Board of Directors:

  • Suresh Kumar - President & Treasurer, Kumar Consulting.Tel: 913-385-7873

    Suresh Kumar CPA, MBA is CEO of Kumar Consulting, PA, a CPA firm specializing in accounting, tax, and small business solutions. He has served as the President and Trustee of India Association of KC, and in various positions with other regional organizations.

     

     

    Lotus Millin, Vice President & Program Chair, Walton Construction

    Lotus Millin is Chief Administration Officer for Walton Construction Company. As CAO, Lotus utilizes her 22 years of experience with Walton Construction to oversee several of the company’s corporate services. She is responsible for the leadership of the following departments: human resources/diversity; risk management; business information systems; talent development and process business analysis; and national asset management.

    Lotus is involved with the Associated General Contractors of America (National Committee for Risk Management) and a member of the International Risk Management Institute. 

     

     


    Pat Cassady - Board Member & Membership Chair, 
    UMB Bank

    Pat Cassady is Senior Vice President, Talent Acquisition & Careers, at UMB where she directs proactive sourcing and recruitment across the various lines of business in support of the business needs and goals along with leading the company’s onboarding and career progression activities.  She is also a key contributor to UMB’s Diversity & Inclusion task force.  Pat earned a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Foreign Languages from Minnesota State University at Moorhead.  She also serves on the Board of 2020 Leadership, a bi-state youth education and development program.

     

     

     Yijing Brentano, Board member & Finance Chair, Sprint Nextel Corporation

    Yijing Brentano is Vice President, Investor Relations, Sprint Nextel Corporation. Brentano joined Sprint in 1997, serving in a variety of positions. She spent several years with Ernst & Young LLP’s cash management consulting practice before joining Sprint.

    Brentano is a certified treasury professional. She was a winner of 2000 Women of Color Technology Award, a national award that recognizes successful minority women in technology. Brentano serves on the board of Kansas City Asian Chamber of Commerce and is the vice president for the Kansas City Chinese Network Association. 

     


    Sanjay Kohli, Board Member & Web Chair, ASK Associates, 913-738-4057


    Sanjay Kohli is Senior Software Engineer with ASK Associates, Lawrence, Kansas. He has years of experience in system analysis, design, development and implementation for the airlines, automobiles, staffing, recruiting, engineering and furnishing industries. Has worked in USA, England, India and Saudi Arabia. Sanjay received his Electronics Engineering from India.

    He is active in the Indian community. He was Past president of Indian Association of Kansas City and is Trustee of Hindu Temple & Cultural Center of Kansas City and India Association of Kansas City.

     


    Young Sexton, Founder & Board member, WingGate Travel. 913-451-9200

    Young Sexton is CEO of WingGate Travel, representative of American Express. Young has over 24 years of combined travel and business management experience. She is directly involved in every aspect of the agency's daily operation. WingGate Travel/American Express is currently ranked in the Kansas City area as the sixth largest travel agency, fifth largest minority owned firm and the fourth largest woman owned company. It is listed as one of the areas top 25 fastest growing businesses by the Kansas City Business Journal and one of the top 10 fastest growing companies in Ingram's.

    Young is the founder and past president of the AACC. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Rockhurst University and is a board member of the MidAmerica Minority Business Deveopment Council and the Korean-American Chamber of Commerce. She is also a member of the Kansas City Plaza Rotary Club.  

     


    Joseph Melookaran, Founder & Board member, JMA Chartered

    Joseph Melookaran is the President of JMA Chartered, a professional services firm specializing in information technology, financial services and health care solutions. He has served Asian American Chamber of Commerce Board several terms since 2003. He is a Trustee of India Association of Kansas City and currently serves as a Commissioner with White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. 
     

     


    Simon Kuo, Board Member


    Simon Kuo is CEO of Light Thread consulting firm. The company is a next generation service, platform and intellectual venture capital company specializing in strategy, innovative applications and building connections between businesses. Prior to that, he served as vice president of Corporate Strategy for EMBARQ Corporation, the largest independent local exchange carrier in the U.S. and vice president of strategy for Sprint-Nextel’s Local Telecommunications Division.

    Kuo holds a bachelor of arts degree in History of Art, a bachelor of sciences degree in Systematics and Ecology and a Ph.D. in Microbiology, all from the University of Kansas. 
     

     

    Ramesh Lokre, Board member, Saicon Consultants, Inc. 913-451-1178

    Ramesh Lokre is CEO/President of Saicon Consultants, Inc. He has considerable expertise in growing large organizations, and putting in place the infrastructure to scale. He brings over 18 years of experience in consulting and managing large outsourcing deals for Fortune 500 companies. He began his professional career at iGate Global ,Pittsburgh, where he was involved in design, development, implementation and management of large software projects for Fortune 500 companies. Ramesh left iGate to join Wal-Mart in their Information System Division as the core member of Cash Office automation. He was responsible for the product implementation of point of sale (POS) system.

