Cao K. O

Cao K. O has served as executive director of the Asian American Federation of New York since it launched operations in 1990. Previously, as a consultant to United Way of New York City, he advised the agency on its Asian American Initiative, which led to the Federation’s creation, and managed a grant program. Earlier in a career dating to 1980, Mr. O held key positions with Hamilton-Madison House, a settlement house on Manhattan’s Lower East Side; the Vietnamese American Cultural Organization; the New York City Department for the Aging; and the New York State Office of Mental Health.

Mr. O is chairman of the Coalition for New Philanthropy and vice chairman of the 9/11 United Services Group. He also serves on the boards of Hamilton-Madison House, the Museum of Chinese in the Americas, the Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York, and the Human Services Council of New York City.

His community contributions have been recognized by the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, the Shuang Wen Academy, the New York City comptroller, the City Council president, and WB News/Channel 11, which cited his leadership of a city-wide post-September 11th relief and rebuilding initiative. As a guest of the U.S. State Department, Mr. O discussed the role of nonprofit organizations in American society on a six-city speaking tour of Japan in 2003.

Shortly after arriving in the United States as a Vietnamese refugee in 1975, Mr. O earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Cornell University and a master’s degree from the Hunter College School of Social Work. He also has pursued doctoral studies at the Columbia University School of Social Work.