Ashland, VA–The Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce has appointed My Lan Tran to serve as Executive Director. Ms. Tran joined the Chamber last June 1.

Ms. Tran has more than 30 years’ experience in domestic and international economic development, supplier diversity development, and workforce development. She speaks Spanish, French, Vietnamese and English. She is currently learning Mandarin.

Virginia Atty. General Ken Cuccinelli congratulated Ms. Lan in a letter. He wrote: “What an honor to be chosen to head such an illustrious organization. Your many years of experience working with economic development, and your education in related fields more than qualifies you for the position. The Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce is more than fortunate to have you join their organization.”

Most recently, Ms. Tran directed the technical assistance component for the city of Richmond Office of Minority Business Development. “Leaving her position at the City of Richmond after seven years with all seniorities and benefits behind, Ms. Tran has decided to follow her passion as to bring our organization to the next level in order to serve our Virginia Asian community more effectively,” said Tinh Phan, VACC Chairman.

Ms. Tran will be responsible for growing the membership, leading the business capacity-building development efforts, and manage the daily operations of the Chamber. She will work with the private sector, government, and the communities at large to coordinate VACC initiatives statewide.

Expertise

Ms. Tran spent six years in various international marketing management and policy, research, and planning at the Virginia Economic Development (VEDP) to help create jobs in Virginia.

Previously, she was Deputy Director for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’s Department of Employment and Training’s One Stop Career Center in Quincy. She directed a large-scale Asian Career Development Center.

She was Director for the Virginia International Business Council, a Director at the Institute of Supply Management (ISM), Chair of the Business Committee of Colaborando Juntos, a Hispanic ommunity project, and VP of Membership of the Richmond Association for Economics. Currently, she is the Chairman of the City of Richmond’s Sister Cities Commission.

Ms. Tran has an advanced graduate international education in the U.S. and Europe. This includes a Master’s degree in International Policy and Asian Affairs from the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California.

She completed her linguistic studies at the Universite de Caen, in Normandie, France, and her advanced research in Asian Affairs at the University of Berkeley and the Post Naval Graduate School in California.

She is certified as an International Trade Specialist by Thunderbird, the American Graduate School of International Management in Glendale, Arizona. She is certified as an Economic Development Specialist by Virginia Tech’s Institute for Economic Development.

Ms. Tran won the 2007 Virginia and Region III Small Business Champion of the Year Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration. She has received numerous awards for leadership and performance from the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as from many branches of the military for her extensive service contributions to those serving the military force and disabled U.S. veterans.

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About VACC

The primary objective of VACC in Northern Virginia is to contribute to the economic development of its service area and assist the Northern Virginia government sector to meet not only its overall business and economic development mission, but also its community outreach mission to emerging Asian entrepreneurs establishing in the Capital Beltway. The VACC is uniquely positioned to meet the challenges of providing referrals and support services to the small , emerging Asian Pacific American business community of Northern Virginia by engaging in diverse supplier capacity development projects with community-based partners.