The 2026 Asian Trailblazers – City & State New York

Sasha Neha Ahuja

Director, Civitas Public Affairs Group

Sasha Neha Ahuja brings two decades of experience in the public sphere to her role as director of the social justice-oriented PR firm Civitas Public Affairs Group. In 2024, she managed a successful campaign to pass the Equal Rights Amendment in New York. She honed her skills as an organizer representing New York City cab drivers with the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. She has held leadership roles in advocacy and government, including as chair of the New York City Equal Employment Practices Commission, where she led the creation of the city’s Commission on Gender Equity.

Dev Awasthi

Vice President of New York City Legislative Affairs, Real Estate Board of New York

Since he joined the influential Real Estate Board of New York in late 2024, Dev Awasthi has helped shape New York City’s groundbreaking City of Yes zoning reforms, worked to delay a mandate for natural gas detectors due to supply shortages and advocated for fairer enforcement practices with regard to small businesses. Earlier in his career, Awasthi served as the South Asian and Muslim community liaison in the New York City Comptroller’s Office, as a City Council deputy chief of staff and at the city’s top lobbying firm, Kasirer.

Becky Baek

Partner, Farrell Fritz

Becky Baek has built a reputation as a formidable commercial litigator in New York’s legal scene. After earning her law degree at Brooklyn Law School, Baek worked at law firms such as Sam P. Israel PC as well as Goetz Fitzpatrick before landing at Farrell Fritz in 2021, where she is now a partner. Beyond her legal work, Baek is an active member of the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York and served as co-chair of the organization’s 40th anniversary gala last month.

Amit Singh Bagga

Principal, Public Progress Solutions

Amit Singh Bagga has donned many roles as a seasoned operator in New York politics. After working on congressional and mayoral campaigns, he entered city government and served in key roles in several New York City agencies during the de Blasio administration, including at the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection and the Department of Social Services. Notably, he was a key part of the city’s pivotal 2020 census campaign to engage residents and ensure a full share of federal funding. He now runs his own lobbying firm, Public Progress Solutions, which launched in 2024.

Editor’s note: Amit Bagga is a member of City & State’s advisory board.

Girish Behal

Vice President, Project and Business Development, New York Power Authority

Girish Behal oversees the New York Power Authority’s $8 billion pipeline of transmission and storage projects as NYPA modernizes its infrastructure across New York. Behal has helped shape the Propel NY Energy project, a 90-mile underground transmission line across Long Island, Westchester County and New York City that will deliver 3,000 megawatts of capacity to the grid. His team also developed the Smart Path Connect transmission upgrade with National Grid. Behal previously was at SNC-Lavalin, where he oversaw a portfolio of renewable energy projects related to offshore wind power with global clients.

Wellington Chen

Executive Director, Chinatown Partnership

Wellington Chen is a fierce community advocate, well known in New York City’s Chinese American communities for spearheading significant revitalization and conservation initiatives in Manhattan’s Chinatown and Queens’ Flushing neighborhoods. His advocacy led him to become the first Chinese American to serve on a local development corporation in Queens before becoming a commissioner on the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals. Through the Chinatown Partnership, Chen stewards crucial development projects that preserve Chinatown’s essence while boosting the historic neighborhood.

Willing Chin-Ma

Chief Operating Officer, Grand St. Settlement

Grand St. Settlement has served low-income immigrant families since 1916 and continues to do so with the help of Willing Chin-Ma and other leaders. Chin-Ma was able to boost the nonprofit’s reach thanks to $18.4 million of Head Start federal funding, providing enrichment programming for nearly 600 more children in the Bronx and Brooklyn. The nonprofit has advocated for the state to fund the settlement house program and to pass #SNAP4ALL, which would expand public food benefits to those excluded from SNAP due to their citizenship status.

Jennifer Ching

Executive Director, North Star Fund

In 2017, Jennifer Ching took the reins of North Star Fund, a New York community foundation that supports social justice and organizing led by communities of color. On Ching’s watch, the fund has grown to support more than 150 grassroots organizations, directing more than $14 million their way last year. The civil rights lawyer got her start through training that she received as a student from community groups operating in Boston’s and New York’s Chinatown neighborhoods. The former community organizer previously was the leader of Queens Legal Services and New York Appleseed.

