About Us

HAI CHAN (she/her), ACCOUNTING MANAGER

hchan[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Hai Chan is the Accounting Manager at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence.  She manages the full accounting cycle and payroll, prepares on-going financials and financial budgets and cost reports for federal and foundation grants.  She is responsible for preparing the federal drawdown and quarterly, semi-annual and annual cost reports.  Hai coordinates the organization’s annual independent audit, and other program audits as required.  She works closely with Executive Director and Finance Director.

Hai has 16 years of accounting experience, eleven of which are in non-profit accounting and financial management.  She has BS degree in Accounting and Finance.  Before joining the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence in 2015, she was Senior Accountant at the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum for nine years.

Kayla CHAN (she/her), Program Coordinator

kchan[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Kayla Chan is a Program Coordinator at the Language Access Program with the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. She is responsible for leading the Improving Language Access in the Courts project, and providing technical assistance and training to partner agencies around providing language access through a cultural-humility and healing-informed lens. Prior to this, Kayla was the Later in Life Program Manager at Womankind (formerly New York Asian Women’s Center) where she designed and implemented programs for older API survivors of gender-based violence.

Identifying as a survivor and immigrant, Kayla believes in the power of grassroots activism and comes from a direct services background. Born and raised in Singapore, she migrated to New York in 2009 and has worked in various non-profit organizations in different capacities. Kayla enjoys facilitating workshops to professionals and communities around cultural humility, historical trauma, intergenerational trauma and spreading awareness of gender-based violence that perpetuates across the lifespan.

Kayla received her M.A. in Global Gender Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo and is excited to expand her advocacy work on a national level with API-GBV. Kayla had a stroke in July 2019, and she has a communication disability called verbal apraxia and aphasia.

Gabby DeBelen (she/her/ella), Policy Coordinator

gdebelen[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Gabrielle DeBelen is the Policy Coordinator at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. As Policy Coordinator, she assists in furthering API-GBV’s legislative, administrative, and court policy advocacy by representing API-GBV in meetings with stakeholders, researching and drafting reports on policy issues affecting the AAPI community and gender-based violence, and collaborating with the Director of Policy . Before joining API-GBV, Gabrielle worked in various legal fields, including victim/witness assistance, class action, immigration, and financial services. She received her BA from William & Mary in Public Policy and Asian & Pacific Islander American Studies in 2022.

Krista Grajo (she/they), Research Coordinator

kgrajo[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Krista earned a M.A. in Community Psychology from the University of New Haven, a B.S. in Psychology, and a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Florida.  Her prior research and evaluation work ranged from public health, university, and culturally-specific nonprofit settings.  Before working for the Asian Pacific Institute, Krista contributed to fact sheets, workshops, and presentations at Esperanza United as a researcher.  As an intern at Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services in Connecticut, Krista provided program implementation, consultation, and evaluation support to their Family Literacy program. In her work, she employs an intersectional lens and values community-based participatory action research to build evidence for GBV prevention and programing.  Krista is passionate about learning from and working alongside advocates to mobilize the existing strengths of AAPI communities.

Cannon Han (he/him), Senior Program Manager, Enhancing Access to Services: Training and Technical Assistance Project

chan[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Cannon Han is a Senior Program Associate on the OVC Enhancing Access to Services: Training and Technical Assistance Project.  He has over ten years of experience providing technical assistance and training to programs on: Title VI compliance and advocacy; language access; interpretation; and translation. Prior to re-joining API, he was the Title VI Administrator for Caltrain and the San Mateo Transit District.  He also served as a Senior Court Services Analyst with the California Administrative Office of the Courts, Court Interpreter Program, and an attorney with the Mental Health Advocacy Project.

Chisato Horikawa (she/her), ARP Support for Survivors Program Coordinator

chorikawa[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Chisato is the ARP Support for Survivors Program Coordinator with the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence and brings over a decade of experience in non-profit fields. She has worked in various social service organizations in different capacities.

Prior to joining the Institute, Chisato was a clinician with Sound, providing mental health counseling to low-income community members in Seattle and surrounding cities. She has also worked as the Director at Japanese American Social Services, Inc. (JASSI) in NY, overseeing programs and grants, and was the Advocate and OVS (Office of Victim Services) Program Specialist at Womankind (formerly New York Asian Women’s Center), providing supportive counseling and case management to gender-based violence survivors in the API community as well as providing trainings and technical assistance to staff and interns. She received her MSW from LIU (Long Island University) Post and currently lives in Seattle, WA with her partner and two cats.

