Spring 2023 O/D TEAM
The Asian Business Student Association at University of Houston leadership team is known to give many members a leadership experience where the current team of the semester are expected to work and support each other for all the events. Our OD (Officer-Director) Team consist of a President and 6 Vice President for 6 different department - Corporate Relations, Operations, Finance, Public Relations, Member's Relations, and Marketing. Each department has 3 directors that each have a responsible role to bring a successful semester for ABSA.
President's Vision
I am excited to take on the role of president for the Asian Business Student Association for the upcoming Spring 2023 semester. Having been a member for the past two years, I can attest to the transformative impact this organization has had on my college experience. Through the connections I've made and the professional development opportunities I've had, ABSA has played a significant role in shaping who I am today.
As we move into the Spring semester, we recognize that the pace and focus of the semester is different than the Fall. With a lack of a clear path for many students and the pressure of upcoming internships and recruiting, we want to make sure ABSA is providing a wide range of events and offerings that allow for exploration and new experiences beyond the usual recruiting grind. My goal for the upcoming semester is to ensure that every member has the opportunity to learn, grow, and have fun in a supportive and inclusive environment. I look forward to working with all of you to make this semester a success.
Nicolas O'Brien
Junior, SCM
Operations Department
VP of Operations
The Operations Department is proudly known as the "Backbone of ABSA." We arrive early to set up events and stay late to take them down. Not only do we enhance members' ABSA experience through food and drinks, we also keep track of member points that can be earned by going to events! By doing so, we help members achieve "Active Status", which gives them access to leadership and scholarship opportunities. As a department, our goal is to cultivate a welcoming environment where members feel comfortable being themselves. This upcoming semester we plan to work with other departments to ensure all events are ran seemlessly to not only help members grow professionally, but also personally!
Aivy Ho
Sophomore, Marketing
Tiffany Truong
Administrative Director
Sophomore, SCM
Faiz Maredia
Operations Director
Freshman, MIS
Megan Hwang
Operations Director
Freshman, MIS
Finance Department
VP of Finance
In the Finance Department, we raise money to support and sustain ABSA. As a team, we often work behind the scenes obtaining funds to ensure quality events for the members in our organization. This is made possible through the collection of membership dues and acquisition of food sponsors. Through our food sponsors, we are able to limit our expenses and allocate money to other departments of the organization. We also interact with our members through our bake sales and fundraising events, such as ice skating at the Galleria and the Date Auction. Ultimately, we hope to generate revenues to help finance innovative ideas, creating exceptional experiences for our members.
Anusha Kakulavar
Sophomore, Marketing
Tyler Tran
Accounting
Director
Sophomore, MIS
Tristan Deveyra
Internal Fundraising Director
Sophomore, CIS
David Dinh
External Fundraising Director
Sophomore, Computer Science
Corporate Relations Department
VP of Corporate Relations
As the Corporate Department of ABSA, we strive to aid the growth of our members’ professional persona. In order to do this, as a team, we create and host professional meetings and workshops in the different aspects of professional development. Not only do we work on events, but we are in a constant search in securing sponsors for ABSA, whether they be previous, current, or new companies or organizations. With their generous help, our organization continues to provide our members with what they need. We hope to leave a lasting impression in our members and sponsors that they can find professional growth within ABSA.
Joshua Abraham
Junior, MIS
Andrew Wong
Corporate Director
Freshman, MIS
Mai Redfearn
Corporate Director
Freshman, MIS
Ethan Chan
Corporate Director
Sophomore, SCM
Public Relations Department
VP of Public Relations
In the Public Relations Department, we want to continue growing ABSA and recruit as many members as we can. Not only do we want to bring in members, we also want to enhance their experience and ensure they are using ABSA as a resource for professional success! As a department, we want to creatively develop new projects that can be utilized as a stepping stone to allow ABSA to flourish. This upcoming semester we plan to improve upon our Alumni Relations and Community Service projects, which we believe will be immensely beneficial to the future progress of ABSA. Overall, we hope to utilize our creativity to continue expansion of our organization!
Ethan Teoh
Sophomore, SCM
Sydney Guico
Community Service
Director
Freshman, SCM
Alex Tran
Recruiting
Director
Freshman, MIS & Marketing
Lyna Pham
Alumni Relations
Director
Sophomore, MIS
Member Relations Department
VP of Member Relations
For the Member Relations Department, our goal is to work within the organization to make stronger connections for our members. Whether that be between families, OD and mentors, or even between members overall, we strive to bring together all of ABSA as one big family. By making these stronger bonds between members, it creates avenues of long lasting friendship, and promotes an overall greater experience in ABSA. With this, we aim to have more socials, stronger relationships between OD and members, and usage of social media to promote ABSA sports. Our goal for this semester is to have MR to be the department that builds strong bonds with members.
Son Truong
Junior, Accounting
Jagan Arasu
Kelvin Sia
Derrick Nguyen
Social Director
Freshman, SCM
Family Director
Freshman, CIS
Athletics Director
Sophomore, SCM
Marketing Department
VP of Marketing
When it comes to the success of the Asian Business Student Association, the Marketing Department plays a huge role in making sure that our brand is well known to the public. Projects involve maintenance of the website to ensure that any information about ABSA is available for our members, social media branding, creating video advertisements and recaps, and communicating all of our events to our members through our newsletter and other social media platforms. Our department also likes to give back by hosting giveaways and offering spotlights to our active members. We are here to make sure ABSA is represented in the best light possible.
Britney Thai
Junior, Marketing
Britney Tran
Media Director
Sophomore, SCM
Vivian Cheng
Communications
Director
Ruben Baral
Webmaster
Sophomore, Computer Science