2008 Board

President, Luke Tharasri is the Assistant Medical Center Administrator for Kaiser Permanente's West Los Angeles medical center, overseeing the entire operations of the Support Services departments including Environmental Health & Safety, Engineering, Facilities Management, Dietary Services, Environmental Services, Security, Telecommunications, Parking, Patient Transportation, and a few others. By ensuring that these support departments run efficiently and effectively, the medical center is able to deliver a higher quality of care for all of its patients. His career has been entirely focused on enhancing public health, ranging from improving patient safety in hospital systems to improving access to HIV/AIDS services. Mr. Tharasri has earned a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina, a Master's degree in Health Care Administration from Harvard University, and has completed a post-graduate Fellowship program in Patient Safety through the American Hospital Association.

Vice President, Ching Lim is a vice president in Union Bank of California's National Corporate Division. She served as Treasurer of APWC and chair of its gala silent auction. She also served two terms as a Director on the Board of the Asian Business League (ABL), where she chaired numerous educational programs and fundraising activities.

Secretary, Suma Mathai is the Supervising Family Law Attorney at the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, a non-profit legal services agency providing free legal representation, education, and advocacy to low-income families. Her unit focuses on providing family law assistance to survivors of domestic violence. Suma graduated from the University of Southern California, where she completed a joint Law/Master of Social Work degree. She received a post-graduate fellowship to create the first family law advocacy program for teen parents in Los Angeles County. She has also served on the boards of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California, SABA-SC Public Interest Foundation, and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles.

Treasurer, Syndi Hoa Driscoll is a Prosecutor in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. She is currently assigned to the Identity Theft and Fraud Unit, prosecuting cases involving investigations by federal agencies and financial institutions. In addition to being a litigator, Syndi conducts training for law enforcement personnel on the requirements of proving criminal fraud and related financial crimes. Syndi also performs outreach seminars to community groups providing instruction on methods in preventing identity theft. Prior assignments during her 6-year tenure with the Office have included prosecutions of cases involving domestic violence, driving under the influence, weapons charges, drug cases and gang related crimes.

Immediate Past President, Izabelle Reyes is an attorney in the legal department of a Fortune 500 company that is a world leader in oil and natural gas exploration and production. Ms. Reyes has also served on the boards of the Women's Law Union at the UCLA School of Law and UCLA's Samahang Pilipino. She has also served as a counselor for UCLA's SPEAR (Samahang Pilipino Education And Retention) Project. She has served as Secretary and co-chair of APWC’s annual fundraising gala.

Maribeth Annaguey is an associate at the law firm of Dreier Stein Kahan Browne Woods George LLP. She practices commercial and entertainment litigation. Maribeth’s law practice involves contract, tort, corporate ownership and commercial real estate claims as well as employment disputes. In the past, Maribeth has also served as President of the USC La Raza Law Students Association, as a student representative to the Philipino-American Bar Association, and a mentor for the East Bay Asian Youth Center in Oakland, California. Maribeth is fluent in Spanish.

Jerry Baik is a Prosecutor in the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office. He is the founder and supervising attorney for the Identity Theft and Fraud Unit, prosecuting cases involving investigations conducted by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies as well as financial institutions. The Unit was recognized by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—Office of the Inspector General for outstanding work and commitment to public safety. He is a national expert in the field of identity theft and consumer fraud. As such, he conducts numerous seminars and presentations on identity theft to educational, financial, social and law enforcement organizations. Prior to heading the Identity Theft and Fraud Unit, he was an Assistant Supervising Attorney for the Central Trials Section, largest criminal branch office within the City Attorney’s Office. He was in charge of managing the day to day operation that included overseeing attorneys’ caseload and training attorneys on various subject matters, including prosecuting domestic violence.

Caroline Choe is Partner at Choe Properties, a real estate investment, development, and property management firm. Prior to Choe Properties, Caroline was an Investment Associate at Putnam Investments in Boston. She serves on the Staff Parish Relations Committee at the Community Church on Holliston, and on the Aviva Committee of The Junior League of Los Angeles. She also serves as Director of the Choe Andrew World Mission. Caroline holds Bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration, Economics, and Spanish from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master’s degree in Real Estate Development from USC, and is pursuit of a Master’s degree in Business Administration from UCLA.

Judy Man-Ling Lam is a partner at the law firm of Dreier Stein Kahan Browne Woods George LLP. She practices civil litigation in real estate, banking and finance, and she is a former banker. She has served as past Vice President, President and gala co-chair for APWC. She has also served on the boards of Asian Business League, Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, Jazz Dance LA Foundation, and Pacific Film Currents.

Y.J. Teresa Lee has been a community volunteer with extensive experience in the non-profit sector. In addition to APWC, she is currently on the board of Casa Youth Shelter in Los Alamitos. She has worked for the Korean Youth and Community Center (KYCC), Columbia University, and The Ford Foundation. While working for the Ford Foundation, she managed grant portfolios totaling over $102 million and was a founding member of The Good Neighbor Committee. Ms. Lee holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Wellesley College, and a Master's degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. She is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, and has previously served as LAUSD's Asian Pacific American Education Commissioner, Asian Pacific Community Fund's Volunteer Speaker, and Pasadena Wellesley Alumnae Club's Book Award Program Chair.