2026 40 Under 40 List of Elite AAPI Politicos Announced

Sacramento, CA - The National Association of Asian Pacifics in Politics and Public Affairs (NAAPPPA) is proud to present the 2026 list of the top 40 AAPI political operatives and public affairs professionals under 40.

This year’s 40 Under 40 List is presented by the California Apartment Association and co-sponsored by Bill Wong LLC, CA Fire Foundation, Health Net, Joon Kim, Lifelong Learning, Omni Government Relations, Turo, and the United Domestic Workers

“NAAPPPA established this bipartisan list to highlight emerging AAPIs in the professional unelected side of politics in 2016.  These honorees are trailblazing AAPI campaign strategists, lobbyists, legislative staff, and corporate public affairs professionals that work behind the scenes in the halls of power.  They’re breaking the model minority stereotype by excelling in the rough and tumble, rule-bending, bare knuckle world of American politics,” stated Bill Wong, veteran campaign strategist and co-founder of NAAPPPA.

NAAPPPA is a non-partisan non-profit national organization dedicated to promote and develop Asian American and Pacific Islander career advancement and excellence in political consulting, public affairs, and legislative advocacy through networking, innovative training, and professional development. 

NAAPPPA’s members include legislative staff and professionals specializing in political campaigns, direct mail, polling, communications, opposition research, political compliance, fundraising, public and government affairs, media relations, and legislative advocacy.

NAAPPPA’s 2026 40 Under 40 List in alphabetical order:

• Michael Aguilera-Guadette | Senior Government Affairs Manager, Los Angeles World Airports

• Martin Bui | Legislative Director, CA Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens

• Nicholas Chan | Communications Director, CA Assemblymember Alex Lee

• Casey Cosgrove | Deputy Communications Director, CA Assembly Republican Caucus 

• Samantha Couch | Chief of Staff, Tom Steyer for Governor

• Julie Cravotto | Chief of Staff, CA Assemblymember Dawn Addis

• Mary June Diaz | Senior Legislative Representative, Kaiser Permanente

• Anthony Fakhoury | Communications Director, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks

• Miguel Guerrero | Public Affairs Manager, Golden State

• Vincent Huynh | Legislative Director, CA Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez

• Allison Janowski | Communications Director, Juliana for Illinois

• Daniel Jefferson | Political Organizer, National Union of Healthcare Workers

• Shivana Jorawar | Community Advocate

• Ashna Khanna | Executive Director, Asian American Advocacy Fund

• Patrick Le | Consultant, CA Assembly Budget Committee

• Joy Lee | Communications Director, House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark

• Justin Chu Lee | Business Development Representative, GetThru LLC

• Margaret Lie | Legislative Advocate, Samson Advisors

• Joyce Liu | Principal, VENG Group

• Viswajith Mallampati | Media Planner i360

• Vishal Mathew | Account Executive at Corsair Campaigns

• Jace McNaught | Legislative Assistant at House Committee on Natural Resources

• Christine Miyashiro | Consultant, California State Assembly Budget Committee

• Ryan Morimune | Senior Legislative Advocate, California State Association of Counties

• Lisa Nakashima | Deputy Chief of Staff, CA Attorney General Rob Bonta

• Jonathan Ng | Assembly Fellow, CA Assemblyman Phillip Chen

• Raj Patel | Deputy Associate Director, The White House

• Andrew Peng | Deputy Director of Communications, The Asian American Foundation

• Emily Ann Ramos | Mayor, City of Mountain View

• Eiman Siddiqui | Director of Government Affairs, American Express

• Emily Soong | Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications, Magnify Strategies

• Lawrence Su | Business Agent, Operating Engineers Local 3

• Adam Tallabas | District Director, Orange County Supervisor Katrina Foley

• Judith Teruya | Executive Director, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus

• Benjamin Tran | Associate Legislative Director, Asian Americans Advancing Justice SoCal

• Haley Tran | Legislative Assistant, Congressman Zach Nunn 

• Allie Umemoto | Legislative Director, CA Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom

