Angela Okamura
McGeorge School of Law, 2004

A 1998 graduate of University of California, Davis, Angela Okamura has a long history of involvement and leadership in the APA communities in which she has lived as well as at her schools. While at UC Davis, she formed the Asian Pacific American Political Association to inform the UC Davis campus about APA student needs and to advocate constructive changes. Among her numerous other activities, Angela was a Planning Board member of the Japanese Cultural Club, Volunteer Chair of the Japanese Cultural Club, and Planning Board member of the Asian Pacific Islander Leadership Conference at UC Davis, and a Founding Board member and Chief Editor of the Newsletter of the Asian American Student Association at Cal State Sacramento. For the last three years she has been working as a Research Associate at UC San Francisco while continuing to volunteer to support, among others, the March of Dimes, Special Olympics, the Japantown Cultural Festival, and the Sacramento Public Library Literacy Program, and to act as an Advocate in the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program in Sacramento.

Erin Oshiro
UCLA School of Law, 2004

Erin Oshiro is a 1999 graduate of UCLA. Prior to attending law school, Erin was a Judicial Administration Fellow with Cal State Sacramento. In that role, she conducted a study of the operations of the Los Angeles Superior Court which may lead to major changes to improve the accessibility of court services to the community. While an undergraduate at UCLA, Erin worked as an intern with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles where she was responsible for workshops to provide low income workers, primarily Chinese and Latino, with information about their employment rights. She played an important role in the historic Thai garment workers’ case and was recognized for her efforts and leadership by APALC which gave her their Annual Pro Bono Award in 1999. She has continued her involvement in the APA community with her work at the Little Tokyo Service Center and the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Center.

Julie Chen
University of Texas at Austin School of Law, 2004

A graduate of the journalism program at the University of Texas, Austin, Julie Chen has written for several newspapers and publications. She has also taught English to students in Kowloon, China, and assisted students at Hong Kong Baptist University. While an undergrad, Julie co-chaired the Asian Cultural Committee which raised funds and sponsored speakers at the University of Texas.

Jae Choi-Kim
DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, 2002

A 1983 graduate of the University of Chicago, Jae Choi-Kim has been a leader in the Asian and Korean American business community. Her numerous accomplishments include being President of the Montrose Irving Chamber of Commerce, organizing a choral concert that raised $25, 000 to aid torched Black churches in the South, and organizing press conferences as President of the Korean American Citizens Coalition during the events surrounding the Rodney King verdict. She has undertaken many projects to bring together the diverse communities in this country, including work with the American Jewish Committee, the Illinois Ethnic Coalition and the Japanese American Citizens League.

Michael Anh Dang
University of California at Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, 2003

Michael Dang developed an English curriculum for Vietnamese refugees while working at a refugee camp in Hong Kong, interned at the Southeast Asia Resource Action Center in Washington D.C. analyzing legislation affecting Southeast Asian Americans, and volunteered to assist the Asian Law Caucus with their fundraising. His undergraduate independent research project was a field study on violence and drug abuse in the Hong Kong refugee camp.

Jae-Min Han
University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2002

Jae-Min Han is a 1997 graduate of the State University of New York — Binghamton and has studied at Moscow State University. She was Editor-in-Chief of Asian Outlook in Binghamton, a member of a Korean folk drumming troupe, and a Team Administrator at the Bronx Defenders office. Jae-Min also worked as an intern with Human Rights Watch in New York City.

Anh Nguyen
Seattle University School of Law, 2003

A 1996 graduate of University of Washington, Anh Nguyen has taught English to Vietnamese immigrants with Helping Hand, counseled battered women with the Women Center of New York, and worked as a legal assistant with the International District Legal Clinic in Seattle. She has also worked as a field producer with KVBC News in Las Vegas and KATU News in Portland, Oregon, taught English at the Vietnam National University in Ho Chi Minh City and participated in the NAPABA Law Foundation’s Thomas Tang National Moot Court Competition the last two years.

