wfn.org | AFSC Names New Director of Asia Pacific Program

[RByler@afsc.org]

For Immediate Release
December 23, 1996
Contact: J.Ron Byler (215) 241-7060
or Aishah Shahidah Simmons (215) 241 7056

Nguyen Named Director of New Asia Pacific Program

PHILADELPHIA -- Anthony Thoai Nguyen has been named the national coordinator
of the Asia Pacific Program of the American Friends Service Committee
(AFSC).  The program was recently begun by the AFSC in response to the
growth and development of Asian Pacific American communities and increased
interaction between the Asia Pacific region and the United States.
	"I want to build a strong working relationship between AFSC and the Asian
American/ Asian immigrant communities," said Nguyen about his new role
connecting grassroots struggles for peace and justice in the Asia Pacific
region with Asian communities in this country.
	Based in Philadelphia, Thoai will provide coordination and interpretation
for AFSC's Pacific Island program in Hawai'i and the Asian and Pacific
American Communities program in Oakland (CA).  The Hawai'i program supports
self-determination of indigenous peoples in the Pacific.  In Oakland, the
program helps to strengthen leadership skills of Asian and Pacific American
youth, particularly young women.
	Prior to his AFSC appointment, Nguyen was director of program development
for the Committee Against Anti-Asian Violence (CAAAV) in New York City.  He
is also a member of the U.S. Urban Rural Mission, a faith-based collective
of community and church activists working on issues of economic justice,
racism and homophobia.  A volunteer organizer with Asian Americans United
(AAU), a community based organization in Philadelphia, Thoai is the 1996-97
recipient of the Charles Bannerman Fellowship for Young Organizers of Color.
	For more information, contact Ron Byler, director of media relations for
the AFSC, at 215/241-7060.
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The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization which
includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace
and humanitarian service.  Its work is based on the Quaker belief in the
worth of every person, and faith in the power of love to overcome violence
and injustice.
J.Ron Byler
Director of Media Relations
American Friends Service Committee
PH: 215/241-7060
FAX: 215/241-7275
E-MAIL: RByler@afsc.org
http://www.afsc.org