About Us

Established in 2011, Seattle is a charter of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance (C.A.C.A.), one of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations, having been founded more than 100 years ago in San Francisco. The mission of the organization is to promote and protect civil rights, develop leadership in Chinese youth and provide community service.  C.A.C.A. connects Chinese Americans across the country to work together on issues critical to the Chinese American community, ranging from immigration reform to incorporating Chinese Exclusion Laws education into the school curriculum.  The organization also sponsors an annual essay contest with a scholarship award open to all high school students every March.

The Seattle Chapter also arranges opportunities for members and youth to tour local Chinese businesses, meet local politicians involved in Chinese American issues, learn about the political process and support the community.  In addition to rice distribution, members also participate in the annual 400 rotisserie chicken giveaway to low-income individuals at the food bank in Chinatown during the holiday season and help co-sponsor Asian Heritage Day with the Mariners, an event where proceeds from ticket sales go towards benefiting local Asian organizations.

More information about C.A.C.A. history and purpose can be found at the C.A.C.A. National website.

Seattle Lodge Officers

Gerald Chang - President

Gerald is from the Fiji Islands and is half Indian and half Chinese. He and his parents immigrated to the United States in the early 90's. He grew up in Berlin, NJ & Covington, WA and later joined the Marine Corps where he served for 8 years. Last deployment being in Afghanistan from 2011-2012. He then went on and worked security leadership roles for various retailers in western Washington leading to a career managing an eCommerce Fraud department for a global wholesale retailer. He earned his degree in CyberSecurity leading to his next career in the IT space where he has worked across all domains of CyberSecurity and earned several certifications with the most recent GSEC certification. He is now working in the Automotive space bringing security by design to the next generation of vehicles.​​

Christine D'Amore - Vice-President

Christine and her family immigrated from Hong Kong to the U.S. when she was a child and was raised in Northern California’s Sonoma County. She studied computer science in college and is currently a business software developer at UW Medicine.  Christine descended from a long line of Chinese immigrants in the U.S. dating to the late 19th century. Her maternal ancestors lived and worked mostly in the PNW while her paternal ancestors settled in the Bay Area.  She joined C.A.C.A. Seattle in 2018 and believes this organization plays a vital role in protecting Chinese American interests and our history.

Yonghao Wu - Secretary

Yonghao Wu works in the technology sector and has an interest not just in Software Engineering but also Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence. He also has a passion in personal finance. Joined C.A.C.A in 2021, he also volunteers as the Webmaster for the C.A.C.A Seattle website.

Alan Lai - National Representative

Alan Lai is an AARP consultant with expertise in fighting Scams. He has been a Victim Advocate and

community leader in the greater Seattle area for more than 30 years. He had received numerous awards

from the FBI, US Immigration Office and many other agencies. He was appointed by Washington Governor

to advise the State government as the Commissioner for Asian American Affairs. He had received the

National Crime Victim Service Award from the US Department of Justice for his outstanding advocacy work

particularly on human trafficking cases and scam cases targeting minority communities. The mission of his

program, “We Speak Your Language. Your Voice Will Be Heard”, won the National Slogan Competition. He

has been assisting the US State Department with its International Visitors Program to share his expertise on international crime with delegates from over 100 countries.​

Phyllis Lee - Financial Secretary

Phyllis is a second generation Chinese American. She was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland and received a B.S. in Political Science from the University of Maryland. Phyllis was hired by Northwest Airlines as a stewardess and transferred from Minneapolis to Seattle to fly internationally. She volunteered with the Catherine Booth House helping women "dress for work". Phyllis believes it is very important for ALL people to acknowledge and know their heritage and to be upstanding citizens of the United States.

Jean Chen - Collector

Jean was born in Chongxing and raised in New York City since age 2. She holds a BFA from Cornell, MA from New York University, and a MSW from the University of Washington.  She has worked at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Smithsonian, Getty, and the National Endowment of the Arts. She worked at George Washington University and, from 1985-1997, she worked for Boeing in Seattle and Indonesia. During those years and after retirement, Jean remodeled and built houses. Jean has traveled with purpose to 43 countries, learning about performing and visual arts and she continues to create, support  and exhibit art in Seattle.  She looks forward to supporting dialog and awareness about Chinese and Chinese American culture and arts within the Seattle Chapter of C.A.C.A.

Christin Chou - Compliance Officer

Stewart Wong - Compliance Officer

Richard Hui - Assistant Secretary

​Bettie Luke - Marshall​

​Jerry Lee - Sentinel

Warren Yee - Treasurer

Kayn Vann - Membership

Past Presidents...

Kevin Lee, 2023 - 2024

Catherine Lee, 2019 - 2022

Ming-Ming Tung-Edelman, 2011 - 2018, Founder