AAJA Chicago is run by a volunteer board of AAPI journalists in Chicago who are dedicated to creating a more inclusive and just news environment. Board members serve a year-long term. Every November, AAJA Chicago opens the election for board positions of the next year.
CASEY MENDOZA
President
Casey Mendoza’s work has run the full gamut of the journalism industry: print & radio reporter, photojournalist, national broadcast correspondent, field producer, documentary filmmaker and editor. She’s currently a social video editor at Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster, as well as one of the Community Organizers for the Video Consortium’s Chicago Hub. Born and raised in Chicagoland, Casey feels at home at any comic book shop, comedy show or concert hall in the city, and she’s constantly on the search for the perfect basket of lumpia.
Jessica Kim Cohen
National Advisory Board Representative
Jessica Kim Cohen is a health technology and biotechnology reporter and Chicago native. She currently covers precision medicine at GenomeWeb, part of Crain Communications, and previously was a technology beat reporter at Modern Healthcare magazine. She’s been published in the Chicago Reader, Chicago Health Magazine, Baltimore City Paper and Baltimore magazine, among other local news outlets. She’s been a member of AAJA Chicago’s board since 2021 and serves as a small/medium chapter representative for national AAJA’s governing board. She served as AAJA Chicago’s board president from 2023-2025.
AMIRAH ZAVERI
Partnerships Director
Amirah Zaveri is a Chicago native and is the executive producer of two long-form public affairs shows: Viewpoints Radio and Radio Health Journal. Both are nationally syndicated radio programs and are also available as podcasts on all major podcast platforms. Prior to managing these shows, Amirah worked in public relations and corporate communications in the early part of her career. She graduated in 2015 with a degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been a member of AAJA Chicago’s board since 2023.
KATRINA PHAM
Membership Director
Katrina Pham is an audience engagement reporter with Borderless Magazine covering immigrants and immigration policy in Chicago. She’s previously worked with the Marshall Project, In These Times and ABC7 Chicago and is an alum of the Chips Quinn Diversity in Journalism fellowship program and the NPR Next Generation Radio program. Katrina graduated from Northwestern University with her Bachelor’s degree in 2023 and worked with other student members to revive NU’s student AAJA chapter before joining the Chicago board as scholarship program director.
EUNICE ALPASAN
Secretary/Treasurer
Eunice Alpasan is a digital reporter at WTTW News/PBS Chicago. She previously worked as a producing fellow for WTTW’s flagship nightly news program, “Chicago Tonight.” Prior to WTTW, she was an engagement producer for Illinois Public Media’s “The 21st” out of Champaign-Urbana’s local NPR station. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she served as editor-in-chief for the student-run arts platform the Collective Magazine and was selected as a Roger Ebert Fellow in Media Criticism. She founded and served as president for AAJA’s student chapter at UIUC. Follow her on X at @eunicealpasan.
jinny kim
Communications Director
Jinny Kim is a graduate student studying computer science and public policy at the University of Chicago. Her interests lie at the intersection of energy, climate, and health, and she plans to pursue journalism after graduation. Previously, she worked in communications at a climate organization, where she focused on exposing the fossil fuel industry’s role in spreading disinformation and its harmful effects on communities.
ASHER JOSEPH
Student Liaison
Asher Joseph is an undergraduate student studying journalism and political science at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. An alum of AAJA’s JCamp, he is passionate about uplifting the next generation of journalists and human-oriented storytelling. Previously, he has reported on politics, culture, and community in his hometown of New Haven, Connecticut.
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