WICHITA ASIAN ASSOCIATION EXECUTIVE TEAM
TABEN AZAD
President
Taben Azad has been with Wichita Asian Association for 6 years. After serving as Vice President from 2020-2021, Taben was elected as President of the Association for the 2022-2023 year.
SONALLI KURLEKAR
Vice President
Sonalli Kurlekar, originally coming from India, has been an associated with Wichita Asian Association (WAA) for the last 5 years. She has been working as a liaison for Indian community and has been in forefront to promote integration between the Association and Indian community from Wichita through cultural exchange and encouraging talent from the local community. She, herself is a student of Indian classical Dance form called Kathak, and participated alongside other members from her community during numerous occasions. She strongly believes, to make an organization successful, we need to walk hand in hand and move forward together.
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MHAEH BUAN
Treasurer
Mhaeh’s extreme pride in her heritage started at an early age. Having been born and raised in the summer capital of the Philippines, Baguio City, to Ilocano parents, she has always shown interest in learning about the other regional languages and cultures of friends and classmates who come from diverse backgrounds.
Mhaeh deepened her involvement in the Wichita Asian Association (WAA) in early 2000. She held various capacities including Director - Miss Wichita Asian Fest; VP; then President of WAA, and now as the Treasurer. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Filipino American Association of Greater Wichita and is the Director of the Miss Philippines – Asian Fest Pageant.
Mhaeh is a single mom to her son, Christian, a Quality Assurance Manager for Customer Care Centers at JC Penney in KC. She believes in the “salad bowl” theory, that is, the more the number of ingredients, the better the end result – thus her avid commitment to the Wichita Asian Association - a melting pot of Asian arts & cultures.
MAI-NHANH DAO
Secretary
Mai first became involved with the Wichita Asian Association as a student at Wichita State University in 2018. Her first role as a volunteer was serving as a stage director for the Wichita Asian Festival and has been serving in this capacity since that time.
Combining her love of dancing and her cultural Cambodian pride, Dao is also involved with Robam Munivongsa, a traditional Cambodian dance troupe associated with the Khmer Krom Buddhist temple, Wat Munivongsa.