Hewett Chiu

Co-Founder, President and CEO, RaisingHealth Partners

Hewett Chiu has dedicated his career to ensuring better care models are being integrated for New York City’s most at-risk patients. After losing his mother to cancer, Chiu co-founded RaisingHealth Partners, which joins with community organizations to increase access to preventive and primary care. Chiu was recognized last year on the “Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare Awards” by Fierce Healthcare, among other honors. He previously held leadership roles at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and is an adjunct professor at New York University.

Terence Cho

Vice President of Real Estate, Battery Park City Authority

Terence Cho cuts deals and manages real estate assets for the Battery Park City Authority across its 92 acres. In December, Cho completed a major agreement with Brookfield Properties to modify and extend a ground lease for Brookfield Place, a 9.4 million-square-foot office and retail complex, through 2119. In February, he executed another ground lease transaction preserving rent protections for residential units at Gateway Plaza along with sustainability, resiliency and capital investment commitments. Previously, at Empire State Development, Cho led public-private partnerships, such as the High Line-Moynihan Connector civic project.

Anna Mercado Clark

Partner Phillips, Lytle

Anna Mercado Clark is an invaluable member of the law firm Phillips Lytle. Her tenacity and expertise in cybersecurity law has earned her leadership roles as the firm’s chief information security officer and as co-lead of its technology industry team. Clark also helps mold the next generation of legal minds as an adjunct law professor at Fordham University, her alma mater. The Filipina lawyer is a co-founder of the Filipino American Lawyers Association of New York. She was appointed as a special adviser to the American Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession.

Yashi Dadhich

Director of Energy and Sustainability, Javits Center

Yashi Dadhich has been the steward of the Javits Center’s sustainability efforts since 2023. As the iconic venue’s director of energy and sustainability, Dadhich oversees the Javits Center’s contracts along with its sustainability endeavors. These initiatives include sustainability-first procurement processes, direct waste management and a biodiversity initiative on the state’s largest green roof, which all serve to fulfill the Javits Center’s net-zero carbon events pledge. Earlier, Dadhich was a sustainability executive at transit firm Hyperloop Transportation Technologies and was an independent sustainability consultant for Fortune 100 clients.

Jeehae Fischer

Executive Director, Korean American Family Service Center

Since 2019, Jeehae Fischer has expanded services at the Korean American Family Service Center to support survivors of gender-based violence, more than doubling the nonprofit’s budget. Among its long-term projects, the nonprofit recently teamed up with the New York City Department of Social Services and community partners to launch Magnolia Gardens, a Queens-based secure transitional housing facility for survivors. Fischer also served on the New York City Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, which analyzed family-related homicide data to see whether victims accessed victim assistance or prevention services.

Michael Fong

National Policy Committee Vice Chair, Asian Real Estate Association of America

Michael Fong’s experience championing independent business owners at the New York City Department of Small Business Services informs his current work in real estate and equity. As national policy vice chair with the Asian Real Estate Association of America, Fong addresses inequity issues faced by marginalized residents, such as homeownership access. Fong was instrumental in launching the association’s leadership onboarding manual, which was disseminated nationally to empower chapters with practical leadership tools. He also serves on the boards of the Long Island Board of Realtors and the New York State Association of Realtors.

Lisa Gold

Executive Director, Asian American Arts Alliance

A longtime steward of the arts in New York City, Lisa Gold was appointed to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s transition committee on arts and culture late last year. Since 2018, Gold has bolstered the Asian American Arts Alliance – also known as A4 – to expand opportunities for Asian creative leaders across many disciplines. Last year, she managed to secure private funding for the nonprofit’s operations amid federal funding cuts for diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. She has had previous stints at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington Project for the Arts, The Drawing Center and Socrates Sculpture Park.

Kendra Goldhirsch

Partner, Chaffin Luhana

Kendra Goldhirsch has over a decade of experience leading complex mass tort, product liability and catastrophic personal injury cases at the law firm Chaffin Luhana, where she serves as a partner. Goldhirsch is a legal trailblazer and a skilled litigator who specializes in pharmaceutical and medical device matters in particular, representing clients against major corporations in the hair relaxer Valsartan and Zantac dockets involving cancer cases. She worked at Weitz & Luxenberg for several years before joining her current firm in 2015.

Lawrence Han

Partner, Rivkin Radler

With 16 years of practicing law under his belt, Lawrence Han is known for his work in liability litigation representing clients against claims involving malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and mismanagement. As president of the Korean American Lawyers Association of Greater New York, Han expanded mentorship and professional development programming while boosting the organization’s overall membership. He was recognized by the Asian law students association of his alma mater, St. John’s University School of Law, for his leadership in the field of law.