Avantika Rao
UC Davis Martin Luther King, Jr. School of Law, 2002

Avantika Rao received her BA from Wellesley in 1998 and has studied at the University of Wisconsin’s India Program in Bunaras and at the University of Pune, both in India. She has worked tirelessly with community service organizations: the Family Protection Clinic in Woodland, California, the Legal Services Employment Clinic in Sacramento, the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco, the Immigration Law Clinic at UC Davis.

Charmagne Topacio
Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2002

While studying at Loyola University Chicago, where she graduated 1999, Charmagne Topacio was Vice President of the Chinese-American Student Alliance, an organization that she helped revive after being abandoned. She was also Council President of the East Village Youth Program, and was an officer of the Loyola University South Side Government Association. While at law school, she is Vice President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students’ Association, was a judicial extern in the ABA’s Minority Judicial Externship Program and is a Pro Bono Clinic Volunteer with Asian Human Services in Chicago.

Pao Yang
Hamline University School of Law, 2002

Pao Yang graduated from Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1999. He was a Students of Color Recruiter for Concordia, a legislative intern for Rep. Andy Dawkins of the Minnesota House of Representatives and a Coordinator for the Asian American Census Awareness Committee. At Concordia, he was also President of the Southeast Asian Student Association and Co-Captain of the men’s soccer team. At Hamline University School of Law, Pao is Vice President of the Asian-Pacific American Law Student Association and Student Representative for the Hmong Bar Association.

Judge Robert M. Takasugi Fellowships for Public Interest Law $5, 000
The NAPABA Law Foundation supports RANN and public interest fellowship programs in honor of United States District Court Judge Robert M. Takasugi to recognize his many years of dedication, commitment and service to the Asian Pacific American legal community.

Minah Park
Loyola Law School, 2002

As the 2001 Takasugi Fellow for Southern California, Minah worked with the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles in their Housing Improvement Project. There, Minah assisted Legal Aid counsel in various stages of litigation as well as participated in a community outreach program focused on educating Korean-speaking tenants of their housing rights. Minah also interviewed tenants to help identify “slum” buildings that the Housing Improvement Project targeted through litigation.

Kathleen Park
Stanford University School of Law, 2002

The 2001 Takasugi Fellow for Northern California found herself dedicating her summer to her work with immigrants at the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights in San Francisco. Through the Lawyer’s Committee, Kathleen interviewed and provided direct legal services to Ethiopian, Chinese and Vietnamese immigrants and refugees. She also assisted Lawyer’s Committee attorneys in its Asylum Program and in combatting the unlawful detention of immigrants by law enforcement.

Diana Lin
As a student at Pomona College, Diana Lin worked to establish an Asian American Student Resource Center and advocated for the hiring of the school’s first full-time Asian American Studies professor. She continued her advocacy on issues affecting Asian Pacific Americans: at Asian Americans for Equality, where she supported the rights of Asian immigrants; as fundraising co-chair for the Conference on Asian Pacific American Leadership where she raised funds for Asian American internships; as a Legislative Correspondent for Senator Carol Moseley-Braun where she worked on legislation to improve inner city schools; and at the Ford Foundation where she developed a program to increase jobs for young professionals in social justice organizations. She has also held internships at the MacArthur Foundation and the Department of Human Services for San Francisco. She is currently a Public Interest Law Scholar at Georgetown University Law Center.

Ms. Michelle Tong
McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, Sacramento, California, Class of 2001
University of California at Santa Cruz, B.A. 1996
Nankai University, People’s Republic of China 1994

Michelle Tong has been a strong advocate for Asian Pacific Americans through her work as an intern with the Asian Law Alliance while in college, and as a paralegal for three years with the Asian Law Caucus. In these positions, she has assisted Asian immigrants with issues involving immigration, employment rights, domestic violence, housing and civil rights. At the McGeorge School of Law, Ms. Tong has been a member and leader of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association, the Unity Board and the Black Law Students Association.

