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ABOUT US

ASIAN STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT is a not-for-profit organization specializing in soft skills coaching for students and professionals, as well as a diversity-driven job board for early career professionals. We believe that skills such as ​professional networking, promoting yourself, and job interviewing can be the deciding factor between you and another job candidate.

We have years of coaching experience with students of all cultural backgrounds and skill levels who have gone on to work their dream jobs.

​And best of all, our workshops are fun and engaging. Invite us to campus and upload your resume to our diversity-driven job board!

OUR TEAM

Leadership Team

​Shane Carlin (He/Him/His)
CEO & Founder, Coach
​LinkedIn

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​Shane Carlin's professional career has been in fundraising and Student Affairs where he was the Director of Development for Student Life and Scholarships at Northwestern University, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Advancement at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Carlin has also worked as the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), as well as in Residence Life and Housing at Miami, Northwestern, and Capital Universities.

He is a Korean American adoptee where he grew-up in northern Kentucky. Carlin earned his Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Communications from the University of Kentucky and his Master of Science in College Student Personnel from Miami University. 

​Carlin not only has over 20 years of experience in higher education administration, but also has mentored students in international settings. Besides his expertise in higher education, Carlin is an experienced public speaker. He has been invited to speak at universities from coast to coast. In addition, he was a speaker for TEDx Lakeshore East in 2011. Internationally, Carlin presented the “Western Way of Networking” to students at Hong Kong University Science & Technology (HKUST) and managers at General Electric (GE) in Shanghai at the China Technology Center. ​

 
Amanda Sabal (She/Her/Hers)
Director of Operations
LinkedIn​

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Amanda Sabal has been in the IT industry for over 10 years and has worked for top companies such as IBM, Allstate, and Walgreens. Alongside building her career, Amanda believes in giving back through volunteering with various organizations.  Her early roots of volunteering are with ALPFA and ProHispanica (formerly NSHMBA), both a member based organization with a mission to build professional  leaders in the community. This has laid the foundation of where Amanda’s leadership skills where built and strengthen through various projects.

A recent project Amanda has curated and facilitated which received high recognition  titled “Uncovering the surge of racism and crime in the Asian community”. This discussion has taken place during the Covid-19 pandemic highlighting the impacts of the blame of the covid-19 virus on the Asian community from government to ground zero. 

​Katie Zeng (She/Her/Hers)
Assistant Director of Finance
LinkedIn​

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Katie Zeng is a senior studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She will be graduating in May 2021 with a concentration in Statistics and double minors of Business and Microeconomics. She has also been the Treasurer for the National Society of Collegiate Scholars since her sophomore year. She appreciates having a busy lifestyle, which is one of the reasons why she starts her day at 7AM. However, when she does find herself with free time on her hand, she is most likely heading over to the gym, taking pictures of her cat or testing out new recipes in the kitchen.

David Harbin (He/Him/His)
Director of Technology
LinkedIn​
 

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David Harbin is a highly-motivated computer engineer and IT director, experienced in support and network infrastructure for multi-user and remote locations. He’s adept at communicating with key stakeholders in assessing project needs, and leading high-performing and multi-disciplinary teams in fast-paced environments. His career started in higher education, designing support methodologies and IT governance for the campus help desk, training and mentor student employees. He has since consulted for a wide variety of diverse industries, including health care, nonprofits, real estate firms, fin-tech startups, pharmaceutical labs and many other large corporations. While attending the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, David served as an officer and advisor in the Philippine Student Association. Not only was he an active member of the organization, he dedicated his time on campus to improving the quality of student life for minorities and underrepresented communities. He did so through his philanthropic work, multicultural advocacy programming as a resident advisor, keeping a weekly column in the Daily Illini focused on social justice issues, and assisting with FACT conference delegation for 5 years. He also led a number of initiatives in his journalistic field, including writers' workshops at local middle-schools, revitalizing the National Association of Black Journalists, fundraising and community outreach in Champaign, and more.David enjoys collecting video games from all eras, playing competitive chess, analyzing baseball statistics, powerlifting, reading and hiking.

