Cleveland/Akron, Ohio – The board of Asian Services In Action is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Byun as its new executive director. The appointment is effective July 1, 2009.

Mr. Byun has over 12 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector, addressing health and human services, social justice, and immigrant and refugee issues. During his earlier career, he was a volunteer coordinator and later, an HIV/AIDS community organizer. Prior to joining ASIA in 2003, Mr. Byun was in the field of institutional development, assisting nonprofits and research universities to raise financial support for scholarships and programs. At ASIA, he began as a program manager for tobacco control where he was responsible for the agency’s nationally recognized Asian American Youth Against Tobacco program. During his time at ASIA, he has progressively taken on more responsibilities, and in 2005, he was promoted to deputy director and subsequently to acting executive director in July 2008.

Mr. Byun is actively engaged at both the local and national levels. Locally, he is a member of the Community Advisory Committee for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Summit County Social Service Advisory Board. Nationally, Mr. Byun was part of a W. K. Kellogg Foundation advisory committee which made recommendations that led to the $16.5 million, five year Health Through Action Initiative, a project to address health policy change as it relates to Asian Americans, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islanders. He has been a regular presenter nationally and a past peer reviewer for the Department of Health and Human Services and for the Department of Justice.

Mr. Byun is the outgoing President of the Ohio Asian American Health Coalition. He is the 2009-10 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Ladder to Leadership fellow and is also currently a fellow with the Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy, and Leadership. A native of Seattle, Mr. Byun attended Bowdoin College and received his MPA from the University of Washington.