NAPABA Law Foundation Scholarship
Mr. Andre Geverola
University of Chicago Law School, Chicago, Illinois, Class of 2003
University of California, San Diego, B.S. 2000

While studying at the University of California, San Diego, Andre Geverola worked as an Executive Assistant for the San Diego Association of Mortgage Brokers where he was instrumental in organizing community service activities and volunteered his time for Habitat for Humanity and Kidfest, an event featuring free fingerprinting of children. At the same time, Andre worked with the Upward Bound program to assist inner city students, first as a teaching assistant for chemistry and algebra, then as a tutor, and finally as a chemistry instructor; he created and taught a general chemistry curriculum.

Judge Robert M. Takasugi Fellowships For Public Interest AW
The NAPABA Law Foundation participated in the formation this year of a public interest fellowship program in honor of United States District Court Judge Robert M. Takasugi to recognize his many years of dedication, commitment and service to the Asian Pacific American legal community.

Mr. Do Kim
University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, Los Angeles, California, Class of 2002

For work at the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on projects including fighting racial profiling by the Los Angeles Police Department and increasing police officer accountability.

Ms. Rebecca Yee
University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law, Los Angeles, California, Class of 2001

For work at the CWLC, the California Women's Legal Center creating policy which will protect the civil rights of parenting and pregnant teens in high schools across California.

Ms. Hayne Yoon
New York University School of Law, New York, New York, Class of 2001

For work at the Asian Law Caucus, providing research, counseling and litigation services to defend the legal rights of our low-income minority populations.

New York University School of Law, New York, New York, Class of 2001
For work at the Asian Law Caucus, providing research, counseling and litigation services to defend the legal rights of our low-income minority populations.

New York University School of Law, New York, New York, Class of 2001
For work at the Asian Law Caucus, providing research, counseling and litigation services to defend the legal rights of our low-income minority populations.


1999 Anheuser-Busch NAPABA Law Foundation Presidential Scholars
Anheuser-Busch NAPABA Law Foundation Presidential Scholarships
Ms. Mariju Bofill
American University Washington College of Law, Washington D.C., Class of 2001
Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky, B.A. 1998

Mariju Bofill is a first-generation Filipino-American whose parents emigrated to this country in 1969 and settled in southern West Virginia. She was valedictorian of her class at Man High School in Man, West Virginia and received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky, where she graduated magna cum laude. While at Transylvania, she was honored as a 1996 Filipino-American Leader of Tomorrow. She is now studying law at American University’s Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C. where she is Vice-President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Vice-President and Executive Board Member of the Criminal Law Society and Treasurer of the National Lawyers Guild. This year, Mariju Bofill was a Summer Coordinator for the Asian Pacific American Legal Research Center in Washington, D.C.; in that capacity, she supervised and trained volunteer staffers who assisted members of the Asian community in seeking and finding legal services in the areas of immigration, landlord/tenant and domestic violence. She is currently on the Executive Board of that organization. Ms. Bofill has worked for Representative Nick Rahall, the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division and is now a writing tutor at the Washington College of Law’s Legal Methods Program.

Ms. Jihee Gillian Suh
Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., Class of 2002
Harvard University, Boston, Massachusetts, B.A. 1997

Jihee Suh is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University where she majored in Government. At Harvard, she received the John Harvard College Scholarship and the Elizabeth Cary Agassiz award for academic achievement of highest distinction and she was Director of the English as Second Language tutoring program for Southeast Asian refugee children, President of Amnesty International and on the Executive Board of the Women’s Leadership Conference. At the same time, Ms. Suh worked for three years with the SafetyNet Hate Violence Prevention Project where she developed and conducted workshops about hate crimes and civil rights for community agencies and public housing tenants and served as liaison between victims of hate crimes and law enforcement officials. Upon graduating from Harvard, Ms. Suh was selected to be a New York City Urban Fellow and worked with the New York City Administration for Children's Services where she became Special Assistant to the Deputy Commissioner of Child Protection. She is now studying law at Georgetown University Law Center and expects to graduate in 2002.

