2023 I-NAPA Election Results
Nominees for the I-NAPA Board of Directors were elected by the membership via an e-ballot that ran from September 1 – September 16, 2023. The election results will be ratified during the I-NAPA Membership Meeting at the ICMA Annual Conference in Austin, Texas, October 2, 2023, from 3:00-4:30 PM, at the Austin Convention Center, in the Austin Suite.
Following ratification, Executive Committee members will serve one-year terms, and newly elected At-Large Directors will serve two-year terms.
Current Directors-at-Large Hyun Kim (City of Tacoma, WA) and Yoko Igawa (Foothill Transit, CA) will be leaving the Board of Directors. On behalf of the association, I-NAPA leadership extends their deepest gratitude for their dedicated service to the association and for their continued service to the profession and the communities they serve.
The Board of Directors following ratification will be:
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Elaine Wang, President (City of Winooski, VT)
PJ Gagajena, President Elect (City of Moorpark, CA)
Aishwarya (Ash) Kumar, Immediate Past President (City of Elk Grove, CA)
Neha Sanghera, Vice President for Membership (Cambridge, MA)
Ryan Pham, Treasurer (City of Sacramento, CA)
Inge Tunggaldjaja, Secretary (City of Riverside, CA)
DIRECTORS AT LARGE
Ron Bow (Monterey Park, CA)
Anil Comelo (City of St. Helena, CA)
Monica Davis (City of Hayward, CA)
Genesis D. Gavino (City of Dallas, TX)
Tadayoshi Kawawa (Adelaide, Australia)
Mona Miyasato (County of Santa Barbara, CA)
Ed Shikada (City of Palo Alto, CA)
Craddock Stropes (City of Carlsbad, CA)
Alex Tachiki (City of Monrovia, CA)
Gabriella Yap (City of Beverly Hills, CA)
2023 Nominees Elected by the Membership
PRESIDENT-ELECT
P J Gagajena
Assistant City Manager
City of Moorpark, California
P J is the Assistant City Manager for the City of Moorpark, CA. His 20-year public service career includes working for the cities of Los Angeles, Indio, New York, and Torrance; serving as an aide to one of the first Asian American state legislators in California, George Nakano; and teaching at El Camino College and California Lutheran University as an Adjunct Professor. PJ received master’s degrees in Public Policy and Urban Planning from Harvard University, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Asian American Policy Review. He acquired a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a Minor in Asian American Studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.
P J is an active member of I-NAPA, serving as Vice President for Membership this past year and Secretary during the prior two years. He also serves on the ICMA International Committee, Cal-ICMA Student Chapter Committee, and is a Board of Director for the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED). PJ was the immediate past chair of the City Managers Department Diversity Subcommittee for the League of California Cities and received the 2021 Stewardship Award from the Municipal Management Association of Southern California (MMASC) for his efforts to increase diversity and support the next generation of local government leaders.
VICE PRESIDENT FOR MEMBERSHIP
Neha Sanghera
MPP Candidate ‘24
Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachussets
Neha Sanghera (she/her) currently serves as a Director at Large for I-NAPA. She is pursuing a Master’s in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. Prior to graduate school, she served as a policy analyst in the City Manager’s Office for the City of Hillsboro, Oregon. In this role she was responsible for projects related to equitable procurement, utility assistance, strategic planning, the 2020 Census, and other special initiatives.
Neha has also worked on water resources projects in Oregon and southern California. She holds a Bachelor of Science in hydrology from UC Santa Barbara.
TREASURER
Ryan Pham
Utilities Business Services Division Manager
City of Sacramento, California
Chuong (Ryan) Pham is the City of Sacramento’s Department of Utilities, Business Services Division Manager. He has over 25 years of experience in local, state, and private industry such as retail, revenue and utility services, IT, process improvement, project management, system implementation, organizational development, business intelligence, innovation, business transformation, and strategic plan development and implementation. He gained his experience through a variety of organizations such as Dayton Hudson (Target); Toys “R” Us; City of Sacramento, Department of Public Works, General Services, Development/Community Services and Utilities; City of Stockton, Administrative Service Department; California State Department of Rehabilitation, Veteran Affairs, and California State Teachers Retirement System.
Ryan holds a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Management from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from California State University, Sacramento. His professional affiliations include serving as the International Network of Asian Public Administrators (I-NAPA) Treasurer and California Society of Municipal Finance Officers (CSFMO) Cohort Sr. Advisor.
SECRETARY
Inge Tunggaldjaja
Principal Management Analyst
City of Riverside, California
Inge Tunggaldjaja currently serves as the Principal Management Analyst for the City of Riverside, Public Works Department with over 17 years of local government experience. Her previous role was at the City of Rancho Cucamonga, as a Management Analyst.
Inge holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration dual-concentration in Finance and Management from Albany University, State University of New York (SUNY), and a Master of Public Administration from California Baptist University.
Inge is actively engaged in professional development and is a member of the International City and County Management Association (ICMA), and Municipal Management Association of Southern California (MMASC). She is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the International Network of Asian Public Administrators (I-NAPA) as Secretary and MMASC/I-NAPA Affiliate Liaison.
DIRECTORS-AT-LARGE
Genesis D. Gavino
Chief of Staff
City of Dallas, Texas
Genesis currently serves as Chief of Staff and Resilience Officer for the City of Dallas. As Chief of Staff, she leads the implementation of Dallas Broadband and Digital Equity Strategic Plan, SmartCities initiatives, and the coordination of special projects and other city-wide interdepartmental initiatives. She oversees the administrative management of the City Manager’s Office and the Mayor and City Council Office.
