Asian Avenue Magazine - February 2022

February 2022

Volume 17 Issue 2

Nathan Yip Foundation celebrates

20th

anniversary

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PRESIDENT’S NOTE

It’s hard to believe that we are now in our 16th year of running Asian Avenue Magazine. When my mom and I first started this little endeavor, we were making cold calls to potential advertisers from the back of her sunglass store.

After immigrating to the states, my mom owned sunglass stores—random, I know—and gave up her career in journalism that she had in Taiwan. In 2006, I was about to graduate Mizzou with a journalism degree so she felt more confident to start the magazine, a dream of hers, with my support.

I was 20 years old at the time. Fast forward, I am now 36, married, and a mother of two. It is true, like everything else, time goes by. I’d be lying if I said the time has “flown by” though. Some months were hard, many nights were long—pulling all-nighters to meet the deadline. I still do this most months.

Some things never change.

Annie Guo VanDan, President Asian Avenue magazine Connect with us! hello@asianavemag.com @asianavemag Help nominate heroes in our community to be recognized in our May edition for Asian Heritage Month! cacendenver.org

For 16 years, working on the magazine always felt like community service to me. I juggled it alongside a “real job” because the real job was my livelihood.

A free publication, Asian Avenue, depended heavily on ads. Most months we broke even, some months we took a loss. Printing and paper costs have continued to rise. Yet somehow we are still here.

I’m excited to announce for the first time in 16 years, I am able to work on Asian Avenue as my “real job” starting this month. With the support of grants from Colorado foundations, we have funding to sustain the magazine for a little while longer. Of course, my commitment to the community remains the same. I look forward to having more time to connect with many of you!

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February 2022 | President’s Note

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14 15 16

FEB 2022

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EVENTS: February event calendar COVER STORY: Nathan Yip Foundation celebrates 20th anniversary and the impact made for children across the world

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FEATURE: Japanese American organizations host events on Day of Remembrance, Feb. 19 FEATURE: Colorado Dragon Film Festival will be in-person this year at the Sie FilmCenter, March 3-6

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ORGANIZATION UPDATES: Get involved with Colorado groups

COMEDY COLUMN: A Reset and a Miniature Dragon FOOD: Winter foods to get us through the cold days left of this season SPOTLIGHT: Denver Language School teacher shares pride in Chinese language immersion program COMMUNITY NEWS: Annie Lee appointed to lead Colorado Access ON SCENE: Asian Avenue’s 13th Annual Lunar New Year Dinner Lunar New Year Events in Colorado

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February 2022 | Table of Contents

2 YEAR 24 Issues for $40 Payment Enclosed Bill Me

Publisher & Founder CHRISTINA YUTAI GUO President ANNIE GUO VANDAN Editorial Director MARY JENEVERRE SCHULTZ Graphic Designer/Videographer LIJIN ZHAO Web Designer JASON ZHANG Marketing Manager JOIE HA Editor DAMIAN SIU Staff Writer PATRICIA KAOWTHUMRONG

on the cover Jimmy and Linda Yip founded the Nathan Yip Foundation after losing their son Nathan in a car accident. Since 2002, the Foundation has impacted the lives of children from Colorado to China and beyond. The Yips, named Asian American Heroes of Colorado in 2011, celebrate the Foundation’s 20th anniversary this year. | Photo by: Travis Broxton Asian Avenue magazine (ISSN 1932-1449) reserves all copyrights to this issue. No parts of this edition can be reproduced in any manner without written permission. The views expressed in articles are the authors’ and not necessarily those of Asian Avenue magazine.

Looking to promote your business? Asian Avenue magazine offers businesses a costeffective way to reach consumers in the Denver/Boulder metro areas and beyond. For more information, call 303.937.6888 or e-mail hello@asianavemag.com for our media kit and ad rates.

Asian Avenue magazine is in association with the Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network.

www.asianavemag.com Name Address City/State/Zip Cell E-mail Comments

Please send a check payable to Asian Avenue magazine.

Mail to P.O. Box 221748, Denver, CO 80222.

Visit www.asianavemag.com/subscribe to pay with Paypal or credit card.

The All of Us Research Program is a large research program from the National Institutes of Health. The goal is to help researchers understand more about why people get sick or stay healthy.

