CATHY LINH CHE

Cathy Linh Che (Executive Director | she/her) has worked in nonprofit administration, education, and publishing for over 15 years. In 2012, Cathy was hired as a communications consultant for Kundiman. In 2014, she became Kundiman's Managing Director, and she was hired on as Executive Director in 2016. She has also worked for Kaya Press, New Directions Publishing, and Poets & Writers and has taught at New York University, Fordham University, The Polytechnic University at NYU, and Sierra Nevada College. Cathy is the author of the poetry collection Split (Alice James Books), winner of the Kundiman Poetry Prize, Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America, and the Best Poetry Book Award from the Association of Asian American Studies.

Kyle Lucia Wu

Kyle Lucia Wu (Deputy Director | she/her) began at Kundiman in 2017 as the Programs and Communications Manager. She has a background in publishing, communications, literary journalism, and hospitality, and has previously worked for HarperCollins, The New School Writing Program, Electric Literature, and Literary Hub, where she was the events correspondent. Kyle has an MFA in creative writing from The New School and has taught at Fordham University, The New School, Idyllwild Arts, and Catapult. She is the author of the novel Win Me Something (Tin House 2021), an NPR Best Book of the Year, and has received the Asian American Writers’ Workshop Margins fellowship.

SHIRLEY CAI

Shirley Cai (Communications Director | she/her) is a communications professional and writer. She holds a Bachelor of Media from the University of New South Wales. She has previously worked in strategy, content marketing, and social media management at We Are Social, The Works, and 7115. Shirley is also the Assistant Editor and Art Director for Peddler Journal, a food magazine highlighting multicultural stories. Additionally, she writes and produces Peddler’s podcast, The House Specials. Shirley is the proud daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, and was born and raised in Australia before moving to the United States. As someone whose life has been informed by movement, she’s invested in exploring and expanding the notions of identity, home, and migration.

gina chung

Gina Chung (Programs Manager | she/her) is a Korean American writer. She is the author of the novel Sea Change (Vintage, March 28, 2023), which was a 2023 B&N Discover Pick and a New York Times Most Anticipated Book, and the short story collection Green Frog (Vintage, 2024). Most recently, she was the communications manager at PEN America. Previously, she was the production editor at the New York City Campaign Finance Board, and she has worked in publicity at Penguin Random House and editorial at Oxford University Press. A recipient of the Pushcart Prize, she is a 2021-2022 Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow and holds an MFA in fiction from The New School's Creative Writing Program and a BA in literary studies from Williams College, where she graduated cum laude.

CHRISTIE LOUIE

Christie Louie (Programs & Communications Assistant | she/her) is a writer from the Bronx, New York. She holds an MFA in fiction from Arizona State University, where she taught creative writing and served as Managing Editor of Hayden’s Ferry Review, and a BA in Education Studies from Brown University, where she spent her free time interning for and volunteering with nonprofits. In 2022, Christie became a Kundiman Retreat Fellow, and she was profoundly affected by the organization’s community and support. She is excited to share that same community and support with other writers and readers of AAPI literature through her work at Kundiman.

shan rao

Shan Rao (Development Manager | she/her) has worked at the American Ballet Theatre, Fordham English, Book Reporter Literature Network, Fordham Gabelli School of Business, Mankato Ballet Company, and the Arts Center of Saint Peter. She also has experience working on film sets as a Production Manager. She is a former Kundiman intern (2019–2020) and has done contract work for the organization in the years since. Shan's writing has been published in Hyphen Magazine, (un)common sense, and The Comma and has won the Margaret Lamb Writing to the Right-Hand Margin Award and Suzanna Cohen Legacy Prize. She holds a BA in English with a creative writing concentration from Fordham University at Lincoln Center.

Nereida Trujillo

Nereida Trujillo (Finance & Operations Director | she/her) has worked in administration and operations in the design & architecture space for over 10 years. She has previously held positions at Bjarke Ingels Group, Asymptote Architecture, and Leyden Lewis Design Studio. She is excited to bring her experience to the nonprofit sector with an organization that supports poets and amplifies Asian American voices. Nereida has a BFA in Ceramics from The Ohio State University and continues her ceramic practice at her studio in Ohio.

saifa khan

Saifa Khan (Development Associate | she/her) is a second generation Bangladeshi-American born and raised in Queens, NY. Interested in the intersections of empowerment and storytelling, she has experience working with a number of nonprofits that support education accessibility and storytelling as a tool for empowerment in the communities she identifies with, such as 826NYC and Fera Foundation, as well as previously interning at Kundiman. Saifa holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from Macaulay Honors College at Baruch College, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Molly Hayes

Molly Hayes (Grants and Operations Intern | she/her) is a rising senior at Fordham University majoring in Integrative Neuroscience with a concentration in Systems and Computation and minors in Physics and English. Her experience at Fordham has fostered her love for the Asian American arts that was awakened at a young age through a love of reading and dance. As someone adopted from Nanchang, she is interested in utilizing a literary approach to investigate the position of adoptees within the diaspora and society as a whole. She aspires to cultivate and support all who identify as Asian American and hopes to one day become a professor of Asian American literature and culture.

Chaise Jones

Chaise Jones (Development Intern | she/her) is a senior at Fordham University studying New Media & Digital Design and English with a Creative Writing concentration. Her writing explores lost cultural touchstones, girlhood, and fictionalizing urban myths. Through her work with Alpha Chi Omicron, the Poetic Justice Institute, and—now—Kundiman, Chaise seeks to nurture and support the voices of marginalized BIPOC writers and their readers. 

Cat Magtibay

Cat Magtibay (Communications Intern | she/they) is a junior at Fordham University double majoring in Visual Arts and New Media & Digital Design with a concentration in Art, Text, & Design. Passionate about creative expression, she is interested in exploring how identity can be uniquely conveyed through various forms of art and literature. A Filipino American artist herself, Cat wishes to empower and uplift the voices and stories of fellow Asian American creatives through her work as a Communications intern.

AMARA OVERMYER

Amara Overmyer (Programs Intern | she/her) is a senior at Fordham University majoring in English and minoring in Digital Technology and Emerging Media. As a Mexican-Japanese woman and aspiring writer, she is passionate about the intersection of literature, prestige, and social accessibility in America. Amara hopes to one day uplift emerging Latinx and Asian American writers in her prospective field of journalism, where she feels it is most necessary for minority voices to speak truth to power. Also a lover of the arts, Amara is deeply passionate about poetry, the piano, and creating art for her future tattoos. Her writing has been published in her California hometown’s local paper, the Fordham Undergraduate Research Journal, and FlashMag, a student-led magazine on Fordham’s campus.