Erum Hanif

CEO, APNA Community Services

As the leader of APNA Community Services, which supports low-income immigrants in southern Brooklyn, Erum Hanif brings two decades of social services and nonprofit management expertise. She first served as director for its adult daycare service, at the time the only program offered through the nonprofit. Realizing the need for more services for the surrounding community, Hanif spearheaded APNA’s service expansion. Hanif previously led initiatives at the American Council for Minority Women, New American Leaders and the Interfaith Center of New York.

Alex He

Deputy Secretary for Intergovernmental and External Affairs, Office of the Assembly Speaker

Alex He’s work on behalf of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie involves managing many relationships, a skill honed through his past work as a researcher and writer with a deep focus on U.S.-China relations. As deputy secretary of intergovernmental and external affairs, keeping an ear to the ground and engaging the state’s Asian American communities is part of He’s day-to-day duties, as well as briefing the Assembly’s Asian Pacific American Task Force. He recently planned the Assembly Democrats’ first Lunar New Year celebration on Staten Island.

Wayne Ho

President and CEO, Chinese-American Planning Council

Wayne Ho has dramatically expanded the Chinese-American Planning Council’s impact during his almost decade-long tenure at the helm. The nonprofit social services organization has not only doubled its budget and boosted its services to support 30% more residents since Ho came aboard, but it has also expanded its school-based, mental health and housing service offerings as well. Last fall, Ho was elected board chair of the influential Human Services Council, and he also served on the transition committees of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Comptroller Mark Levine.

Aung Hset

Legislative Director, Dickinson & Avella

As legislative director at Dickinson & Avella, Aung Hset is an indispensable employee at the top 20 lobbying firm in Albany. Hset and his Burmese family immigrated to the U.S. in 2008, and he studied political science at the University at Albany. An internship at Dickinson & Avella after completing his undergraduate studies led directly to positions as a legislative analyst and, beginning in 2025, as legislative director. He has helped shift public views on psilocybin and raise awareness of its public health benefits and collaborated with his team on advancing other issues for clients.

Whitney Hu

Policy and Campaign Consultant

Whitney Hu recently left her old job as director of civic engagement and research at Churches United for Fair Housing, a Brooklyn-based grassroots advocacy organization known for endorsing progressive candidates for elected office. In that role, Hu was also an outspoken advocate against Airbnb, opposing the vacation rental company’s unsuccessful push to pass legislation that would’ve allowed its listings back in the New York City market. Hu was part of the push to pass the FARE Act, which bars real estate brokers who represent landlords from charging fees to tenants in New York City. She also founded South Brooklyn Mutual Aid.

Tandeep Kaur

Director of Asian American Outreach, Office of U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer

Raised in Queens in a Panjabi Sikh family, Tandeep Kaur has a deep understanding of the importance of identity and representation in politics and government. As the Asian American outreach lead for U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Kaur helped secure federal funding for Asian American communities in New York and spearheaded engagement across many diverse ethnic groups. She has also been a leader on gender-based violence initiatives and currently is Asian Caucus chair for the New York State Young Democrats and managing director of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy New York.

Jamie Kazi

State and Federal Political Coordinator, 32BJ SEIU

Before joining 32BJ SEIU last year, Jamie Kazi worked for several New York political heavyweights. He was legislative coordinator for then-New York City Council Member Adrienne Adams, legislative director for Assembly Members David Weprin and Catalina Cruz and a state committee member in Queens. In Cruz’s office, he helped advance the Wage Theft Accountability Act and the Clean Slate Act. He’s now overseeing 32BJ SEIU’s many endorsements, including a nod for Assembly Member Diana Moreno and for Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas’ challenge to state Sen. Jessica Ramos.

Bharati Sukul Kemraj

Vice President, Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates

Born in Guyana, Bharati Sukul Kemraj has built strong roots in the Bronx. The Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates veteran started as a media professional at BronxNet TV, where she produced news programming covering the borough. She continued to be engaged in local affairs and public service through her work at the Bronx Borough President’s Office, and then later serving on Community Board 11 and Community Board 9 in the Bronx. In 2014, Kemraj founded the Bharati Foundation to support access to community resources for Bronxites.

