Dana Ginn Paredes, Organizing Director

Dana is a queer Chinese Chicana, with over 7 years experience in organizing, training and national program coordination in social justice work with communities of color. She joined ACRJ in February 2003 having worked as an organizer on numerous campaigns, such as protecting affirmative action, improving public transportation, and ensuring police accountability. Dana's work for racial equity and healthy families in the fight towards welfare reauthorization led her to develop a strong interest in reproductive justice issues for women of color. She holds a B.S. in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Maria Nakae, Alliance Building Coordinator

Maria is a first generation Japanese American with experience in community-based research, outreach, and program development in low-income communities of color and immigrant communities. Her work has focused around domestic violence prevention, parenting and child development, and housing stability among the mentally ill homeless. Maria joined ACRJ in June 2006 as our New Voices Fellow, having developed a strong interest in reproductive justice through her efforts to improve access to reproductive health care for young women of color. She holds a B.A. in Psychology from New York University and a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley.

Trang was born in Vietnam and lived in an Indonesian refugee camp before moving to Oakland, CA. Trang, who arrived at ACRJ in August 2006, organizes with VietUnity and has worked as Executive Director for a refugee/ community development organization. She believes that reproductive justice is important to the self-awareness of women and girls of all backgrounds. These beliefs stem from her experience of having all family members working in the nail salon industry. Trang holds a B.A. in International Development Studies from UC Berkeley and is currently obtaining an MBA in Nonprofit Management.

Monica Plazola, Operations Director

Monica is a second-generation Latina with South Asian ancestry. She came to ACRJ in October 2000. Over the last eight years, she has worked extensively in non-profit financial management, human resources, organizational development, and administration. Monica's interest in reproductive justice stems from her experiences of working in the restaurant industry, where immigrant women workers relayed stories of biased health care pr actices, and from her own experiences during pregnancy and childbirth. Monica holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Stanford University.

Sandy Saeteurn, Youth Organizer

Sandy is Mien/ Laotian. Born in Thailand, she immigrated to the U.S. as a refugee and has lived in Richmond, CA for most of her life. Sandy came to ACRJ in February 2006 after having been involved with Asian Youth Advocates, a youth project of the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, and after working with the Laotian community in West Contra Costa County as a community organizer for the Laotian Organizing Project. Sandy's interest and commitment is in the reproductive justice of young women of color. She plans to go back to school to finish a degree in Accounting.

Aparna Shah, MHS, Development Director

Aparna is an Indian/Pinay immigrant who has worked in youth development, youth organizing and direct service with young people and families from immigrant communities and communities of color for over 15 years. She started at ACRJ in August 2003 and believes that reproductive justice is central to the self-determination of women, girls and communities of color. She is a 2002 Fellow of the Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute Discovery Leadership Program and serves on the Board of Youth Together as well as chairs the Leadership Council of the Bay Area Immigrant Rights Coalition. Aparna holds a Master's degree in mental health from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

Eveline Shen, MPH, Executive Director

Eveline is a first generation Chinese American and has been with ACRJ for eight years. Over the last 16 years, she has organized extensively with low-income communities of color around issues of social and environmental justice. She has served as the director of multiple countywide projects developing strategies of community organizing, popular education, community-based participatory research, and policy/advocacy. In the last eight years, Eveline has focused her work in the Asian Pacific Islander communities and has written articles, manuals and training curriculum on popular education and community organizing. She holds a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley in Community Health Education.

Diana Ming Yin, Communications Coordinator

Diana is a transnational, multiethnic writer, artist and activist whose background is in student organizing, alternative media, youth mentorship, sex workers' rights, and queer/trans liberation. She develops and presents anti-oppression trainings through the Freedom Trainers and is a member of the Beyond Design Collective. Diana's interest in reproductive justice is informed by her work around critically analyzing how systems of power create social, political and material realities within marginalized communities. Diana came on staff in October 2005 and holds a dual B.A. in Politics and International Relations/ Asian American Studies from Scripps College.

Board of Directors:

Bouapha Toommaly, Chair
Manami Kano, Secretary
Chris Lymbertos
Monica Plazola, Treasurer
Eveline Shen, MPH, Executive Director


National Advisory Board:

Kimberly Aceves, Executive Director, Youth Together
Toni Bond, President, African American Women Evolving
Grace Chang, PhD, Assistant Professor, UCSB Women's Studies
Sumru Erkut, PhD, Associate Director and Senior Research Scientist, Wellesley Centers for Women
Marlene Gerber Fried, PhD, Director, Hampshire College Civil Liberties and Public Policy Program
Mimi Ho, Program Director, Asian Pacific Environmental Network
Edward Lee, Administrative Director, Californians for Justice
Beckie Masaki, Executive Director, Asian Women's Shelter
Kelvin P. Quan, JD MPH, Managed Care Executive, Attorney and Community Advocate
Tivo Rojas-Cheatham, MPH, Community Participation and Education Section Chief, Environmental Health Investigations Branch
Loretta Ross, National Coordinator, SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective
Maria Somma, International Organizing Coordinator, United Steelworkers Health Care Workers Council
Robert Stark, Executive Director, New Mexico Community Foundation