Board

Board Chair Smita Dutta is a Senior Product Manager at IBM’s Software Group in Bethesda, MD where she is currently working on acquisition integration. She has over 10 years of product management, consulting and project management experience through her work at IBM, UBS, AG in Switzerland, and at the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution. Ms. Dutta graduated from the University of Dallas cum laude with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a B.A. in History, and has an M.A. in History of Science from the Johns Hopkins University and received her M.B.A. from Yale University’s School of Management. Prior to joining AALead, Ms. Dutta had been active with the Girl Scouts of the National Capital Area including being a Junior Girl Scout troop leader for many years.

Siu Cheung is an entrepreneur and restaurateur at Siu’s Asian Bistro in Silver Spring, MD. She is also a real estate broker licensed in DC, MD, and VA.  Her other businesses include residential mortgage and the financial service industry.  She has been an entrepreneur for over 25 years and has owned several Chinese restaurants in the Washington Metropolitan area for many years. In addition to serving on the AALEAD Board, she serves on the leadership team for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Man & Woman of the Year Campaign in the National Capital Area Chapter. In the past, she has served on as an officer and board member of Devotion to Children, a local nonprofit, Organization of Chinese Americans – Northern Virginia Chapter (OCA-NOVA), Lansdowne Resort’s Woman Golf Association and was a nominee for Woman of the Year with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (NCA). Her greatest accomplishment is being proud mother of three children Jennifer, Cyndi and Brandon. She and her husband, Carl enjoy entertaining, football and boating.

Virginia L. Cheung is general counsel and Managing Director of Estate Planning at McLean Asset Management Corporation, an independent investment advisory firm located in McLean, Virginia. Prior to joining her current employer, Virginia was previously a principal in a Rockville, Maryland law firm where she spent 24 years practicing in the areas of estate planning, business succession planning, and probate and trust administration. As an active parent volunteer at Wilson Senior High School in D.C., Virginia assists students in the college application process. She is also a former member of the boards of the Community Foundation of Montgomery County, Maryland and other community organizations, and assisted in the establishment of the Nonprofit Village in Montgomery County. In addition to serving on the AALEAD Board, she serves on the steering committee for the Nonprofit Advancement Fund in Montgomery County. Virginia received an undergraduate degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, and holds a law degree from Boston College.

Will Choi is President and CEO of Vertical Applications Inc, a consulting company providing IT Program and Project Management services to public sector and commercial clients. Prior to founding Vertical Applications, Mr. Choi worked at AOL as Vice President of Product Management and has considerable experience in global product management, program management, software development, offshoring, and business process streamlining and automation. Mr. Choi graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.A. in Economics and earned his Master of Science in Information Systems Technology from the George Washington University.

Huynh-Nhu (Mimi) Le is an associate professor in the Department of Psychology at George Washington University. She is also currently a licensed clinical psychologist in the Washington DC area. Prior to joining as a board member, Mimi was a member of AALEAD’s Evaluation Advisory Committee. She provides training on various psychological issues in working with AA families to AALEAD staff. Mimi received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Clinical and Community Psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and her B.A. in Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Jimmy Lynn is the Vice President, Diversity Partnerships and Strategic Relationships for AOL’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion. From 1995 – 2006, Lynn and his team were responsible for developing and managing the Sports content relationships for AOL, including NFL, NBA, NASCAR, MLB, WNBA, NHL, NFL Players Association, HBO Sports, Sports Illustrated, Turner Sports, etc. Lynn, who graduated from American University with a B.A. in Communications and MBA in Marketing, is also an Adjunct Lecturer at Georgetown University.

Cynthia McGee, Vice President and Principal Relationship Manager of Wells Fargo’s Business Banking Group, is based in Mclean, VA.  She has more than 20 years of experience in banking, specializing in commercial lending. Before joining Wells Fargo, she worked as Vice President of the Bank of Georgetown as well as Sovereign Bank’s commercial lending group in the Metro DC Market. Prior to that, Ms. McGee held lending positions with Citibank in Manila/Guam and Hibernia Bank in New Orleans. She serves on the Executive Boards of the Asian Real Estate Association (AREAA) and sits on the Board of the Asian American Chamber of Commerce (AACC) and the Philippine American Chamber of Commerce (PACC). She attended the Graduate Program in Banking at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, LA. Ms. McGee also earned a Master of Business Administration from Divine Word University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Economics from University of the Philippines in Quezon City, Philippines. She currently resides in Potomac, MD, with her husband and 2 boys.

