Interim Executive Director, Steven Suzuki is a licensed architect that has been with Asian Neighborhood Design
since 1982 with involvement on a variety of project types including low-income housing renovation and new
construction, childcare, office/community facilities design and supportive housing projects. He previously served on the Boards of Kokoro Assisted Living, Inc., the Japanese American Religious Federation –Housing Inc., Break the Silence Coalition on Anti-Asian Violence, African-Asian American Roundtable, Nihonmachi Little Friends, the Japanese Community and Cultural Center of Northern California, and the Chinatown Beacon Center.
In 2005 he was recognized by the San Francisco Immigrant Rights Commission and in 2004 was awarded Best Rehab/Renovation under 100,000 sq ft by the San Francisco Business Times for the Kokoro project. A native of Oakland and graduate of Laney College and U.C. Berkeley in Architecture, Steve now lives in San Francisco with partner Esther Leong, of Asian Pacific Islander Legal Outreach, and their children.
Pui Yee Law joined AND in September 13, 2007 as Director of Resource Development. She is responsible
for the agency's fundraising strategy and development, including foundation grants, fundraising events,
individual donor program, public relations and communications.
Pui Yee comes to AND with 10 years of non-profit experience with 6 years in fundraising work
from the Chinatown Community Development Center. She received her BA in Psychology
and American Studies from UC Santa Cruz and Marketing Certificate from San Francisco State University.
Bio huh? Well, Im 38 yrs old. I have a 2 year old daughter and 2 step daughters age 6 & 9.
I spent the majority of my 20's incarcerated because i was addicted to drugs. After 5 trips to prison,
i finally ws able to put my demons behind me. I was released from Corcoran state prison on Aug. 9, 2000,
and at that time decided that i wanted to commit my life to assisting at risk youth to avoid
the pitfalls life has to offer.
I began my social work career at Walden House in Feb. 2001 and have never looked back. The satisfaction
that i get from helping young people is immesurable. My hobbies include : skateboarding and making music.
Services at the Foundation for San Francisco’s Architectural Heritage while obtaining a Master’s Degree
in Architecture emphasizing affordable housing and preservation. Major projects at A.N.D. include renovation
of two historic buildings, The San Christina and the Madison Park Apartments, the latter of which received
the California Preservation Foundation Design Award for Historic Preservation.
Rose graduated from UC Berkeley in 1990. She is also active in the American Institute of Architects (AIA), currently serving as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the AIA California Council and participating on the Housing Committee at the AIA San Francisco. She is currently a Principal Architect at Asian Neighborhood Design.
Diana Pei Wu started organizing her high school classmates to support of human rights after the
Tiananmen Square massacres in June 1989, and on environmental issues for Earth Day 1990.
She joined AND as Director of Community Planning in March 2008, with experience in environmental
research and spatial analysis, GIS and community map-making, transformative community organizing,
popular education and participatory research in the field areas of environmental justice, affordable housing,
immigrant rights, cultural work and youth organizing. It was through work in environmental justice
and against gentrification that Diana first became hip to the importance of land use, planning and
zoning issues for social justice and human rights for low-income communities of color,
sometime in the early 2000s.
Diana has a Ph.D. from the Department of Environmental Science, Policy & Management at UC Berkeley (2006)
and is co-author of ReGeneration: Youth Organizing in Environmental Justice (2004; Movement Strategy Center).
This year, Diana is playing capoeira with Capoeira Sangue Forte, tambourim and pandeiro with Grupo Samba Rio,
dancing salsa rueda and supporting CJWP's Pacific Renaissance Campaign crew and Hei Gu Chinese Percussion
Ensemble.
Gilberto
De Anda, Construction Instructor
I joined AND in 2004. Prior to working for AND, I worked as a Union Carpenter/Cabinetmaker
out
of Carpenter Locals 22 and 2236. I have worked in almost every high rise
in San Francisco and countless
homes in the Bay Area. Plant Architectural Woodworks, Design Workshop,
Feiler Bros, RMR Construction,
Mayta Jensen, have been some of my employers.
After working for 27 years as a Union Carpenter, I was called upon to
teach and it has been a very
challenging yet very rewarding experience. ” It is necessary to
give back to the community
because it has given me so much and never forget where you come from”
.
Born and raised in San Francisco’s Mission District, went to John O Connell vocational
and technical high school. My Hobbies are music, fishing, sports and having a good time with family and friends.
Harry J. Wong has over twenty years of professional experience
with a variety of project types,
including several multi-family residential structures, special user housing,
and office tenant
improvements for community agencies. He has been with Asian Neighborhood
Design since 1984.
His recent projects include the Friendship House Healing Center and South
of Market Child Care.
Harry graduated from UC Berkeley in 1977. He thereafter
joined the Pratt Institute travel
workshops in Finland, Spain, and France. He is currently the Director
of Architecture at
Asian Neighborhood Design. His hobby is collecting original popular culture
and cartoon art.
Nicole
Combs-Walker, Family &
Youth Resources Advocate
I actually grew up in San Gabriel Valley, yes that's right I'm a valley
girl...LOL. I moved up to San Francisco
at the age of 19 straight out of high school. I was heading in the wrong
direction and decided to get away.
The reason why I moved to the bay area cause a lot of my friends were
going to jail or getting pregnant
and that wasn't for me.
In 1999, I came on board with A.N.D. as a receptionist working at that
time with SMP
(Specialty Mills Product). Now I am a Family and Youth Advocate and oversee
the Family and
Youth Resource Department. I organized events
such as the Community Clean Up Day,
Neighborhood Watch and the Tutubi Park Garden Project. Also I loved working with youth and helping them
stay out of trouble. I am an active volunteer with the American Red Cross.