    Ramesh has received a Master’s Degree in Mathematics from Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai and holds a Master's degree in Finance Management from University of Pune. 
     

     

    AP Singh, Board Member, Digital Printing/Digix, Inc. 913-492-1500

    AP Singh is CEO/President of Digital Printing/Digix, Inc. He is a native of India who migrated to the US in 1975. He holds a masters degree in psychology from Punjab University, India . He worked in the psychology and social science field in the US for 8 years then changed the career to sales. Currently, he is owner of Digital Printing Services, an on line/ on demand printing Service Company that was started in 1995. He is also CEO and co owner of Digix Inc, an Authorized Xerox Sales Agency, responsible for providing document solutions to small and mid size companies in the greater Kansas City area.

     


    Suresh Ramamurthi, Board Member, BC Capital

    Suresh Ramamurthi is a principal at BC Capital, a venture capital firm focused on early stage growth companies and emerging markets. Prior to BC Capital, he was at Google and was responsible for mobile applications. Previous to Google, he founded, grew, and managed a technology services and transaction processing services firm that grew to over 500 employees. Earlier, he founded a technology firm that developed and manufactured narrowband and wireless hardware and software.

    Suresh has a Bachelor's degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering, a Master's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Business Administration 

     


    Hoang Nguyen, Board member, Tiger Consulting. 816-797-7404


    Hoang Nguyen is CEO/President of Tiger Consulting Group LLC. It provides consulting and operations support in contract management, procurement, strategic sourcing and supply chain operations for Fortune 1000 companies, small businesses, government entities and institutions. Prior to that, he served as Director of Supply Chain Management, overseeing the purchasing function and providing leadership for the overall performance of the supply chain at Kansas City Power & Light.

    Mr. Nguyen holds a bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Missouri and did post-graduate work in Electrical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology.

     


    Sue Drakeford, Board Member, Hillcrest Bank. 816-876-6845

    Drakeford is a Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer, & Community Reinvestment Officer at Hillcrest Bank in Gladstone, Missouri. She has been in banking since 2001 and enjoys helping business owners meet their objectives.
    Sue is Miss Nebraska USA 2001 and was the first African American to represent Nebraska at the annual televised Miss USA Pageant on the CBS television network. Sue received MBA from Bellevue University and a BS in Business Management. She serves on the Board of the Blue Hill Community Services and is Director of Singles Ministry at St. James United Methodist Church.

     


    Fang Shen, Board Member, Husch Blackwell Sanders, LLP

    Fang Shen is an attorney with Husch Blackwell Sanders, LLP, a leading law firm with more than 300 attorneys. Fang focuses on mergers and acquisitions, China-related transactions, and general corporate law. Fang graduated from one of the top law schools in China-People's University of China School of Law. Fang also earned a J.D. degree from the University of Missouri Kansas City, School of Law as the Edgar Snow Scholar, where she graduated with distinction.

    She currently serves on the board of the Greater Kansas City International Trade Council, where she works to promote international trade, and the board of the Society for Friendship with China, where she works to promote the culture and trade exchange between the region and China.

     


    June Cho, Board Member, Midland Loan Services, Inc.


    June Cho is currently the Contract Compliance Officer for Midland Loan Services, Inc. Member of The PNC Financial Services Group. June brings extensive knowledge in contract negotiations and compliance in the commercial financing business. June received her Bachelor of Business Science Degree from William Jewell College, Liberty, MO.

    June also works part time with her family business as the Sr. Vice President/Director of Operations for VanBeekKids, LLC partnering with various local and national Non-Profit Organizations. June is also the Executive Marketing Director for I & I Agency.

     

     

    Gigi F. Mateo, Essential Home Health, Inc. 913-526-0106

    Gigi is the Owner, Administrator, and Director of Nursing of Integral Care Provider and Essential Home Health in Overland Park, Kansas. She oversees the daily operation of the business, collaborates with the CEO on financial and strategic matters, negotiates contracts with potential clients, markets, and assists in the staffing, hiring, orientation of new personnel.

    She is an advisory board member of the Research Foundation, a board member of the Child Abuse Prevention Association, UMKC School of Nursing Community Advisory Council, and Women Impacting Public Policy strategic healthcare policy committee member. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Benny Lee - Board Member, Lee Research Institute

    Benny Lee is CEO of Lee Research Institute. Lee Research Institute has engaged a team of experienced professionals they have been conducting clinical research studies over 20 years. They are experienced, and able to serve the pharmaceutical industry in a relative wide range of needs. Benny’s entrepreneurial success goes more than 30 years back.  He was recently owner/CEO of Top Innovations that sell high quality household products such as clothing steamer, steam cleaner, and others at affordable price.  He created companies such as Trans World & Mitco, Co. as well.

    Benny is active in the Greater Kansas City community.  He sits on the boards of Park University, the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Greater Kansas City United Way, International Relations Council, World Trade Center Investor, the Southtown Council and Trustee of Truman Medical Center.