Alpa Patel

Alpa Patel is VP of Marketing at We Print. We Print is an integrated creative services and printing company based in Orange County, CA serving the private and public sector with sustainable creative design & printing, while being focused on sustainability in creative strategy and print. With Alpa’s experience in marketing, technology, and business development she is dedicated to helping public and private sector including non-profit organizations build successful brands through her company, We Print.

Alpa is marketing director at Pratham USA, a non profit organization working to bring literacy and education to underprivileged children in South Asia. She is also actively involved at TiE Los Angeles, a network of entrepreneurs with active involvement in the South Asian community.

Alpa also serves on several committees with NCAABA: South Asian Outreach, Women’s Outreach, and Community Outreach. Alpa holds a B. Sc. with Honors in Business Administration with emphasis in Information Technology from University of Texas.

Sonu Ratra

Sonu Ratra is the Co-Founder & President of Akraya, Inc. - a mid-sized multinational IT consulting company in Sunnyvale. Akraya has won several awards for delivering outstanding IT staffing and project management solutions to many Fortune 500 companies. Sonu is a winner of 2009 Enterprising Women of the Year Award.

Sonu also leads Akraya’s charitable programs and is committed to social causes like nurturing orphans and promoting literacy, especially female literacy, in rural India.

“Through NCAABA, I am committed to leadership for the West Coast and also several initiatives on the Corporate Committee. NCAABA is an organization close to my heart and mission of community and women empowerment. I believe that the best way for a brighter future is for all of us to come together as a community and support one another. Change can happen but has to begin in our own community.”

Sonu serves on several committess of NCAABA: South Asian Outreach, Corporate Committee, Women’s Outreach.

Clarence Low

Clarence Low is the co-founder of Byte Technology, a Web design and online marketing company, located south of Silicon Valley in Monterey, CA. His company is a certified MBE, and has worked with a number of regional water utility companies, non-profits and corporate entities, including Cal Am Water, Chevron and UC Santa Cruz. Clarence has been involved in the high-tech arena through many different roles, including several SF Bay Area start-ups and online marketing agencies. His efforts center on understanding the deeper needs of the client and communicating viable and strategic solutions that deliver positive results.

Clarence is currently chairing the Technology Committee for NCAABA. He has routinely been recognized by organizations such as Chambers of Commerce and by local nonprofit organizations as a business leader and community activist. He is currently the Technology Committee Chair of the National Council of Asian American Business Associations, board member of the Denver SBDC Small Business Advisory Council, and a member of the UCSC Alumni Association Revenue Generating Committee.

Clarence received both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science from The University of California, Santa Cruz.

Liz Tsuji

Liz Tsuji is President and Principal at Keystone Gifts, a marketing company specializing in sustainable promotional products, logo merchandise, and awards. She started the company in 1992 after many years' experience on the sales and client side. Her client list includes Visa Inc. Google, PayPal, CalTrans, Virgin America, East Bay Municipal Utility District, KQED, and numerous nonprofits.

Liz currently serves as VP of Event Management at Industry Council of Small Business Development, a partnership between small diverse businesses and large corporations centered in Silicon Valley. She is also championing certification education for small, women-owned and diverse businesses.

Liz also serves on several committees of the National Council of Asian American Business Associations: Japanese Outreach, Women’s Outreach. Certification Education, Corporate Outreach.

Anh-Tuan Le

Anh-Tuan Le is a professional engineer employed at the Orange County Transportation Authority in the project management oversight of Federal grant-funded transit projects.

Anh-Tuan serves on the Board of Directors of the Southeast Asian Community Center in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1999, he founded the Greater Little Saigon Beautiful Caucus to organize community design charrettes around community development and urban design visions. He is currently active in several strategic advocacy groups in Orange County, California, which are dedicated to sustainable development and environmental stewardship.

Anh-Tuan’s ties with the State level CAABA began twenty years ago when he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Asian American Architects Engineers in San Francisco. At the time, he was the founding CEO of his own 35-person engineering consulting firm, Manna Consultants, Inc., which was recognized by Gov. Pete Wilson with a Small Business of the Year award. His present participation in NCAABA focuses on small business outreach in the Southeast Asian community.

Brandon Shamim

Brandon Shamim is the President/CEO of Beacon Management Group, a business management, marketing and training firm. Beacon’s clients range from Fortune 500s, government agencies to nonprofit institutions in health care and higher education. His career spans working in local government, a Fortune 100 company, a national public policy think tank and as a U.S. Department of Commerce executive.

Brandon serves as the only Asian American on the Executive Board of the Greater LA Chamber of Commerce and the Chair of their Small Business Council.

Brandon is involved in creating a strategy for how California state government and the federal government can coordinate their procurement opportunities for Asian-American businesses for NCAABA. He currently serves on several NCAABA committees: South Asian Outreach, Corporate Outreach, and Local Government Outreach.