As Resilience Officer where she works closely with the executive team across the organization to implement the Resilient Dallas Strategy and establish a compelling resilience vision for the city by working across all departments and with the local community to maximize innovation and minimize the impact of poverty on financial insecurity, health and wellness, employment, transportation, and government performance.
She previously served as the Assistant to the City Manager and Chief of Staff where she managed the Council Agenda Office, Local Government Management Fellows Program, departmental budgets and worked with the executive team to advance the City’s strategic priorities. Prior to Dallas, she served as Systems Analyst for the City of Tacoma’s Neighborhood and Community Services and successfully led the development of Tacoma’s first Faith-Based Emergency Shelter Program, a Community Needs Assessment to inform policy and programmatic decisions and assisted executive leadership with the acquisition of property for the development of a youth and young adult drop-in center and adult emergency shelter.
Genesis is a founding member of the International Network of Asian Public Administrator’s, an affinity group affiliated with the International City and County Management Association. Genesis holds a Bachelor of Arts in business administration with a focus on management and operations from Washington State University; a Master’s in Public Administration and certificate in nonprofit management from the University of Washington; and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Public Administration and Public Policy at the University of Texas at Arlington.
Mona Miyasato
County Executive Officer
County of Santa Barbara, California
Mona Miyasato is the County Executive Officer for Santa Barbara County, responsible for overseeing an organization of more than 4,600 employees and an operating budget of $1.48 billion. She joined Santa Barbara County in December 2013 following five years as the Chief Assistant County Administrator for Marin County in northern California. Prior to that, she served in various roles with the City of Santa Monica from 1998-2008, including her final post as Deputy City Manager, and worked in the field of redevelopment and community development in Southern California before that.
Miyasato began her career as a planner with a Los Angeles- based environmental consulting firm, contributing to several EIRs for large public transit projects. She has a bachelor’s degree in both Political Science and Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, and a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harvard University, Kennedy School of Government.
Craddock Stropes
Senior Management Analyst
City of Carlsbad, California
Craddock Stropes (she/her) is a facilitator, trainer and mentor with more than 25 years of experience in the local government and non-profit sectors. Her work centers on connecting people with ideas to create inclusive, strategic and tangible solutions that make everyday lives better. In her current role as a senior management analyst for the City of Carlsbad, she serves on the city's inaugural Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) employee committee which was responsible for creating the first-ever City Council adopted DEI Work Plan. Since joining I-NAPA in 2020 she has hosted Boba Break events, facilitated a panel discussion on community engagement in partnership with ICMA affiliates, and served as a mentor for I-NAPA’s mentorship program.
Currently she is part of the organizing committee for I-NAPA’s upcoming Symposium. She is a licensed trainer with the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) and currently serves as chair of its national Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. In addition she serves on the national DEI Committee for the American Public Works Association and a DEI subcommittee for CalCities. She has presented learning sessions on diversity, equity and inclusion, public engagement and crisis communications for Connect, CalCities, California Association for Public Information Officers, National Association of Asian American Professionals, Public Relations Society of America, American Public Works Association and Transforming Local Government conferences. In connecting more deeply with her Vietnamese heritage Craddock has committed her energy to uplifting, advancing and engaging Asian professionals.
Alex Tachiki
Director of Public Works
City of Monrovia, California
Alex Tachiki was appointed Public Works Director in 2023, after joining the City of Monrovia in July 2016. He's held various roles within the Public Works Department.
During his time with the City, he has gained extensive experience with multiple disciplines, including budget and operations, public relations, community engagement, transportation, water conservation, stormwater, solid waste and recycling, project and construction management, and municipal planning.
Alex holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Southern California in Public Administration with a Public Policy Certification and a Bachelor’s Degree from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, in Political Science. Most recently, Alex completed an Executive Certification with a Concentration in Public Policy from the Harvard University Kennedy School and is in the process of completing his second Executive Certification with a Concentration in Public Leadership.
Gabriella Yap
Senior Policy and Management Administrator, Public Safety
City of Beverly Hills, California
Gabriella Yap is currently the Senior Policy and Management Administrator, Public Safety, for the City of Beverly Hills where she serves as the City Manager’s liaison to public safety departments and continues to oversee budgeting, administration, legislation and municipal affairs within the Policy and Management Department (City Manager’s Office). Additionally, Gabriella leads various citywide projects, including heading a Citywide team responsible for revamping the City’s Administrative Regulations, and acting as the City’s ADA Coordinator and Skelly Officer.
Previously, Gabriella served as Assistant and Deputy City Manager for a variety of full-service and contract cities including Deputy City Manager for the City of Beverly Hills, Deputy City Manager for the City of Rancho Palos Verdes, and Assistant City Manager/Administrative Services Director for the City of La Habra Heights. In these roles, she oversaw a variety of functions including human resources/risk management, finance, economic development, real estate, public safety, emergency preparedness, information technology, marketing, legislation, public information/cable television studio, and the City Clerk’s Office, and interdepartmental projects.
Through ICMA’s CoachConnect and I-NAPA, Gabriella regularly coaches and mentors public administrators across the country, primarily women and people of color. She is part of ICMA’s Equity Officer Cohort and an ICMA Credentialed Manager. Gabriella has a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a Minor in Political Science from UCLA. Gabriella also holds a Graduate Certificate in Employee-Employer Relations and Personnel Management from California State University, Long Beach.