A decade-plus of showing up for AAJA
Frank Bi is the Senior Vice President of AAJA. He most recently served as Head of Tools & Transformation at the Minnesota Star Tribune, where he led digital transformation and built products for its audiences and newsroom — proving a 160-year-old legacy newsroom can build modern, AI-powered tools without losing what makes it a newsroom.
Frank brings technical fluency, editorial experience and business strategy developed across PBS NewsHour, Forbes Magazine and Vox Media. He is completing his MBA at NYU Stern with specializations in finance and strategy, graduating in August, has taught at Fordham University, and has spent more than a decade training thousands of journalists at newsrooms and conferences across the country.
At AAJA, Frank previously served as Vice President of Journalism Programs and as New York chapter President, leading it to Chapter of the Year. He was named Member of the Year in 2019 and founded Team AAJA, which runs the NYC Marathon annually to raise funds for AAJA and its chapters and affinity groups. He is a VOICES alumnus and ELP graduate — and Minneapolis will be his 16th consecutive convention; he hasn't missed one since his first in Detroit in 2011.
National Leadership
- Senior Vice President of AAJA
- Leading the Membership Committee to improve chapter and affinity group support and governance
- AAJA Member of the Year, 2019
Program Experience
- Previously VP of Journalism Programs — lost the race once, ran again, and won. Intimately familiar with every AAJA program
- Executive Leadership Program (ELP), 2019 · VOICES, 2011 · Mentor Match, as both mentor and mentee
Convention Programming
- Convention co-chair: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2026
- Involved in convention programming since 2016 in various roles, including as chair
- Karaoke host six times, 2017–2022
AAJA New York
- Chapter President, 2019–2022 — led the chapter through the pandemic
- Chapter of the Year, 2021–2022
Fundraising — Team AAJA
- Founded Team AAJA and raised more than $115K for AAJA by partnering with the NYC Marathon
- Six chapters have benefited from the fundraising: Hawaiʻi, Philadelphia, DC, Los Angeles, Minnesota, and New York
Chapter & Affinity Group Support
- Quarterly leadership roundtables for the last three years
- Helped relaunch multiple chapters and groups, including Minnesota and the Audio Affinity Group, and assisted with multiple leadership transitions
Why I'm running
I'm running for President of the Asian American Journalists Association.
Why? I imagine a world without AAJA. In that world, a 16-year-old me never meets Nancy Yang or Emma Carew — two people who saw something in a high school journalism student and invited him to Minnesota chapter picnics. I would have never met Frank Shyong at VOICES at a pivotal moment when I was questioning whether journalism was a legitimate career path. Meeting another Frank who was Asian and pursuing journalism gave me the confidence to believe I could do it too.
Today our community is changing. Traditional journalism jobs are disappearing and our AANHPI journalists and talents are bearing the brunt of these layoffs. At the same time, the communities we serve need trusted journalism more than ever.
Too many of our members are leaving the industry entirely. But there's a whole ecosystem of roles in product, technology, education, content creation and policy that need people who think like journalists. People who carry our values, our judgment and our standards. AAJA has an opportunity and a responsibility to help our members find those paths and welcome everyone who shares what we stand for.
Last week, this stopped being abstract for me. My role at the Minnesota Star Tribune was eliminated as part of a broader restructuring. I learned the news on a call with a dear friend, who told me to sleep on whether to continue this campaign. That was the right advice, and I took it seriously. Today, I'm in and as committed as ever — because a day like that doesn't weaken the case for this work, it sharpens it.
AAJA is the promise we make to each other: that we don't have to navigate this industry alone. That we belong, our stories matter, and our careers are worth investing in.
I'm hard-pressed to think of a moment that proves the point better.
Today I'm grateful for the four years I spent working alongside Nancy at the Minnesota Star Tribune. I'm lucky to see Emma at conferences across the country. And I'm still lucky to call Frank a friend more than 15 years after VOICES.
I've stayed because I keep seeing what AAJA could be. Every year I see members who need more than we're giving them. Every year I see opportunities we're not taking. I've stayed because this organization is worth fighting for, not just celebrating.
The AAJA community has always been the common thread through my career. Without it we lose heart, we lose our voice, and we lose people at every stage.
I'm running to make sure we don't lose them.
Five commitments to this community
Expanding the Tent
Journalism is bigger than the newsroom. AAJA belongs to everyone who carries journalism values, not just those with traditional reporter or editor titles. Whether you're moving into product, technology, revenue, academia, freelance or content creation, we see you, we claim you, and we want to represent you. Your journalism values don't expire when your job title and responsibilities change.
- Encourage and open AAJA membership to journalists in adjacent roles across product, technology, revenue, academia, freelance and content creation
- Actively advocate for members navigating career transitions
- Redefine what it means to be an AAJA member in 2026 and beyond
For Members Who've Put In the Years
Early career programming gets a lot of attention. But what about members who are ten, fifteen, twenty years in? Navigating office politics, career pivots, layoffs, burnout, and the weight of doing this work while raising families and building lives? AAJA should be there for that too. We're building dedicated programming for mid and seasoned career members, along with career pivot workshops that help translate journalism skills into the roles our industry needs right now. Because your experience is something this community can't afford to lose.
- Dedicated programming for mid and late career members
- Career pivot workshops that translate journalism skills into adjacent roles
- Mentorship and programming specifically designed for where you are right now
Celebrating Who We Are
Celebration can't just mean spotlighting the winners. If AAJA only celebrates the promotions, the awards, and the bylines, we become a highlight reel and a community where people only feel seen when they're succeeding. That's not what this organization is for. Our members are breaking stories, leading newsrooms, mentoring the next generation, and doing it all while navigating an industry that doesn't always make space for them. Many are also navigating layoffs, career uncertainty, and an industry that keeps getting harder. All of them deserve to feel seen. We're building recognition that reflects who our members actually are, not just what they've won.
- Expand awards and recognition programs beyond convention
- Build year-round member spotlights that celebrate members for who they are, not just their accolades
- Tell our community's full story, the wins and the struggles, to each other and the broader journalism world
Keeping the Convention Feeling Alive
Convention is the heartbeat of our community. I've helped program five of them, and what I've seen every time is that the most meaningful moments happen between sessions: in hallways, at dinners, in conversations that change someone's career trajectory. But not everyone can make it every year. Travel costs, work schedules, and family obligations are real barriers. That's why we're building year-round programming that brings the convention feeling to wherever you are, so AAJA feels like a constant presence in your career, not just one week a year for those who can afford to be there.
- Build year-round programming that extends the convention experience
- Create accessible virtual and regional touchpoints for members who can't attend in person
- Make the connections and energy of convention available to every member regardless of circumstance
Chapters and Affinity Groups Are Where We Live
Our chapters and affinity groups are where community actually happens. But chapter leaders deserve more than goodwill. They need real support. We're building fundraising coaching to help groups become more financially sustainable, and creating better ways for chapters and affinity groups to collaborate, share programming, and learn from each other. Wherever you find your people in this organization, that experience should be everything it can be.
- Build fundraising coaching and resources for chapter and affinity group leaders
- Create structured collaboration between chapters and affinity groups to share programming and best practices
- Invest in the people who show up locally so the national organization actually feels local
