2019-2020 Leaders Class

University of Colorado - College of Media, Communication, and Information

Manager of Student Media

Gil is a journalist, editor, author and blogger who covers Japan, Japanese American, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) culture and social justice issues. He is a nationally known speaker, panelist and expert, and the author of “Being Japanese American" - a history of Japanese in America - and co-author of “The Toy Book” (Knopf, 1991) - a history of the toys of the Baby Boom generation. Gil’s day job is as the adviser for the student news website in the journalism department of CU-Boulder.

Asian Pacific Development Center

Executive Director

Harry received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from California State University of Los Angeles, and his Juris Doctor from University of Colorado Law School. As the Executive

Director of Asian Pacific Development Center, Harry works with government officials and community partners to address health disparities in the refugee and immigrant communities.

Due to his extensive experience in non-profit and government relations, Harry has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, The Denver Post, The Aurora Sentinel, Westword, Law Week Colorado, The Colorado Statesman, and Asian Avenue Magazine.

Harry has received numerous awards, including the following:

​2019 Honorary Chair for Colorado Dragon Boat Festival

2019 Immigrant Liberty Award – Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network. Awarded in recognition of outstanding contributions of immigrants and exceptional advocates in our community.

2017 Martin Luther King, Jr. Business Award for his social responsibility in adhering to the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nutrition Edge Communications

Food and Nutrition Communications Consultant

Mary Lee's clients include commodity food groups and food industry. She speaks on some of the most provocative food topics of today: GMOs, environmental and sustainability issues, modern agriculture, and innovation in food production. Audiences include NGOs, businesses, and health professionals. She provides spokesperson representation, media and communications training, and has served as an expert witness on food-related issues in federal and legislative hearings. Aware that divisive and emotional food issues ignite a firestorm of debate she advocates moving from polarizing rhetoric to open and professional courteous dialogue. Mary Lee formerly held a six-year term as a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and has been interviewed by local and national media, including the New York Times, USA Today, Associated Press, CNN, and television and radio affiliates nationwide.

FirstBank, Vice President

​Sean is a Colorado Native. He attended the University of Colorado at Boulder where he received a B.A. in Political Science, and later graduated from the University of Colorado at Denver with an M.B.A. in Finance. Sean is currently a Vice President for FirstBank, which is a privately held community bank that is headquartered in Lakewood, Colorado. He specializes in financing for residential and commercial real estate, construction projects, and businesses. Sean is actively involved in the community. He is currently the Board Secretary and member of the Executive Committee for Scholars Unlimited, which provides free after school programming for low income and at risk elementary school students in the Denver metro area. He is a former Board Chair for the Asian Chamber of Commerce and former Board Member of the Aurora Symphony Orchestra.

University of Denver, Faculty Director of Corporate Programs

​Wendell has 33 years of experience with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company in Denver, Colorado, where he performed a wide and diverse range of engineering disciplines from mechanical engineering to systems engineering and electrical engineering (i.e. Orion spacecraft software, SuperBot robot, Walking Beam rover, and multiple DARPA research programs). He is currently at the University of Denver teaching systems engineering, project management, and mechatronics. Wendell is a leading researcher in robotics and artificial intelligence and consults for the Department of Energy and NASA Headquarters on technology development, roadmaps, and establishing research directions. Wendell has 20 years of teaching experience, including at the Colorado School of Mines (robotics, design, entrepreneurship) and ata the University of Colorado Denver (design, controls lab, robotics, energy conversion lab).

Snell and Wilmer

Bio Coming Soon!

Retiree, Lockheed Martin Corporation

​Hai began his career as an aerospace engineer at Martin Marietta, which later became Lockheed Martin. During his 30-year tenure at Lockheed Martin, Mr. Li was the Business Development Manager, and Independent Research and Development (IR&D) Portfolio Manager in the last 14 years. He had the responsibility, accountability, and authority for developing strategies and implementation plans to capture important technologies, planetary and civil missions, and military defense programs for the company. His professional experience consists of over 15 years in spacecraft design, manufacturing, test and launch operations of numerous deep space missions to explore Venus, Mars, Wild 2 Comet dust, solar wind particles, and other outer planets.

Rocky Mountain Food Factory Inc., Chief Financial Officer

Whittak was born in Taiwan and received a B.S. in Physics from National Taiwan University. He earned his Phd in Physics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he worked as a Physics Research Assistant. Whittak was also a Physics Instructor and Postdoc Fellow at Case Western Reserve University and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver. He has worked with spacecraft at the Computer Sciences Corp and Lockheed Martin Aerospace. He has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Rocky Mountain Chinese Society of Engineering and Science (RMCSSE), and currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer at Rocky Mountain Food Factory, Inc. in Englewood, CO.

Senior Staff Material and Process Engineer

​Lockheed Martin Corporation

Yulin has 30 years of engineering experience across power generation, steel, telecommunication, and space industries. Currently he is working in electronics manufacturing at Lockheed Martin. Yulin specializes in material and process development, manufacturing, continuous improvement, and project management. He has received several prestigious industry and corporate awards. Yulin has authored 15 technical publications, three US patents, and numerous internal engineering reports. He holds a Bachelor of Science from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan, and a PhD from Ohio State University. Yulin is a certified Black Belt in Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma.

Z-Choice International and FoodaFit, LLC

President & Co-Founder

Suzy is a global business strategist and connector. She previously served as the Vice President of Global Market Development at WhiteWave Foods and various Fortune 500 companies, including Kraft, PepsiCo, and General Mills. Suzy is currently an entrepreneur and business owner focusing on global business connections and holistic wellbeing.