The Official System for Booking Asian & Pacific Islander Speakers and Allies in North America

A speakers bureau featuring Asian and Pacific Islander (API) speakers was conceived circa 2011. Over the years, many NAAAP leaders worked on operationalizing the concept. For example, in 2019, then Executive Director Cyndy Yu-Robinson created the “NAAAP Speaks” program in response to requests for speakers.

In the summer of 2021, NAAAP Board Member and Past National President & CEO Fabian de Rozario solicited speaker applications from past Convention speakers and identified a small group of vetted speakers as a precursor of what we call today “NAAAP Speakers Bureau”. The applications were reviewed by a vetting committee consisting of NAAAP leaders Iyleen Summer, Kim Tong, and Marynka Rojas Gorgen. 

On May 19, 2022, National Speakers Bureau officially launched under founding director Mandy Sha. The speaker vetting committee was composed of the same members, with the addition of Board member Kim Cummings and later Stan Fujii, and elevated to be the Screening and Sourcing Committee. Legal advice was provided pro bono by attorneys Hans Huang and Elizabeth Yang. Mandy Sha established a professional infrastructure to optimize speaker applications and their evaluations as well as to manage requirements from all stakeholders in the NAAAP organization. She spearheaded 100+ imagery rich digital, native, and social media marketing campaigns, including persuasive language in client-facing communications and press releases. In addition, she encouraged allyship by opening the application process to speakers of all racial and ethnic backgrounds and led the first API-centered Speaker Expo in North America. During her tenure, she and her team accelerated Speakers Bureau's reputation as "the official system for booking Asian and Pacific Islander speakers and Allies in North America".

On January 16, 2023, Stan Fujii took the reins as the Speakers Bureau Director.