GRACE HUANG, J.D. (she/her), Director of Policy

Grace Huang is the Policy Director at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence, and is responsible for coordinating the Institute’s legislative, administrative and court policy advocacy. Prior to her position at API-GBV, Ms. Huang worked at the state level to advance the interests of survivors of gender based-violence in the Washington State legislature. She worked at the national level to address the needs of victims in the federal Violence Against Women Act and the Family Violence Services and Prevention Act, and to ensure that financial resources authorized in federal legislation are accessible to domestic violence programs providing services for immigrant survivors of domestic violence. Ms. Huang previously worked as an attorney, both in private practice and in civil legal services, representing clients in immigration, family law, government benefits, and housing cases.

Ms. Huang represents the Asian Pacific Institute on the steering committee of the National Taskforce to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, and serves as an appointed Commissioner on the White House Advisory Commission on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.

Ms. Huang is the recipient of several awards: American Bar Association Commission on Domestic and Sexual Violence 20/20 Vision award (2015); University of Washington School of Law Distinguished Alumnae Award from the Law Women’s Caucus (2013); and an inductee of the UW Law School Public Interest Law Association Hall of Fame (2008). She was recognized by the Washington State Bar Family Law Section as “Professional of the Year” (2005); received the Cynthia Gillespie Award from the Northwest Women’s Law Center recognizing her work advancing legal rights for women (2000); and, along with her colleagues received the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project “Golden Door Award” (1999) for her advocacy on behalf of immigrants.

Youngju Ji(she/her), Culturally Specific Services Program Manager

yji[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Youngju Ji has more than 20 years of leadership experience working in the API community focused on culturally specific programs of domestic violence, sexual assault, and other forms of gender-based violence. She has extensive experience in technical assistance and training, program/project development and implementation for the culturally specific community, coalition building, and government grant management. She has a solid ability to build and foster collaborations with strategic partners in a wide range of settings. Notably, she has a successful trajectory of partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including private, local, state, and federal funders such as the Office of Violence against Women (OVW), community-based organizations, staff and volunteers, advocates, and experts. In addition, she has advanced experience in program operations, strategic planning, policy advocacy, program oversight, and funding advocacy from over 13 years as the Executive Director at KAN-WIN in Chicago that has been a grantee of OVW CSSP/SASP for more than a decade.

SARAH KHAN (she/her), DIRECTOR OF PROGRAMS

skhan[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Director of Programs, Sarah Khan, oversees the coordination and administration of all programs. She manages and supervises all programmatic areas of technical assistance (TA) and training; designs and evaluates programs and processes; acts as a subject matter expert (SME) on various TA, and training and research topics and supervises staff. In partnership with the CEO and management team, she helps determines organizational strategy that contributes toward ensuring all programs work collaboratively in tandem to advance the organizational mission and vision.

Sarah’s direct service experience has deeply informed how she understands and addresses challenges faced by the community she serves. After 9-11, she intentionally chose to work at the intersection of race and gender justice to concretely reduce the vulnerability of immigrants, refugees and other marginalized groups. Sarah has a longstanding passion for grassroots activism, domestic violence advocacy, and community education and empowerment, with  over 20 years of working in the field. She has expertise in program design, development and management; with a focus on changes to people, organizations and systems across areas. Her passion is fueled by breaking silos and encouraging herself and others to address intersectionality in their work by addressing root causes of gender based violence. Sarah believes it is everyone’s duty to disrupt violence. She strongly feels people are the experts in their communities and that the expertise of culturally specific programs should always be uplifted.

Monica Modi Khant (she/her), Executive Director

mkhant[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Monica Modi Khant has been the CEO of the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence (API-GBV) since March 2021. API-GBV is a national resource center for domestic violence, sexual violence, trafficking, and other forms of gender-based violence in Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. Ms. Khant is responsible for overseeing the management, administration, programs and strategic plan of the organization and works closely with the staff and board of directors on fundraising initiatives, national outreach efforts and community and government relations. She offers a unique perspective as an advocate for immigrant rights and gender-based violence in the Southeast. As an immigration attorney and non-profit leader, working in the legal non-profit space for 25 years in New Jersey, Boston and Atlanta, she represented survivors of gender-based violence and immigrants seeking asylum.  Ms. Khant was Detention Attorney at the American Friends Service Committee, Director of Legal Services at the International Institute of Boston (IIB) and Program Director then Executive Director of the Georgia Asylum & Immigration Network (GAIN). It is this culturally specific and direct services experience that grounds Ms. Khant in representing and speaking about the immigrant and AAPI community and non-profit leadership.

