ROD LEW

Executive Director

Rod Lew, MPH, is the Founder and Executive Director of APPEAL. Prior to APPEAL, Rod was the Health Education Director at Asian Health Services and the Associate Director for the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations. Rod was a contributing author to the 1998 Surgeon General’s Report on Tobacco Use and has written and published widely on tobacco and health disparities. Rod provided testimony to the U.S. Congressional Committee on Commerce on the impact of national tobacco policy in 1999 and to the U.S. Surgeon General in 2004. He has also served on numerous national health advisory committees, including the State of California Tobacco Education and Research Oversight Committee (2000-2006), American Public Health Association (APHA) Equal Health Opportunity Committee (2005-6) and APHA Asian Pacific Islander Caucus, where he served as Chair (1998-2000). Rod was the 2002 recipient of the Christopher Jenkins Cancer Control Award. In 2009, he also received the Lester Breslow Lifetime Achievement Award from the UCLA School of Public Health, his alma mater.

CAMILLE

ASPIRE Program Manager

Camille graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Politics from the University of California Santa Cruz where she engaged in student organizing that focused on Asian/Pacific Islander student retention. Camille is deeply rooted in her Filipino culture. As a young girl growing up in the Philippines, she saw aggressive marketing from the tobacco industry promoting their products to her community. She carries this lived experience with her as she works at APPEAL to eliminate tobacco related health disparities in AANHPI communities. Prior to joining APPEAL, she worked for political consulting firms that managed and provided winning strategies for public office campaigns and local ballot measures which included Yes on E in 2014, San Francisco’s first Soda Tax campaign.

Marielle

SPARC Program Manager

Marielle A. Reataza, MD, MS, is a 1.5 generation immigrant from the Philippines. In college at UC Irvine, she studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and was trained in interdisciplinary research methods as a research fellow. After graduating, she joined Teach For America in Los Angeles to teach high school science and designed integrative science curriculum for high school Forensic Science, while obtaining her Secondary Science Teaching Credential from California State University Dominguez Hills. Seeking to better understand and work with other foundational systems, she attended UC Irvine School of Medicine and subsequently became a researcher, which led her to pursue a Masters in Health Policy and Law from UCSF/UC Hastings to better understand the US healthcare system and other models of healthcare. Marielle is passionate about community engagement and community health, as well as interdisciplinary means to make healthcare in the US more accessible, affordable, and equitable. In her free time, she loves to sing, play guitar, dance, paint, practice yoga and pilates, ride her bike, and cook.

Hurjessica

ASPIRE Program Associate

Hurjessica, also known as Jess is obtaining her Masters in Public Health from Touro University California and holds a Bachelor’s in Science in Family and Consumer Sciences in Food and Nutrition from California State University, Sacramento. Hurjessica is passionate about advocating for policies and programs that work to provide social justice and promote a tobacco-free AANHPI community. She is dedicated to educating and inspiring other youth in the Punjabi-Indian community to advocate for their health and wellness. In her pastime, she enjoys exploring new adventures such as hiking, trail running, or kayaking.

Priya

SPARC Program Associate

Priya graduated with a bachelor’s in Health Sciences with a concentration in Public Health from California State University, East Bay. Her interest lies in representing underserved AANHPI communities’ health through CBPR approaches, advocacy, and health education to create culturally competent resources. She aspires to bring more recognition and inspire others in her Fijian-Indian community to advocate for health.