Learn more and enroll at: JoinAllofUs.org AllofUsARC@asianhealth.org Colorado Alliance for Health Equity and Practice is the regional partner.

Learn more at cahep.org or e-mail admin@cahep.org.

The Asian Engagement & Recruitment Core (ARC) Central Region Arts Contest invites children, pre-teens, and youth to submit their art reflecting on “what being healthy means” at forms.gle/8Dbt2gpoSsYRKXJK8 by Feb. 28, 2022.

upcoming events Far East Center’s Lunar New Year Celebration February 5 and 6 | 11am to 4pm

Cost: Free and open to the public Follow Far East Center and Truong An Gifts on Facebook for updates

Send community events to hello@asianavemag.com.

NAAAP Colorado Vision Board Workshop Saturday, February 19, 11am to 1pm

FirstBank Community Center at Belmar 550 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood, CO 80226 NAAAP Members: Free | Non-members: $5 Donation More information and tickets at: colorado.naaap.org National Association of Asian American Professionals of Colorado (NAAAP) in partnership with FirstBank can help you roar right into the year of the tiger with their vision board workshop! Hosted by wellness expert Keiko Yoneyama-Sims, this in-person event includes treats provided by local Asian-American businesses and the opportunity to connect with other individuals as we all embark on our new goals.

Truong An Gifts and Far East Center invite you to their 28th Annual Lunar New Year Celebration. Stop by on February 5 and 6 to enjoy performances in front of Truong An Gifts all day (11am to 4pm) that will include dragon and lion dances, martial arts, Vietnamese dances, singing, and more. Shop for all your Lunar New Year decorations and gifts at Truong An Gifts including special flowers, plants, fruits, decorations, red envelopes, and much more! On Welcome the year of the tiger with the local Denver community!

Installation view of Indelible Garden: Prints by Taiko Chandler.

Taiko Chandler, Frozen, 2017.

Taiko Chandler, On and On (T12020), 2020.

The Indelible Garden: Prints by Taiko Chandler Now through April 3, 2022 Denver Botanic Gardens | 1007 York St, Denver

botanicgardens.org/exhibits/indelible-garden-prints-taiko-chandler Memories of nature have left an indelible mark on Taiko Chandler’s identity, one which is reflected in her delicate, undulating abstractions.

Chandler’s work is born of the natural world’s influence on memory and emotion. Her organic compositions are not literal representations of plants and rivers, but instead represent emotions interpreted through form and color, each

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February 2022 | Event Calendar

alluding to the powerful presence of nature in her life. From the lush forests and cascading streams of the artist’s native Nagano, Japan, to her father’s garden and her mother’s ikebana, this landscape of memory and feeling embodies the tangled, flowing beauty of nature.

Based in Denver, she works primarily in printmaking and site-specific installa-

tion art. Her work has been exhibited in Colorado, Texas and New Mexico, as well as at numerous print fairs throughout the U.S. Her work is in private and public collections in the U.S. and Japan, including the Denver Art Museum, University of Colorado Denver Business School, Cleveland Clinic Art Program (Ohio), and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York).

Photos courtesy of Denver Botanic Gardens

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EAST MEETS WEST -

From Rural China to Rural Colorado

2017 rural teacher training hosted at Beijing International Studies University.

Nathan Yip Foundation is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2022.

The organization will kick off the special year with its annual Lunar New Year celebration held on Saturday, February 12, 2022 at the Grand Hyatt. This will be the first large, in-person gathering in two years with extra COVID precautions put in place like requiring masks plus proof of COVID vaccination or negative PCR test.

2022 will be the Year of the Tiger, and the event, themed “Into the Wild,” will feature traditional Chinese decor and elements of jungle greenery.

It will be chaired by Julia and Rusty Porterfield.

The Nathan Yip Foundation was founded in 2002 by Colorado residents, Linda & Jimmy Yip, after they lost their only son, Nathan, in a car ac-

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February 2022 | Cover Story

Instruments donated to Byers Elementary School in 2020 through Friends of Nathan Yip and the Future Arts Foundation.

cident in 2001. Nathan was 19-yearsold and was home for winter break from his freshman year at Lehigh University. He was a graduate of Kent Denver, a Denver-area private school.

Growing up, Nathan was very involved with philanthropy and was Vice President of Future Givers, a student-run philanthropy group at Kent.

