Please join TJAAG from 7:30-8:30pm ET on Friday, April 9 for a panel discussion on the psychological toll of anti-Asian racism and violence, what resources are available to support Asian and Asian American students' mental health, and how those who want to support students of Asian descent can help.
Register here: bit.ly/39CRQs8
Guest Panelists
Portia Chan
Portia Chan, MA, CPRS, writes grants and manages the development program at National Alliance on Mental Illness of Virginia (NAMI Virginia). With fellow certified peer recovery specialist, Sayyeda Hall, Portia co-facilitates a family support group for families of color at NAMI Central Virginia. Portia holds a B.A. in Art History from Wellesley College, a M.A. in Teaching and Social Sciences from Emmanuel College, and a certificate in Psychology and Counseling from UC Berkeley. She was a developmental psychology research assistant in Dr. Fantasy Lozada’s SHIELD lab at VCU, and she was part of the research team at Psychology Works with the mentorship of Dr. Edna Esnil and Dr. Mike Buckle. As a member of the Asian American Psychological Association, Portia is a writer and copy editor for the Asian American Psychologist. She has facilitated workshops, served on panels, and presented at ASPIRE, VOCAL, Asian Mental Health Project, and Birth in Color RVA.
Dr. Noel Ramirez
Dr. Noel B. Ramirez, DBH, MPH, MSW, LCSW, BCD, is a Philadelphia-based licensed clinical social worker and public health professional informed by immigrant-Filipino parents who love through a sense of home, a chosen Queer family who resist subjugation, and a public health community that seeks to honor social and environmental context. His approach is relational, inter-subjective, and grounded in love, honor, and respect. Noel received his Master's in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania and his Master's in Public Health from Drexel University. He completed his Doctorate in Behavioral Health from Arizona State University and focused his academic work in developing programing on patient-centered medical homes, integrated-health, recovery-oriented primary care, and body-positive behavioral interventions. Noel is a certified clinical anxiety treatment professional, has completed foundational training in relational-psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and has a certificate in Clinical Social Work Supervision. Noel has been a practicing social worker and clinician since 2009 and has been involved in various community-based programs in the Philadelphia metro area. In the last decade, he has overseen and managed HIV prevention programs for gay/bisexual men, developed and enhanced recovery-resilience programming for a network of federally qualified health centers, and continues to be involved in community organizing on issues related to Queer Asian Americans, Anti-black racism in social work, and body-positivity and liberation. Currently, Noel teaches a wide range of graduate courses that invite an intersectional approach to social work practice at Columbia University and West Chester University and works at a Federally Qualified Health Center providing integrated care and behavioral consultation. He is the owner and director of Mango Tree Counseling & Consulting, a social enterprise aimed at providing mental wellness and care to Asian & Pacific Islanders in the Philadelphia area as well as offering innovative behavioral health support to Queer BIPOC folx. He is deeply honored to be doing this work and to be in a community with caring and compassionate colleagues and beautiful resilient community members.
Michael CheKim
Originally from the metropolitan New York area, Michael CheKim has had a career spanning seventeen years that continues at the U.S. Department of State. In 1993, Michael served full time as the Assistant Deputy Chairman for the eleventh World Taekwondo Championships in New York City (NYC). After graduating from the College of William and Mary with a B.A. in History and a minor in Economics in 1998, Michael worked at J.P. Morgan in NYC for two years. In 2000, he started his career in public service as the foreign affairs aide to MP Hwang Woo-Yeo in South Korea. In 2002 and 2003, Michael served as a legislative analyst at the New Mexico State Senate while completing his M.A. in Liberal Arts in 2003 and a M.A. in Eastern Classics in 2004, both from St. John’s College in Santa Fe. After completing the federally-funded fellowship of the National Flagship Language Initiative, Michael joined the Korea and Taiwan Team at the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2006. There, he served on the U.S. delegation to the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations with South Korea, provided trade and investment expertise to the American Institute in Taiwan on bilateral trade and investment, and served as an acting commercial attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. He joined the U.S. Foreign Service in the Department of State in 2012, serving as a vice consul at the U.S. Embassies in Manila, 2012-2014, and Seoul, 2014-2015. He supported the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea as an economic officer, 2015-2016, specializing on the U.S.-Korea FTA. In 2016-2018, he was a food safety commercial officer at the Department of State in Washington, DC. After that, moved to the Office of Central Asian Affairs at the Department of State, serving as the coordinator and specialist on U.S. relations with the Kyrgyz Republic, 2018-2020. (The views, opinions, and content shared in this forum are his, not necessarily those of the U.S. Department of State or U.S. Government.)