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Jason Chan
President JASON CHAN is director of external affairs for AT&T, where he leads AT&T’s national Asian American and Pacific American Islander (AAPI) engagement.
Jason works to launch grassroots, high-impact campaigns that promote AT&T’s point of view in regard to federal and state legislation and regulation. He partners with the California and Federal External Affairs and Policy teams to develop strategies for third party campaigns and ensure strong cohesive messaging to communicate policy initiatives. Jason also works to ensure AT&T is an admirable corporate citizen, by strengthening the relationship with the AAPI community. With over a decade of experience in AAPI advocacy, Jason has been instrumental in developing the company’s investment in the community. Additionally, Jason leads California’s State Constituency Relations group, creating and managing relationships with leading statewide organizations, providing resources as needed for advocacy work and to advance key legislation. Jason also manages Believe Bay Area, a grassroots, employee-driven campaign focused on leveraging AT&T’s assets in the Bay Area market to support workforce development, career readiness programs, digital media and entertainment employment opportunities – with a focus on the Bay Area’s underserved and diverse communities. Prior to joining AT&T, Jason held multiple government appointments with the City and County of San Francisco including Appointments Secretary for Mayor Gavin Newsom and served as the Political Director for the Ed Lee for Mayor Campaign. Jason currently serves on the Board of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, California Asian Chamber of Commerce as well as the Ed Lee Asian Pacific Democratic Club and Equality California, the nation’s largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights organization. Jason has previously served on the California 1a District Agricultural Association, appointed by Governor Jerry Brown. Jason holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from Golden Gate University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from San Francisco State University. |
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John Tang
Secretary JOHN TANG is a senior manager of public affairs & communications for Coca-Cola North America, based in Los Angeles, CA. He is responsible for state and local government relations, community affairs, media relations, and leadership communications.
Prior to joining Coca-Cola, John was an account manager at Imprenta Communications Group, where he led strategic communications and managed a number of public affairs and outreach campaigns for various clients, including Covered California, California Student Aid Commission, and the Los Angeles Unified School District. An active member of his community, John is also an appointed planning commissioner for the City of Rosemead, a member of the Keep Los Angeles Beautification (KLAB) Advisory Board, and a member of the Center for Asian Americans United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE) Leadership Council. John graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California. |
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Ming-Tung "Mike" Lee
Treasurer MING-TUNG "MIKE" LEE, Ph.D. began his tenure as interim president of Sonoma State University on Monday, August 1, 2022.
With a career spanning 28 years at Sacramento State, Lee held several university leadership roles including vice president for Administration and Business Affairs/chief financial officer as well as interim provost and vice president for Academic Affairs. Lee retired from Sacramento State in 2018 and has since held emeritus status on the Sacramento State campus as a professor of Business Administration. Lee joined Sacramento State as an associate professor of marketing in 1990 before being promoted to professor in 1997. He also served as associate vice president and dean/vice provost for academic programs from 2005-10. He has served as a member of the faculty since then in addition to his administrative appointments. Lee earned a bachelor's degree in literature from Tunghai University in Taichung, Taiwan, and a master's degree in international commerce and a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Kentucky. Dr. Lee was the first Asian to serve in the Provost and the Vice President/CFO positions for Sacramento State. Dr. Lee and his wife, Fei, have a daughter and two sons. |
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Mona Pasquil Rogers
Member Mona Pasquil Rogers serves as Head of California Public Policy for Facebook, where she is responsible for managing relationships with policymakers throughout the state.
