A WIN!ning Weekend

Seattle, Wa - NAAAP Seattle had one of the best weekends of its 32 year history. On Friday, we held our signature monthly mixer at Citrus Seattle. The sun was out and with the patio doors open a cool breeze wafted through the lounge area where 60 of our esteemed guests and members socialized talking about current events. Then on Saturday, the Women in NAAAP (WIN!) Regional Conference took place at the Microsoft Conference Center with our specials guests Brad Baldia, NAAAP National President and Judi Rhee Alloway, WIN! National Program Director. The program was as one would expect for a conference serving 120+ attendees: 4 tracks, 3 keynotes, and 25 sessions focused on leadership and calling one to Invest in Yourself.

Phyllis Campbell, Chair, JPMorgan Chase, delivered a memorable lunch keynote strongly encouraging attendees to:

• Take Care of Yourself: Self-Care is Smart Care;
• Get Ready!;
• Turning challenges into opportunities;
• Perfection is overrated: It’s okay to make mistakes; and
• The more you give, the more you receive.

Following the event, a welcome reception for conference volunteers and special guests was held at the Microsoft Store in Bellevue which included a store tour and a few rounds of Kinect. The event was catered by I Just Love My Apron.

Then on Sunday, NAAAP Seattle held a community service event at Farestart, a nonprofit organization that helps homeless and disadvantaged men and women transform their lives through job training and placement in the food industry.

Overall a WIN!ning weekend for NAAAP Seattle! Thank you to all that made it happen.

Join us in Boston, MA for the 25th Annual NAAAP National Convention and Diversity Career Fair presented by Macy's. It's happening August 11-13th, so register by June 25th to get an early bird discount.

NAAAP Seattle Board

NAAAP Seattle Social Mixer and WIN! Preview at Citrus Seattle

Melanie Caoile, Microsoft Corporation welcomes attendees at the 2011 WIN! Conference

Negotiation: Learning how to talk your way into and out of situations. Kim Tran, Seattle City Light

JD Hokoyama, LEAP and Phyllis Campbell, JPMorgan Chase

Phyllis Campbell, JPMorgan Chase and the WIN! Scholarship winners. Scholarships were generously awarded by JPMorgan Chase.

Business Panel: (l to r) Assunta Ng, NW Asian Weekly; Isabell Sheang, Microsoft Corporation; Olivia Lippens, Clear Channel Outdoors; Mary Pugh, Pugh Capital Management Inc.

NAAAP Seattle President, Gil Gido talks about what to do after the event: Network on the WIN! Social Networking site.

(l to r) Brad Baldia, NAAAP President; Alison Hammet-Cumming, Mary Kay; Gil Gido, NAAAP Seattle President; Sherwin Tsao, Web Chair; Casey Huang, Scholarship Chair; Claire Ding, Secretary; Kevin Chang, Membership Chair; Judi Rhee Alloway, WIN! National Director; Hang Chen, National Rep and WIN! Conference Chair; Amy Duong, Student Relations Chair; Julie Pham, PR/Mkting Chair; David Eam, VP Operations; Vivian Hauer, Treasurer. Not pictured: Marian Liu, VP External Affairs; Michael Okimura, Professional Development Chair; Jenafer Park, Community Service Chair; Heidi Yu, Social Chair.

WIN! event reception at the Microsoft Store in Bellevue, Wa

Touring the Microsoft Store and testing out a 3-D laptop.

I Just Love My Apron event spread.

A Kinect Dance Battle being observed.

Judi Rhee Alloway, WIN! National Program Director in front of FareStart-Seattle.

Volunteers at FareStart-Seattle

More Photos: http://donaldpham.smugmug.com/Organizations/20110604-NAAAP/17394866_wVFC6c#1323834997_xRWDs5W

Mary Kay Beauty consultation: http://www.marykay.com/alisonhc

Web design: http://www.jfudesign.com/print/win.html

NAAAP volunteers with FareStart, 2/6

NAAAP-Seattle volunteered at FareStart on Feb. 6 for the first time of 2011.

As usual, FareStart attracts more volunteers than NAAAP-Seattle has spots available. NAAAP-Seattle members are given priority when registering for this popular volunteer event.

Volunteers this time include: Sherwin Tsao, Jenafer Park, Wilson Ung, Heng Sun, Katie Phan, Rina Shin, Charles Davis, Lilly Kuo, John Park, and Jiunn Lee.

For any information on NAAAP-Seattle's award-winning community service program, please contact NAAAP-Seattle Community Service Chair Jenafer Park at jenafer.park@naaapseattle.org.

Filming and food fun at FareStart

NAAAP-Seattle filmed the first of its "Work hard. Play hard. NAAAP hard" commercial series at FareStart in Seattle on September 26. That event also marked NAAAP-Seattle's fourth time volunteering with FareStart in 2010 alone.