• Pieter Van Wingerden | Defense Policy Advisor, US Senator Jim Banks

• Andrew Yam | Policy Analyst, AltaMed Health Services

• Meg Yee | Founder and Principal, MYC Strategies

List with bios and photos can be downloaded at www.naapppa.org

In addition to the 2026 40 Under 40, NAAPPPA recognized the following:

NAAPPPA's Annual Johnnie D. Giles Forward Award: Jacqui Nguyen for her work mentoring and promoting young AAPI professionals in the political and public affairs arena. Jacqui is a communications strategist, public servant, and community leader whose career has taken her as a broadcast journalist to the halls of the California State Capitol. She spent 10 years on-camera as a television anchor and reporter in San Diego and Palm Springs. Today, Jacqui serves as Communications Director for Tony Strickland in the California State Senate. From 2015 to 2025, Jacqui served as Press Secretary for the California Senate Republican Caucus. Part of her role included being the Director of Asian American Outreach where she represented the caucus at various Asian American events in Sacramento and across California. She previously served as President of the Sacramento chapter of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association and currently serves as a consultant to the APAPA-Government Appointments Committee. Since 2022, she has helped lead efforts supporting the placement of nearly two dozen individuals across California into gubernatorial and judicial appointments. Jacqui also serves as 1st Vice President of the Asian Pacific State Employees Association, where she advocates for greater AAPI representation in state government, especially in leadership roles.

NAAPPPA's Annual Torch Award: Dion Lim for exemplary representation of AAPIs in media and journalism. Dion Lim is an Emmy Award–winning journalist who has spent nearly two decades as a television news anchor and reporter, most recently with ABC7 San Francisco. Her groundbreaking reporting on anti-Asian violence helped spark a national conversation and was featured across Good Morning America, Nightline, 20/20 and many major national and international media outlets. She is the author of the forthcoming book AMPLIFY! My Fight For Asian America and currently serves as Chief Strategist for Garry Tan’s Asian American Voices foundation. Today Dion is a sought-after keynote speaker and media presence advisor, helping high-profile executives and politicians find their voice in defining moments. Her current client roster ranges from political heavyweights running for governor and for congress to preparing a tech executive for a global keynote.

NAAPPPA’s 2025 Community Impact Champions:

CLEAR is actively growing and focusing on building a diverse, inclusive workforce, aiming for a transparent and secure hiring process. CLEAR focuses on fostering an inclusive culture through internal initiatives. CLEAR’s senior level staff includes NAAPPPA 40 Under 40 alum, Jessica Ng, who serves as CLEAR’s Director of State and Local Public Affairs. CLEAR is an equal opportunity employer and partners with firms like Checkr to ensure fair chance hiring.  CLEAR also volunteers with Girls Who Code's Mentoring Corps to assist young women in tech careers and partnered with the TEAK Fellowship to support students from low-income families.

Niemela Pappas & Associates (NPA) is an AAPI woman co-founded and co-owned, full-service advocacy firm that navigates the legislative and regulatory processes to deliver results for technology, agriculture, clean energy, finance, and government agency clients. NPA was established in late 2014, with founding partners Emily Pappas & Erin Niemela combining their diverse portfolio of clients and combined 40 years of experience in the government and advocacy arena. NPA now serves as one of the most reputable, strategic and effective firms in Sacramento, consistently achieving wins on behalf of their diverse client portfolio. NPA’s full-time team of diverse lobbyists and staff have extensive backgrounds spanning from top staff for California Legislative and Congressional Leaders to Presidential administrations, state agencies, political campaigns, trade associations, fundraising firms and non-profits.

Omni Government Relations is an AAPI woman founded and owned award-winning, full-service government affairs firm. Omni’s founder, Mandy Lee, is a distinguished public affairs professional and brings nearly two decades of government relations, political strategy, campaign and public service experience to Omni’s clients. She serves as a trusted advisor to national and state trade associations, prominent Fortune 10 global companies and large public agencies helping them navigate through the complex world of politics and policy in one of the world’s most challenging political landscapes – the California Legislature. Omni’s success is driven by a diverse team of seasoned professionals, each bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience in government affairs, regulatory expertise, crisis management, and strategic political thinking.