AAJA-MN BOARD
Delane Cleveland, president
Delane Cleveland is a news reporter for Northwest Community Television in Brooklyn Park. Prior to that, he was a reporter/anchor at KOTA-TV in Rapid City, SD; and at KMSB-TV in Tucson, AZ. Delane was born and raised in Minneapolis and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in journalism in 2004. He received an internship through AAJA in 2003 that landed him in the sports department of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. He's stayed involved with AAJA ever since. When he's not out covering news in the northwest suburbs of Minneapolis, you can usually find him out doing community service or checking out one of the Twin Cities sports teams (although they haven't given him much to cheer about lately).
Tom Horgen, vice president
Tom Horgen has been an arts & entertainment reporter at the Star Tribune since 2005, where his scribblings span the outer reaches of nightlife, movies, music and comic books. In addition to his Friday column, he also produces (i.e. makes a fool of himself) in frequent entertainment videos, which document the best of eating and drinking in the Twin Cities. He loves being a part of AAJA because it gives Asian Americans a forum to engage issues of diversity -- in the newsroom and in coverage -- in a powerful way. In 1973, Tom’s mother became one of the first Vietnamese immigrants to land in the Midwest. While she likes tater tot hotdish as much as the next Minnesotan, she reminds him often: Know your roots. When he’s not busy writing stories or listening to his mom, you might find him wondering the halls of a local art museum or pontificating the proper acidity of a delicious drink at one of the Twin Cities’ great cocktail dens.
Nancy Yang, secretary & national board representative
Nancy Yang is a digital producer for Minnesota Public Radio News. Formerly, she was a national news editor at Internet Broadcasting, a reporter at the Pioneer Press and also worked as an on-call copy editor/reporter for the Star Tribune. Nancy joined AAJA in 2003 when she was a student at the University of Minnesota. As one of the few Asian American students at her journalism school, she was interested in finding other Asian American journalists to mentor her and share their advice on how to improve media diversity. She was also interested in ensuring that news organizations fairly and accurately covered minorities in the media. In her spare time, Nancy loves to visit (and hike) Twin Cities-area parks and lakes with her Jack Russell terrier, try out new restaurants and shop.
Lewis Leung, treasurer
Lewis Leung is a designer/illustrator in the business department at the Star Tribune since October 2003. Before that, he worked for The Denver Post, Colorado; the Orange County Register, southern California; and the Duluth News Tribune in Minnesota. He graduated in 1993 from the University of Minnesota as an advertising campaign major and received a graphic design diploma in an art institute in Hong Kong. Lewis joined the board as treasurer since 2005. He jokingly said former and current board members insisted his position is a life long position, but without benefits. He also loves to spend time on summer and winter recreational sports, movies, and animation productions.