He also loved to travel the world with his parents. While visiting remote areas of China, Nathan was overwhelmed by the poverty and lack of educational opportunities. During these trips, Nathan and his father, Jimmy, spoke of starting a foundation to fund education for impoverished and underserved children worldwide.

Nathan recognized his own privilege and knew that by focusing on

education, he could begin to end the cycle of poverty that exists in so many rural areas. The Yip family made a promise that when Nathan finished college, they would work together to establish this foundation. Since Nathan’s life was cut short, Jimmy and Linda took it upon themselves to make his dream his legacy by creating a private foundation in his name.

When the foundation first began, the Yips raised funds through dinners and events, like their flagship Chinese-themed Lunar New Year Celebration. They were heavily involved in Denver’s commercial real estate investment scene and built up a large network of non-Asian friends who they loved to share their culture and traditions with. The first Chinese New Year dinner was hosted in 2003 at the

Palace Chinese Restaurant. Once the event outgrew that space, it moved to the Cable Center for many years before it was held in larger and larger event venues and hotel ballrooms.

As the events grew and public support widened, the Yips and their founding Board made the decision to convert the Foundation to a public charity.

Though the majority of projects over the years have been building schools and supporting students and teachers in rural China, the Foundation’s first project was building a dormitory in Loretto, Baja, Mexico. The Foundation also supported many projects worldwide over the years in Mexico, throughout Africa, and be-

FUN FACT ABOUT NATHAN

yond. It also supported a couple local student support programs in the Denver area.

In 2016, the Foundation heard overwhelmingly from donors that they wanted to support more local, Colorado programs. The executive team met with donors and funders, and identified a connection between the work being done in rural and remote areas of China and an opportunity to provide support specifically to Colorado’s rural school communities.

At the time, no other Denver-based organizations were doing education work in rural areas, and rural schools remained very “out of sight and out of mind.” The Foundation formed its Rural Colorado Edu-

cation Committee, set up a series of site visits, and conducted a listening tour across Colorado to learn about the challenges, strengths, and opportunities rural schools were facing.

It identified a handful of school projects to fund in its first year as it developed what is now a robust grant application process.

Despite two years of COVID disruptions, the foundation has still been able to fund projects all over the state, thanks to immense donor generosity through a difficult eventbased fundraising landscape.

In the past year alone, it has distributed $73,000 for vocational programs, reading curriculum and software, educator professional de-

“

When we started in Colorado, no organizations were investing in rural schools the way we wanted to. It was an exciting time.

- Tarika Cefkin Executive Director, Nathan Yip Foundation

Nathan’s Chinese name was 浩霖 (hao lin), meaning “heavy rain” in English.

Whenever the Yips attended school openings in China, it would rain, even if rain wasn’t in the forecast. They believed that to be a good omen of Nathan’s approval of their good work.

When the foundation shifted its funding focus to rural Colorado, the team conducted its first listening tour site visit in October 2016 to Cortez, Colorado, located in Colorado’s far southwest desert corner. It also rained that day.

Classroom at Shining Hope for Communities’ Kibera School for Girls in Nairobi, Kenya constructed through a grant from the Nathan Yip Foundation.

Nathan Yip Foundation | Asian Avenue Magazine

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Learn more about the Nathan Yip Foundation at: nathanyipfoundation.org.

Students from a science club at Ortega Middle School in Alamosa, Colo. visit Channel 7 on a 2019 trip to Denver sponsored by the Nathan Yip Foundation.

velopment, and the launch of a new youth outdoor education summer program with the Ute Mountain Ute tribe. The 2022 Chinese New Year Celebration’s special crowd-sourced paddle raiser component will support the construction of a playground for the Ute Mountain Ute tribe’s new elementary school that is now housed on the reservation and will eventually serve up to 90 students K-5.

Set about by anti-Asian sentiment and some very real happenings in the Colorado community in 2020, the foundation has deepened connections within the Asian American Pacific Islander community and is partnering with other community groups and leaders to develop a new anti-bullying program specifically for 3rd to 5th grade students that will approach the subject from the lens of anti-hate, anti-racism, and allyship. The goal is to launch locally to set a framework for the program that could eventually grow to be hosted in rural communities all over the state who may see diversity presented in a different way.

