LEADERSHIP AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Executive Director
Nadia Nisha Belkin
Nadia Nisha Belkin is the founding Executive Director of the Asian American Power Network. She comes to this role with vast experience in the progressive political and infrastructure building spaces both nationally and at the state level.
Prior to this role, Nadia served not only as the National Deputy Field Director but as the Colorado State Director at America Votes. As the first woman of color to hold both positions, she facilitated the development of electoral plans and long-term power building in the progressive issue advocacy arena. In her roles, she directly spearheaded the coordination and alignment of strategic planning efforts amongst funders, over fifty national partners, and fifty-two in-state (including national affiliates) partners. As National Deputy Field Director, she worked in various states — including Nevada, Michigan, and Georgia — providing on the ground infrastructure evaluation, hands-on skills training and technical assistance, as well as state-specific strategic planning guidance. Nadia grew up in Colorado and has invested in local and statewide civic engagement through her work on grassroots and hard side campaigns.
As an Indian American Muslim woman, Nadia has worked to elevate the voices and profiles of people of color. In 2020, she was named in The National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics and Public Affairs “40 Under 40” list for her work and commitment to building out AAPI voter engagement in key battleground states. She is also an alumna of the 2021 New Leaders Council cohort. She remains professionally focused on producing innovative and strategic ideas which will cultivate relationships within the progressive community across multiple audiences.
She serves as a national board member for the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) and in-state on the board of Progress Now Colorado.
Nadia is a graduate of Smith College, where she earned her B.A. in Government and International Relations.
Executive Committee | Co-Chair
Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood
Georgia
Aisha Yaqoob Mahmood is the Executive Director of the Asian American Advocacy Fund. Aisha is native to the South and has worked in the progressive community in Georgia for the last seven years. She graduated with a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Georgia with a focus on local government and public policy. Aisha developed a strong passion for immigrant rights and civic engagement as she founded the Georgia Muslim Voter Project and worked as the Policy Director for Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Atlanta. These experiences have strengthened her desire to fight for justice for all marginalized people, including Muslims, immigrants, and refugees.
Executive Committee | Co-Chair
Mohan Seshadri
Pennsylvania
Mohan Seshadri is the Executive Director of the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance. Previously, Mohan managed electoral and organizing programs for Planned Parenthood Pennsylvania Advocates, and served as the Executive Director of the Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs. He co-founded multiple organizing entities across Pennsylvania, including the Philadelphia chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, the Lehigh Valley chapter of DSA, and the AAPI PA Power Caucus, as well as AAPN. In 2018, they were honored to receive Resurrected Life Community Church’s Urban Angel Award. In 2021, they were featured on the National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics & Public Affairs 40 under 40 list.
Executive Committee
Timmy Lu
California
Timmy Lu is the founding Executive Director of AAPIs for Civic Empowerment (AAPI FORCE) and AAPI FORCE Education Fund, organizations dedicated to building the political power of Asian American and Pacific Islander grassroots communities for racial and economic justice. He brings over fifteen years of experience in community organizing, political campaigns, and voter data management. Past work includes State Organizing Director at Asian Pacific Environmental Network, Integrated Voter Engagement Coach with the Groundswell Fund, executive committee member of the Schools and Communities First/Proposition 15 campaign, and Data Director of the Asians for Ossoff and Warnock campaign in Georgia. He currently serves as an executive committee member of Million Voters Project, California’s people of color-led statewide political alliance and is a co-founder of Asian American Power Network. A second-generation ethnic Chinese Vietnamese refugee, both his toddler and running Dungeons and Dragons games keep him up at night.
Executive Committee
Grace Pai
Illinois
Grace Pai is the Executive Director and co-founder of Asian American Midwest Progressives, a grassroots political organization established in 2019 that builds power through collective advocacy and electoral organizing to achieve racial equity. AAMP endorses progressive candidates, mobilizes Asian American voters, and holds elected officials accountable through issue-based campaigns.
Building Asian American political power is one of her passions. In November 2020, Grace moved to Georgia to help win a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate. As the Field Director for Asian American Advocacy Fund PAC, she built and managed a canvass program that knocked on the doors of more than 100,000 AAPI voters in the Atlanta metro area in just 5 ½ weeks, contributing to the historic wins of Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff.
Most recently, Grace led a successful campaign to require Asian American history to be taught in all Illinois public schools. She has spent the last eight years organizing in Chicago toward racial, economic, and immigrant justice and has trained hundreds of organizers and community leaders across the country.
Executive Committee
Chavi Khanna Koneru
North Carolina
Chavi Khanna Koneru is co-founder and current Executive Director of North Carolina Asian Americans Together (NCAAT) and, the affiliated 501c4 organization, NCAAT in Action. Chavi leads NCAAT in Action’s efforts to remove barriers to civic participation and to increase visible representation for the AAPI community in North Carolina. She attended the University of North Carolina for college and later for law school, where her concentration was in voting rights law. Her prior professional experience includes stints at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the DOJ Civil Rights Division, and NaralNC.