Ramon Villongco - Chairman

Born in Manila, Philippines, Ramon came to the United States in 1982 and received his Master of Business Administration at Dowling College, Oakdale, New York and is working towards an Advanced Certificate in Human Resource Management at New York Institute of Technology. He is married with three beautiful children. Ramon is presently employed as the Assistant Director of Admissions at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM) of NYIT in Old Westbury, New York.  Ramon holds over 15 years of marketing /management experience and with over 10 years in college administration and enrollment services/admissions experience.

Ramon join the Advisory Board in 2006 and has been an active community leader in the Filipino-American community and is a member of several Filipino-American organizations in the United States.

Akie Naito-Gearns - Co-Chair

Jim Young, Ph.D. Emeritus Chair

Dr. Jim Yih-Jin Young received his bachelor's degree from National Taiwan University. He came to the United States to obtain his master and Ph.D. from the University of Washington. He is currently a professor of sociology at Nassau Community College. He is the advisor of the Taiwanese American Association on Long Island (TAALI) and was the President of the TAALI in 2007 and vice President in 2006. Currently he chairs the Suffolk County Asian American Advisory Board.

Belinda Pagdanganan - Board Member

Bel holds a degree in MBA from Dowling College, a BA in Economics from the University of the Philippines, and is working towards a Masters degree in Environmental Technology from the New York Institute of Technology. Bel has over 20 years of management and field experience in emergency planning, disaster preparedness and response.  She worked in emergency planning for the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant and then focused on utility preparedness under the former LILCO/KeySpan Corporation.   In 2005, Bel accepted the position as Suffolk County’s Director of Emergency Preparedness and later as Deputy Commissioner of Suffolk County’s Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services.  She returned to National Grid (formerly KeySpan) in May 2008 as a Manager in Government Relations.

Bel is a volunteer firefighter with the Brentwood Fire Department and currently holds the rank of Captain of their Fire Prevention Company.  She is also a member of the Asian Leadership Association in National Grid.

Stella Sheih - Board Member

Stella Shieh graduated from Taiwan’s Chinese Culture University, majoring in dance & music.  In Taiwan, she was the recipient of two awards, “The Flying Phoenix” in 1981 and the “Greatest Choreographer” in 1983.  Recognized for her artistic interpretation of Chinese traditional dance, she was selected to lead a prominent dance troupe to perform in Japan, and teach movement classes in the Philippines.

After immigrating to the US she continued dancing, settling in NY and remaining active in the dance community. Currently she is a choreographer and teacher of modern and Chinese folk dance on Long Island. Her passion for the artists of her native Taiwan prompted her to become an artistic facilitator, helping to bring an array of Taiwanese performers to the tri-state area for concerts, lectures and demonstrations.  She is also the president of Zen Appétit, an Asian event planning service for private parties and businesses. Stella is one of the founders of the Asian American Cultural Festival of Long Island, and chaired both the 2007 and 2008 events. Presently she is co-chair of the Suffolk County Minority Business Development Council; Special Events/Hospitality Director for the Independent Business Women Circle, and an active board member of the Suffolk County Asian American Advisory Board.  

Ritu S Wackett - Board Member

 Myungja Nancy Hahn - Board Member

Myungja Nancy Hahn was born in South Korea and came New York 1971. She had education in Nursing college and public health nursing in Graduate School of Public Health in Seoul National University. She obtained BSN and Public Health Nurse Certificate. She have been dedicated as Public health nurse last 43 Years. She has been working since 1984 in Public Health Nursing Department in Suffolk County.

Presently she is working for Asian Pacific Islander American Health Project as Public Health Nurse Coordinator at Office of Minority Health, Suffolk County Department Health. She serves as Asian Board Member as of August, 2009.

 Sunita Gupta, Ph.D.- Board Member

Sunita Gupta, originally from North India, completed her Ph.D. from Banaras Hindu University in Biochemistry. She worked in Grenoble, France for three years. She has been living in the USA for the past eleven years and has worked as a Post doctoral fellow in prestigious institutions like SUNY, Stony Brook, Umass Medical Centre of Massachusetts, and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. She is currently working as a Sr. Research Scientist for Cornerstone Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Sunita has been a member of the All World Gayatri Pariwar (www.awgp.org), a spiritual organization from India, since her childhood. Besides science, her interests also lie in practicing yoga for better physical and mental fitness. She enjoys teaching the importance of yoga to others. She loves reading books written by great saints. Her favorite saint is Pandit Shri Ram Sharma Acharya, founder of the All World Gayatri Pariwar.