Rev. John Ponnala currently serves as the Family Advocate Program Coordinator & Surgery Chaplain for The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.  Rev. Ponnala received his Master of Divinity degree at United Theological College in Bangalore, India, is a Board-certified chaplain and has ministerial standing with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  He also has a Master of Arts from Andhra Christian College, Guntur, India.  Rev. Ponnala is committed to community service and is on numerous Board including Trauma Responsive Frederick, the Association of Professional Chaplains, the Board of Chaplaincy Certification Inc., and is President of the Board of the Christian Public Health Center, Macherla, India.  He promotes excellence in service as Johns Hopkins Hospital by serving as a contributing member of Bioethics Committee and the Organ Donor Council.  He is founder and director of ECSAID, a non-governmental developmental organization that provides services and advocacy for marginalize populations.

Dr. Cynthia Izuno Macri served 35 years as a medical officer in a variety of academic and executive leadership roles in OB/GYN & Gyn Oncology, culminating in her role as Special Assistant to the Chief of Naval Operations for Diversity at the Pentagon.

Dr. Macri is the author and co-author of over 20 scientific papers, 3 book chapters, and over 250 invited presentations. She has also received numerous community service awards for her innovative youth outreach programs created to inspire middle and high school students from educationally, economically, and experientially diverse backgrounds to pursue STEM careers. She was appointed to the Maryland Governor’s Commission on Suicide Prevention and the Commission on Veterans Affairs and the Advisory Committee for Women Veterans.

Dr. Macri is an active adult soccer player, representing Camp Springs, Maryland and Northern Virginia on several National Championship teams.

In December 2017, Dr. Macri joined EagleForce Health, as Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer.

Mr. Kang Lee brings to the AACF Board over 25 years of combined business, lending and retail banking experiences across the DC Metro area.  He is a member of the Maryland Banker Association Champions Program and his excellence has received distinguished recognition multiple years running through such honors as the Pinnacle Award, Lead The Way, the Chairman’s Club, and the Treasury Management Award.  Mr. Lee has OMEGA I & II certification as well as numerous additional accounting credentials.  AACF benefits from his commitment to organizational values alignment and his keen concern for optimizing best practices for the service of all those in AACF’s care.  He both works and lives in Frederick, MD, and is glad to put his skills to work for the community.

Dr. Lakshmi Darbha is a scientist by profession and currently works at Novavax, a Maryland-based vaccine manufacturing company. In the past she has worked at the National Institutes of Health and has a background in chemistry and vaccine industry. She is the founder of the Maryland based non-profit organization, AAVANEE that focuses on women empowerment, senior networking, and STEM education for kids.

Dr. Darbha has also served as a Commissioner at the County Commission for Women (2017-2023) and as a board member of the Asian American Center of Frederick (2021-present). At AACF, she assists with the EITC grant and is currently working on a project to support workforce development within the immigrant population.

In her spare time, she coaches students on science projects and teaches Indian philosophy to children through Chinmaya Mission Balvihar on weekends.

Dr. Amit Kumar has been an Urbana, Frederick resident since 2009. He lives with his wife Shalini and 2 sons, Arush Kumar and  Mihir Kumar.

In his professional life, Dr. Kumar is a Health Science Administrator at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Kumar enjoys volunteering his time for the community. As a social committee member of the Villages of Urbana homeowner association, he leads or helps run activities including weekly Yoga classes, International Yoga Day, Earth Day, Environment Day, and several other large community events.

Dr. Kumar loves working and engaging with kids.  He is the founder and director of the Urbana STEM program that recruits high schoolers to teach math, robotics, and other STEM related activities weekly.  Many of his volunteers have earned awards including the presidential service award from AmeriCorps and Point of Light and Frederick County government and education board.

He is also the Maryland coordinator of Recycle My Battery organization, which has about 60 student members in Frederick. Through their efforts, they have recycled about 30K batteries in Frederick and educated thousands of residents.

Dr. Kumar also volunteers with national organizations such as Ekal Foundation and NorthSouth Foundation that generate funds from their social and educational activities in the USA to help underprivileged kids in tribal and poor villages of India.

Dr. Kumar believes in equity, diversity, equal opportunity, citizen’s rights, and environment, all values that align perfectly with the Democratic Party. For the past few years, He has actively engaged the community and campaigned heavily in Urbana, Monrovia, and Frederick for democratic candidates including our current Congressman, Lt. Governor, County Executive, county council members, and board of education members. Dr. Kumar plans to continue to work and support candidates aligned with these values in the future. Dr Kumar is a first responder and sought help to democratic volunteers when required.

After successfully completing a double major in history and general biology from the University of Maryland, College Park, Dr. Minhkhoi Nguyen received his DDS from the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical College of Virginia.  He is licensed to practice in Maryland, Virginia, and DC and has applied his vocational gifts through both VCU’s and Maryland’s Mission of Mercy programs to bring oral health to underserved populations.  Dr. Nguyen has brought his leaderships skills to bear for such organizations as the Maryland Vietnamese Mutual Association, Pathfinders Student Endodontics Interest Club, and the Periodontal Discussion League.  He has been on the adjunct faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA, since 2016 and currently resides in Silver Spring.

Theresa Smith has resided in Frederick since 1982. She is a retired Research Microbiologist. She has
been an active member of the community, volunteering with the Frederick County Commission for
Women, Centro Hispano, the Immigration Coalition, the HIV Coalition, and several community theater organizations. She has worked with the Asian American Center of Frederick for over 10 years, primarily mentoring young people, helping to plan and execute the annual Community Health Fair, and collaborating with Kaiser Permanente to aid in obtaining health insurance for the needy.

Dr. William Reid is committed to serving the Frederick community and is honored to serve on the board of the Asian American Center of Frederick.

Dr. Reid is an accomplished researcher, assistant professor, and student mentor with a career as an infectious diseases scientist that has spanned over 30 years, including work with the U.S. Army at the Walter Reed Institute of Research, the University of Maryland School of Medicine’s Institute of Human Virology and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and as a retired staff scientist from the National Institutes of Health. A military veteran, Dr. Reid attended graduate and veterinary schools at Tuskegee University.

Outside of his professional career, Dr. Reid has remained committed to serving the Frederick County community. Most recently, Dr. Reid serves as Vice President of the Frederick County chapter of the NAACP, Chair of Frederick County Progressives, a member of the Asian American Center of Frederick AmeriCorps Seniors Advisory Council, RISE Western Maryland Advisory Team, as a Board member of Frederick Family Partnership and as a Frederick Community College, Board of Trustees member.

Dr. Reid and his wife of over 30 years, Monica, reside in Frederick County.

Dr. Dawei Yang is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology and is devoted to addressing health disparities in marginalized populations through equitable and accessible quality care for all.  After receiving his B.S., M.D., and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, Dr. Yang completed his fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  He has received recognition from numerous esteemed institutions including the Mayo Clinic and the American Gastroenterology Association.  In addition to his service on the AACF Board, Dr. Yang is part of the Frederick Integrated Healthcare Network (FIHN) and is a Colorectal Cancer Task Force adviser for Frederick Health Hospital.