History
August 29, 2011: Founding Date. After being contacted by Judge Maryka Omatsu, who co-founded the Ontario chapter of Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, FACL BC's first president, Serene Chow, organizes a meeting with representatives of Asian-Canadian legal groups to form the BC chapter of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers.
October 11, 2011: First Official Meeting. The first official meeting of FACL BC is held at Allard Hall, where the inaugural board of directors was elected.
November 22, 2012: Inaugural Gala. FACL BC's first gala is held at Kirin Restaurant on Alberni Street. Approximately 130 attendees were in attendance.
March 26, 2018: Incorporation Date. The Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (British Columbia) Society ("FACL BC") is incorporated under British Columbia's Societies Act.
November 28, 2020: FACL BC receives funding from the Law Foundation of BC to create its documentary, But I Look Like a Lawyer.
November 5, 2021: FACL BC premieres its documentary to over 1,000 people worldwide online, supported by 36 community organizations.
December 31, 2021: FACL BC's documentary receives a Clawbies Award for Best Innovative Project.
November 5, 2022: FACL BC's documentary screens at the Vancouver Asian Film Festival.
November 24, 2022: FACL BC publishes its Position Paper on the Proposed Legal Professionals Regulatory Modernization.
December 31, 2022: FACL BC's podcast receives a Clawbies Award for Best Podcast.
October 23, 2023: FACL BC receives funding from the Law Foundation of BC to launch a journal and hire its first Associate Director, paid part-time staff position.
November 17, 2023: FACL BC hosts its largest Gala in history, with 767 people in attendance at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, making it one of the largest legal events of the year in BC.
January 15, 2024: FACL BC meets with the Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice, the Honourable Arif Virani regarding federal and provincial judicial vacancies and the need to appoint more diverse lawyers to the Bench.
April 9, 2024: FACL BC meets with the Attorney General of British Columbia, the Honourable Niki Sharma, KC, to discuss the proposed single legal regulator regime, later tabled as Bill 21 - Legal Professions Act.
April 22, 2024: FACL BC meets with Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the US President and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Senior Liaison to discuss cross-border advocacy for the Asian legal community in Canada and the US.
May 1, 2024: FACL BC's Associate Director joins.
June 5, 2024: FACL BC receives the Canadian Bar Association's Touchstone Award.
June 7, 2024: FACL BC welcomes Chief Justice Marchand and 30 attendees to its inaugural Membership Retreat in Whistler, BC.
June 19, 2024: FACL BC establishes recurring scholarships at Thompson Rivers University and University of Victoria Faculty of Law.
June 20, 2024: FACL BC publishes its Follow Up Position Paper on Bill 21 - Legal Professions Act.
June 26, 2024: FACL BC publishes the first edition of its Annual Report.
Past Boards of Directors
FACL BC thanks and recognizes the tireless efforts and dedication of our past board members, all of whom were instrumental to the development and growth of FACL BC today:
2011-2012 Board of Directors President: Serene S.Y. Chow VP Fundraising: David Namkung VP Communications & Membership: Jennifer Lau Treasurer: Philip C.M. Huynh Secretary: Lori H. Lam Members-at-Large: Honourable Madam Justice Maryka Omatsu, Jim M.J. Alam, Candace Cho, Agnes Huang, Kevin Nakanishi, Mary Salaysay Student Directors: May Au, Maria Kim-Bautista | 2012-2013 Board of Directors President: Serene S.Y. Chow VP Fundraising: David Namkung VP Communications & Membership: Jennifer Lau Treasurer: Philip C.M. Huynh Secretary: Lori H. Lam Conference & Gala Committee Co-Chair: Harpreet Dosanjh Members-at-Large: Honourable Madam Justice Maryka Omatsu, Jim M.J. Alam, Candace Cho, Agnes Huang, Kevin Nakanishi, Mary Salaysay, Vincent K.S. Yip Student Committee Chair: Chen Zhao Student Directors: May Au, Maria Kim-Bautista |
2013-2014 Board of Directors President: Serene S.Y. Chow VP Fundraising: Jeetesh Rup VP Communications & Membership: David Namkung VP Operations: Janis Ko Treasurer: Philip C.M. Huynh Secretary: Julia Lin Conference & Gala Committee Co-Chair: Enoch Chang Members-at-Large: Honourable Madam Justice Maryka Omatsu, Jim M.J. Alam, Candace Cho, Agnes Huang, Kevin Nakanishi, Mary Salaysay, Jennifer Lau, Lori H. Lam Student Committee Chair: Chen Zhao Student Directors: May Au, Maria Kim-Bautista | 2014-2015 Board of Directors President: Serene S.Y. Chow VP Fundraising: Jeetesh Rup VP Operations: Janis Ko Treasurer: Philip C.M. Huynh Secretary: Julia Lin Members-at-Large: Honourable Madam Justice Maryka Omatsu, Jim M.J. Alam Agnes Huang, Maria Kim-Bautista, Kevin Nakanishi, Lori H. Lam, Jennifer Lau, Karla Mukai, Mary Salaysay Student Director: May Au |