Shaan Khan

President, Long Island Board of Realtors

Shaan Khan is the 2026 president of the Long Island Board of Realtors, a trade association that represents more than 26,000 members throughout Queens, Nassau and Suffolk counties. Before his appointment, Khan served on the organization’s board of directors for five years and played a crucial role in leading the group’s strategic direction and as chair of its Bylaws Committee. Khan, a licensed real estate broker and a Muslim of Pakistani descent, owns his own real estate firm, RK Realty Group, based in Melville.

Yume Kitasei

Commissioner, New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services

Yume Kitasei has extensive experience in city government roles involving budgeting, policy and government operations. That background will benefit her as she leads the New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services, overseeing $1 billion of city goods and services purchases and managing 300,000 city employees. Prior to her appointment, the commissioner was deputy chief of staff to former First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright in the Adams administration and chief of staff to the deputy mayor of operations in the de Blasio administration. She’s also an author of science fiction novels, most recently “Saltcrop.”

Matt Lawyue

Vice President, Marketing and Communications, RiseBoro Community Partnership

Matt Lawyue, whose ethnically Chinese parents emigrated from Trinidad & Tobago and Canada, joined Riseboro Community Partnership as its first vice president of marketing and communications. In the new role, which he started in December, he assisted with the nonprofit’s unveiling of New York’s first hotel to affordable housing conversion. He has also worked at BerlinRosen and WeWork and most recently served vice president of communications for the Central Park Conservancy, where he oversaw publicity for the $160 million Davis Center opening at the Harlem Meer.

Amy Lee

Director of Medicaid and Integrated Products, Elderplan

Amy Lee’s path to the health care field began at the Charles B. Wang Community Health Center, which has a major presence in Manhattan’s Chinatown, where she grew up as the daughter of immigrant parents. Later, she worked at New York Health Foundation and the state Health Department, where she helped create the New York State of Health marketplace. Today, she drives policy analysis and manages Medicaid coverage access for over 40,000 members at Elderplan. She’s also active in Elderplan’s Asian and Pacific Islander and LGBTQ+ employee resource groups.

Richard Lee

Commissioner, New York City Department of Finance

For the past few years, Richard Lee served as the influential director of the New York City Council’s Finance Division, crunching the numbers and crafting spending plans as the legislative body negotiated multibillion-dollar budgets with the Adams administration. This spring, he was poached by the Mamdani administration to lead the city’s Finance Department – putting him on the other side of those high-stakes budget talks with the City Council. He remains a key player as Mayor Zohran Mamdani and City Council Speaker Julie Menin haggle over the city’s next budget.

Ademi Levenson

Senior Vice President of Development, The Advance Group

Since she assisted a campaign to bring ranked choice voting to New York City as an intern at The Advance Group, Ademi Levenson has continued to tackle issues that matter. She rejoined the firm in 2024 and now serves as its senior vice president of development. She has lobbied for approval of a preeclampsia drug from South Korea for the U.S. market, and she also works with nonprofit clients on sustainability and clean energy campaigns. Levenson was born in Kazakhstan and raised in Dubai and Russia.

Ba Zan Lin

Community Impact Associate Vice President, Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo

Ba Zan Lin is a dedicated environmentalist and a leader in the nonprofit space. As community impact associate vice president, Lin manages the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo’s grantmaking programs in the region, which largely focus on causes advancing racial equity, education, the arts and environmental protections. The Myanmar native’s prior stints include time as a research associate at nonprofit Via Evaluation and as an educational manager at the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper. He sits on the boards of Burmese Community Services and the Partnership for the Public Good.

Margaret Ling

New York State Agency Underwriting Counsel and Education Director, AmTrust Title

Margaret Ling has made an indelible mark at AmTrust Title as the insurance firm’s underwriting counsel for New York as well as its education director. Ling served on the New York State Bar Association’s diversity, equity and inclusion committee, is a member of the diversity and inclusion committee of the American Land Title Association and was recently appointed to the New York State Bar Association’s executive committee on real property law. When she’s not engaged in educational forums or mentoring young lawyers, she is likely on the golf course, where her other passion lies.

George Liu

Chair, President and CEO, CAIPA

George Liu is a pioneer in New York’s medical field and one of the state’s leading endocrinologists. At the Coalition of Asian-American IPA, or CAIPA, Liu oversees a mass provider network with over 1,400 private practitioners and 70 specialists serving half a million Asian New Yorkers. He recently launched CAIPA@Home to serve homebound patients and spearheaded a Diabetes Self Management Education and Support program. Liu, an immigrant from Taiwan, has channeled his desire to support the city’s immigrants into founding the Asian Diabetes Center to combat diabetes among Chinese American patients.

