OUR STAFF
REGINA TSANG
Co-Executive Director
Regina was born in NYC into a tight knit immigrant Chinese family headed by her 4 ft, handful of inches paw paw (maternal grandma), a giant of a matriarch who flew halfway across the world to help raise her. Through them, she has been grounded in a strong Asian identity, and taught the value of family, community and the power of continually showing up for each other.
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Regina graduated with a BA in Economics & Sociology from the University of Michigan; her professional background includes experiential marketing, fundraising and special events in non-profit healthcare, and communications/volunteer coordination for an AAPI civic engagement org. Through Rising Voices, she hopes to help create spaces that encourage joy, empowerment, and collective learning and liberation. In her spare time, you can find her thrifting, starting books she can’t seem to finish, and telling her 5-year old daughter 500 times a day to “say it again, but in Cantonese”. Her favorite non-English words are exclamatory sounds that can mean a hundred different things with a simple tone change, like “aiyah”. “Kintsukuroi” (golden repair) is a dope word/concept as well.
JASMINE RIVERA
Co-Executive Director
Jasmine was born in Detroit to an immigrant Filipino-American family, where she was raised by her activist parents to always engage in action and speak truth to power. Jasmine graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in International Relations at James Madison College and from Columbia University with an MFA in Film Directing. Jasmine will apply her skills in narrative storytelling and communications to help build APIA community and empowerment. Makibaka! Huwag matakot! ("Fight! Don't be afraid!") is one of her favorite Tagalog phrases.
HENRY DUONG
Legislative & Political Director
Henry was born in Vietnam and immigrated to the US with his family when he was eight. He grew up in the San Gabriel Valley (aka “the 626”), a vibrant Asian American ethnoburb of Los Angeles, where there are more boba shops than Starbucks. This upbringing has shaped Henry’s views of how we can care for family, build community, and practice solidarity outside the oppressive structures of white supremacy.
As Rising Voices's Legislative and Political Director, Henry is responsible for developing and advancing the organization’s policy priorities, issue campaigns, and electoral strategies. He joined Rising Voices as an APALA Civic Engagement & Organizing Fellow during the 2022 midterms, then came on board as the first policy manager. In that role, he led the organization's statewide legislative advocacy program, which most recently advocated for the successful passage of Michigan's first comprehensive language access law. Previously, Henry served as the Program Manager and LA Field Representative at the California Association of Nonprofits, helping nonprofits obtain state COVID-19 grants and advocating for student debt reform for nonprofit workers. Henry also worked under DC Mayor Muriel Bowser at the Mayor’s Office on Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, where he administered the District’s million-dollar grant to CBOs to engage hard-to-count residents during the 2020 Census, served as the language access compliance officer, and spearheaded the reporting of anti-Asian hate crimes in the District. He earned his BA in Public Relations and Marketing from American University
CAITLIN SHIMOURA GOEDERT
Digital Organizer and Influencer Campaign Coordinator
Caitlin Shimoura Goedert is a yonsei, fourth generation Japanese American. She graduated from Wayne State University in 2021 with a degree in Political Science. She was a youth member of the Japanese American Citizens League and chosen for the Kakehashi project trip to Japan in 2020. She is passionate about digital organizing and is excited to connect with Asian American community members in Michigan. Caitlin is inspired by her mom, Irenita Shimoura Goedert and her two older sisters. In her free time Caitlin enjoys reading and spending time with her pitbull Jasper.
EMILY NGUYEN
Policy & Political Director
Emily is a second generation Vietnamese American born and raised in the great state of Michigan. Her family escaped Vietnam during the Vietnam War by boat and arrived in the United States as refugees. Her family’s courageous escape from their homeland, is the driving force behind her work. She is reminded everyday of the sacrifices they made to offer her the opportunities she has now. For this reason, she pursued and graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Comparative Cultures and Politics. Before joining Rising Voices, Emily worked in the Michigan Senate, helping shape policy on language accessibility, civil rights, and environmental justice. As Rising Voices Political and Policy Director, she is excited to help drive Rising Voices agenda to create a more inclusive and welcoming state for all Michiganders. In her free time Emily enjoys long walks and picnics with friends when Michigan’s weather allows for it.
BRENDA MAQDASI
Education Campaign Coodinator
Brenda, a first-generation Chaldean-America from Macomb County, graduated from Wayne State University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and minors in Arabic and History. Before joining Rising Voices, she dedicated much of her time to volunteering and interning to protect our elections and encourage voter participation. Brenda aspires to serve one term in Congress, before becoming a K-12 history teacher in the future. Her work at Rising Voices is crucial to her mission of advocating for a diverse curriculum for Michigan's K-12 students. In her rare freetime, she loves to read, scroll on TikTok, and spends most weekends watching sports with her family and friends.
NUE LEE
Communications Manager
As a proud Hmong American woman, Nue has a passion for amplifying underserved communities, and brings a powerhouse background in advocacy, coalition-building, and strategic communication to the Communication Manager role. From advising progressive Asian American organizations like AAPI Victory Alliance and OCA National to recently leading AANHPI engagement efforts in Michigan during the 2024 election, Nue has been at the forefront of grassroots organizing and breaking barriers in political outreach.
A lifelong learner, Nue has a background in human development and family studies and has completed coursework at the University of Michigan in the PhD program for higher education. Beyond advocacy, she enjoys orchestrating memorable events to bring people together to make meaningful change (she once pulled off a virtual inauguration gala with over 25,000 views!).​
KIMI SUGIYAMA
Social Media Associate
Kimi is a passionately curious world traveler and foodie at heart. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking when she travels, baking cookies, reading books and cultivating community through hosting monthly dinner Meetups. Day-to-day, she tries to make world a better place through her work in local city government and now Rising Voices. She is passionate about representation of women of color in the workplace and using her voice to uplift the Asian-American community.She lives in Sterling Heights with her husband and two fur babies, Jellybean (chihuahua) and Poi (dachshund).