Thu Anh Nguyen of Rockville, is a Dean of Students and English Teacher for Georgetown Day School. Nguyen, who has a background in creative writing and English, is also a past Director of Georgetown Day School Middle School Camp. Her dedication to youth and education is clearly reflected in her various public presentations and publications regarding equity and diversity in the classroom.

Amee Kishore Shah is a Director with MorganFranklin Corporation managing the  Program Management service offering  for Public Sector clients and serving as a trusted advisor for her clients.  In this role, she oversees projects, manages contracts, fosters client and business partner relationships, and directs intellectual capital efforts in her offering area.  She possesses over 15 years of experience in the areas of program management, acquisition management, organizational transformation, and process evaluation and redesign. Ms. Shah has successfully lead projects in the United States and abroad, and worked with senior executives in the public and private sectors. She is also a member of the Executive Committee for the MorganFranklin Women’s Initiative.  Previously, Ms. Shah managed global projects at multiple non-profits providing program management and strategic planning expertise to organizations in emerging or fragile democratic nations.   She received her Bachelor’s degree from Mount Holyoke College, her Master’s degree in International Relations from The American University, and a Masters of Business Administration from the Robert H. Smith School at the University of Maryland.

Ban Tran is a Vice President and a Senior Financial Advisor at the Global Wealth Management of Merrill Lynch in Tysons Corner, VA, Mr. Tran has two decades of professional experience in the international banking, foreign exchange, and wealth management. He serves on the Boards of the Vietnamese Association for Computing, Engineering Technology and Science, Devotion to Children, a local nonprofit, and a member of the National Advisory Council (NAC) to the Smithsonian APA Program. Mr. Tran graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics and International Relations, and earned his MBA in International Finance from George Washington University. In his spare time, Ban enjoys gardening, music, skiing and is an avid marathon and triathlon participant.

Vinnie Tran is President and CEO of DirectViz Solutions (DVS) LLC, a Service Disabled Veteran Owned (SDVOSB) and Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB), certified ISO 9001:2008, ISO/IEC 20000, and ISO/IEC 27001. DVS is dedicated to delivering innovative technology solutions that provide the best answers and solutions for the clients’ toughest challenges. We build a strong relationship with the Government by bringing together the right expertise and technology so that the process is satisfactory and cost-effective – our commitment to bring forth our clients cultivates dedicated mind, reliable intellect, and high-quality performance to make a greater difference.  Mr. Tran is overseeing and directing all efforts in company business strategy development, executing business planning, and Corporate support including contracts, HR, and accounting & finance. Mr. Tran provides leadership and oversight of the company business development model and organization, through entire WIN life cycle (identification, capture and proposal development). Implement industry best practices such as Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) – for IT operation and support services management environment and Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 2 for software development environment.

Ki Wilson is a Director of the Global Network Field Operations for the Verizon Potomac South region. In his present assignment, he leads a multi-discipline team responsible for delivery of Voice, Data, and Video products and services for domestic and global customers throughout Potomac market segment. Ki has over three decades of telecommunications experience, including 10-year tenure in the United States Air Force prior to joining the former Bell Atlantic Company of Virginia in 1990. Originally from South Korea, Ki holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems and Executive Leadership Development Certificate from Wharton-Penn University. Ki currently serves on the board of Verizon Asian Pacific Employees for Excellence (APEX) Employee Resource Group and Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Washington Metropolitan area.

Joe Wong is a Certified Financial Planner^TM and a Resident Manager for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management in Potomac, MD. He works with a diverse clientele of wealthy families, private and public businesses and nonprofit organizations.  His team works with each client to develop a customized wealth management plan. This process helps him to truly understand each client’s unique needs and changing circumstances.  He serves on the Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Diversity Council and has an active role in the development of innovative diversity programs and initiatives for his firm. Joe graduated magna cum laude from University of Maryland in 2002. Joe obtained the Certified Financial Planner^TM (CFP®) designation from the CFP Board and the Chartered Retirement Plans Specialist (CRPS®) designation from the College for Financial Planning.