Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen announced the 13 appointed members Monday to the newly established Commission of Asian American Affairs.

The legislature put the commission into place after passing bill LB1300. It will allow Asian Americans in Nebraska to have direct access to the legislature and state government and will be expected to work with already established commission groups for other racial and ethnic groups.

The Commission will also help coordinate programs to assist Asian Nebraskans with housing, welfare, education, employment and other issues. These efforts will be overseen by a chairperson and four other executive board members. One final appointment is planned for the commission, which has a total of 14 members.

The current 13 members include;

Maureen Brase, Raymond

Weysan Dun, Omaha

Deepak M. Gangahar, MD, Elkhorn

Maorong Jiang, PhD, Omaha

Tram Kieu, Lincoln

Joanne Li, PhD, Omaha

Yunwoo Nam, PhD, Lincoln

Arunkumar Pondicherry, Lincoln

Rebecca (Jueyezi) Reinhardt, Lincoln

Vickie Sakurada Schaepler, Kearney

Ryo Suzuki, Kearney

Hiep Vu, PhD, Lincoln

Carol Wang, Omaha

The announcement was made in a press release released Monday. In an interview with Nebraska Public Media last month, Alan Wang, the executive director of Prairie Stem and the new board president for Nebraska Asian Pacific American Leadership Alliance, said that “I think it’s a really important step in advancing AAPI advancement in our communities”. “For a long time, escalating during COVID, a lot of those incidents could have been mitigated if more of the community were seen and heard.”.

Maria Arriaga, executive director of the Commission on Latino Americans, also told Nebraska Public Media that, “I think Nebraska is being an example for many states showing how to move forward instead going backwards. I think Nebraska is showing the importance of diversity and inclusion”.

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