Our Team
ARIAGNA CANTORAN
Grants and Operations Manager
Ariagna (she/her) joined the AAPI Democracy Fund in late 2023. She is a dedicated and multi-faceted bilingual professional skilled in the nonprofit sector. Her expertise spans the realms of executive support, administration, operations, and project management. Throughout her career, she has demonstrated a remarkable ability to streamline executive office operations, manage project timelines, and ensure seamless administrative services. With a proven track record, Ariagna has supported high-level executives, efficiently handled contract deliverables, audits, and orchestrated board and leadership meetings, and events. Her ability to act as a liaison to public officials has been instrumental in establishing strong external relationships. Most recently, she was the Special Assistant to the Executive Director at the Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation. Prior to that, Ariagna served as an Operations Manager and Executive Assistant for Reach Out, a nonprofit based in Upland, California.
In addition to her professional accomplishments, Ariagna enjoys staying active, attending her boys’ basketball games, and cherishing moments with her family.
JASTY GONZALEZ
Finance Manager
Jasty (she/her) joined the AAPI Democracy Fund in 2025, as the Finance & Operations Associate. She has over 8 years of experience in both nonprofit and for-profit accounting and finance. She has been an Adjunct Professor for over nine years, teaching business courses, at a local community college. As a lifelong learner, she received her Masters of Business Administration in 2017. She enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge with the diverse student population she serves.
Jasty has lived in Rancho Cucamonga, California for 20 years. She is a Pacific Islander that was born in Chuuk, which is part of the Micronesian Islands. She has a son who is both Hispanic and Pacific Islander, who is her pride and joy.
ROBIN DAVID
Development Manager
Robin (she/her & they/them) joined the AAPI Democracy Fund in 2024 and currently serves as Development Manager. She brings over a decade of experience in arts nonprofits, development, and customer relationship management. Prior to joining the AAPI Fund, Robin was the Individual Giving Officer at the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), Development Coordinator at SFJAZZ, and CRM Senior Coordinator at SFMOMA. Her background in nonprofit organizing began in her youth through Filipino afterschool programs that shaped her commitment to community-based work.
Robin is Filipino American and is based in the Bay Area, California, where she was born and raised. She is also an interdisciplinary artist and co-founder of the art collective Macro Waves.
SEBASTIAN YOON
Program Director
Sebastian (he/him) joined the team in April 2026 and is dedicated to building civic power among AAPI communities. He oversees the grants portfolio, supports grantee partners through capacity building and technical assistance, and advances the organizations' commitment to intersectionality and multiracial democracy.
Sebastian began his career in philanthropy at Open Society Foundations, most recently as Program Manager. In that role, he oversaw a grants portfolio supporting BIPOC political power and multiracial democracy, including a national AAPI civic engagement strategy and a Multiracial Solidarity strategy fostering collaboration across AAPI, Black, Latinx, AIAN, and MASA communities. He also co-led a rapid-response fund addressing COVID-19-fueled discrimination against AAPI communities. Most recently, prior to joining AAPI Fund, Sebastian served as Program Coordinator at New Virginia Majority, where he supported organizing and policy advocacy on behalf of gig workers and coordinated rapid-response volunteer infrastructure for immigrant defense across Northern Virginia.
Sebastian holds an MPA from Baruch College's Marxe School of Public and International Affairs and a BA from Bard College (Bard Prison Initiative). He was also featured in Ken Burns and Lynn Novick's PBS documentary College Behind Bars, and narrated Free Chol Soo Lee, winner of the 2024 Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Documentary.
EUNSOOK LEE
Executive Director
EunSook (she/her) is the founding Executive Director of the AAPI Democracy Fund. Prior to this role, she was the Senior Deputy to former U.S. Rep. Karen Bass and the executive director of local and national organizations where she served and advocated for Korean American and immigrant communities in the areas of immigration reform, gender-based violence, and expanding democratic participation.
EunSook was born in Korea and immigrated to Toronto, Canada at a young age. As a teenager, she co-founded Youth Against Apartheid (YAA) with other young high school students and organized in solidarity with divestment and liberation movements in South Africa. She began her career in alternative community radio as the News Director and later Station Manager of CKLN radio. She came to the United States in 1993 and became active in the movement for democracy, reunification, and peace in Korea as a member of Young Koreans United of USA.
Writings of her experiences in grassroots organizing include “The Political Awakening of Korean Americans” in Koreans in a Windy City (2005), “Women Immigrants” in Encyclopedia of Asian American Issues Today (2010), and a chapter co-written with Hahrie Han titled “Engaging Korean Americans in Civic Activism” in A Companion to Korean American Studies (2019) as well as op-eds in the New York Times, Ms. Magazine, and the Hill.
