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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. ​

 
Vanessa Mancao​ (She/Her/Hers)
Director of Marketing
LinkedIn​

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Vanessa Mancao is a multifaceted individual with a demonstrated history of working in broadcast television, event planning, marketing, and project management. A Kansas native who attended the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, she graduated with a Bachelor of Journalism degree, with a minor in architectural studies. At Mizzou, Vanessa was the president of the MU-Filipino American Student Association, secretary of the Midwest Association of Filipino Americans, and historian for the Asian American Association. Upon graduating, Vanessa started her career at KTUL-TV Tulsa’s Channel 8 as the morning show producer. She pivoted her career to marketing and event planning, serving as project coordinator at Northeastern State University and event, festival coordinator at BOK Center arena, and account executive at Freestyle Creative. Vanessa is currently an integrated project manager a Saxum, a marketing and advertising agency. Additionally, Vanessa is the Public Service chair for Ad 2 OKC board, a young-professionals advertising group in Oklahoma City. She leads the group’s public service committee in partnership with the Down Syndrome Association of Central Oklahoma to market and plan their World Down Syndrome Day event. In her free time, Vanessa loves to hang out with her family and friends, attend concerts, binge watch shows and bake!

 
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.

Linah Uchiyama (She/Her/Hers)
Content Marketing Intern
LinkedIn​

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Linah Uchiyama is currently a freshman at Boston University pursuing a dual degree in Advertising and Graphic Design under the College of Communication and College of Fine Arts. She is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, but has loved being in Boston for the past year. At Boston University, she works with the Asian Student Union as a graphic design chair and works with AdClub as an art director. She enjoys working with others on a team and is motivated to learn from others in her community. In her free time, she enjoys traveling, photography, and eating with friends!

Nha Phung (She/Her/Hers)
Graphic Design Intern
LinkedIn​

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Nha Phung is an international student from Vietnam, studying abroad in the U.S. since 2015. She is currently a senior who is pursuing Engineering Technology: Concentrate in Manufacturing System at San Jose State University. Nha has also been a member of the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE) since she was a sophomore. And currently, she is the Industrial Chair of the San Jose State University chapter. During her free time, she enjoys watching YouTube, Netflix, and subtitling.

Minh Le (He/Him/His)
Technology Intern
LinkedIn​

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Minh Le is currently a senior at San Jose State University, majoring in Engineering Technology concentrate in Computer Networking System Management with a double minor in Business management and Chinese. When he has free time, he likes to read manga, play games with friends and meditate. 

Djorgi Sunoto (He/Him/His)
Operations/Special Projects Intern
LinkedIn​

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Djorgi Sunoto is a recent graduate from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations with a minor in Social Psychology. As someone who grew up in Indonesia, Canada, and the United States; he is passionate in interacting with people with different cultural backgrounds and nationalities. In his spare time, he enjoys building custom mechanical keyboards.

Catherine Nguyen (She/Her/Hers)
Web Design Intern
LinkedIn​

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Catherine Nguyen is a senior at San Jose State University majoring in Computer Science and has interests in UX/UI and Web Development. At SJSU, Catherine has been deeply involved with a cultural organization, Vietnamese Student Association, since her first semester in college. When she is not busy with homework or studying, Catherine likes to dance to choreographies, listen to true crime podcasts, going to the gym, or playing badminton.

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.

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