Leadership

Leadership Bios

Tinh D. Phan, P.E, Founder & Chairman, Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce & Virginia Asian Foundation.

As Founder and Chairman of the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Tinh D. Phan (“Tinh”) is also a professional mechanical engineer and Chairman/CEO of four businesses: PNC Corporation, a construction firm; PNC International, an import/export business; PNC Industries, a manufacturer of commercial and industrial aluminum windows and doors; and the PNC Group.

Mr. Phan was Chief Counselor to the U.S Government in South Vietnam during the Vietnam war. In 2004, he founded the Asian American Business Alliance Center (AABAC), which he later renamed it as the Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce (VACC).

Mr. Phan is nationally recognized by more than a dozen national, state, and regional governments such as The SBA Award as the 2010 Champion of Small and Minority Business for the State of Virginia, The U.S Post Office’s Cannon Award for Community Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Director‘s Award for Community Leadership, The Valentine Museum‘s History Maker, The U.S Department of Veteran Affairs, the Richmond City Council, the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, to cite a few.

He received dozens of other leadership accolades from corporate leaders, business and professional trade groups, health care facilities, and military organizations.

A Structural Engineer by trade, he studied at the National Institute of Technology and School of Engineering of Phu Tho in Saigon, South Vietnam.

My Lan Tran, CED, CVET, CTIS, Executive Director & Administrator, Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce & Virginia Asian Foundation; President, Virginians for Offshore Winds.  

Since 2011, My Lan transformed Virginia’s “Asian American Business Center' into the iconic Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce, the iconic Asian American economic development agency with headquarters in Ashland and statewide offices.

Virginia Business Magazine elected My Lan Tran as one of it 37 “Women Wonder “business leaders of Virginia of 2023.

My Lan was the Technical Assistance Director for the City of Richmond’s Office of Minority Business Development for 7 years. Prior to this, My Lan held positions such as International Trade Marketing Manager and Investment Policy Manager at the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP).

She taught Political Sciences and Asian History at Virginia Commonwealth University from 2012 to 2017. Fluent in Spanish, English, Vietnamese, and French, My Lan served the French aerospace industry at prestigious shows like the Paris Air Show in Bourget, near Paris, and the Batimat building construction trade show in Paris.

She earned a Master's degree in International Policy Studies from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, postgraduate business education credentials from The Thunderbird School of International Management, and linguistics studies at the Université de Caen, France.

She is certified as an International Trade Specialist (CITS) from the U.S. Department of Commerce/International Trade Administration (ITA), and as an Economic Development Specialist (CED) from Virginia Tech’s Economic Development Institute. She also hold certifications in Black Belt/Six Sigma and advanced Procurement Training from the Institute of Supply Management (ISM) and Dupont Corporation.

She did academic research work at the University of California in Berkeley and the Post Naval Graduate School in Monterey, CA, and obtained a veteran education certification from the National Veterans Training Institute (NVTI) at the University of Denver in Colorado.

My Lan is Cabinet Advisor to over a dozen regional and state institutions in various sectors, including energy, transportation, housing, municipality governing, higher education, and health. She is also Advisor to Go Virginia at its early startup phase in 2018 and RVA-757 Connects, a Virginia regional economic development in the same year.

In 2024, My Lan was bestowed the University of Richmond ‘s Community Educator Award for her efforts representing Virginia Asian Chamber of Commerce who has transformed students, faculty, and/or staff through the sharing of their knowledge and expertise.

In 2023, My lan was elected to be President of the Virginians for Off -Shore Wind, a DC based Non - Profit promoting wind energy.

She spent 15 years in the workforce development area, credited with transforming the Massachusetts's Workforce Training workforce system, earning her the then Massachusetts Commissioner of Employment and Training (DET) Jim French’s Best Employer Services in 1989.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs bestowed her an Award for transforming a local Central Massachusetts Veteran Job Service Center in 1992. She then received several accolades for U.S Veterans Service by U.S Fort Eustis and Fort Lee, both from Southeast Virginia.

In 2011, she received two highly competitive national awards from the U.S. Small Business Administration, the SBA 'Champion of Small & Minority Business, from the SBA Region III Office (serving 6 U.S. states: VA, PA, DC, WV, DE, MD) and SBA 'Champion of Small & Minority Business from the SBA Virginia Office.

In 2011, she received the local Richmond area’s local minority MBL’ s Vision of Excellence Award. In 2016, she was voted Person Making a Difference of the year by the state capital newspaper, the Richmond Times Dispatch.

In 2012, she was bestowed a Leadership accolade by the American Red Cross Richmond Chapter for her records in advancing Virginia’s underserved Latino small business population in Central Virginia through the Virginia Colaborando Juntos (CJ) project.