Akash Mehta

Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, New York Focus

In a little over five years, Akash Mehta has transformed New York Focus into one of the state’s most impactful press watchdog outfits. Mehta co-founded the nonprofit investigative newsroom in 2020 and, with the backing of funders such as the American Journalism Project and the Ford Foundation, has since overseen hard-hitting coverage on issues ranging from illegal tenant evictions to campaign violations. Prior to his role as New York Focus’ editor-in-chief, Mehta served as a policy fellow with the New York City Council.

Sanjay Mody

Partner, Windels Marx

Sanjay Mody operates at the intersection of government and infrastructure. He is a partner at the venerable law firm Windels Marx, where he co-founded and heads the Infrastructure Development and Finance Group. When he was a key adviser at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, he helped strategize on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site and airport terminal redevelopments. He also tackles white-collar crime as general counsel and corporate secretary of The Sentry, a global group that investigates dark money connections to war crimes.

Sibu Nair

Director of Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs, Office of the Governor

Sibu Nair has accomplished a great deal since joining Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Asian American and Pacific Islnder Affairs team in 2021, first as deputy director and since June 2025 as director. As the highest-ranking South Asian official in the Executive Chamber, Nair has advanced policies that boost equity and inclusion for Asian New Yorkers. He was pivotal in New York’s move to make Diwali and Lunar New Year official school holidays and helped secure $100 million in funding for equity initiatives serving Asian American communities. Nair also supported legislation expanding language access services in hospitals.

YuhTyng Patka

Partner, Adler & Stachenfeld

YuhTyng Patka is a property tax expert, advising developers and not-for-profit clients while also earning recognition as a trailblazer on office-to-residential conversions. At the real estate law firm Adler & Stachenfeld, Patka keeps busy as co-chair of several of the firm’s practice groups, including New York City Real Estate Tax and Zoning Incentives, New York City Development, Property Assessed Clean Energy Finance, and Impact practice groups while also chairing the firm’s New York City Climate Mobilization Task Force. Outside the office, she launched the Saratoga Springs chapter for Girls on the Run, an athletics-based enrichment program for young girls.

Zara Rahim

Senior Adviser, Office of the New York City Mayor

Digital communications virtuoso Zara Rahim worked on the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton and ran large-scale communication strategies for Uber, Vogue and The Wing before she joined Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral campaign. Rahim was a key conduit to cultural, philanthropic and donor communities and helped cultivate the candidate’s national profile. The Bangladeshi American strategist has advised Mamdani in his first 100 days in office and will soon shift to an outside adviser role while supporting other progressive candidates.

Saiya Sheth

Policy Director, Healthcare and Public Health, Office of the New York City Comptroller

A self-proclaimed “civic technologist,” Saiya Sheth uses her data skills for the public good. She spearheaded public-serving initiatives such as performing geospatial disease modeling with the World Health Organization and conducting epidemiological research at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health. Sheth also designed the New York City Mayor’s Office of Operations’ Involuntary Transports Dashboard, which tracks demographic data on involuntary transports in the city. She now directs public health policy in the New York City Comptroller’s Office. Outside of work, she and her spouse launched a program supporting young queer artists.

Tricia Shimamura

Commissioner, New York City Department of Parks and Recreation

Tricia Shimamura is the first Asian American to serve as the city’s parks commissioner. The granddaughter of Japanese immigrants, Shimamura is a longtime public servant and has played a critical role in a number of public-serving initiatives. She helped progress infrastructure projects such as the East River Esplanade and first phase of the Second Avenue subway during her time as deputy chief of staff to then-Rep. Carolyn Maloney. Shimamura also oversaw the $163 million reopening of the first phase of East River Park in her time as the parks department’s Manhattan borough commissioner.

Mariko Silver

President and CEO, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts

Since Mariko Silver was appointed president and CEO of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in 2024, she has charted a new course for an esteemed arts institution that houses 11 major resident organizations, including the New York City Ballet and the Metropolitan Opera. Under Silver, Lincoln Center received a $50 million donation – the largest single programming gift in its history – to launch the Pasculano Collaborative for Contemporary Dance and has embarked on a redesign of the western side of the campus. Previously, Silver led the Henry Luce Foundation and was the president of Bennington College.

