Thank you for stopping by to learn more about the Asian Pacific American Network. Take some time to look through our content and don’t hesitate to share how you’d like to get involved. Use the menu below to jump to a section of interest.
For more information, or to get involved, email APAN Co-Chairs Samantha Thornton (2024-2026) and Xavier-Thomas Mendoza (2025-2027) at apan@acpa.nche.edu.
Additionally, for all of APAN’s current happenings and communication platforms, check out our Linktree.
Our Mission
The Asian Pacific American Network (APAN) is dedicated to addressing the concerns and issues of the Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi/South Asian American (APIDA) faculty, staff, and students in higher education. Our purpose is to provide community, professional development, networking, and affirmation of identity for APIDA professionals. APAN represents APIDA issues and advocates for programs, services, research, and actions within the leadership of the Coalition for Multicultural Affairs and ACPA: College Student Educators International.
who we are
The Asian Pacific American Network (APAN) is one of four networks within the Coalition for Multicultural Affairs (CMA). The purpose of CMA is to act as the coordinating directorate body for educating student affairs professionals on the issues and concerns of students, faculty, and staff of color in the higher education community.
LEADERSHIP
The initiatives and activities of APAN are led by a volunteer team of student affairs and higher education professionals. Comprised of the Directorate Board and Regional Ambassadors, the Leadership Team fosters community-building, educational awareness, networking, and professional development opportunities for Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi/South Asian American (APIDA) professionals, and advocates for APIDA-related issues within CMA, ACPA, and the greater higher education field.
News & Updates
2026 Award Recipients – APAN Annual Awards
APAN’s 2026 awards cycle has concluded, and our 8 award recipients will be announced in-person and via social media during the ACPA 2026 Annual Convention. Please check back after Convention (early-April) for our recipients to reflect on our website as well.
2025-2027 APAN Co-Chair
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Xavier-Thomas Mendoza has been elected as APAN’s next Co-Chair alongside continuing APAN Co-Chair, Samantha Thornton. Will L. Hsu will move into serving as APAN’s Past Chair.
2025 Award Recipients – Isang Bagsak (Coalitions & Networks Awards)
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Dr. Hannah Hyun White, REEDS Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Arizona, was awarded Outstanding Directorate Board Member. This award honors volunteer leaders who take out of their convention experiences to advocate, amplify, connect, and serve their communities and have particularly above and beyond in their service to their C+N entity and our higher education community in the last year.
2025 Award Recipients – APAN Annual Awards
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Dr. Dina C. Maramba, Professor of Higher Education at Claremont Graduate University, was awarded APAN’s Dr. Daniello Balón Mentoring Award. This award is given to an outstanding mentor who has made a significant impact in the lives of APIDA students and/or student affairs professionals.
2024-2026 APAN Co-Chair
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Samantha Thornton has been elected as APAN’s next Co-Chair alongside continuing APAN Co-Chair, Will L. Hsu. Dr. Hannah Hyun White will move into serving as APAN’s Past Chair.
2024 Award Recipients – Isang Bagsak (Coalitions & Networks Awards)
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Lusi Wang, Assistant Director for Housing Assignments and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was awarded Outstanding Directorate Board Member. This award honors volunteer leaders who take out of their convention experiences to advocate, amplify, connect, and serve their communities and have particularly above and beyond in their service to their C+N entity and our higher education community in the last year.
2024 Award Recipients – APAN Annual Awards
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Emily Ding and Tufts Asian American Center 40th Anniversary Gallery were awarded APAN’s Outstanding Program for APIDA Student Success. This award recognizes a program or initiative that has positively impacted APIDA college student success, or has contributed to increased education and awareness of the needs and experiences of APIDA students.
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Demeturie Toso-Lafaele Gogue, a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student award. This award recognizes a current master’s or doctoral student in student affairs, higher education, or a related field who has demonstrated academic excellence; active involvement on campus, within ACPA, or in the higher education sector; and significant potential as an APIDA scholar-practitioner.
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Hannah Hyun White, a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student award. This award recognizes a current master’s or doctoral student in student affairs, higher education, or a related field who has demonstrated academic excellence; active involvement on campus, within ACPA, or in the higher education sector; and significant potential as an APIDA scholar-practitioner.
