wealthy folks of color, Philanthropy Together, a national collective giving support organization, and the Asian Women Giving Circle. Today, she leads a boutique consulting practice, Radiant Strategies, whose clients include Fidelity Charitable, the Gates Foundation, and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Hali is a frequent public speaker, who in the last year has made appearances at more than fifty conferences and events. Her work has been covered by the Washington Post, New York Times, and Good Housekeeping, who called her “The Mindful Giver” and one of “10 Women Over 50 Who Prove It’s Never Too Late to Change the World.” Her first book, THE BIG WE, was published by Sweet July/ Zando in 2025. Hali lives in Brooklyn with her family, a big love of a dog, and rooftop honey bees.

Sue is a nonprofit fundraising and communications professional who has held senior-level positions in health, education, and advocacy organizations such as CancerCare, the Garrison Institute, and the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF). Earlier in her career, Sue held various development/communications roles in cultural institutions such as Symphony Space and the Museum of Chinese in America. In addition to her professional work, Sue taught grant writing at the Hunter College School of Social Work. Currently, Sue is a member of Impact 100 NYC, a collective that awards transformational grants to NYC-based nonprofits and is a consultant for Potluck Asian America. Sue received an MS in Health Services Management from The New School and a BA in English from SUNY Buffalo. In her spare time, Sue enjoys going to the movies, the theater, museums, anything that has to do with food, and all things NYC.

Alice is a writer, currently studying poetry and teaching at NYU. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and can be found in literary journals such as The Rumpus and The Margins from Asian American Writers’ Workshop. She is also a data and technology consultant in the nonprofit sector, following a career in analytics at Rethink Food, The New York Times, and the Federal Reserve, among other organizations. She is an MFA candidate and she holds a BA from Wellesley College. For fun, she constructs crossword puzzles and plays piano. A 1.5-generation immigrant from China, Alice now lives in Brooklyn and is grateful to be a part of the Asian American arts community.

Ellen is Director of Capacity Building and Learning at the Ms. Foundation where she was formerly Director of Women’s Health. She previously worked as Program Officer at Open Society Foundations’ Public Health Program on international public health and human rights issues. She is a second-generation immigrant and the daughter of Taiwanese floral entrepreneurs. Ellen has lived in China, Taiwan, and Italy, and has traveled extensively in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Southern Africa. She enjoys yoga, singing karaoke and baking with her young son.

Marissa has over a decade of experience working in nonprofits and government where she has managed operations, policy and data teams, and led advocacy campaigns centered on the Asian American community, young people, and immigrant communities. Currently, Marissa is a consultant focused on facilitation, advocacy strategy, capacity building, and organizational development. She is the Project Lead of the Neighborhoods First Fund and Coordinator of the New York City Capacity Building Collaborative. Prior to consulting, Marissa served as the Executive Director of the Advocacy Institute, an organization committed to supporting the legislative advocacy of social justice and movement building organizations in New York State. 

For over 20 years, Marissa has worked as an adoptee advocate to strengthen the community and voice of the adoptee community. She is an advisory board member and past president of Also-Known-As, Inc., a volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to creating innovative educational programs and community-building activities for those on their adoption life journey. Marissa holds an LMSW from Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College. 

After a long break from practicing law, BJ joined the Compliance Division of Goldman Sachs & Co. in 2013, moved on to Societe Generale in 2015, and has been at Morgan Stanley since 2017 in governance, regulatory risk, and operational risk roles.  As of July 2020, BJ will be leading CRA regulatory compliance for Morgan Stanley’s Community Development Finance group and community relations with CRA partners.  She has raised three daughters and served on the boards of the NY Asian Women’s Center and the Korean American League for Civic Action. She has a BS from MIT, a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard, and her M.Phil and JD are from NYU. In her spare time, BJ enjoys Korean TV dramas, reading, and spending time with her family.

Born and bred in Manhattan, Raquel works in the travel industry on development, strategic positioning, and negotiations of products in the tour market for Asia, Africa, and North America. She holds an MA in Cultural Policy from Columbia University and a BA from Fordham University. Alongside travel, Raquel’s other loves include theater, dance, and cupcakes.

