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Niyanta Spelman is the founder and executive director of Rainforest Partnership. Between 2000 and 2007, Niyanta owned PPPMC Inc, a public sector-oriented management consultancy.

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Victor is currently president of the Pacific Islander Health Partnership and is co-chair of the Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander Alliance.

In 1990, Victor Kaiwi Pang was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Mr. Pang worked with OCAPICA, the Orange County Asian & Pacific Islander Community Alliance, helped in outreaching to Native Hawaiian men for their men's health support group. Generally we focused on men's health, but there was a small part of the support group that focused on cancer and survivorship.

Victor helped to form a program called Ohana Retreat. "Ohana" means family.

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Bill Imada is founder, chairman and chief collaboration officer of IW Group, a minority-owned and operated agency focusing on the growing multicultural markets. For more than 20 years, Bill has represented some of the top companies in the U.S., including American Airlines, Bank of the West, Farmers Insurance, MetLife, Nissan North America, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Southern California Edison, Walmart Stores, Walt Disney Imagineering, Warner Bros, Pictures and many others.

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Joyce O'Brien, MPH, a Native Hawaiian, is the associate director at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center which is located on the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii. She has been at the Health Center, which is the largest community health center in the state of Hawaii, since 1989. In addition to assisting in day to day operations, Joyce oversees grant development and programs at the Health Center. Besides her administrative and health education background she has also worked in the fields of early childhood education and disabilities.

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Debra Nakatomi is president of Nakatomi & Associates, a strategic communications firm she founded in 1989 and a leader in communications initiatives at the nexus of issues advocacy, community engagement and philanthropy.

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Rea Pañares, MHS, a Filipina American, is director of Minority Health Initiatives at Families USA, a national nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the achievement of high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

Health Care Reform:

• Lowers the cost of health care.
• Expands the number of health care providers.
• Holds health insurance companies accountable.
• Enhances the quality of health care.

In March 2010, U.S. President Barack Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the largest overhaul of the health care system in our nation's history. Health care reform lowers the cost of health care, increases the number of health care providers, holds health insurance companies accountable, improves the quality of health care and extends health coverage to 32 million people. In this time of economic uncertainty and rising unemployment, health care reform provides much needed security to millions of Americans.

There are many ethnic subgroups within Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Each has a unique culture and history.

High quality care maximizes the likelihood of positive health outcomes. At the most basic level, this requires health systems to be responsive to patients and to develop mechanisms for delivering culturally and linguistically appropriate care.

Communities Have Unique Needs

Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders face cultural and language barriers when accessing health care.

Thank you for your interest in our efforts to influence policy, mobilize communities, and strengthen programs and organizations to improve the health of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders.