Board of Directors

Terms expire July 31, 2020

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Michael Mullen
President

Michael Mullen was adopted from Korea when he was 2.5 years old and didn’t meet another Asian person for 14 years.  He grew up in Washington State, attended college at the University of Washington in Seattle, and moved to New York in 1997, after living in Seoul and Chicago.  He attended one of Also-Known-As’s earliest events, but then got distracted and didn’t attend his second event until 20 years later.  

This is Mike's fourth year on the Also-Known-As Board of Directors and third year as president.  He appeared on adoptee podcasts The Rambler and Adapted to discuss his personal story and thoughts about adoption.

Bianca Kuijper
Vice President

Bianca was adopted from South Korea and grew up in The Netherlands. She graduated from the University of Amsterdam and holds Masters in Tax Law and Dutch Corporate Law. In the early 2000's she served as board member of Arierang, the Dutch association of Korean adoptees. Here she developed an interest in Korean cinema and from 2011-2016 Bianca was general manager at CinemAsia Film Festival, the Asian film festival in the Netherlands. In 2016 she moved to New York for her current job at Thomson Reuters and was introduced to Also Known As.  She joined the board shortly thereafter, and now is in her third year.

Mark Fermi
Treasurer

 Mark was adopted from Korea when he was 4 yrs old and grew up in Jackson, TN and Lincoln, RI and resides in NJ with his wife Ji-yeon, daughter Jeana and two sons, Samuel and Daniel. He has been a member of Also-Known-As since it was founded in 1996 and serves as the Treasurer. He has served as our web editor, Motherland Visit Director and liaison to the Korean American community and shared his adoption experiences through many speaking engagements. 

Katherine Miller
Secretary

Katherine Miller was born in Seoul, South Korea and was adopted in the United States when she was four months old. She grew up primarily in Vermont and New Jersey and moved to New York City to pursue a Master's degree at the New School. Shortly following her first trip to Korea in 2013, where she was reunited with her birth family, she began to explore her adoptee identity. Also-Known-As is a meaningful part of her life today as she had little access to the adoptee community growing up.

This is Katherine's sixth year on the Also-Known-As Board of Directors serving as Secretary.

BOARD MEMBERS

Misha Ulrich
Mentorship Coordinator and IKAA Representative

Misha was adopted with her twin sister from South Korea when they were three months old where they grew up in New York City.  Misha graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with a B.S. in Public Relations.  During her time as an undergrad, she studied abroad on Semester at Sea in the Spring of ’09, and at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea in Fall ’11.  After graduating, she spent time traveling through Europe before moving to Melbourne, Australia to study international relations at the University of Melbourne.  Upon returning to New York, Misha got involved in the adoptee community as a teen mentor in Also-Known-As’ mentorship program.  This is her third year serving on the board.

Jacquelyn Wells
Director of Community Outreach

Jacquelyn Wells is a Korean-American adoptee from Boston, MA, graduating Northeastern University in 2010 with a B.S. in Music and Business. Now based in Brooklyn, NY, Jacquelyn is a musician, jeweler, and works closely with several Korean-American non-profit organizations. An Also-Known-As Member since 2016, Jacquelyn is honored to officially join the Board as the Director of Community Outreach. Jacquelyn is also a registered yoga teacher, and strives to promote mindfulness and healing within her community.

Lindsay Fasano

Lindsay Fasano was born in Pusan, South Korea and adopted at three months old. She grew up on Long Island, New York, and at a young age, sought to find her identity by traveling, studying, and teaching in foreign places like the Netherlands, Hawaii, and South Korea. Ms. Fasano currently teaches 3rd grade English as a Second Language to children of immigrant families in Astoria, Queens. She enjoys working with children’s nonprofits such as Disney Musicals in Schools and the Guggenheim Museum, where for the past five years she has recruited and placed children from underserved communities in fine arts camps. Prior to working for the New York Department of Education, Lindsay taught at an independent school in the Bronx where she developed diversity and inclusion curriculum and facilitated student leadership training for the National Association of Independent Schools and the New York State Association of Independent Schools. She created and led the first transracially adopted affinity groups for adopted students and teachers to collectively share their experiences. Lindsay has been a youth mentor for Also-Known-As, and a speaker at AKA adoptee panels about adoptive parents and searching for one’s birth family. Most recently, she founded and created Also-Known-As’ first national Adoptee Excellence Scholarship for undergraduate students who were internationally adopted in the United States. Lindsay earned a M.A. from Hunter College and a B.A. from Temple University. She is currently working towards a second M.A. in Educational Leadership.

Hope Johnson

This is Hope’s first year on the Also Known As Board of Directors. She was adopted from Chenzhou, China at 7 months old and grew up in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She has been exposed to many adoptee communities as a kid and has been a part of Also Known As since 2005. A lover of food, Hope has been working in the food industry for 3 years and graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. On her down time you can find her either playing music with friends, taking photos for her blog @hopeeatsnyc, or aggressively hitting a ball against a wall repeatedly (aka playing squash).

Board photos courtesy of Benjamin A. Peterson, Joe Birch, and Marvin Mendlinger.