OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
Greater Cleveland Chapter (2024-2025)
LISA WONG
President
Lisa Wong is the President of OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, Greater Cleveland Chapter. She is also the co-founder of the Cleveland Asian Festival and has previously served as the Vice-President of Communications for the national board of OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates. Lisa holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Communications from Cleveland State University. She is a graduate of Neighborhood Leadership Cleveland, the Cleveland FBI Citizens’ Academy, and is a certified Election Day Official for the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.
Her work experience includes roles at the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, The Plain Dealer, The City of Cleveland Department of Public Health, and the Minority Business Assistance Center at the Urban League of Greater Cleveland. A Cleveland native of Chinese descent, she was awarded the OCAGC Distinguished Service Award in 1995 and the Ohio Asian Leaders Award in 2012. She was also recognized as one of Cleveland’s 2017 Most Interesting People by Cleveland Magazine. She has also been honored with the 2018 City of Cleveland Third District Citizen Award and the 2024 “Community DIFF Maker of the Game” Award by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Lisa is also a trustee of the St. Clair Superior Development Corporation and Asian Evergreen Housing Corporation.
In her spare time, Lisa enjoys involvement in film projects, both in front of and behind the scenes, and is a member of the OCA Dragon Dance team.
Ivan Ho
Treasurer
Ivan Ho is a resident of Ohio and the son of the late Howard Hope, a well-known figure in the Cleveland community. Ivan’s father, Howard, was a prominent businessman, community leader, and philanthropist who made significant contributions to the city’s cultural and economic development.
Ivan is a former employee of Glidden and AkzoNobel, where he worked as an IT professional, developing strong technical and management skills until his recent retirement.
Ivan volunteers regularly with OCA before joining the board. He also volunteers with the Cleveland Asian Festival and is an active member of the Cleveland Chinese Christian Church.
Ivan aims to continue his father’s legacy and promote diversity, inclusion, and cultural understanding in the Ohio community through his work. Despite his accomplishments, Ivan remains humble and dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of those around him.
VERA BOGGS
Secretary
Vera F. Boggs is the Cleveland Regional Director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. As part of her duties, she oversees the investigations into allegations of unlawful discrimination in the Northeastern Ohio region. She provides training to help educate the public and increase awareness of laws against discrimination.
Vera graduated from The Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Criminology and Chinese, and from Cleveland State University with a Master’s in Labor Relations and Human Resources. She holds the SPHR and SHRM-SCP certifications and teaches the SHRM certification test preparation class at Cleveland State University.
Outside of work, Vera is involved with various organizations and events, including the Cleveland Asian Festival, the Cleveland Print Room, the College Now Mentoring Program, the Ohio State University Alumni Club of Greater Cleveland, OCA—Asian Pacific American Advocates, the Society for Human Resource Management, and United Way.
Vera grew up in Cleveland Asiatown and enjoys seeing the revitalization of her former neighborhood. She is married with two daughters. In her free time, she enjoys the outdoors, playing sports, and dining with her family and friends.
WAYNE A. WONG
Executive Vice-President
Wayne Wong is a recipient of the prestigious Asian American Engineer of the Year Award. Wayne is the former Chief of the Thermal Energy Conversion Branch in the Power Division at NASA Glenn Research Center, where he helped develop future high-efficiency space power systems. He was also awarded the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for his work. Wayne was born in Hong Kong, raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and is a Case Western Reserve University graduate. Wayne is also an artist, actor, and scriptwriter, having previously pursued comic book illustration. He has written or acted in several short films and feature films, and more recently formed a company to produce and direct two short films to date. He is the OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates, Greater Cleveland Chapter Executive Vice President and leads the OCA Dragon Dance Team. He enthusiastically volunteers his time and energy to advocate for AsiaTown and further the goals of the Cleveland Asian Festival as an Executive Committee member, Performance Chair, and Lead MC.
JOHNNY K. WU
Vice-President of Communications
A native Clevelander raised in Central America, Johnny Wu is a veteran and award-winning producer with an MBA from Cleveland State University, specializing in branding.
Fluent in Chinese, Spanish, and English, Johnny is well-known and respected within the Asian-Pacific American community in Ohio. He is one of the co-founders of the Cleveland Asian Festival, and he has been recognized by ethnic cultural groups as the producer for the Cleveland Cultural Gardens’ One World Day since 2015. Wu is currently serving as the Vice-President of Communications for the OCA Cleveland Chapter. He has helped consult as a branding strategist for several Fortune 500 businesses and nonprofit organizations. In addition to his civic engagement, Wu is also very involved in the art community; he is an award-winning filmmaker and the founder of the Cleveland Indie Club, which helped create an independent filmmaking community in Cleveland. Wu has done numerous speaking engagements at universities, conventions, and festivals on topics related to Asian culture, diversity, and filmmaking.
Wu is currently a member of the International Task Force for the Cleveland Museum of Art, a WKYC Community Council Member, and the City of Cleveland Consumer Affairs Community Board. He is an inductee into two Martial Arts Halls of Fame, the International Indie Filmmakers Hall of Fame and the Cleveland International Hall of Fame, Class of 2024.
JASON CHAO
Vice-President of Education & Culture
Jason Chao, MD, is a Family Medicine & Community Health Professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.
Originally from Chicago, IL, he has lived in Cleveland since 1982. He was elected a Fellow of the CWRU Academy of Scholar Educators and co-authored a paper that received the STFM 2021 Research Paper of the Year award.
Jason has participated with the Ohio Asian American Health Coalition and the Asian Pacific American Medical Student Association and has volunteered with ASIA, Inc. He joined the OCAGC board in 2022.
DAVID HUANG
David Huang is a propulsion scientist at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and regularly engages in educational outreach activities, including speaking engagements, staffing NASA exhibits, and creating engineering challenges for elementary to high school students.
Outside work, he regularly participates in volunteer activities, such as coordinating the Cleveland Asian Festival, running a performance stage for One World Day, helping with voter registration drives, and performing with the OCA Greater Cleveland Dragon Dance team, among others.
Fun fact: David once volunteered to staff the NASA booth, the MotivAsians for Cleveland booth, and the Cleveland Asian Festival at the same festival, though not at the same time, of course.