Prior to that, Pasquil Rogers served as Appointments Secretary in the Office of Governors Gavin Newsom and Edmund G. Brown Jr. where she was responsible for helping the Governor build his administration by recruiting top candidates to serve the state. In 2009, Pasquil Rogers served as Chief of Staff to California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi and Acting Lieutenant Governor, after Garamendi was elected to Congress. This marked the first time a woman, Asian Pacific Islander or Filipino-American served in this role. Pasquil Rogers is a veteran political advisor and strategist having directed presidential, gubernatorial and local campaigns across the nation. Her work includes serving as political director for twice-elected California Governor Gray Davis. She served as deputy CEO for the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California political director for the Gore-Lieberman campaign, and western political director for the White House Office of Political Affairs under President Bill Clinton. Mona was a member of the Democratic National Committee from 2003-2009 and worked as a strategic consultant for IBM's national, state and local government sales team. Mona has served on the California State Personnel Board since January 2019. She was also appointed to serve on the California American Water Board in May 2020. Her awards include a Presidential Citation to commemorate her service as the first Filipino-American lieutenant governor of California from former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Mona is most proud of her work mentoring California's youth to become more active in their communities. This work includes founding the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project of California, an organization dedicated to boosting Asian and Pacific Islander youth involvement in California policy. Mona continues her commitment to mentorship and serves as the president of California Women Lead and the California Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus Institute. |
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Barbara O' Connor
Member BARBARA O’CONNOR is a nationally recognized expert in the fields of political communication and telecommunications policy and applications. As senior counsel to Lucas Public Affairs, she provides strategic guidance for the public relations firm. Previous to that, Dr. O’Connor served many years as Professor of Communication Studies at California State University, Sacramento and director of the Institute for the Study of Politics and Media.
Currently, Dr. O’Connor serves on the national board of AARP and is a director and officer of the California Emerging Technology Fund. Dr. O’Connor received her doctorate in communications from the University of Southern California. She has served as an expert consultant to McClatchy Newspapers, the Boston Globe Media Properties, the Tribune Company, the Washington bureau of the Associated Press, the California Legislature, the California Public Utilities Commission, the Congress of the United States, and the Federal Communications Commission, among others. She is frequently used as an expert source on California politics by reporters throughout the state and nation. |
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Armand Feliciano
Member ARMAND FELICIANO is government and regulatory counsel in the firm’s Sacramento office. An experienced state government relations professional with more than 20 years in government affairs and extensive political relationships within the executive, legislative and regulatory bodies, he has deep experience in insurance policy, having worked in the property casualty and health insurance industries.
Armand helps clients form political, policy and regulatory strategy, and represents them at the California Legislature, Office of the Governor, and regulatory bodies such as the state’s Department of Insurance and Department of Managed Health Care. Prior to joining Manatt, he served as vice president of government relations for one of the nation’s largest national property casualty insurance trade organizations. There, he represented personal, commercial, and surplus line insurers in Alaska, Arizona, California, Idaho and Utah. His property casualty insurance policy background includes automobile, credit scoring, e-delivery, homeowners’, insuretech, sharing economy, subrogation related to wildfire and workers’ compensation. One of his key legislative accomplishments involved leading the advocacy efforts on legislation requiring automobile insurance for transportation network companies and their drivers, which served as a national model for other states after its passage. Armand also possesses a unique understanding of California’s healthcare system, having previously worked for a large health insurance company and for the largest state trade organization for providers. He has broad public-sector experience in both the executive and the legislative branches of government, which includes serving as deputy legislative secretary for California Governor Gray Davis, deputy attorney general for California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and Budget Committee consultant for Assemblymember Denise Moreno Ducheny and Senators Al Alquist and Hilda Solis. |
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Maeley Tom
Member Founding Board President MAELEY TOM was once described as “one of the most powerful and influential non-elected political figure in the Asian community” by the Asian Week Publication because of her career and political accomplishments, which helped break barriers for Asian Americans in politics.
Currently she is the only professional who has held the top executive positions of both houses of the California Legislature where she served as the Chief Administrative Officer of the Assembly and subsequently served as the Chief of Staff to the Senate pres. Pro Tem of the Senate. She was the first API to serve as a Deputy Director of a presidential campaign in California; the first non-elected API to serve on the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee, and the first API to serve on the California State Personnel Board. As State Chair of the California API Democratic Caucus, she organized the first statewide API Democratic Leadership Conference featuring gubernatorial candidates. As the Chair of the National Democratic Council of Asian Pacific Americans, she organized a national convention of API democratic leaders inviting U.S. presidential candidates to address API issues before a national public forum for the first time in history in 1987. She has participated in over 50 legislative campaigns, four gubernatorial campaigns and served as a volunteer national advisor on API issues for three presidential campaigns. She recently was on the API leadership task force to elect Governor Jerry Brown and Mayor Kevin Johnson. She currently serves as Mayor Johnson’s API community liaison as well as serves on the State Personnel Board. She is a former member of the CalPERS Board of Trustees, Founding President of the California API Legislative Caucus Institute which established the Capital Academy, Founding co-chair of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers, but is most well known for her mentorship of young leaders who have since been elected or appointed to local, state, congressional and executive offices. She is a member of C100 and the author of her published memoir on Amazon "I am not who you think I am." |
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Ron Tom
Member RON TOM joined Governmental Advocates in February 1998, and has spent three decades working in the political arena in a variety of positions. Dr. Tom's areas of expertise include: health care, waste management and recycling, air pollution, automotive emissions, alternative energy, higher education, Pacific Rim trade and business acquisitions, workers' compensation, and water issues. He has represented the firm's wide array of clients before the California Legislature, administrative agencies and departments, and various state boards and commissions.
