UC Law SF alumni form��new��AAPI��affinity group focused on community and connection��

This photo shows UC Law SF graduates and staff celebrating the launch of the new AAPI Alumni Affinity Group.

UC Law SF graduates and staff celebrate the launch of the new AAPI Alumni Affinity Group at Heartwood SF on March 26.

UC Law SF has launched its first AAPI Alumni Affinity Group to strengthen connections among alumni and future graduates.��

Co-chairs Lisa Mak ’08, Kelly Matayoshi ’12, Michael Nguyen ’08, and Nina Paul ’06 bring extensive experience as leaders in the AAPI legal community.��

The group aims to foster mentorship, visibility, and a stronger sense of belonging beyond graduation.��

When Michael Nguyen ’08 attended the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) convention in Denver last fall, he noticed something missing: a formal presence for UC Law San Francisco alumni. So he took initiative.��

“I pulled together a few friends, reached out to the Alumni Association, and within two weeks we had a happy hour going,” Nguyen said. “It was last-minute, but the energy in the room told me we were onto something.”��

That momentum carried into the spring, when UC Law SF graduates gathered at Heartwood SF on March 26 to celebrate the launch of the College’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Alumni Affinity Group. Over drinks and conversation, attendees marked the start of a new chapter aimed at strengthening connections among AAPI alumni and increasing their visibility in the legal profession. The group is open to all graduates who want to support AAPI alumni.��

Its creation adds to UC Law SF’s growing alumni network, which includes 19 regional chapters and seven affinity groups, such as the Black Alumni Council, Latinx Alumni Council, and LGBTQ+ Alumni Affinity Group.��

“UC Law SF has long had strong AAPI student groups and alumni,” said co-chair Kelly Matayoshi ’12. “It didn’t make sense not to have an AAPI Alumni Affinity Group to continue building those connections.”��

The group’s four co-chairs — Nguyen, Matayoshi, Lisa Mak ’08, and Nina Paul ’06 — bring deep experience in the AAPI legal community. Paul serves as an assistant chief counsel in the California Civil Rights Department’s Dispute Resolution Division and previously led the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California. Nguyen is is Of Counsel at Patent Law Works, a boutique IP firm in Silicon Valley, and currently serves as president of the National Conference of Vietnamese Attorneys. Mak and Matayoshi both previously led the Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area. Mak is senior employment counsel at the Flynn Group, while Matayoshi is a partner at Farella Braun + Martel.

Together, they see the affinity group as a natural extension of the law school’s existing community.��

“This is a space for networking, mentoring, and professional development,” Paul said, “and an opportunity for alumni to support each other and current students.”��

UC Law SF has a long history of AAPI graduates who have shaped the legal profession and public life, including the late San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi ’85 and the late Congressman Robert Matsui ’66.

For the co-chairs, the group’s impact goes beyond career connections. It is also about belonging and representation.��

Matayoshi recalls arriving in San Francisco for law school not knowing anyone and finding community through the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. Now a member of the Foundation Board of Trustees and the College’s 2025 Alum of the Year, she hopes to extend that sense of connection beyond graduation.��

“Representation matters,” she said. “We want to show students and the broader legal community that AAPI attorneys are strong, united, and here to support one another.”��

Paul shared another memorable moment from her time teaching Legal Research and Writing at UC Law SF. A first-year student told her she had called her mother to share that her professor was a fellow Desi woman — someone who shared her South Asian background.��

“Seeing someone who looked like her at the front of the classroom was a powerful message that she belonged,” Paul said.��

Nguyen, who is running for the District 8 seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, hopes the group will eventually grow to offer mentorship and scholarship opportunities. For now, the focus is on building membership and hosting events.��

“For current students, I want them to see themselves reflected in practitioners who look like them and have walked similar paths,” he said. “That visibility can change what people believe is possible for themselves.”��

The launch party was just the beginning. The group is planning a student-alumni gathering in Los Angeles during the NAPABA convention in November, with additional events in the works.��

Alumni Engagement Director Anya Grossmann said the effort reflects a broader goal of strengthening connections among UC Law SF’s more than 23,000 alumni.��

“Belonging shouldn’t stop at commencement,” Grossmann said. “We want alumni to remain part of a community that supports one another and continues to open doors for future graduates.”��

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