The International Examiner

Ron Chew – Advisor

Andy Yip -Interim President was born and raised in Hong Kong. He moved to Seattle in 1995 with his family to further his education. After his graduation from the University of Washington, he was recruited by Prudential Financial to lead a diversity effort in the Pacific Northwest. In 2008, Andy saw the opportunity and became independent and started his firm in Mercer Island with his partner, with a focus on financial and estate planning. Andy now lives in Bellevue with his wife, Elizabeth, his son and daughter. Andy also serves on the following community organizations:

Gary Iwamoto (Vice President/Treasurer) is a grantwriter, nonpracticing attorney, playwright, creative writer, and conducts student disciplinary hearings and section 504 hearings for the Seattle School District. He was a member of Gordon Hirabayashi’s coram nobis legal team, which successfully overturned Hirabayashi’s World War II convictions for violating exclusion and curfew orders. As a playwright, he wrote “Miss Minidoka 1942,” the first play which the Northwest Asian American Theatre produced at the Theatre Off Jackson. He has been connected with the Examiner as a writer/volunteer since 1974.

Joyce Zhou

Ray Ishii

Arlene Oki works for the City of Seattle Human Services Department as a Planning & Development Specialist for the Homeless Intervention & Block Grant Administration. She is active with the Nikkei Heritage Association and was board president of the Japanese American Citizens League. A long-time activist in the Asian American community, Arlene has also been involved with the IE as a contributing writer.

Cindy Domingo is legislative aide to King County Councilmember Larry Gossett. Previous to that, Cindy worked for 10 years as program manager at Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP). Other organizations she is or has been involved with: Church Council of Greater Seattle, N.W. Labor and Employment Law Office (LELO), Chair, and Every Woman’s Movement for Cuba.

Heather Villanueva is the former Business Manager at the Minority Executive Directors Coalition (MEDC) of King County and a member of the King County Civil Rights Commission. She received her BA from the University of Washington in American Ethnic Studies in 2003 and became associated with the ACLU as a field intern in 2004. Heather was formerly an IE intern in photojournalism. She currently works in the Public Affairs department at SEIU 775, a homecare worker’s union, and is currently the Chair of the King County Civil Rights Commission

Maureen Francisco is an experienced broadcast journalist where she worked as a TV news reporter and an anchor at every major network affiliate across the country and finally the top-twelve market of Seattle, WA. Today, she works as RealSelf.com’s first Sr. Doctor Community Advisor, where she helps board certified doctors in the aesthetic space with their reputation online. In addition, she’s one of the original writers for Stiletto Woman magazine and has interviewed high-profiled celebrities and leaders like comedienne, Margaret Cho, and the first military woman to head the White House Medical Unit, Dr. Connie Mariano. When Maureen’s not writing for the magazine, she’s been known to be a contestant on a few non-scripted shows. She was the first contestant on CBS’s Power of Ten with Drew Carey. In 2007, she was selected as a contestant on FOX Reality Channel’s Solitary 3.0, where contestants were put in solitary for days until they broke—a format that played into her own mental toughness. Maureen is active in community-based programs that empower women and immigrants to achieve their best. With her extensive background, this gave her the knowledge to be the CEO and founder of MoProductions, LLC. In 2012, she can add published author to her platform