2015-2016 Board of Directors President: Jennifer Lau Vice-President: David Namkung Secretary-Treasurer: Maria Kim-Bautista Past-President: Serene S.Y. Chow Advisor-Liaison: Honourable Madam Justice Maryka Omatsu Director of Communications & Membership: Janis Ko Members-at-Large: Jim M.J. Alam, Agnes Huang, Kevin Nakanishi, Lori H. Lam, Julia Lin, Karla Mukai, Mary Salaysay, Will Tao, Pablo Tseng, Louisa Winn, K.C. Student Director: Samson Chan | 2016-2017 Board of Directors President: David Namkung Vice-President: Maria Kim-Bautista Secretary-Treasurer: Louisa Winn, K.C. Past-President: Jennifer Lau Full Member Directors: Kristian Arciaga, Sena Byun, Samson Chan, Stephen Hsia, Vania Kim, Mark Leung, Jessica Lo, Roland Luo, Karla Mukai, Mary Salaysay, Will Tao, Pablo Tseng, Chris Yan, Linda Yang Student Directors: David Fung (UVic), Alyssa Leung (UBC), Oliver Leung (TRU) |
2017-2018 Board of Directors President: Maria Kim-Bautista Vice-President: Chris Yan Secretary: Roland Luo Treasurer: Oliver Leung Past-President: David Namkung Directors-at-Large: Hasan Alam, Kristian Arciaga, Sena Byun, Samson Chan, Vania Choi, Julian Ho, Stephen Hsia, Jessica Lo, Karla Mukai Student Directors: David Fung (UVic), Aylmer Wang (UBC) | 2018-2019 Board of Directors President: Chris Yan VP External: Samson Chan VP Internal: Jessica Lo Secretary: Abigail Cheung Treasurer: Oliver Leung Advisory Director: Maria Kim-Bautista Gala Chair: Jayde Wood Directors-at-Large: Jeff Hernaez, Alex Chang, Hasan Alam, Sena Byun, Julius Ho, Louisa Winn, K.C., Khalil Jessa, Victoria Wu Student Directors: Rasmeet Mohar (UBC), Michelle Wong (UVic), Taiyo Hasegawa (TRU) |
2019-2020 Board of Directors President: Samson Chan VP External: Abigail Cheung VP Internal: Oliver Leung Secretary: Steven Ngo Treasurer: Jia Guo Advisory Director: Chris Yan Gala Chair: Jayde Wood Directors-at-Large: Victoria Wu, Audrey Jun, Sara Pedlow, James Hsu, Khalil Jessa, Alex Chang, Jeff Hernaez, Hasan Alam Student Directors: Kayla Siu (UBC), Fiona Wong (UVic), Angelina Sung (TRU) Area Representatives: Victor Ramraj (Victoria), Ruby Dhand (Kamloops) National Representative: Jessica Lo | 2020-2021 Board of Directors President: Abigail Cheung VP External: Hasan Alam VP Internal: Oliver Leung VP Marketing: Steven Ngo Treasurer: Jia Guo Advisory Director: Samson Chan Secretary: Brian Cheng Gala Chair: Karen Chow Directors-at-Large: Alex Chang, Audrey Jun, James Hsu, Afifa Hashimi, Khalil Jessa, Rasmeet Mohar, Sara Pedlow, Fiona Wong Student Directors: Lily Le (UBC), Jacqueline Louie (UVic), Sandy Lun (TRU) Area Representatives: Sarah Sohn (Victoria), Ruby Dhand (Kamloops) National Representative: Chris Yan |
2021-2022 Board of Directors President: Hasan Alam VP External: Afifa Hashimi VP Internal: Alex Chang VP Marketing: Steven Ngo Advisory Director: Abigail Cheung Treasurer: Kayla Siu Secretary: Brian Cheng Gala Chair: Karen Chow Directors-at-Large: Fiona Wong, Khalil Jessa, Rasmeet Mohar, Jessica Chung, Jim Wu, Mark Iyangar, Jenny Huang, Shane Ching Student Directors: Diana Wang (UBC), Russell Chiong (UVic), Chanel Pabla (TRU) Area Representatives: Sarah Reid (Victoria), Ruby Dhand (Kamloops) | 2022-2023 Board of Directors President: Steven Ngo VP External: Mark Iyengar VP Internal: Jim Wu VP Marketing: Fiona Wong Advisory Director: Hasan Alam Treasurer: Kayla Siu Secretary: Lily Zhang Gala Chair: Paige Mueller Directors-at-Large: Jessica Chung, Jenny Huang, Sandy Lun, Charlene Tsai, Jennine Punzalan, Sebastian Chern, David How, Holly Wong Student Directors: Catherine Wong (UBC), Janice Jia Fujikawa (UVic), Talia Gukert (TRU) Area Representatives: Sarah Reid (Victoria), Hardeep Chahal (Kamloops) |
2023-2024 Board of Directors President: Fiona Wong VP External: Sebastian Chern VP Internal: Jim Wu VP Marketing: Jenny Huang Advisory Director: Steven Ngo Treasurer: Daniel Szeto Secretary: Lily Zhang Gala Chair: Paige Mueller Directors-at-Large: Charlene Tsai, David How, Jennine Punzalan, Sandy Lun, Cen Yang, Catherine Wong, Shanna Gu, Zheng-Yi Ong Student Directors: Miguel Oreta (UBC), Jaspreet Mann (UVic), Sharon Malhi (TRU) Area Representatives: Wen He (Victoria), Shazia Housenbocus (Kamloops) |