Michelle Freridge joined AYC as the Development Director in 2002, became the Program Director in 2007, and was tapped to be the Executive Director in 2012. She completed a B.A. at Michigan State University and a Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Western Michigan University before moving to Southern California in 1999.

After more than 20 years of direct service, development, and management work in the non-profit sector, she attended Loyola Law School’s evening program and was admitted to the California Bar in 2011.  Ms. Freridge is an Adjunct Professor at University of the West, where she teaches MBA classes with a non-profit focus.

Michelle sits on the Board of the Rosemead Kiwanis Foundation, the San Gabriel Valley Bar Association, and the Pasadena Community College President’s Asian American & Pacific Islander Advisory Committee. Ms. Freridge is deeply committed to empowering youth to succeed in life.

Christine Najung Lee at AYC, providing day-to-day management and supervision to all AYC programs and operations. Prior to joining AYC, she was at the Asian Pacific Community Fund for 8 years in a variety of roles as Program Manager, Development Manager, and Marketing Manager. Christine was primarily in charge of its nonprofit sector capacity building programs, grants management, volunteer program, grant writing, and resource development, as well as communications, marketing strategies, event planning, and media relations. In addition to her background in philanthropy, she brings over a decade of experience in the AAPI nonprofit field, having served at various Los Angeles-based organizations, including the Koreatown Youth and Community Center, Little Tokyo Service Center, Asian & Pacific Islander Older Adults Task Force, NAKASEC, and a community health clinic in Koreatown.

Christine’s areas of expertise include public health, community outreach, cultural competency, youth leadership development, and community organizing. She is currently on the board for The K.W. Lee Center for Leadership and was on the Adventist Health White Memorial Community Leadership Council, Steering Committee of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders In Philanthropy-Los Angeles, and formerly elected to serve on the Wilshire Center-Koreatown Neighborhood Council. Christine holds a Master of Social Welfare (MSW) as well as a bachelor’s degree in English and Asian American Studies from UCLA.

Jerica Finley is AYC’s current Director of Contract Compliance, Evaluation & Learning. She is responsible for the direct supervision of a portfolio of programs. She supports all programs and services for program design, program evaluation, data collection, data analysis, contract compliance, quality control, and continuous quality improvement.

Jerica has a passion for impacting lives and leaving an indelible impression. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Criminal Justice in 2016; while working on her degree, she realized that many low-income youth and families do not navigate readily available resources. She became passionate about changing the inequities and suffering she saw in the community.

Upon completion, she received an opportunity to work at AYC. She first began working as a caseworker and got involved with the evaluation and data analysis. Eventually, she had a chance to make a more significant impact by managing programs; and learned a lot regarding implementation and evaluation. Upon, managing programs she was inspired to obtain her Master’s in Public Administration in August 2021, and at this point, she has become the Director of Contract Compliance and Evaluation. She is excited to utilize all the skills and knowledge she has received over the years to make a more significant impact on youth and families.

As the Community Relations Manager at AYC, Florence oversees AYC’s Community Outreach and Education activities and maintains relations with local press including Chinese media outlets. She has managed numerous community programs including Voter Registration, Immigration and Naturalization, Health and Wellness Initiatives, CalFRESH Enrollment, and Los Angeles County Office of Education Parenting Education.

She supervises and works closely with community and parent volunteers. This was also required of her prior position at AYC as ACE Program and Office Manager for 5 years, where she assisted with the Tobacco Education, Florence completed a Master of Education degree in 1986 after being a home economics teacher for 4 years.

She is bilingual in Mandarin and English and trained and experienced in providing parent education curriculum in Mandarin Chinese.