Catherine Chen

Catherine Chen has spent just over a year at the helm of the Asian American Federation (AAF), New York's leading voice for the state's 2.1 million Asian Americans, and she has already reshaped how the 37-year-old organization operates. Since taking over as Chief Executive Officer in 2025, Chen has streamlined AAF's operations, expanded its fundraising capacity, and deepened its relationships with city and state government — work one peer nominator credited with securing "increased programmatic funding for legal and other direct services" for the 2.1 million New Yorkers AAF represents. Under her leadership, the federation's network of more than 70 community organizations has grown louder and more coordinated in Albany and City Hall alike.

That growth shows up most clearly in two initiatives Chen has driven since arriving. In response to the growing threats against immigrant communities, AAF expanded and strengthened its Rapid Immigrant Support and Empowerment (RISE) Network under Catherine's leadership. In its first year alone, the network's original cohort of 14 organizations served over 2,400 Asian immigrant clients across New York City, providing urgent legal and social support in 13 languages. Since then, RISE has continued to grow, now bringing together 30 community organizations and reaching more immigrant New Yorkers across the state. She has also incubated the nation's first worker cooperative for pan-Asian language interpreters, United in Speech Co-op NY, which helps break down language barriers for the 43 percent of Asian New Yorkers with limited English proficiency in legal and medical settings where the right information can save lives. Through the Equity Budget Coalition, which AAF co-leads, Chen's tenure has helped direct $110 million to frontline community organizations over five years, including $30 million in the last year alone.

Before joining AAF, Chen led Polaris, a national anti-trafficking organization, and held roles at Humanity United, the U.S. Department of Justice, and Save the Children, giving her a rare combination of philanthropic, federal, and international humanitarian experience. She holds a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a Master of Public Health from Columbia University. Looking ahead, Chen is focused on strengthening AAF's policy and advocacy, civic engagement, and community well-being work — rooted, she says, in the belief that Asian New Yorkers should have the power and resources to shape the decisions that affect their lives.