WASHINGTON, DC - Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum (“FRIENDS”), the independent nonprofit established to support the congressional exploration, authorization, establishment, design, and construction of a new, national APA museum, announced two new appointments to its leadership team.

Ting Xu, has advanced from the Chief Operating Officer role to Vice Chair, Executive Committee, Board of Directors. In her new position she will expand her focus on fundraising and strategic alliances.

Ting Xu co-founded Aetos Strategy & Advisory, a U.S.-based consulting firm that provides geopolitical risk analysis and business strategy consulting for clients, particularly companies operating in China. She was a non-resident Fellow with Pacific Forum CSIS, a leading US think tank, a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), a member of the Global Advisory Council of Stimson Center and a Young Leader of the Munich Security Conference.

Ting was a Senior Fellow and Senior Project Manager in the Bertelsmann Foundation North America, where she managed the Foundation’s global portfolio. She has been closely involved in many high-level multilateral policy consultations and has published extensively on global economic and political issues. She also has been a regular commentator on global issues in the international media, such as France24, Al Jazeera, and CCTV.

Prior to joining the Bertelsmann Foundation, Ting was a World Bank consultant, where she was a member of the World Bank team that addressed the Wenchuan Earthquake Emergency Relief and Reconstruction effort in 2008. Ting has also worked on various projects for the International Fund for Agricultural Development in Washington, DC, and the Asian Development Bank Institute in Tokyo, and was a Graduate Fellow of United Nations Association.

Ting holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Beijing Normal University and an M.A. in International Economics and International Affairs from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.

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David Uy has joined as Chief Operating Officer, new to its leadership team.

Previously, Uy was the founding executive director of the Chinese American Museum in Washington, DC where, for the past six years, he has been a key player in establishing the first and only museum in DC dedicated to the Chinese American story. For more than three decades, David Uy has championed a diverse range of social causes, consumer goods, and business-to-business products and services through hands-on strategic roles. He served in leadership positions in several award-winning advertising and public relations firms; as Vice President of Marketing and Development for the legal technology company, CDS; and as Communications Director for The Points of Light Foundation and Volunteer Center National Network. He served as the principal of the public relations agency, Brand Bureau, for twelve years.

In 2022, Uy was the recipient of the William and Mary Asian Centennial Alumni Award from The College of William and Mary in recognition of dedicated service, leadership, and advocacy of Asian and Pacific Islander issues that has advanced diversity, justice, and equality.

David holds an MBA in Marketing Strategy and a BA in Fine Arts and Art History from The College of William and Mary. He is a second-generation Asian American born in Queens, New York City, with family originating in Xiamen, China and the Philippines.

“David’s and Ting’s appointments are auspicious timing as we mark two years of steady progress at FRIENDS,” said Co-Founder and Co-Chair, Handel Lee, “This is a critical phase for this project. Everything that we are doing right now is focused on supporting a successful Commission report to Congress.”

About FRIENDS

In June 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law HR 3525, establishing an eight-member, bi-partisan commission to study the potential creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture in our nation’s capital. Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose immediate priority is to support the nonpartisan Commission established by Congress and tasked with drafting a report on the Museum’s feasibility and creation. The Commission is expected to officially convene in late 2024 to early 2025. From that point, the group has 18 months to submit a comprehensive report to Congress. On that track, Congressional authorization would be anticipated in 2027, site selection and funding appropriation in 2030, with construction and exhibitions beginning in 2034. Friends of the National Asian Pacific American Museum is an independent organization not affiliated with the Smithsonian Institution or the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center.

Learn more at https://www.friendsofnapam.org.

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