Prashant Thakker

Chief Information Officer and Deputy Commissioner for HPD Tech, New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development

Prashant Thakker was the driving force behind a digital transformation at the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, where he serves as chief information officer and as a deputy commissioner. As part of the overhaul, he transitioned away from paper workflows, centralized siloed program data and adopted a single cloud hosting platform while cutting hardware costs and facilitating secure remote work operations. The University of Bombay graduate was deputy chief information officer at the city’s Department of Social Services before joining the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in 2021.

Jenny Tsang-Quinn

Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Health Services and Population Health, Maimonides Medical Center

Jenny Tsang-Quinn spent a decade at Maimonides Medical Center before she became a senior vice president in 2023. Tsang-Quinn now directs the Brooklyn hospital’s ambulatory operations across all its certified medical sites and partners with executives to strengthen the quality of its ambulatory services. Her team collaborates with community physician groups, including the Coalition of Asian-American IPA and Rendr, where she previously worked supporting 200,000 Chinese American families in the city. Tsang-Quinn, who is fluent in Cantonese and Taishanese, is also interim executive director of Community Care of Brooklyn IPA.

John Wang

Founder and President, Asian American Business Development Center

An immigrant from Taiwan and a U.S. Air Force veteran, John Wang is a longtime pillar in New York City’s business sector, particularly among Asian American leaders. He founded the Asian American Business Development Center in 1994 to provide support for Asian American entrepreneurs through resources from public-private partnerships. The organization’s annual Lunar New Year Gala and Asian American Business Roundtable have become signature events recognizing Asian business professionals. Wang is a member of the New York City Mayor’s M/WBE Advisory Council.

Eric Wei

CEO, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue

As NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue’s CEO, Dr. Eric Wei leads the oldest public hospital in the country where 6,000 medical employees provide around-the-clock care to New Yorkers. In the face of rising challenges like an inpatient uptick stemming from other hospital closures, Wei has advanced Bellevue 2030, a plan to improve quality, safety and financial sustainability. His efforts include securing $18 million to modernize the hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit and an additional $400,000 for new ultrasound equipment. He’s also a senior vice president for the entire NYC Health + Hospitals system.

Frank Wu

President, Queens College

Frank Wu is the first Asian American to serve as president at Queens College, where 43% of students are classified by the school as “underrepresented minorities.” As president since 2020, Wu has shepherded major developments to the college’s infrastructure and program offerings. Besides opening new arts and business schools, the college received $7.2 million in funding from the state for renovation projects that include new research labs for its School of Earth and Environmental Sciences. Wu has also hired 57 new faculty, worked to combat antisemitism and has overseen rising enrollment at the institution’s School of Education.

Trip Yang

Founder and CEO, Trip Yang Strategies

Trip Yang is one of the top Democratic political strategists in New York. The veteran consultant worked on U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2020 presidential bid and also worked on national election campaigns for Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Locally, Yang used his prowess to power successful campaigns for New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Assembly Members Catalina Cruz and Grace Lee and Rep. Tom Suozzi. His political strategy, direct mail and paid media consulting firm, Trip Yang Strategies, is in demand among Democrats running for elected office statewide.

Editor’s note: Trip Yang is a member of City & State’s advisory board.

Kim Yu

Director and City Chief Procurement Officer, New York City Mayor’s Office of Contract Services

Kim Yu has made major strides to improve New York City’s bureaucratic processes since her appointment as director of the city’s contracting office in the Adams administration last year, and the new mayor reappointed her to the post in January. Yu launched a vendor reporting portal to allow easier access to data. She also has sought to speed up payments for nonprofits, initiating a discretionary grant pilot program for fiscal year 2026 with streamlined contracting for nonprofits to allow groups to receive their full allocated funding in half the usual contracting time.

Ellie Zhong

Vice President of Communications and Public Involvement, WSP USA

Ellie Zhong is a public affairs expert with significant experience in the public and private sectors. She led communications and planning strategies for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s World Trade Center redevelopment and spearheaded external engagement for Ford Motor’s $11.4 billion electric vehicle production investment in Tennessee and Kentucky. In 2023, she joined WSP USA, where she serves as vice president of communications and public involvement. Zhong, who is fluent in Mandarin and English, is managing public affairs on a major electric underground transmission upgrade spanning Nassau County to Westchester.