Ryan Nishimoto (He/Him/His)
Director of Operations/HR
LinkedIn​

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Ryan Nishimoto started his academic journey at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), where he entered as an Electrical Engineer and graduated as a Computational Astronomer. While at UIUC Ryan played the Tenor Saxophone in the Marching Illini, where he served as marching and music section leader. He was also an active member in the Philippine Student Association, where he learned more about his Filipino half through cultural dance. Upon graduating he started volunteering with the Japanese American Citizens League's (JACL) Kansha Project, which helps Japanese-American youth connect with their identity, history, and community. It was here Ryan learned of his grandparent's experience during World War II, where they along with every other Japanese-American citizen were taken from their homes and placed in incarceration camps following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Reinvigorated, Ryan then went on and got his masters in Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where he researched with medical professionals on rehabilitation through Virtual Reality and Astronomers on scientific visualizations for non-scientific viewers. He is now a Data Engineer working in the healthcare field, wanting to inform and educate people through data. Outside of work Ryan enjoys playing video games, watching shows and movies, finding new recipes to cook, and staying active.

Staff

Kate Kim (She/Her/Hers)
Graphic Design Intern
​LinkedIn

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Kate Kim is currently a junior at Lubbock High School in the International Baccalaureate program. She was born in Korea, raised in Texas, and currently lives in Nashville. Aside from school, she loves to participate in making her community a better and more equal place and believes that small actions lead to big changes. Her hobbies include drawing, photography, talking to friends, and cooking.

Avalee Cruz (She/Her/Hers)
Technology Intern
LinkedIn
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Avalee Cruz is a freshman studying computer science at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, with a goal in life to make connections. Raised in Hawai’i to a Filipino Chamorro family, she began her interest in STEAM with Lego League robotics in seventh grade and since then participated in FIRST robotics, the Aerospace Academy, and volunteered at the Challenger Summer Space program. As an extrovert, you’ll see her talking to people in her free time along with playing the piano, video games, or reading classic literature.

Jamie Cha (She/Her/Hers)
​Technology Intern
​LinkedIn​
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Pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Cybersecurity at Villanova University. Member of the Villanova Band with 14 years of experience in playing the trumpet and recently elected vice president of SASE. Interested in front-end web development and computer security. Born in Flushing, Queens and raised in Bergen County, New Jersey but always a New Yorker at heart. Hobbies include reading, watching movies and having an extensive, yet still growing, frog collection.

Rachelle Laurel (She/Her/Hers)
Graphic Design Intern
LinkedIn

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​Rachelle Laurel is currently pursuing a marketing degree at Middle Tennessee State University. Passionate about languages, she has the state seal of biliteracy in Spanish and is minoring in Japanese. You’ll also find her working as the Literature Review Editor and Social Media Manager for the University’s magazine, Collage. Aside from school, Rachelle enjoys reading, painting, writing short stories, and making coffee.

Malissa Bouakham (She/Her/Hers)
​Operations and Marketing Team Lead
LinkedIn

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Malissa Bouakham is a student at the University of Kentucky, pursuing a B.A. in International Studies, with a Political Science minor and Peace Studies certificate. She is one of the founders/charter members of the first Asian Women Sorority in the state of Kentucky; University of Kentucky's Delta Phi Lambda Sorority, Incorporated, where she also holds the chair position for Public Relations. Malissa is also a Laotian American and of Southeast Asian Indigenous Taidam heritage, but grew up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky. During her free time, she loves to play video games, cook, and facilitate youth development programs. ​

On-uma Lomsomboot (She/Her/Hers) Analytics and Business Development Intern
LinkedIn

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On-uma Lomsomboot is pursuing her master’s degree in computer science at Northeastern Illinois University with concentration in data/artificial intelligence. Previously, she also enrolled at her main college simultaneously with the University of Illinois at Springfield. She is currently a Graduate Dean’s Researcher and Creative Activities (RCA) Graduate Assistant. Lomsomboot was born and raised in Thailand. Back home, she was a full time Math Tutor throughout her college years. Her main hobbies besides coding for fun would be road tripping and trying new kinds of food. Lomsomboot worked on her leadership skills at Toastmasters International as well as American Peace Corp Organizations. She has experience in data science from being an intern in both a large-scale company as well as a startup. Lomsomboot enjoys the time in this role asides applying data science analytic skill, she gains new knowledge from all research she needs to do.

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We are always looking for talents to join our growing team! Take a look at our open positions.