Gala 2026
Please Join Us!
Join us for Rooted & Rising: Celebrating Belonging, Legacy and the Power of Community on September 18, 2026, from 6:00–9:00 PM at Royal Sonesta Boston Hotel in Cambridge, as we continue to showcase and celebrate plans for our new permanent home, the Asian American Community and Cultural Center in the city of Malden.
After more than a decade of organizing, advocacy, and coalition-building, we are planting deep roots and lighting the path to a future shaped by community— we invite you to be a part of this next bright chapter!
Our Honorees
Dr. Elaine Li Shiang & The Late Dr. Frederick P. Li
Lifetime Community Impact Award
Elaine Shiang was born in Malden Massachusetts, the second of 5 siblings born to Flora and Si Ta James Shiang, immigrants from China who met in Chicago as graduate students. While her dad studied chemical engineering at MIT and her mother taught music in the 1950s, her family eventually moved to Winchester where Elaine studied in the public schools, then attended Wellesley College and Harvard Medical School. She spent 35 years practicing medicine and teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, raised 3 children and now volunteers for several non-profit organizations including the Phi Lambda Charitable Trust and the Li Fraumeni Syndrome Association. She enjoys growing outdoor mushrooms at the family farm in New Hampshire and teaching mahjong to her 5 grandchildren.
Frederick Li was born in Canton, China and came with his family to the USA as war refugees when he was age 7. He was a graduate of New York University and the University of Rochester Medical School and had a productive career in cancer medicine and public health. One of his scientific contributions was the discovery of unusual families that had extraordinarily high rates of cancer. The cancer risk was eventually proven to be caused by a gene mutation and the rare disease became known as the Li Fraumeni Syndrome. It continues to be the subject of intense research as this mutation is found in almost 70% of all cancers. After Dr. Li’s arrival to Boston in the 1970s from the National Cancer Institute, he and Elaine met over their mutual interest in the health of Chinatown’s residents. Working with a local and highly dedicated Chinatown Health Task force in the 1970’s they helped to establish the South Cove Community Health Center which has continued over the past 50 years to serve thousands of patients in Boston and Quincy. Although Fred passed away in 2015, and Elaine retired from the practice of medicine in 2017, she is honored to serve and volunteer for organizations that help the lives of all people, especially those of Chinese descent, with programs that benefit residents of Boston, Malden, and northwest China’s Gobi desert.
Lawrence K. Cheng, AIA is an architect, planner and community activist. He is a Principal Emeritus at Bruner/Cott Architects and an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
Throughout his 45 years of professional practices, Lawrence has designed national and international projects for variety of uses and scales, but his passion was on social and environmental responsible designs, especially affordable housing for communities. Currently he is working pro-bono with community and nonprofit groups to advance social impact projects. With GMAACC over the last two years, Lawrence has worked with the community to implement the realization of the community center by preparing a conceptual design to verify the program and to establish a budget.
Outside of his professional practices, Lawrence has been active and given presentations in community interest designs and community empowerment. Since the 1980’s, he has worked with the Boston Chinatown community on zoning reforms, founded with others a Community Development Corporation, facilitated several community masterplans, as well as participated in community organizing and protests. He is a founding board member and Co-Chair of the Chinatown Community Land Trust. He had also served as board members in civic organizations such as First Night Boston, the Boston Urban Gardeners, Cambridge Montessori School, and the Boston Society of Architects.
Humanitarian Award
Lawrence K. Cheng, AIA
Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts (AALAM)
Public Service for Community Power Award
The Asian American Lawyers Association of Massachusetts (AALAM) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization devoted to serving the Asian American legal community and improving and facilitating the administration of law and justice. Founded in 1984 by a small group of Asian American attorneys, AALAM has grown into a vibrant network of more than 1,500 lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students throughout Massachusetts and New England.
As the New England affiliate of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and an affinity bar partner of the Boston Bar Association, AALAM provides professional development, mentorship, networking opportunities, and community engagement programs that strengthen and elevate the Asian American legal profession.
Our Performers
Matthew Ryu
Matthew Ryu is a Korean born, Thailand raised guitarist, composer, arranger, and teacher. He is currently a scholarship student at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He has played many gigs and concerts, recorded music, and also teaches harmony, ear training, and private guitar lessons. Depending on the time of the year, he is based in Boston, Thailand, or Korea.