Prior to joining Governmental Advocates, Dr. Tom served as director of governmental relations at the law firm of Damrell, Nelson, Schrimp, Pallios & Ladine for seven years. Before joining the Damrell firm, his positions included serving as Senior Legislative Advocate for the California Association of Hospitals & Health Systems; Chief Consultant to the Joint Legislative Committee on Medi-Cal Oversight; Chief Consultant to the Assembly Health Subcommittee on Medi-Cal; and Provider Relations Supervisor to Computer Sciences Corporation/ Government Health Services. In addition, Dr. Tom was a practicing pharmacist for 16 years, which gives him a unique and valuable perspective on a variety of health care issues. In addition to his professional work, Dr. Tom has been a volunteer member of several health care organization panels, including the Sacramento County Health Council; the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee to the Department of Personal Health; the County Health Agency on Extended Nursing Services to Senior Citizens; the Golden Empire Health System Agency's Planning Task Force on Long-Term Care; the Ad Hoc Pharmacy Advisory Group to the County Health Care Agency; the Department of Mental Health's Technical Advisory Board on Drug Abuse; Pharmacy Liaison to the Sacramento Chapter, American Red Cross; and member of the Board of Directors of the Community Services Planning Council. He was also a Major in the California National Guard Medical Unit. Dr. Tom graduated with honors from the University of the Pacific, where he received both a Doctor of Pharmacy and a B.S. in Pharmacy. He is married with two grown children. |
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Anthony Williams
Member ANTHONY WILLIAMS is Director of Public Policy for Amazon in California. He also serves as a Member of the Board of Directors of the California High Speed Rail Authority and previously was Governor Gavin Newsom’s first Legislative Affairs Secretary.
His legislative experience includes serving two California Senate Leaders: John Burton and Darrell Steinberg for whom he was Policy Director and Special Counsel. He has also been a legislative advocate for the Judicial Council of California and a Senior Executive and Chief Lobbyist for the State Bar of California. In 2007, he co-founded the Wada Williams Law Group, LLP, a Sacramento based law and lobbying firm. Anthony has represented clients in regulatory, civil and criminal matters in the federal and state courts and agencies. In 2014, he was appointed by Governor Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown to serve on the California Fish and Game Commission. He is also founder and president of the Stand Strong Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to developing excellence in youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Anthony received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from U.C. Davis, a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, and a Juris Doctorate degree from McGeorge School of Law with distinction. He is an avid reader and high-handicap golfer who, above all, enjoys spending time with his wife and three school-aged children. |
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Tami Bui
Member Tami Bui is currently a Senior Government Affairs Manager for Turo, based in San Francisco.
Turo is the world’s first and largest peer-to-peer car sharing marketplace. In her role, she shares Turo’s vision of increasing economic opportunity for everyday people who represent a rich diversity of demographics. Regulating this industry remains unchartered territory, which means she is constantly thinking of new ways to connect with policymakers and bring this story to life. Tami has community and government affairs experience in private and public sectors. She previously served as the Associate Vice President of Government and Community Relations for California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), in her hometown of Orange County. CSUF is the largest CSU in the system with over 40,000 students and represent the amazing opportunity to many, like Tami, who are first generation college students. Prior to CSUF, she served as the head of Corporate Philanthropy for Southern California Edison (SCE). In her ten years with SCE, she held various roles ranging from Local Public Affairs to Corporate Communications. Before joining SCE, Tami worked in Sacramento for several members of the California State Legislature including the former Senator Tom Torlakson and the former Senate President Pro Tempore Don Perata and now Congressmembers Judy Chu and Lou Correa. Tami received her bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UC Irvine. She and her husband currently live in the Bay Area with their two children who keep her active and continue to motivate her commitment to public service and civic engagement. |