Ms. Khant currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Georgia Coalition Against Domestic Violence (GCADV) and the Advisory Board of Raksha.  She is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta Class of 2015 and the Regional Leadership Institute in 2018 and the International Women’s Forum fellowship class in 2022. In 2014, she received the Public Interest Award from the South Asian Bar Association (SABA). In 2017, she was honored as Atlanta Magazine’s Women Making a Mark and has received Emory Law School’s EPIC “Unsung Devotion to Those Most in Need” Award in 2018.  Ms. Khant has also received the Legal Legend Award from the American Constitution Society in 2019.  

Ms. Khant received her BA in Journalism and Communications from Rutgers University in 1995 and her J.D. from New England School of Law in 1998.  Ms. Khant was an Adjunct Professor at Georgia State University and from 2015-2020, taught a Senior Seminar Class on Human Trafficking & Modern Day Slavery.  Monica is married to Sanjay, a physician with Emory University Healthcare and has three children, ages 21, 19 and 15.

Hildegard Koenig (she/her/ella), Language Access VOCA & Courts Program Manager

hkoenig[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Hildegard Koenig emigrated from Venezuela to Utah with her family as a teenager. She is the proud mother of two amazing individuals who teach her daily so much about the importance of being yourself. Hildegard obtained her Paralegal Certificate from Weber State University, after which she began her career at Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake City working closely with victims of domestic violence. She is a survivor of domestic violence and sexual abuse, which stoked a burning passion for giving voice to those who have been silenced and allowed her to stand for human rights issues. She has worked for the YWCA of Salt Lake City, at the Salt Lake City Prosecutor’s Office as the Diversity Witness Coordinator, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, Utah Domestic Violence Coalition, Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office, and with the Utah Office for Victims of Crime.  She is currently employed by the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender Based Violence, as the VOCA & Couts Language Access Program Manager.

Additionally, in her off time she is the co-founder and president of Ink Against Cancer Foundation(IACF). IACF is a unique 501c3 uniting national, statewide, and local artists of all mediums together to raise cancer awareness & financial assistance to directly support Cancer Warriors, especially children while they go through their cancer journey with their day-to-day needs.

Jose Juan Lara Jr., DHS, (he/him/el), Systems & Advocacy Senior Program Manager

jjlara[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Jose Juan Lara, Jr., DHS has dedicated 25 years to the anti-gender-based violence movement, focusing on cultural responsiveness, understanding the nuances of gender-based violence, promoting language access, and supporting organizational and advocacy development. His work involves connecting with professionals across criminal justice, social services, policy, and health, always believing that understanding and respecting cultural identity is key to offering inclusive and safe support for survivors. Jose Juan places a high value on the role of cultural arts and community involvement in healing for those affected by gender-based violence.

In 2024, Jose Juan earned his Doctor of Human Services (DHS), specializing in Leadership and Organizational Management. His capstone project focused on conducting a formative program evaluation to propose a trauma-informed wellness program tailored to the unique needs of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) executive directors of domestic violence and sexual assault crisis centers. The project highlighted the challenges these leaders face, such as systemic racism, racial trauma, and emotional exhaustion, and proposed culturally responsive and trauma-informed solutions to enhance their resilience and leadership effectiveness.

His journey in leadership roles includes serving as the Board President for the Texas Victim Services Association, focusing on the support and education of victim service providers, and consulting for the Office for Victims of Crime Training and Technical Assistance Center. He’s been a part of numerous committees aiming to enrich the practice of victim service professionals with culturally responsive and trauma-informed approaches.

Jose Juan is the Systems and Advocacy Senior Program Manager at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API-GBV), where he offers training and assistance on language access for both systems-based and community organizations. His past experiences include roles at Esperanza United, the Texas Advocacy Project, the Family Crisis Center, Inc., Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Cameron and Willacy Counties, and Friendship of Women, Inc. These positions reflect his ongoing commitment to supporting survivors of gender-based violence through a lens of cultural responsiveness and trauma-informed.

Matāpuna Levenson (she/her), Project Manager, ARP Support for Survivors Program

mlevenson[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Matāpuna Ma’ilo-Levenson is a project manager for the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. She is responsible for providing training and technical assistance (TTA) on models and issues related to culturally relevant approaches to gender-based violence, as well as analyzing emerging issues and documenting best practices in serving Asian and Pacific Islander communities in the U.S. Puna manages API-GBV’s ARP Support for Survivors Program, a multi-year project funded through the Office of Family Violence Prevention and Services, which provides subgrants to culturally specific, community-based organizations that support domestic violence and sexual assault survivors and their families.

