Board & Staff

Edward Cheng, Director of External Affairs 

Edward was a financial journalist for over 15 years. He held senior management roles at The Wall Street Journal in New York and with the Financial Times in New York and Hong Kong. He has won awards from the Society of Publishers in Asia and Amnesty International for his video journalism about China. Edward first fell in love with museums when he started his own video content marketing company in Hong Kong creating videos for museums, artists and arts and culture nonprofits. He graduated with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism with a Minor in Business Administration from the University of Southern California, where he endowed the Edward T. Cheng Scholarship in New Media, and attended University of Cambridge, England.

Kevin Chu, Collections Manager

Kevin is the Collections Manager of the museum collections, library, and archives, which are located at 70 Mulberry Street. He is an avid comic book reader and first came to MOCA in 2012 because of MOCA’s exhibition on Asian Americans in U.S. comics, “Marvels & Monsters.” Kevin started off as an intern with MOCA’s Collections department, where he learned archiving and preservation techniques. He recently worked with the curatorial team to develop the special exhibition “Waves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving.” In his free time, Kevin moonlights as a fiction writer, who ironically has only ever had his non-fiction pieces published. He has a B.A. in Journalism and East Asian Studies from New York University.

Josh Davis, Chief Operations and Technology Officer 

Josh manages finance, technology, HR, administration and improv comedy for MOCA. Prior to MOCA, Josh ran IT departments for finance and real estate companies. He received his B.S. in Computer Science from Yale University and now lives on the Upper East Side with his wife and twin children.

Joseph "Seph" Duong, Director, Programs and Guest Experience 

As a marketing and public relations Jedi Master with more than 15 years of experience, he worked for Opera San Jose, New York Youth Symphony, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Bronx Arts Ensemble. Joseph holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Communications from the California State University, Fullerton and studied at Oxford Brookes University, UK. Originally from Seattle and proud West Coaster, Joseph wants to live in a world filled with talking animals, books that come bundled with extra dark chocolate, and a force field around his keyboard that repels cookie crumbs and sticky-fingers.

Erwin Geronimo, Facilities Manager 

Erwin has worked in the administrative services industry for 14 years, gaining experience in building maintenance, construction, space planning and corporate real estate with various private, public and non-profit companies. As a seasoned Facilities Manager, he is passionate about advancing operational and cost efficiency within growing organizations. Erwin has done work for companies like Intel, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and JP Morgan Chase. Most recently, he has been a full-time dad to his young son. Outside of work, he enjoys skiing, hiking, coaching little league and taking road trips with his wife and son.

 

Yue Ma, Director for Collections and Research

Yue Ma, Director for Collections and Research, has been with MOCA for nine years, and is in charge of the museum collections, library, and archives, which are located at 70 Mulberry Street. She oversees daily acquisition, preservation, digitization, research, and online projects. In addition, she assisted with the permanent exhibition “With a Single Step,” and recently co-curated the exhibition “Waves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving.” She enjoys being a liaison between the collection donors and the museum. Prior to MOCA, Ma interned at the City of Toronto Archives, and served as a Digital Project Manager and an Associate Research Archivist at the Shenzhen City Archives. Educated globally, she received a B.Sc. from Jilin University and a MBA from Xiamen University respectively, then received a MA in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management from a joint program at Ryerson University and George Eastman House.

Nancy Yao Maasbach, President

Nancy Yao Maasbach has served as the President of the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) since 2015. As the President of MOCA, Nancy has the unique privilege of combining her experiences in managing organizations, promoting arts and culture as a bridge between peoples, and executing research focused on redefining the American narrative by examining the role of Chinese Americans in U.S. history.

Prior to her time at MOCA, Nancy was the executive director of the Yale-China Association, one of the oldest non-profit organizations dedicated to building U.S.-China relations. At the Yale-China Association, Nancy led over 20 programs in the areas of arts, education, and health. These programs were lauded as best-in-class and models for bilateral engagement.

Nancy has over twenty years of leadership experience at non-profit organizations and for-profit management, including staff and board positions at The Community Fund for Women & Girls, International Festival of Arts and Ideas, Tessitura Network, Goldman Sachs & Co, Council on Foreign Relations, CNN, the Center for Finance and Research Analysis, and Aberdeen Standard Investments-managed closed-end funds.

Nancy received her MBA from the Yale School of Management and her AB from Occidental College. She was an original member of the Here and Now Theater Company. She is a lecturer at the Yale School of Drama. Nancy is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Lauren Nechamkin, Director of Education

Lauren Nechamkin is MOCA's Assistant Director of Education. She started her museum career at the New York Hall of Science, as an Explainer in their Science Career Ladder program, which cemented her fondness for unconventional education. She is a graduate of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education, where she earned her Bachelor of Science in Social Studies Education, grades 7-12 and her initial certification for teaching social studies, with a 5th-6th grade extension. She student taught at CASTLE middle school on the Lower East Side and the High School of Arts & Technology. She is a Queens native, Jackson Heights born and bred, and harbors an immense pride for both the borough and the neighborhood.

Andrew Rebatta, Associate Curator

Andrew has worked on exhibitions at community-based museums in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC. In 2011, he was Curator-in-Residence at the Museo Experimental El Eco in Mexico City, and has most recently organized exhibitions and performances for the New Forms Media Society in Vancouver, BC. Andrew is currently developing an exhibition of paper sculptures created by the Golden Venture refugees scheduled to open in Spring 2017.

Herb Hoi Chun Tam, Curator and Director of Exhibitions

Herb Tam is the Curator and Director of Exhibitions. He recently co-curated “Waves of Identity: 35 Years of Archiving,” an exhibition that explored the construction of Chinese American identity through MOCA’s archival materials. In 2012, he curated “America through a Chinese Lens,” which surveyed photographs of America by contemporary artists and non-professional photographers of Chinese descent. Tam was previously the Associate Curator at Exit Art and the Acting Associate Curator at the Queens Museum of Art. Tam was born in Hong Kong and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He studied at San Jose State University and earned a masters in fine arts from the School of Visual Arts, New York.

Neil Wu-Gibbs, Manager of Special Events and Board Relations & Special Assistant to the President

Neil is a burgeoning museum professional and historian with specialties in the 20th and 21st century fashion and a specific focus on contemporary Asian art. He is quadrilingual: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, and basic Japanese. Professionally and personally, Neil has developed a heightened sense of responsibility to identify, investigate, and implicate all the timely social, cultural, and political issues that he grapples with as a triple minority in the US. Neil earned his Master of Arts in Fashion Studies from Parsons School of Design, The New School in New York, having previously received his Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Fashion and Textile Management from Nottingham Trent University in the UK.

Gee-Wey Yue, Manager of Tourism

Prior to joining MOCA, Gee-Wey Yue served the 2 million registered voters of Harris County, Texas, as a Voter Outreach Coordinator. His responsibilities included ensuring voting access for the Chinese community under the federal Voting Rights Act and leading bilingual poll worker trainings. Gee-Wey previously volunteered with the OCA-Greater Houston chapter and coordinated their signature program, the Houston Asian American & Pacific Islander Film Festival. He majored in Finance at the University of Texas at Austin.