The first meeting of the New York State Asian American and Pacific Islander Commission took place earlier this month in New York.

On December 12th, 13 new commissioners took the oath of office including the first Indian American woman commissioner, Neeta Bhasin, the founder of Diwali at Times Square, Sammaan for All, and President of ASB Communications and EventGuru.

The Commission will be led by Chair Gaurav Vasisht, the first Asian American and Indian American to lead the non-profit New York State Insurance Fund, one of the largest workers’ compensation, disability, and paid family leave insurers in the United States.

The AAPI commission’s role will be to make policy recommendations and to conduct outreach to the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities about state and local resources.

Other commissioners include:

• Ambrosia Kaul, Coalition of Asian American Children and Families
• Andrew Sta, Asian American Federation
• Dr. Joyce Wu, Doctorate of Pharmacy
• Jeffrey Gu, Make Us Visible
• Faustina Sein, Karen Society of Buffalo
• Marjorie Hsu, Westchester Asian American Advisory Board
• Kyung Yoon, Korean American Community Foundation
• Peter Tu, Flushing Chinese Business Association
• Tal Shaw, Chair, Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association
• Tim Law, Chinese American Social Services Center
• Maf Misbah Uddin, Labor leader

Gov Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law earlier this year establishing the commission made possible under a bill authored by Assemblywoman, Jenifer Rajkumar, the first Indian American legislator.

“We established this Commission because your voices are essential to our state’s future, and we are always looking to gain a deeper understanding of one another,” said Gov Hochul.

“It is just a beginning. Our Commission members will bring excellence to our government. They will make impossible possible,” said Rajkumar.

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