Andine Sutarjadi is a speaker, facilitator and writer on next generation philanthropy who has dedicated her career toward advancing inclusive practices in philanthropic decision-making, governance and advising. Currently, she serves as the Director at 21/64, a nonprofit practice providing multigenerational advising, facilitation and training for next generation engagement within family philanthropy and enterprises. An advocate for health equity, Andine is a Technical Advisor for Pyramid Life Care, a social enterprise she co-founded with her mother that provides health and holistic services to elderly communities in her home city of Jakarta, Indonesia. As an Asian-American feminist, Andine serves on the steering committee of the Asian Women Giving Circle and is Vice Chair of Asian American Futures – an organization that aims to cultivate philanthropy in the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community and to ensure that AAPIs are an essential part of the American narrative.

Vivian is Senior Vice President, Program, at the William T. Grant Foundation, leading its grantmaking and initiatives that connect research, policy, and practice to improve child and youth outcomes. Deeply committed to mentoring young researchers and strengthening the career pipeline for scholars of color, her leadership of the Foundation’s Scholars Program extended its racial diversity. She was Assistant Professor in Psychology and Asian American Studies at CSUN, and has a Ph.D. from NYU and a BA from UCLA. She is a fan of Star Trek (new, old, new versions of old) and reports never having enough time at the beach, eating, drinking wine, and being with friends!

A founding member of AWGC, is an experienced strategist and leader with 25+ years of experience in social change work. She collaborates with visionary groups to strengthen their impact through thoughtful planning, systems building, team leadership, and partnerships. As Chief of Staff to filmmaker, philanthropist, and activist Abigail E. Disney, Angie brings her expertise in both big-picture strategy and day-to-day operations to various initiatives and organizations, including the Daphne Foundation, Level Forward, Fork Films, and Peace is Loud, where she was the first executive director. Her previous roles include serving as Director of Programs at The New York Womens Foundation, where she supported grantee partners through grantmaking and capacity building, and as Program Director at the September 11th Fund, where she managed grant programs for crisis services and health care for dislocated workers in New York and Washington DC. Prior to this, she worked at Safe Horizon, in several roles managing programs for survivors of violence and abuse. Angie serves on the boards of the Gbowee Peace Foundation Africa-USA, Level Forward and Peace is Loud. She is also a Steering Committee member and co-founder of the Asian Women Giving Circle and an advisor to the Ellen Frank Illumination Arts Foundation.

Melissa has led many professional lives as a theater performer, teacher, cultural programs producer, and fundraiser.

Melissa is the Director of Individual Giving at Guttmacher Institute, a think tank on sexual and reproductive health and rights. She was also the Director of Institutional Giving at the Museum of Chinese in America. As a consultant, she has raised funds for national and global organizations that advocate for women's and girls' rights, the safety of human rights defenders, criminal justice reform, and avoidable blindness.

Dedicated to service, Melissa has held leadership and board positions in academic professional organizations for over a decade. She served on the steering committee of the Mosaic Network and Fund, a New York Community Trust initiative that advocates for equitable funding structures for ALAANA (African, Latinx, Asian, Arab, and Native American) cultural organizations. She has volunteered with Women in Development, New York, since 2018 and is currently secretary on its executive board.

Melissa holds a PhD and an MPhil in theatre and performance from City University of New York Graduate Center, an MA in performance studies from New York University Tisch School of the Arts, and a BA with honors in English literature from the National University of Singapore.

Home is Brooklyn with her family, and she takes advantage of NYC's fantastic arts and cultural programming whenever she can.

Xin is a nonprofit fundraising professional with human rights grantmaking experience. She believes movement-led philanthropy and donor-of-color activism support the revolutionary transfer of power necessary for social and racial justice movements. Xin is an intersectional feminist, who is pro-Black and anti-capitalist. Born in China, Xin considers herself a Midwesterner at heart with an appreciation of New York’s pace. She currently resides in the Bronx. Xin fosters a love of library books, Star Trek, and all things Dwayne The Rock Johnson. She is grateful for the opportunity to show up for Asian communities through this intergenerational sisterhood.

For over 15 years, Joyce represented the UN Development Programme in Jamaica, Malaysia, and Western Samoa. Her last UN posting was in Bonn, Germany as Deputy Coordinator of UN Volunteers, the world’s largest volunteer corps, serving most of the UN Peacekeeping missions. Previously, she was Executive Director of the Ms. Foundation for Women and Program Officer at the Otto Bremer Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was a founding board member of Women, Foundations & Corporate Philanthropy, New York Grantmakers Association, and President of the Museum of the Chinese in America. A long-time organizer for community social services, urban development, and the peace and civil rights movements, Joyce has served on the board of the YWCA Brooklyn and as a former tenant and community organizer she remains active in her neighborhood organizations.  She lives in a historic brownstone in  Brooklyn with her husband Ed, daughter Alicia and their big old dog.