NAPABA Law Foundation Cathay Pacific Scholarship
Ms. Rose Cruz Cuison
American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., Class of 2000
University of Texas, Austin, Texas, B.A. 1996

Rose Cuison was born in the Philippines and grew up on the island of Saipan, a U.S. commonwealth. She majored in Government at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas and is now studying law at the American University Washington College of Law. While at the University of Texas, Ms. Cuison was a volunteer with an Americorps after school program for pregnant teens and with Legal Aid of Central Texas. After graduating college, Ms. Cuison returned to Saipan where she taught U.S. History, World History and Civics and chaired the Social Studies Committee at the Mt. Carmel High School. At American University Washington College of Law, she has received the Valentin Fuentes Immigration Fellowship and the Equal Justice Foundation Fellowship and she is the Chair of the Public Interest Committee of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. While in Washington, Ms. Cuison has volunteered with the Filipino Civil Rights Association, where she is a member of the Domestic Workers’ Committee, the Domestic Violence Resource Project, the Asian Pacific American Legal Resource Center and the Workers’ Rights Project of the Bread for the City and Zacchaeus Free Clinic. Ms. Cuison has also been a Legislative Consultant to the Senate of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands where she drafted a bill creating college scholarships for poor minority students and a Consultant on Education to the Representative of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in Washington, D.C.

RANN Law Foundation Scholarship
Ms. Elsie V. Hui
University of California at Davis School of Law, Davis, California, Class of 2000
University of California at Berkeley, B.A. 1994

Elsie Hui is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, where she majored in English, was honored twice with the Alumni Association Leadership Scholarship and with the Michael J. Koll Leadership Scholarship. At Berkeley, she was Program Coordinator and a Teaching Assistant for a lecture series, Other Voices: Multicultural Perspectives, which examined issues of race and gender through literature and film. After college, Ms. Hui worked for three years with the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles where, as an Equal Access/Civil Rights Program Coordinator, she performed community education and advocacy work in the areas of affirmative action, immigrant worker rights, racial violence and voting rights. She is the co-author of three reports on anti-Asian hate violence and was a frequent speaker on that subject as well as on Proposition 209. While in law school, Ms. Hui is Co-Chair of the King Hall Legal Foundation, Treasurer of the National Lawyers Guild, and a teaching assistant for first-year legal writing as well as an undergraduate course on the Historical Experience of Asian Americans.

RANN Law Foundation Fellowship
Ms. Sonal S. Ambegaokar
University of California at Davis School of Law, class of 2000
University of Southern California, B.S. 1991

Sonal Ambegaokar is a 1991 summa cum laude graduate of the University of Southern California where she majored in Business Administration. During college, she volunteered to tutor inner city schoolchildren with the Joint Education Project and was Co-Chair of the Youth Program for Brihan Maharashtra Mandal. Upon graduation, Ms. Ambegaokar worked for six years with GTE Corp. in Illinois, Georgia and California, and volunteered at Apna Ghar, a shelter for battered South Asian women in Illinois. She entered law school in 1997 where she has served as Treasurer of the Law Student Association and as Co-Chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award Committee, worked with the Asian Pacific Law Association, Women’s Caucus, King Hall Legal Foundation and the Davis Refugee Aid Project. Ms. Ambegaokar has been the recipient of a Foundation of the State Bar of California Scholarship, a Women Lawyers of Sacramento Scholarship, the Asian American Bar Association Summer Grant, and a King Hall Legal Foundation Summer Grant. She has been awarded this fellowship to provide legal services and advocacy for Asian immigrant women who may be victims of domestic violence.

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