On Wednesday, May 27, 2026, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM ET, join USCET and the US-Asia Institute in person for an event celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month featuring a panel of Asian American professionals shaping policy on Capitol Hill.
The panel will offer first-hand insight into how policy is made, what AAPI representation looks like in the legislative branch, the challenges and opportunities that have shaped their careers, along with practical advice for anyone looking to forge their own path in legislative politics and policymaking. The conversation will feature Allison Dong, senior communications advisor for the House Budget Committee; Tiffany Ge Elzey, staff director for Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Jason Li, professional staff member on the House Select Committee on the CCP; Catalina Tam, nominations director for Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY); and will be moderated by Nicholas Wu, congressional reporter at Semafor. The in-person panel discussion will be hosted at the U.S. Asia Institute office (232 East Capitol Street NE) and will be followed by light refreshments and a networking reception.
Speaker Biographies
Moderator
Nicholas Wu is a congressional reporter at Semafor, with a focus on the House of Representatives. In his roughly six-and-a-half years of covering Capitol Hill, he’s covered President Trump’s impeachment trials, the fallout from the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, multiple megabills, and the 2024 election, among many other issues on the Hill. He previously worked as a Congressional Reporter at POLITICO and at USA TODAY and as a fellow at National Journal. He is a graduate of Princeton University, having majored in the School of Public and International Affairs and minored in East Asian Studies and American Studies.
Panelists
Allison Dong is a senior communications advisor for the House Budget Committee under Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-TX). She previously served as communications director for the Senate Special Committee on Aging under Ranking Member Mike Braun (R-IN) and held communications roles in the offices of Senator Braun and Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). Prior to Congress, she was a Department of Defense fellow and a State Department intern at the U.S. Consulate in Guangzhou. She graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in international studies and minors in Chinese and Asian American Studies.
Tiffany Ge Elzey is a staff director, policy director, and general counsel to Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Prior to her service in the Senate, Ge practiced business litigation and appellate law as an associate at Frost Brown Todd in Louisville, Kentucky, with a focus on antitrust, securities litigation, franchise disputes, and financial institution litigation. A native of Louisville, she holds two summa cum laude bachelor’s degrees from the University of Kentucky in Economics and Political Science, with minors in International Business and International Relations, and earned her J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.
Jason Li is a Democratic professional staff member with the Select Committee on the CCP, working on behalf of Ranking Member Ro Khanna. His portfolio covers diplomacy, development, human rights, and Taiwan. In this capacity, he engages with national security leaders in Congress and conducts oversight of the executive branch. Prior to joining the Select Committee, he was a research associate with the East Asia Program at the Henry L. Stimson Center, a global security think tank in Washington. His research focused on U.S.-China relations, cross-Strait relations, grand strategy in the Indo-Pacific, and China’s approach to conflict issues in its periphery and the Middle East. Prior to Stimson, Jason interned with the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Freeman Chair in China Studies. He holds a B.A. from McGill University where he graduated with first class honours in Political Science.
Catalina Tam serves as nominations director to U.S. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), where she leads the executive and judicial nominations process. She has held this role during the Biden and Trump Administrations, guiding the Democratic Caucus strategy for Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, judges, and federal board and commission appointees. She previously served on the Leader’s education and labor policy team, and as a staffer in the House of Representatives. Before coming to Capitol Hill, she worked on a congressional campaign and was a Fulbright Scholar in Taiwan. She graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations from the University of California, Berkeley.