To date, the Nathan Yip Foundation has funded 80 unique educational projects (many for multiple years) serving approximately 65,500 students worldwide.

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February 2022 | Cover Story

Nathan Yip Foundation has funded 80 unique educational projects serving approximately 65,500 students worldwide.

Over 40 Ute Mountain Ute families received computers through a partnership with Tech For All in 2017.

“

“We’ve been lucky to have so much support in the past 20 years and are really looking forward to the next 20 years and securing our legacy.

- Jimmy Yip, Founder, Nathan Yip Foundation

Linda and Jimmy Yip with students at Denver’s East High School for the launch of Nate’s Pass, an RTD bus pass grant program for low-income students.

Jimmy Yip at the Marian Children’s Home, an orphanage in Fuzhou, China that the Nathan Yip Foundation supported through educational scholarships.

Guests participate in the “Good Luck Salad Toss” at the foundation’s 2020 annual gala celebrating Lunar New Year.

The Child Sponsorship Program provided scholarships for $150 per year to students at six NYF schools in China.

Nathan Yip Foundation | Asian Avenue Magazine

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What is the Day of Remembrance?

Participate in Colorado Events on Saturday, February 19 The Day of Remembrance (DOR) is a day of observance for the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Events in numerous U.S. states are held on or near February 19, the day in 1942 that Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, requiring internment of all Americans of Japanese ancestry.

Day of Remembrance: Japanese American Incarceration, 80 Years Later Saturday, February 19, 2022 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm Colorado College Open to the general public A memorial/conversation on the forced removal and mass incarceration of Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans during WWII, and its legacy and ongoing afterlife.

Featuring descendants/grandchildren of the camps: writer Jami Nakamura Lin, poet Brynn Saito, musician/composer Patrick Shiroishi, and artist/performer Kimiko Tanabe, hosted by Brandon Shimoda, poet/writer and professor of creative writing at Colorado College. jaminakamuralin.com brynnsaito.com patrickshiroishi.com kimikotanabe.com This event is taking place on the 80th anniversary of the signing of Executive Order 9066 (February 19, 1942), formalizing removal/incarceration.

Ticket Information: coloradocollege.zoom.us/webinar/register/ WN_V2yOdSFiQMmDvbp6pzv8Vw Contact Brandon Shimoda for more information: bshimoda@coloradocollege.edu

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February 2022 | Feature

Mile High JACL Day of Remembrance 2022 Saturday, February 19, 2022 at 1:00pm MT “Alternative Facts” Film Screening and Q&A with Jon Osaki Presented in partnership with Friends of Minidoka, Minidoka National Historic Site, and The Community Library

See national events at: jacl.org/events (many are virtual)

Attend the festival in-person this year!

2022 Colorado Dragon Boat Film Festival

Date: March 3rd- 6th, 2022 Location: Denver Sie Center | 2510 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206

Theme: “Celebrating Our Resilience” Full Festival Passes include: 10+ films, 2 Community Conversations and 3 special events for only $65!

Go to cdfilm.org to see the festival lineup.

Feature | Asian Avenue Magazine

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Denver Asian Collective is kicking back up their support groups for Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and book clubs in February. The book Blue-Skinned Gods by S.J. Sindu explores ethnic, gender, and sexual identities, and spans continents and faiths, in an expansive and heartfelt look at the need for belief in our globally interconnected world.

To get involved go to: denverasiancollective.com or take the survey at: surveymonkey.com/r/CVDK7Y9.

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February 2022 | Organization Updates

During Lunar New Year, Asian Girls Ignite highlighted the stories of AAPI women restauranteurs in Denver. Check our their stories on Instagram @asiangirlsignite to learn how they like celebrating Lunar New Year and their favorite childhood memories celebrating with family.

A Reset and a Miniature Dragon By: Wayne Chan

It’s time for a reset.

It’s been a long year. It’s been a long two years, as a matter of fact. It’s time for all of us to come together, celebrate that we’ve come through a challenging period, and set our sights on a new horizon. And what better way to do that than to celebrate the annual Lunar New Year celebration and 2022’s Year of the Tiger?

As a public service to our readers, I’d like to highlight what the year of the tiger is all about and ways that we can celebrate the occasion after the last two years of dealing with Covid.