DakouDakou
DakouDakou is a musical collective led by Chenlu Hou and Christopher Sadlers, warping Chinese folk songs through a psychedelic, 60s garage-pop lens. Fuzzy strings, brash horns, and echoing voices threaten to collapse into chaos while preserving the beauty of the traditional melodies and lyrics. The music swings from sparse minimalism to dense pop arrangements, equally suitable for dancing or deep listening.
Based out of Providence RI, DakouDakou started as a home recording project that has expanded into a large live ensemble. The lineup is ever evolving, expanding and contrasting.
The current band includes:
Chenlu Hou: lead vocals and ukebass
Christopher Sadlers: bouzouki, sanxian, violin, etc
Wood: drums
Liz Isenberg: string bass, backup vocals
Francesca Caruso: violin
Deidra Montgomery: trombone, backup vocals
Ann Schattle: french horn
Iskwelahang Pilipino (IP)
Iskwelahang Pilipino (IP), is a non-profit Filipino cultural school founded in 1976 by a group of parents and educators, and serves families throughout the Greater Boston area. IP is proud to be one of the oldest, continually operating Filipino cultural schools in America, and currently teaches students from pre-k to twelfth grade about Filipino culture and the Filipino-American experience. The Iskwelahang Pilipino Dance Team formed in 2021 to supplement regular IP dance classes for students who want to learn more folk dancing.
Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy
Our mission is to promote the study of Chinese martial arts, dragon dance, lion dance, and martial ethics for the meaningful development of physical, mental, and spiritual well-being of our diverse student body. Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy serves as an inclusive space for personal and communal growth, and as a martial family, fosters the values of respect, kindness, fellowship, compassion, hard work, community, and empathy. We offer a wide variety of training programs to allow members to become well-rounded martial artists.
Our Emcees
Jim Braude
Host, Boston Public Radio
Jim Braude is the co-host of Boston Public Radio. He has worked with co-host Margery Eagan for 18 years, first doing a TV show together at NECN then a radio show at WTKK. The duo came to WGBH in 2013.
During law school, Jim ran a small retail business in Provincetown (HUBE - Help Us Break Even!). He started his professional career as a legal services lawyer in the South Bronx handling housing and prisoners’ rights cases. He was the founder and first president of the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, a union representing staff in civil legal offices for the poor in 35 states. NOLSW helped lead the fight to preserve the national program when President Reagan proposed its abolition.
He then served as the executive director of TEAM, the Tax Equity Alliance for Massachusetts, a tax reform coalition, during which time he led many ballot campaigns, including the defeat of what would have been the largest budget cut on the ballot in U.S. history. He published Otherwise, a magazine on American politics, and then served as a Cambridge City Councilor.
Jim graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and New York University’s Law School.
Tracy Chang
Chef and Owner, PAGU Restaurant
Tracy Chang is the chef/owner of Michelin awarded PAGU restaurant in Cambridge, MA. She trained with three star Michelin Martin Berasategui. She has lectured with Harvard Science & Cooking, MIT, Brown/RISD, CIA Napa, and Barcelona Science and Cooking World Congress. She has been on Chronicle, Food Network, WBUR, WBZ, WGBH, and National Public Radio (NPR). She is a three time James Beard Foundation (JBF) semifinalist and alum of the JBF Bootcamp for Policy & Change and Women’s Entrepreneurship Leadership Program.
Chang co-founded two nonprofits, Off Their Plate (OTP) and Project Restore Us (PRU) to provide food and groceries to food insecure families. Chang’s work garnered her international recognition (top 10 nominees of Basque Culinary World Prize) and invitation to the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. She is a culinary diplomat with the U.S. State Department.
Chang enjoys experimenting with fermentation projects with her husband, two kids and pug Pearl, cooking for her 101 year-old mentor, WWII veteran, civil rights’ activist and entrepreneur, Marvin Gilmore.
Honorary Host Committee
Honorary Chairs: U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey and U.S. Democratic Whip Congresswoman Katherine Clark
Honorary Host Committee:
Helen Chin Schlichte · Hon. Mayor Gary Christenson · Paul W. Lee · Chef Irene Li · Chef Laurence Louie · State Representative Steven Ultrino · State Representative Erika Uyterhoeven · Leverett Wing · Hon. Paul M. Yee (Ret.) · Emily Yu