Washington, D.C. (December 31, 2018)- The DC Chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP DC) has had a busy, fun, and productive year. Overall, they organized 16 events and most of these included collaborations. These included the following:

Washington, D.C. (December 31, 2018)- The DC Chapter of the National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP DC) has had a busy, fun, and productive year. Overall, they organized 16 events and most of these included collaborations. These included the following:

• January: Kickoff with new leadership.
• February:
  • H1-B Visa Workshop with Board Member, Richard Chang of Wasserman, Mancini, and Chang P.C.
  • MBA Tour Partner – February, online presence. July, in person opportunity to table at the event.
• March:
  • Collaborated with ONE Street Company (Formerly ONE Real Estate) on one of a two part session on home-buying basics workshops. Led by an award-winning team of real estate agents and brokers, this educational series gave an overview of the DC housing market and the home-buying process to both seasoned and first-time buyers.
• April:  
  • A General Body Meeting with current and prospective members.
  • A table-side discussion with 2 local, Southeast Asian female chefs and restaurateurs in a program called Bringing Food to The Table. This was a well-attended, fun, and delicious program hosted by the Embassy of the Philippines, in collaboration with the Thai Embassy. They also live-tweeted the event, resulting in strong social media engagement and the addition of many new followers.
  • A Spring Happy Hour, where they engaged with the AAPI community over light appetizers and networking.
• June:
  • Collaborated with ONE Street Company (Formerly ONE Real Estate) on home-buying basics workshops.
• August:
  • Organized a Nats game in collaboration with FYP-DC, facilitating networking while supporting DC’s local team.
• September:
  • Annual Picnic in DuPont Circle, which served as a membership drive with multi-ethnic food, a scavenger hunt, corn hole, and a raffle. The DC Metropolitan Police also presented a workshop on active assailants.
• October:
  • Collaborated with Wells Fargo to host a Conference Preview Evening focusing on Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace. This program allowed members to network with one of the organization’s platinum sponsors and strengthen their partnership.
• November:
  • Hosted the Annual Conference and expanded it to a full-day event. This year, they managed to secured a record number of sponsors including the CIA, Beacon Hill, Sotheby’s, and Suntrust. They also received in-kind donations from the vendors in the form of food and speaker gifts. The conference was well received and resulted in many new members.
• December:
  • Co-hosted the 12th Annual Toys for Tots Toy Drive with APA film and about a dozen other organizations.
  • Co-hosted Holiday Party in collaboration with FYP-DC and Ascend Greater Washington.

All the events were made possible by NAAAP-DC’s stellar Executive Team.

Katie Apolinario, President – former VP

Teresa Wong, SVP – former Treasurer

Chris Murray, Treasurer – new

Christy Buranaamorn, VP of Marketing – former Marketing Manager

Shirley Samson – VP of Communications – new

Sheena Alejandro – VP of Membership – former Membership Manager

They had an engaged board under the leadership of Ryan Namata, former NAAAP DC President. They were also fortunate to have had dedicated volunteers, most specifically during our leadership conference – including social media, graphic design, website management, and more.

“We sent about 20 newsletters, averaging 2 a month, giving opportunities to thank our members and attendees, as well as inform them of both NAAAP DC’s and partner events” said Katie Apolinario, NAAAP DC’s President.