The Lunar New Year is a time where people can put the past behind them and look forward to a fresh start.

What better time than now to try and do that? To top it off, this year’s zodiac animal (of twelve) is the tiger, which symbolizes bravery, courage and strength, as well as an uplifting spirit of hope, which couldn’t come sooner after the year we’ve had.

So how do Asians and Asian Americans and their families celebrate the Lunar New Year? Celebrations usually entail large family gatherings, red lanterns hanging from the ceiling, a wide assortment of dumplings, spring rolls, whole fish and noodles. The celebration wouldn’t be complete without a row of dancers covered by a long dragon costume dancing to the drums of energetic musicians. And to end the celebration, everyone lights fireworks to symbolize scaring off evil spirits to allow everyone to start off the new year fresh.

Since I take my public service responsibilities seriously, and the fact

that we are still in the throes of a pandemic, I need to filter all of these traditional activities to the realities we are living in today. That means I need to make some changes to the traditional festivities. Here they are: Change #1: The CDC recommends that group activities be limited to family members only. If you must invite others to the celebration, I’d suggest setting up a Zoom call as an alternative.

Change #2: Having red lanterns with lit candles hanging down from the ceiling seems to be a bit of a fire hazard. Instead, ask everyone attending to do a Google search of a red dragon and from time to time, have everyone wave their phone in the air.

Change #3: The dragon dance can still go on, but since Covid rules state that you can’t have more than 4 people in a gathering, the dragon can’t have a tail. And because any drum procession will no doubt vio-

late neighborhood noise curfews, an alternative music source should be considered. Might I suggest Yanni’s greatest hits?

Change #4: Fireworks? As with most of the country, we’re in a drought in dry conditions. That means, no fireworks. But if the objective is to scare something away, might I suggest one member of the party periodically yell out, “The timeshare presentation is about to begin!”.

Honestly, I can’t think of anything scarier.

So, what do we have left? A massive zoom call with a very short dragon dancing to Yanni’s new age music with Uncle George screaming about a time share presentation coming up.

What were we celebrating again?

Truly though, happy lunar new year everyone. We’ve gotten through the last year. I’m thankful we’ve made it through a challenging time.

Joy is the simplest form of rebellion.

Comedy | Asian Avenue Magazine

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Winter Delights for What’s the Rest of the Cold Season Take a peek inside each hot, soupy bowl!

By Mary Jeneverre Schultz As we begin February and the winter season lingers, here is a list of five entrees and culinary delights from Asia that warm our bodies from head to toe.

1. KATSU CURRY (Japan)

As an iconic hot Japanese dish, katsu curry is made up of fried chicken in a crispy panko casing, slathered in a mild, yet spicy garam masala infused curry sauce that tops a scoop of fragrant rice.

Local Restaurants:

Kokoro | Tatsu Izakaya | Katsu Ramen

2. HOT POT (China)

Hot pot is the perfect dish for family gatherings and staying warm. Gather around a dining table with a simmering metal pot at the center. Everyone can cook all kinds of ingredients, including sliced meat, beef, fresh vegetables, mushrooms, and seafood.

Local Restaurants:

Aki Asian Hotpot Restaurant K+ Hotpot | Old Town Hot Pot

3. SINIGANG (Philippines)

Sinigang is a Filipino sour soup prepared with tamarind, plus meats like pork, beef, shrimp, or fish. Served

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February 2022 | Feature

with rice and soy sauce or fish sauce, it’s comfort food for many Filipinos.

Local Restaurants:

ChowSun | Julie’s Kitchen Manila Bay Filipino Restaurant

4. PHO (Vietnam)

Pronounced “fuh”, pho is a flavorful broth with charred aromatics, toasted spices, beef bones, and brisket.

It’s satisfying but not heavy.

Fresh ingredients are added to keep it healthy, alongside tasty vermicelli noodles.

Local Restaurants:

Pho Duy | Pho 97 | Pho 75

5. OX BEEF BONE SOUP (Korea)

One of the most popular soups served in Korea, the ox beef bone soup is renowned for its milky white color, remarkably thick taste and its richness in protein and calcium. Taking several hours to even an entire day, the bones of the soup are simmered over a low flame to infuse the flavor to be extracted from the bones.

