Board of Directors

John Chen, Chairman

Ann Gonzales, President

Lina Kweman

Andrea Lee

Jerry Tucker

Jian Zhang

Nimish Bhatt

Nini Bautista

Binh Phu

Leadership Team

Binh Phu, Treasurer

Binh Phu graduated from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte with a degree in Finance Management & Investment. Binh Phu has over 15 years of industry experience and has held various positions from marketing to finance to information technology. He is currently employed as Senior Business Intelligence Analyst at American City Business Journals.


Yin Lo, Chair of Membership Experience

Yin Lo is of Hmong descent and grew up in Morganton, North Carolina, with Charlotte serving as her home over the last 12 years.  She has her undergraduate degree from UNC Chapel Hill and a MBA from Wake Forest University School of Business.  She currently works as a Strategy Consultant for Wells Fargo.  Yin was most recently part of the Wells Fargo Asian Connection Leadership team and currently serves as an advisor, mentor, and is part of a Founding scholarship circle for higher education within the Hmong Community.  She has also previously held leadership positions with community non-profits, professional development, and school organizations.  Yin is passionate about professional development, education, and diversity and inclusion.  Yin joins the Charlotte Asian American Chamber of Commerce Leadership Team with interest to further connect with and develop Charlotte Asian-American businesses, increase engagement, and impact the overall Asian American presence in the Charlotte area. Yin enjoys travel, cooking, and entertaining family and friends during her free time.


Kiran Patel, Membership Experience in Business Networking

Kiran Patel is an Indian, been here since 18 years in Charlotte. He has an engineering educational background but has been involved in commercial real estate since 15 years as an investor/broker/consultant. He has been volunteering for CAACC since last 5 years. He loves to play volleyball.


Linh Quach, Community Liaison

Linh recently founded Axia Realty Partners and has been a part of several organizations, including the Universal Institute for Successful Aging of Carolinas, the Vietnamese Association of Charlotte, and is President of the Women Entrepreneur Business Alliance (WEBA).


Ken Maeda, Business & Workforce Development

Ken Maeda is from Myrtle Beach, SC, and has lived in Charlotte for nine years. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of South Carolina with a double major in Finance and Marketing. He is currently attending Wake Forest University for his MBA and expected to graduate in December of 2017. Ken is the Director of Business Operations at Aerotek here in Charlotte. Aerotek is the largest privately held staffing and recruiting firm in the country and he specializes in their Finance and Professional Services division. Ken is actively involved in the community with organizations such as Ronald McDonald House, Dress for Success, Urban League of Carolinas and the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce. Ken’s family is from Kyoto, Japan and currently lives in Columbia, SC and Japan. Ken’s passion is to make a different in the business community, help others succeed and on his personal time, enjoys playing golf. Ken would like to volunteer for the CAACC to help grow their presence in the Charlotte community and leverage his network and experience to help meet the vision for 2018.


Jeremy Miranda, Business & Workforce Development

Jeremy Miranda grew up in north Charlotte, and now works in the city at Wells Fargo. He graduated in 2015 from Stanford University with a BA in Public Policy and Economics. Throughout middle school and high school, Jeremy performed Filipino cultural dances with the Filipino-American Community of the Carolinas (FACC) and served as the Chapter Head for Couples for Christ-Youth (CFC-Y). He carried that passion for Filipino culture into college where he served as the social chair and high school mentorship chair for the Filipino interest group on campus. With CAACC, Jeremy is excited to develop lasting relationships with other Asian communities and forge deeper business connections within Charlotte.


Mae Armstead, Co-chair of Cultural Arts

Mae Armstead was born in the Philippines, came here as an exchange student as a senior in High School, came back to the US and graduated with a Bachelor degree in Theater Management and minor in Business at Wright State University where she met James. She worked for the Stride Rite Corporation for 25 years as District Manager. She lived in Ohio, Chicago, and Nashville and now Charlotte and together with James, they have two children. Currently, she works for a Catholic Publishing Company. She was a Social Secretary for the FAAT organization for 8 years with James, and also one of the co-founders of FAAT. She started a Filipino dance group for FAAT which grew to over 50 members and with the members started the first Filipino Heritage event in Nashville. Mae has been invited to many events to perform dances all over Tennessee including mayoral and governor events. She was often in-charge of organizing all events for FAAT. Mae is interested in organizing parties and events, baking, jewelry making and dancing. She enjoys volunteering for CAACC because of the all new people we meet and the diversity and activities.


James Armstead, Co-chair of Cultural Arts

James Armstead currently lives in Charlotte but grew up in Dayton, OH. He has been happily married to Mae Armstead for 33 yrs and they have 2 children. He owns his own Real Estate business JMAT Realty with his son Tristan.  He has lived in Chicago, Nashville before moving to Charlotte. He was co-founder of the Filipino-American Association of Tennessee-(FAAT). He was voted president for 3 terms which is 6 years and 2 years as Vice President when the organization was founded for a total of 8 years until they left Charlotte. He brought together all the different FiL-Am communities in TN that were divided before he took over as president to work together. Have organized fundraising events for 9-11, or whenever there is a need to help people, started the first scholarship for FAAT, and other community service in Nashville that the organization was involved in. His interest is creating high tech videos for his real estate business. He enjoys volunteering for CAACC because he just loves meeting people and bringing unity to people.


Sharada Gullapalli, Co-chair of Cultural Arts

Sharada Gullapalli is of Indian origin, a biochemist by training and has been living in Gastonia NC for the past 21 years. Sharada has active volunteered with the Carolinas Asian-American Chamber for over 12 years, mainly as coordinator for the stage program at the Charlotte Asian Festival, and formerly for the Indian participation for the 2018 Thanksgiving Day parade. She has served in various committees and as secretary at the Hindu Center, volunteered with Refugee Support Services, and is also as an ESL teacher at International House.


Seulie Park, Chair of Marketing & Communications

Seulie is recent graduate from CPCCC, and is freelance illustrator and graphic designer who loves creating stories through visual media. She is new to CAACC and is excited to connect with business owners.


Ryan Nyugen, Marketing & Communications

Ryan is a current CPCC student in Graphic Design & Advertising. He is also new to CAACC and is ready to put his graphic design skills to good use for the community.


Susan Dennis, Writer on the Marketing & Communications

Susan was the President of the Filipino-American Community of the Carolinas in 2017, is a Columnist at Mindanao Daily News, and studied paralegal and law at Duke University.