APAN at ACPA 2026 – Baltimore, MD
Below is a list of all the events APAN is hosting or will be a part of at the upcoming ACPA Annual Convention. All times listed are in the local time zone of the Convention host site. Please check the program book and/or our Instagram (@acpaapan) for confirmed locations and any time changes.
We look forward to connecting more with you soon!
Monday, 30 March 2026
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Connection Point: Engage with ACPA Entities (2:30-3:30 PM ET)
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APAN Alumni & Friends Social (6:30-8:30 PM ET)
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
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APIDA Scholars Collective Office Hours Space* (9:00 AM-5:00 PM ET)
*This listing reflects our overall space reservation for participants to meet in-person with our APIDA scholars during their pre-scheduled appointments. Please refer to forthcoming information posted on our IG @acpaapan to schedule an office hours appointment with our available APIDA scholars (in-person and virtual options available).
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Tea Time with the APAN Tri-Chairs (12:00-1:30 PM ET)
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APAN Entity Meeting (1:30-3:30 PM ET)
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FilipinX Meet Up (3:30-5:00 PM ET)
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APAN Community Connections (5:30-7:00 PM ET)
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ACPA Association-wide Awards Ceremony (8:00-10:00 PM ET)
Wednesday, 01 April 2026
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APIDA Scholars Collective Office Hours Space* (9:00 AM-5:00 PM ET)
*This listing reflects our overall space reservation for participants to meet in-person with our APIDA scholars during their pre-scheduled appointments. Please refer to forthcoming information posted on our IG @acpaapan to schedule an office hours appointment with our available APIDA scholars (in-person and virtual options available).
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LGBTQ+ APIDA Social (12:00-1:30 PM ET)
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Southeast Asian & South Asian Joint Social (3:30-5:00 PM ET)
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Coalition for Multicultural Affairs (CMA) & Networks Jubilation Joint Awards Ceremony (5:45-7:00 PM ET)
Save the Dates
APAN and our sibling Networks — the Pan African Network (PAN) and Latinx Network (LN) — celebrate our 40th anniversary starting at the ACPA 2027 Annual Convention (15-18 March 2027; Toronto, ON, Canada)!
And just as our 40th anniversaries conclude, we’ll be celebrating the Multiracial & Transracial Adoptee Network’s (MTAN) 25th anniversary and Coalition for Multicultural Affairs’ (CMA) 60th anniversary at the ACPA 2028 Annual Convention (20-23 March 2028; Atlanta, GA, United States)!
Meet the Directorate Board
Samantha Thornton
Co-Chair (2024-2026)
she/her/hers
George Mason University
Xavier-Thomas Mendoza
Co-Chair (2025-2027)
he/him/his
Loyola University Chicago
Will L. Hsu
Past Chair (2025-2026)
he/him/他
San José State University
Tyler Andrle
Convention Programs
he/him/his
(vacant)
Convention Programs
(vacant)
Convention Programs
Chris Rosales
Communications
he/him/his
University of Arizona
Vicente Blas-Taijeron
Communications
he/him/his
(vacant)
Communications
Yi Xuen Tay
Community Engagement
she/her/她
University of California, Berkeley
Kalue Yang
Community Engagement
she/her/hers
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
(vacant)
Community Engagement
Ilya Kim
Scholarship, Research, and Advocacy
he/him/his
George Mason University
(vacant)
Scholarship, Research, and Advocacy
(vacant)
External Affairs & Development
(vacant)
External Affairs & Development
Regional Ambassadors
Led and supported by the APAN Community Engagement Co-Chairs, the APAN Regional Ambassadors (RAs) provide leadership and outreach to their region regarding APAN events and communications. Regional Ambassadors are tasked with increasing awareness and involvement within APAN by providing updated information to their state region. Working collaboratively with other Regional Ambassadors and the APAN Directorate, they seek to build a stronger community of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi/South Asian American (APIDA) professionals. Please see our wonderful RA team below!
For more information, contact us at apan@acpa.nche.edu.