At the table, additional ingredients of green onions, minced garlic are added to the soup. Variations of this soup are available in local restaurants.

Local Restaurants:

Seoul Korean BBQ & Hot Pot Silla Restaurant | Tofu House

Enjoy and stay warm!

Denver Language School Teacher Shares Her Pride For the School’s Chinese Programs

1. What are the strengths of the Chinese program at Denver Language School (DLS)? How does DLS compare to other language immersion schools?

2. What are some things you might see in a classroom at DLS that you wouldn’t see in other schools?

Q&A

Whether I look back at my more than ten years of The vision of Denver Language School is to teaching experience, or look at language learning cultivate students with academic excelthrough research publications, it’s clear that lence and intercultural literacy. Denver the length of time immersed in the target Language School’s Chinese immersion language is the key to language learning efprogram builds on this ambition and ficiency. Immersion language education is professionally builds a curriculum that booming across the United States, but immeris tailored to students’ cognitive and lansion programs with a high ratio like DLS are guage development, as well as cultural still quite rare. DLS also boasts two teachers in backgrounds. The Chinese program inevery K-4 classroom. tegrates the subject matter proficiency When you come to the DLS classroom, you indicators from the State Department of will be pleasantly surprised to see that the stuEducation and the language proficiendents demonstrate fluency in academic vocy indicators of the American Society cabulary, speaking, and writing. The mastery for the Teaching of Foreign Languages. of the target language is quite high and natHigh standards require high educaural. This is the program I am most proud of tional standards, so that students can out of the three immersive Chinese programs conduct academic learning and discusI have taught for over the past 14 years. sions through a second language. The school’s curriculum attaches great im3. As a DLS parent and staff member, what YU-HSIN LIEN portance to multicultural perspectives, about DLS appeals to you?

Director of Curriculum and so that students with different languagAs a part of the leadership team at DLS, I Instruction, Mandarin Program es and cultural backgrounds can underhave had a wonderful environment, allowing stand the diversity of multiculturalism me to most closely integrate my love of lanthrough curriculum design and mainguage teaching and multicultural values. As a tain the value of multiculturalism. Such learning opportuniparent of a DLS student, I am very grateful to the school for givties are rare in Colorado. ing my child an opportunity for a bright future. I see that people Teachers are closely tied to the educational quality of a from different cultural backgrounds can learn through language, school. Denver Language School teachers have systematic understand each other’s culture, and learn and grow closely tolong-term training, including on-campus training, off-camgether for a common goal. Through natural daily life, we can culpus immersion education, expert customized training, and tivate the life values of respect, appreciation, reflection, tolerance teacher-themed discussions in the same grade to support and communication. From my children coming home every day to efficient student learning. The parent-teacher cooperation in share the big and small things about school life, I can clearly hear Denver Language School is very close. In addition to commuthat when children state their views on things, they can share and nicating and cooperating with each other in academic study, discuss from at least two different points of view. teachers and parents also cooperate in school class activities and cultural festivals. The cross-cultural learning experience Denver Language School is not only implemented with students, but also with parents.

Two campuses | de nv e rla ngua ge schoo l.o rg It’s important to work together!

Spotlight | Asian Avenue Magazine

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Annie H. Lee, JD, Appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Colorado Access Lee is known as a trusted and collaborative leader with extensive experience working within the Medicaid landscape in Colorado.

The Colorado Access board of directors has appointed Annie H. Lee, JD, as the next president and chief executive officer of Colorado Access. Lee will start in her new role on February 14, 2022.

In April 2021, current President/CEO Marshall Thomas, MD, announced his plan to retire by the first quarter of 2022. Dr. Thomas has served as the organization’s president/CEO for 16 years.

Simon Smith, chair of the CEO search committee and vice chair of the Colorado Access board of directors, said, “After conducting a national search, we were pleased to find our next president and CEO right here in Denver, Colorado. Lee is a strong leader who brings a wealth of knowledge of the Colorado Medicaid environment.

We look forward to working with her and building upon the momentum and success Colorado Access has achieved under the steadfast leadership of Marshall Thomas, MD.” Lee is known as a trusted and collaborative leader with extensive experience working within the Medicaid landscape in Colorado. Currently, Lee is the executive director of community health and Annie H. Lee, JD Medicaid stratPresident and CEO, egies at Children’s Colorado Access Hospital Colorado. She also served as senior director of Medicaid and charitable coverage programs at Kaiser

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February 2022 | Community News

Permanente Colorado. Prior to that, Lee spent four years working at the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing.

