About

Executive Director

Margaret Fung is a co-founder and executive director of the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). She testified before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee in 1992, calling for the expansion of language assistance under the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Her advocacy led to the first f...

Assistant Director

Jennifer Weng has 19 years of development and management experience. She joined AALDEF in 2002 and has served as 9/11 Relief Project Administrator, IT/Database Associate, and Operations Manager. As the Assistant Director, she is responsible for coordinating AALDEF’s annual Justice in Action Awards G...

South Asian Legal Impact Fellow

Erum Kidwai (she/her) is the South Asian Legal Impact Fellow focusing on issues affecting South Asian American communities. Prior to coming to AALDEF, she worked at the Legal Aid Society. Erum graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a legal intern at Community Justice Project,...

Senior Counsel

Elizabeth Koo (she/her) is senior counsel for the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF). Elizabeth returned to AALDEF, after having previously served as a former intern, program associate and community organizer at AALDEF, before becoming a lawyer. Through a combination of her org...

Legal Director

Bethany Li has used a movement lawyering model to fight for social justice in Asian American communities and advance racial equity. Using an innovative and multi-faceted approach in collaboration with community organizers, Bethany has litigated cases and led advocacy work on a range of civil rights ...

Community Advocate

Victoria Lin joined AALDEF in 2023 as the Community Advocate, focusing on Economic Justice and Anti-Displacement. She graduated from Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) with a Master of Science in Urban Planning specializing in Community Economic De...

Skadden Fellow

Annie Lo (she/her) is a Skadden Fellow focused on improving housing conditions and preventing displacement of urban Asian American communities. A graduate of New York University School of Law, Annie was a legal intern with the Housing Unit at Brooklyn Legal Services and an Ella Baker Intern at the C...

Associate Director, Democracy Program

Since joining AALDEF, Susana has been actively litigating several voting rights cases on behalf of Asian American voters across the country under Sections 2, 203, and 208 of the Voting Rights Act. Prior to AALDEF Susana worked for 30 years at the U.S. Department of Justice, primarily in the Civil Ri...

Senior Staff Attorney

Stanley Mark coordinates free legal rights clinics at workers’ centers and immigrant-led organizations. He represents and assists Asian families seeking immigration benefits and US citizenship, recovering minimum wage and overtime pay, and securing health care for post-9/11 survivors in Chinatown an...

Community Organizer

Shirley is an active volunteer in Manhattan’s Chinatown. She organizes free weekend events for “21 Pell St.,” is an advocate for the American Legion Lt. KimLau B.R. Post 1291, and serves on the Chinatown YMCA Board. She is a member of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) and has served ...

Equal Justice Works Fellow

Ronak Patel joined the AALDEF staff in 2022 as an Equal Justice Works Fellow sponsored by Cooley LLP. A graduate of UCLA School of Law, Ronak worked on language access, prison gerrymandering, and redistricting issues during internships with LatinoJustice PRLDEF and the ACLU Voting Right Project in N...

Harvard Public Service Venture Fund Fellow

Michael Shang joined the AALDEF staff in 2023 as a Harvard Public Service Venture Fund Fellow. Michael graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and graduated with General Honors from John Hopkins University, where he double majored in Biophysics and Political Science and minored in Mathematics. ...

Director, Stop Asian Hate Project

Jane supports Asian American communities on issues of state and interpersonal violence and works to address their root causes. Previously, as an attorney at the Immigrant Defense Project, Jane worked on state and federal advocacy campaigns to fight the criminalization of immigrants, challenge polici...

Voting Rights Organizer

Esther Smith joined the AALDEF staff in 2023 as a Voting Rights Organizer to continue her work in voting rights advocacy. As part of the Democracy Team, Esther coordinates voter education outreach to inform and empower Asian American communities of their rights to language accommodations and voter a...

Staff Attorney, Democracy Program

Patrick Stegemoeller joined the AALDEF staff in 2021, after serving as a staff attorney at The Guardian Project of the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City. He also has worked with the League of Conservation Voters in Washington DC, where he represented the legal department in racial and envir...

Director, Democracy Program

Jerry has been a leader in collecting electoral data on and protecting Asian American voters, organizing AALDEF’s National Asian American Exit Poll and Voter Protection Program which deployed over 850 volunteers in 14 states and Washington DC, to survey and protect almost 14,000 Asian American voter...

Senior Staff Attorney

Annie has been a Staff Attorney at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), where she focuses on immigrant rights and manages and coordinates its Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) pro bono representation project since 2014. She monitors and analyzes immigration polic...

Staff Attorney

Razeen has worked to advance immigrant rights for over a decade, having worked as an organizer before becoming a lawyer. She believes in a movement lawyering model centering the voices of those directly affected to advance social justice and is committed to building the power of marginalized immigra...

Development Assistant

Lexi worked as a legal assistant for almost five years handling immigration law and other general counsel services. She is also experienced in communications, public relations, and social media. Lexi finished her degree in A.B. Development Studies with a Minor in Development Management from the Aten...

Administrative Assistant

Finance Director

Communications Assistant

Julia joined the AALDEF staff in 2023 as Communications Assistant. She previously worked editorially on children’s books at HarperCollins Publishers, where her goal was to uplift and amplify diverse voices, focusing on collaborating with BIPOC creators and authors and illustrators from marginalized ...

Development Director

Yasmin Khan brings over 30 years of development, nonprofit management, and communications experience in her role as Development Director. A child of immigrants from Pakistan and Ukraine, Yasmin puts a lifelong passion of purpose in her work on issues related to social justice, human and civil rights...

Communications Director

Stuart Sia is a seasoned storyteller and communications director with high-profile media and advocacy experience for NGOs. He is passionate about health, human rights, and social justice. As a producer with ABC News, he earned two national Emmy Awards. He has worked with a variety of humanitarian or...