NAAAP-Seattle boasts the top-ranked community service program among NAAAP chapters located in the United States.

There were several first-time NAAAP-Seattle volunteers that day.

Passion Julinsey found out about it through Facebook. She said, “Cooking is fun. Being able to give and have fun at the same time is rewarding.”

“I like the teamwork aspect and like to see the concrete results," said Julinsey, pointing to the pile of sandwiches. "An hour ago, these sandwiches weren’t even made.”

Kenny Chen was another first time Farestart/NAAAP volunteer. He found out about the event through a friend.

“I had some free time. I thought I would give it a try. It’s a good opportunity to help out. I will do it again," said Chen.

Jen Park, the NAAAP-Seattle coordinator for Farestart activities, said that there is always a waiting list to get to volunteer with Farestart.

Tokusan Svenson was one lucky volunteer when he was pulled off the waiting list the night before.

“We have a whole army of volunteers to activate and help out the community," said Svenson. "It’s good to have a lot of fun activities that we can pair up with Community Service.

Svenson moved from Boston 10 months ago and he had participated in some NAAAP Boston Activities.

Other NAAAP-Seattle volunteers that day included: John Park, Kevin Chang, Sherwin Tsao, Yan Jue Xiang, Tracy Zhen, and Monica Yuen.

To find out about joining or supporting NAAAP-Seattle "army of volunteers", please contact NAAAP-Seattle Community Service Chair David Eam at ,

NAAAP-Seattle volunteers put their sales skills in high gear for Farestart’s 35th “Guest Chef at the Waterfront”

Among the 1,200 attendees at the sold-out “Guest Chef at the Waterfront” at Bell Harbor Pier 66 on July 14 were seven NAAAP-Volunteers: John and Jen Park, Dan Hoang, Tom Michael, Leigh Momii, NAAAP-Seattle Community Service Chair David Eam and NAAAP-Seattle Membership Chair Kevin Chang. Another NAAAP Volunteer, Mikhaila Gonzales, came the day before to help prep for the event.

This is Farestart’s 35th year holding “Guest Chef at the Waterfront (GCOW),” which raises funds and awareness for Farestart. GCOW allows FareStart to spread the word about its training programs, Guest Chef Night and the importance of helping disadvantaged and homeless people in our community. With the funds raised at this special event, Farestart can increase the number of people its serve and improve the quality of the services it provides.

According to the organizer of this NAAAP-Seattle community service event, Jenafer Park, NAAAP volunteers were responsible for collecting guests information for a free drawing and to get people on Farestart’s mailing list.

“It sounds easier than it actually was,” said Park. “Some of us were greeted with smiles and willingness, while others received snarks here and there. Yet everyone worked tirelessly to get as many people as they could to sign up. All in all, we were successful in getting at least 600 people to sign up (about half of the attendees)!”

Other NAAAPsters, including NAAAP-Seattle Secretary Claire De King, were spotted at the event as attendees.

The volunteers admitted it was difficult to stave off the desire to snack on the smorgasbord of culinary delights that surrounded them. Food vendors included: 35th Street Bistro, Assaggio Ristorante, Basil's Kitchen at the Hilton Bellevue, Brasserie Margaux, Columbia Tower Club, and Crush.

One volunteer confessed, “I want to be the other side next year, as an attendee!”

Although GCOW was new to all of the NAAAP-Seattle volunteers, Farestart is no stranger to NAAAP. GCOW marked the third time this year that NAAAP-Seattle has organized a community service event for Farestart.

GCOW was Park’s first time taking the lead on an event for NAAAP.

Park added, “I really appreciate that David Eam, the Community Chair, gave me this opportunity to organize. I would do it again in a heartbeat and look forward to hopefully organizing more events in the future.”

NAAAP-Seattle community service events are ideal for busy professionals who want to volunteer when they do have some spare time but who do not have time to seek out volunteer opportunities on their own.

A chance to volunteer for “Guest Chef on the Waterfront” drew Tom Michael to his first NAAAP-Seattle event.

“I really enjoyed feeling good by doing good,” said Michael. “The opportunity to volunteer for a worthy cause and meeting NAAAP members at the same time was an experience I hope to repeat again in the near future.”

Farestart Volunteer Coordinator Carlene Deits told the NAAAP-Seattle volunteers, “Guest Chef on the Waterfront (GCOW) this week was a terrific success for FareStart! The joy of our guests, chefs and winemakers that came out at this event was a direct result of the energy, time and love you put in!”

“Thank you for volunteering at FareStart’s 2010 Guest Chef on the Waterfront! I hope you will consider joining us again next year,” said Deits.