Lee received her Juris Doctor degree (J.D.) from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and her undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Colorado Boulder.

“I am excited and humbled to be selected as the next president and CEO of Colorado Access,” said Lee. “The mission, values and history of the organization make it uniquely positioned to optimize how Coloradans access affordable, quality health care. I look forward to building lasting relationships with the employees, members, providers and community partners as we forge reforms that improve health care in Colorado.”

Lee is Korean American, the daughter of Korean immigrants, and comes from a military family. She will be the first female and the first person of color to be CEO at Colorado Access. Lee has lived in Colorado most of her life and resides in Denver. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, reading and hiking.

About Colorado Access As the largest and most experienced public sector health plan in the state, Colorado Access is a nonprofit organization that works beyond just navigating health services. The company focuses on meeting members’ unique needs by partnering with providers and community organizations to provide better personalized care through measurable results. Their broad and deep view of regional and local systems allows them to stay focused on our members’ care while collaborating on measurable and economically sustainable systems that serve them better. Learn more at coaccess.com.

Asian Avenue celebrates 13th annual lunar new year dinner to welcome the year of the tiger

Mr. Qiwu Huang wrote Chinese calligraphy on wall hangings for guests to take home

Guests enjoyed a 10-course Chinese banquet dinner at Empress Seafood Restaurant

Colorado Asian Cultural Heritage Center began the evening with a lion dance

On January 28, Asian Avenue magazine supporters and Denver community members attended the magazine’s 13th annual Lunar New Year Dinner Celebration. The event, which was cancelled last year, was capped at half capacity at Empress Seafood Restaurant in an effort for tables to be more distanced.

Mistress of Ceremonies Dao Than welcomed guests and introduced the performers and sponsors for the event.

Colorado Asian Cultural Heritage Center performers took their lion dance all around the room, while picking up guests along the way to join the dance.

The colorful dance and loud drums are symbolic of warding off evil spirits in or-

der to start the new year with good luck.

RTD Board Member Paul Rosenthal and Senator Julie Gonzales presented founders of Asian Avenue Magazine, Annie Guo VanDan and Christina Yutai Guo with a commendation and Colorado state flag.

The tribute read: “For more than 15 years, Asian Avenue magazine has elevated Colorado’s diverse Asian American and Pacific Islander communities with the power of stories! By putting a spotlight on AAPIs, the publication has built bridges of awareness through sharing cultural insights, news, and resources.

Asian Avenue magazine supports local businesses and organizes community

events such as the annual Lunar New Year Celebration. The publication has received the Martin Luther King Jr. Business Award, Mayor’s Diversity Award, and the Best Small Business Award from the Asian Chamber of Commerce.”

Members of Locally Hyped spoke about the importance of supporting small and local businesses. They introduced new project called “Pagoda” that will provide support and resources for small businesses in Denver. Sridevi Bangaru, a South Asian local vocalist, performed two rock-style songs to get the crowd’s energy up as the event came to an end. To attend next year, visit asian avemag.org.

RTD Board Member Paul Rosenthal and Senator Julie Gonzales presented founders of Asian Avenue Magazine, Annie Guo VanDan and Christina Yutai Guo with a commendation and Colorado state flag.

Photos by Lijin Zhao

On Scene | Asian Avenue Magazine

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LUNAR NEW YEAR IS HERE!

Dragon Tiger Casino in Black Hawk celebrated its grand opening on January 22 just in time for lunar new year. Guest enjoyed a lion dance performance by Colorado Asian Cultural Heritage Center.

Jade Mountain Brewing in Aurora organized a two-day lunar new year event centering local vendors and food trucks, while announcing new Asian-themed beers such as Pineapple Cake.

OCA Colorado hosted a virtual Chinese New Year Gala from February 1 to 5 that included a lion dance and kung fu show by Master Solow and Shaolin Hong Mei Kung Fu School, as well as performances by students from Great Wall Chinese Academy and an award winning Chinese traditional Dance by Lily Han Li, Jasmine Flower Chinese Dance School.

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February 2022 | On Scene