Prior to API-GBV, Puna was the Training and Technical Assistance Director for the Hawaiʻi State Coalition Against Domestic Violence; lead victim advocate and program coordinator for the Salt Lake Area Family Justice Center, and case manager for the Women In Jeopardy Shelter, at YWCA Utah. She received her BSW from BYU-Hawaiʻi, MSW from the University of Southern California, and is currently a PhD student at the University of Hawaiʻi, Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health. Puna currently serves as Board President for Mālama Pono Kohala, a local domestic violence program serving rural North Hawaiʻi. She has previously served on the Advisory Committee for AAPI Women Lead’s Intergenerational Participatory Action Research (IPAR) Project, Hawai’i County Committee on the Status of Women, Honolulu County Committee on the Status of Women, and Utah Multicultural Commission.

Jenny Lee (she/her), Director of Finance

jlee[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Jenny Lee is the Director of Finance for the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and worked in public accounting with small businesses for many years before joining the nonprofit world. Her professional experience includes fund accounting, grants budgeting and management, bookkeeping and accounting, tax planning and preparation, attest engagements and financial statement preparation. 

Shirley Luo (she/her), Program Manager, HHS Resource Center

sluo[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Shirley Luo is the Program Manager for the culturally-specific Resource Center at the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. She is responsible for developing and executing strategy related to API-GBV’s public awareness, resource development, and capacity building initiatives. In this role, she also delivers TA and training to diverse audiences on a variety of topics related to gender-based violence, culturally-specific advocacy, and AAPI experiences; and she engages the API-GBV’s national network of AAPI direct service agencies, state coalitions, TA providers, and other partners to deepen collaboration and nurture connections.

Shirley received an M.A. in International Relations from NYU’s Department of Politics and a B.A. in History and Political Science from UC Berkeley. She has been with API-GBV since late-2016, and through its work on the national and community level, she has become a strong believer in the power of partnerships in creating safer, equitable, and joyful communities.

Courtney Peters (she/her), Grants & Compliance Manager

cpeters[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Courtney Peters, MPH (she/her) is the Grants and Compliance Manager at API-GBV and brings a wealth of experience in non-profit grants management and leadership of multistakeholder programs and projects. She has worked across various public health fields, both domestically and internationally, including sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, tobacco prevention and control, and healthy food policy. Courtney’s key areas of expertise include subaward management, federal grant compliance, policy advocacy, and public health program and project management. In her free time, Courtney enjoys traveling, the food and wine scene, and dismantling the patriarchy. She lives in sunny Savannah, GA with her partner, Patrick, and two lovable rescue chihuahua mixes, Flossie and Eddie.

Swathi Reddy, PhD, LMSW (she/her), Research and Evaluation Manager

sreddy[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Swathi brings extensive knowledge of interdisciplinary research addressing issues related to gender-based violence among AAPI communities, as well as experience and expertise in culturally responsive and equitable evaluation. Prior to joining API-GBV, Swathi held a research position at the Council on Social Work Education. She also served as a clinical practitioner in New York City working with AAPI adolescent and adult survivors of gender-based violence and has taught social work courses at the University of Texas at Austin. Swathi’s clinical experience and academic training together with her fierce commitment to strengthening AAPI communities have shaped her research agenda for the past decade and continue to do so today.

Tomiko Tamashiro Pardo (they/elle), Healing Across Languages Senior Project Coordinator

ttamashiro[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Tomiko is the Healing Across Languages (HAL) Senior Project Coordinator for the Asian Pacific
Institute on Gender-Based Violence. They are first and foremost an interpreter, leveraging years of
direct service experience to now steer the API-GBV Healing Across Languages Training Center. Their
efforts focus on fostering a cultural shift that centers survivor voices with an emphasis on proper
interpretation practices. In their role, Tomiko manages training programs to grow the pool of victim
services interpreters and guides service providers in effective collaboration with them.

Kimberly Vongnalith (she/her), Administrative Coordinator

kvongnalith[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Kimberly Vongnalith is the Administrative Coordinator for the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Gender, Ethnic, and Multicultural Studies from California Polytechnic State University, Pomona. Prior to starting at API-GBV in May 2023, she worked in the family law, higher education, and public health fields.

Kaylee Wong (she/her), Communications Coordinator

kwong[at]api-gbv[dot]org

Kaylee is the Communications Coordinator for the Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence. She creates content and messaging to amplify API-GBV’s voice and work to broader audiences. Kaylee earned her MBA with a Marketing concentration and BAs in Global Studies and Communication from the University of Arizona. Before joining the API-GBV team in July 2022, Kaylee worked as an International Student Specialist with Arizona Global and a Marketing Specialist for the Southwest Institute for Research on Women.

SARAH HAWK, Co-Chair

MAY LEONG, Co-CHAIR

Suzy An, MPH, CDP, Secretary

APARNA BHATTACHARYYA, Treasurer

Amy Y. Chen

Tejaswini Hebalkar

Jennifer Solidum Rose, JD

Shefali Shah

Debra Suh

K. Sujata

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