Our Team

William Lu co-founded CAPIE with Jo Park and is CAPIE's President and a Director on CAPIE's Board of Directors. William spent over 20 years in the private sector as a tax attorney, 10 of which as a partner in the tax department of Latham & Watkins. William left large law firm practice to pursue his PhD at the University of Washington, and is now applying his research expertise to CAPIE's research projects. William's research employs a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to answer research questions relevant to underserved members of the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. His research is focused on issues facing persons with disabilities in the workforce and barriers to opportunities experienced by persons with disabilities. William received his bachelor's degree and law degrees from New York University, and his MBA from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to co-founding CAPIE, William was the Controller at National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA). William is fluent in conversational Mandarin Chinese.

Jo Park co-founded CAPIE with William Lu and is the Chairwoman of CAPIE's Board of Directors. Jo is a federal contractor for the U.S. Department of Labor focusing on improving service delivery to persons with disabilities and accessibility barriers. Jo focuses on promoting physical and programmatic access, including supporting the implementation of accessibility and assistive technology devices and services and creating strategies and processes to improve coordination between employment and training activities and programs that provide services to individuals with disabilities and accessibility barriers. Prior to her current role, Jo was the Chief Programs Officer at NAPCA, where she was responsible for nearly $20 million in federal grants and the implementation of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) through the U.S. Department of Labor and Senior Environmental Employment (SEE) program through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Jo worked as a consultant for AARP National in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion focusing on the AAPI Audience Strategy and Associate State Director of Volunteerism and Community Outreach at AARP New York, where she managed the volunteer program for New York State. She was responsible for the recruitment, on boarding, and training for over 1,800 volunteers and directed the Asian American Pacific Islander outreach throughout the state. Jo was also Director of the Mental Health Clinic of Korean Community Services (KCS) of Metropolitan New York, Inc., the first state-licensed Mental Health Clinic in New York City operated by a Korean non-profit organization. Jo managed all staff (clinical, medical, and administrative) and oversaw daily operations and budget. Currently, Jo serves on the New York University School of Medicine Community Engagement and Population Health Research Community Advisory Board. She has a Bachelor of Science from New York University and a Master of Science from Columbia University. Jo is fluent in conversational Korean.

Chris Widelo is a Director on CAPIE's Board of Directors. Chris is the State Director for AARP New Jersey. In this capacity, Chris leads AARP’s advocacy and outreach work in the Garden State. Chris was previously the Director of External Affairs for the New York State Association of Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH), the nation's largest affordable housing trade association. In this role, he was responsible for amplifying NYSAFAH’s advocacy by maintaining and deepening the organization’s relationships with lawmakers and key stakeholders to advance important policies to create and preserve affordable housing across New York State. He was also responsible for managing member engagement and events for the organization. Chris is no stranger to AARP, having previously spent 15 years with the organization in both their Massachusetts and New York offices. In New York, as an Associate State Director for advocacy, Chris worked to advance the organization's legislative priorities at the federal, state, and local levels. He also spent a few years leading outreach efforts in New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley. While on the outreach team Chris led AARP’s outreach to the AAPI community. Chris has eight years of experience as a legislative aide and district office coordinator in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He has a Bachelor of Arts from  Assumption College and a Master of Science from the University of Massachusetts.

Kate Fan is CAPIE's inaugural volunteer, and works as a volunteer researcher. She is passionate about serving those in need, and intends to pursue a master's degree in social work in the near future. She will be involved in CAPIE's future programs, including advising English and Mandarin callers to CAPIE's hotline on a range of topics, such as claiming tax credits under the "earned income tax credit", connecting low income persons with free or low cost tax preparers, applying for social security, understanding Medicare and Medicaid eligibility rules, and referring eligible callers to suitable employment programs. She will also be presenting at outreach seminars hosted by CAPIE, educating communities about various government programs. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree from University of British Columbia. Kate is a native Mandarin Chinese speaker and writer, and is fluent in English.