Emily Nakamura
Regional Ambassador
she/they
Oregon
Shannon Sy
Regional Ambassador
she/her/hers
New York
Hadia Kalsoom
Regional Ambassador
she/her/hers
Nevada
David Phan
Regional Ambassador
he/him/his
Northern California
Johnna Gerona
Regional Ambassador
she/her/hers
Illinois
Mythreyi Parameswaran
Regional Ambassador
she/her/hers
Illinois
Get Involved in apan
APAN is constantly looking for ways to enhance the experience of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi/South Asian American (APIDA) professionals and students alike. Becoming an APAN member within the ACPA member portal will ensure you are connected with all of our upcoming events and initiatives.
Ready to join?
Joining an Entity through the ACPA Member Portal automatically identifies you as a member of that Entity! You will begin to receive Entity communications through their respective email listserv and have access to any resources they share!
- Login to your ACPA Member Account
- Click on Community Groups (Chatter)
- Click Groups
- Click Active Groups
- Find the entity you want to join and within that group, click +Join
Contact APAN via email at apan@acpa.nche.edu to learn more about ACPA’s Asian Pacific American Network.
Any ACPA member can become involved in APAN, and there are varying levels of involvement:
- Become a Regional Ambassador
- Attend our Entity Meeting at the annual ACPA convention
- Review program proposals for the Convention
- Submit a sponsored program proposal for Convention
- Host a webinar or social
Additional involvement opportunities
APAN Awards
APAN annually seeks nominations for our awards, which recognize our professional community members who have contributed significantly to uplifting the Asian, Pacific Islander, and Desi/South Asian American (APIDA) community within student affairs and higher education.
Historically, APAN presented up to 3 awards each year. However, we recently expanded our award offerings beginning at the ACPA 2026 Annual Convention. Including 5 inaugural awards*, our awards recognize recipients within the 8 categories listed below.
As you continue with your work this year, take a moment to reflect on the people, programs, and settings that supported us and helped get us to where we are. Who or what provided guidance and mentorship? Professionally and personally? Who was it that asked us the difficult questions we needed to hear and face? What were the programs that inspired us to continue the work we do?
Our 2026 awards nominations closed on Mon, 16 Feb 2026. Please follow our communications and social media for updates on when our 2027 awards cycle opens (expected Fall 2026).
If there are any questions about the APAN awards nomination or selection process, please contact the APAN Past Chair at apan@acpa.nche.edu.
Dr. Daniello Balón Mentoring Award
Awarded to an outstanding mentor who has made a significant impact in the lives of APIDA students and/or student affairs professionals. This award is named after Dr. Daniello Balón to honor his legacy of exemplary mentorship.
Outstanding Graduate Student
This award recognizes a master’s or doctoral student in student affairs, higher education, or a related field who has demonstrated academic excellence; active involvement on campus, within ACPA, or in the higher education sector; and significant potential as an APIDA scholar-practitioner.
Outstanding New Professional*
This award recognizes a new professional (with 1-5 years of professional experience) who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to their institution and the field of student affairs and higher education.
Outstanding Experienced Professional*
This award recognizes an experienced professional (with 5+ years of professional experience) who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to their institution and the field of student affairs and higher education.
Mid-level professional experience is particularly eligible and encouraged for nomination in this category.
Distinguished APIDA Leadership Award*
This award recognizes an individual (with 10+ years of professional experience) who has made an exemplary impact on the APIDA community within the student affairs and higher education profession, through service to the profession, leadership, and/or scholarship.
Outstanding Program/Initiative for APIDA Student Success
This award recognizes a program or initiative that has positively impacted APIDA college student success, or has contributed to increased education and awareness of the needs and experiences of APIDA students.
Excellence in Research & Scholarship*
This award recognizes a nominee for outstanding contributions to research and scholarship in student affairs and higher education, with particular focus dedicated to nominees whose scholarship advances the stories, experiences, issues, or strengths of APIDA communities within higher education.
Community Care & Advocacy Award*
- collectivism over individualism
- culturally responsive care
- holistic wellness
- intergenerational support
- grassroots mutual aid