David Zander has been a familiar friend of the Southeast Asian community in Minnesota for well over 20 years now since he first began work at the Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans in the 1990s before retiring. But even in his retirement, he has continued to be a positive and constructive part of the community, volunteering his time and energy to help build a network of Southeast Asian American storytellers, with substantial success in the Hmong, Vietnamese, Karen, Cambodian and Lao communities. In 2013, he was deservedly honored with a Lifetime Service Award at the Council On Asian Pacific Minnesotans Asian Pacific American Heritage Dinner.  He recently celebrated his birthday this week. Trained as a cultural anthropologist, over the years he has applied that knowledge in a dizzying array of avenues, from the arts to public policy. He has worked tirelessly to connect Asian American artists to excellent opportunities to train and perform in Minnesota, at events such as the Twin Cities Dragon Festival. Many of the Lao community met with him recently at the …