What I enjoy doing the most SHOPPING, spending time with family and friends and TRAVELING...
Alex Quan is a sophomore at Biola University, in the Los Angeles area. He hopes to find his calling
in life by serving the needs of people through the work he does at AND. As an intern, he helps out with
research, day-to-day tasks, community meetings and enjoys being involved with SoMa youth.
Originally from Seattle, his family has just moved to San Francisco. He thinks San Francisco
is great, especially the Golden State Warriors.
I came on board to AND in 2000 as an Office Manager which has expanded to managing
Human Resources to Payroll. Has over 20 years of experience working in the non-profit sector.
With all the unexpected challenges I face daily due to wearing many hats in the organization there’s
never a dull moment at A.N.D.; it allows me to interact with everyone from clients to staff members.
Most importantly, I still have my “sense of humor” in tact. My hobbies include taking many pleasurable
trips to casinos, playing mahjong and karaoke. I mostly enjoy spending time with my grandson, Jovani.
Nine years later “Z” is an aging filmmaker/actress and webmaster. As part of AND’s web design team,
the “Dreamweavers”, “Z” hopes to bring some of the magic and beauty of the big screen
to the computer screen.
“Z” is also
our receptionist and a member of our administrative support team.
“Most people would complain about having so many different hats
to wear, but it’s been
a great experience for me. As a director of a film, you definitely have
to wear different hats,
take on additional responsibilities without prior notice and prioritize
what’s most needed.”
“The only difference between AND and my production company is one is a nonprofit,
the other is a no profit, for right now.”
Fernando Martí has over fifteen years of experience with a variety of project types, including custom
residential, multi-family residential structures, urban design, green building, and structures for
spiritual communities. Fernando was born in Guayaquil , Ecuador , and has made the Bay Area
his home since 1990. He has been with AND since 2004, where his responsibilities include
architectural design, project feasibility analysis, and community planning and visualization studies.
He is currently involved with the rehabilitation of 53 Columbus , a 21-unit limited-equity cooperative
in San Francisco ’s Chinatown , with the San Francisco Community Land Trust and Chinatown CDC.
Through AND's community planning program, Fernando is involved with the development of community-based land use
and rezoning plans for San Francisco's Mission District, South of Market, and Visitacion Valley.
Fernando is the recipient of the prestigious Frederick P. Rose Architectural Fellowship. Fernando is also an exhibiting
printmaker and installation artist, and teaches design studios at UC Berkeley.
Max Kwok is originally from Hong Kong, but has been living in the San Francisco Bay Area
for the past 15 years. Both fluent and literate in Chinese, Max got his Bachelor of Arts
in Architecture Degree from UC Berkeley in 2000 and his Master of Architecture from
Cal Poly Pomona in 2004. Before joining Asian Neighborhood Design in 2005, he worked
at different community based agencies including Chinatown Youth Center and Community
Design Center in San Francisco. He is the project coordinator in charge of the Hall Mark Group
housing projects. Max is an avid tennis player who is active with the local tennis community.
On March 19, 2007 Juan Calaf joined Asian Neighborhood Design's Architecture and
Community Planning staff. Juan was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico. With over 6 years of experience,
he has worked on a wide range of projects ranging from the design of a 136-unit supportive
SRO affordable housing to the creation of a community garden. He is devoted to community-based
design and strongly believes that social change happens, in part, through people actively
participating as designers and builders of their own community. In the Community Planning program
Juan is actively working on developing “visual literacy” to provide communities with the tools needed
for social change. Juan is a graduate from Syracuse University School of Architecture.
He is also a drummer with AND’s Quartet!
housing, university and commercial architectural work over the years at firms in Houston, Chicago and
Oakland. She has a B.S in Environmental Design from the University of Houston and a Masters of Architecture
from the University of Oregon .
When she is not active as a board member with Architects, Designers and Planners for Social Responsibility,
as chair for the AIA East Bay’s Regional and Urban Design Forum or studying for the architectural licensing
exams, Ann manages to find time, on occasion, to dabble in arts, craft and music projects, read, sleep
and play outside
was born and raised in Charlotte, N.C. He comes from a family of 4 boys
and two girls, of which, he is next to the baby.
I
was born in 1961. My favorite colors are Silver & Black, you know
what’s up. My favorite food
is that down home, deep- fried, put yo foot in it, fried chicken. I’ve
been married once,
divorced once and have no children. The one thing that I truly love the
most is the LORD.
The Lord has brought me a very, very, long way. He has brought me out
of the darkness and into the light.
I have been clean and sober for over 8 years now. Give
it up for me now…….Amen
Architect Susan Sakuma joined A.N.D. in 1995. Her experience includes housing for developmentally
disabled adults at Kodama Associates; senior housing at Backen, Arrigoni & Ross;
participation in nationwide housing development at Fisher-Friedman Associates; and design
of convalescent homes in Los Angeles at Widom/Wein & Partners, Inc.
Susan has a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from University of Southern California.
She is a registered architect in California, and has been active in many community organizations
such as the Asian Pacific Islander's Legal Outreach, and the Buddhist Church of San Francisco.
Brinda Avadani, Family & Youth Resources Intern
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Brinda completed her undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering from
Cal Poly, SLO in 2003. After working in hi-tech, Brinda hopes to transition into a career in economic
development working with low income communities. She joined AND as an intern in June 2007.
Yanyong Boon-Long joined Asian Neighborhood Design in 2001 . After 7 years of working
at A.N.D. headquarters in San Francisco, he is now an international coordinator and consultant to A.N.D.
Yanyong graduated from UC Berkeley in 1997. He is currently a registered architect in New York,
and a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). He is a native of Bangkok, Thailand
and has done research on building prototypes for high-density informal cities.
