The Associate Board aims to help grow and foster the Apex community through volunteer recruitment and retention, community outreach and marketing, and the cultivation of young donors.
Kristen is a Photo Editor for Healthline Media at RVO Health focusing on editorial content in wellness, clinical and mental health. She has previously worked in photo at BuzzFeed, Fortune, Money, Time, The Daily Meal, John Wiley & Sons Publishing and Everyday Health. Kristen graduated from The University of the Arts with a B.F.A in Photography from Philadelphia, PA. In her spare time Kristen enjoys crafting, exploring the city, trying new restaurants and spending time with her family dog Bailey. She has been volunteering with Apex for Youth as a mentor since 2017.
Athenie Shi
Vice Chair
Athenie is a Senior Financial Analyst at Front Row, a full-service ecommerce and marketing agency. Prior to joining Front Row, she was a strategist on the high yield trading desk at Jefferies. She graduated with a B.S. in Finance and International Business from Indiana University. Athenie started with Apex for Youth as a high school mentor and after helping her mentee graduate from the program to college, joined the yoga athletics program, and is now in the middle school mentoring program. In her free time she is training for her second marathon this fall, crocheting, and spending time outdoors.
Elizabeth Yan
Treasurer
Liz is a Senior Director on the institutional marketing team covering relationships at First Eagle Investments. Most recently, Liz was Managing Director and Senior Consultant Relations Executive at TCW. Before that, she was Head of Business Development at 1623 Capital, a long-short equity hedge fund. Liz also spent several years as Vice President managing consultant relationships at AQR Capital Management. Liz serves as an advisor on the Accelerate Committee and is a member of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM), a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in investment management. She also sits on the Membership Committee for Women Investment Professionals (WIP). She holds a BS from Boston College and earned an MBA with a concentration in Analytic Finance and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Liz started with Apex in the Elementary School Program at PS 124 and is currently a high school school mentor. She is also a Mott Street Girl – a Chinatown tour company.
Christine Chu
Events & Marketing Chair
Christine is a Senior Product Manager at Zip focused on building new products in fintech/payments. Prior to Zip, she has spent time at Remitly, Uber and Mastercard. Christine graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Information Science and a minor in Business. She’s originally from New York City, grew up in Chinatown, and currently an Apex volunteer with the Elementary Explorers program. In her free time, she enjoys going into the pottery studio, reading lots of poetry, and hiking through national parks!
King Leung
Fundraising Chair
King is a Principal at Warburg Pincus focused on technology and services private equity investments. Previously he worked at GTCR and J.P. Morgan. King graduated from Harvard Business School and the University of Chicago. King grew up in New York and has been volunteering with Apex since 2018, including formerly as a middle school mentor and elementary school tutor. In his free time he enjoys traveling to new countries, singing karaoke, basketball and working with Apex!
Janelle Teng
Governance Chair
Janelle has been volunteering with Apex for Youth since 2019, through several programs including reading, elementary enrichment, and national virtual mentorship. She is currently the Operations Manager for Asian Americans for Equality, a community development organization. Prior to joining the nonprofit world, she spent eight years at Conde Nast. Janelle graduated from Cornell University, where she majored in Economics and Literatures in English and minored in Asian American Studies. Her love of books and stories and her passion for identity development are what initially brought her to Apex for Youth.
Katrina Bartocillo
Katrina is a 4x Emmy nominated and Peabody Award winning Producer at “TODAY with Hoda & Jenna” specializing in lifestyle content and feel-good storytelling. She graduated from the S.I Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University with a B.S. in Television, Radio, and Film. She joined Apex for Youth in 2021 as a high school mentor. Having spent most of her life living in Queens, NY – she loves repping the borough and enjoys eating her way through the different neighborhoods. She also enjoys traveling, hiking, and antiquing for home goods.
Lucy Cao
Lucy is a Senior Global Product Marketing Manager at TikTok, focusing on product strategies to help small businesses grow on the entertainment app. Prior to TikTok, she worked in marketing at Mastercard Data & Services and Applied Predictive Technologies. Lucy earned a BA from Duke University in Psychology, with a minor in Economics and a certificate in Markets & Management. In her free time, you can find Lucy performing stand-up at comedy clubs all over New York City. She has been a middle school mentor at Apex since 2022.
Jenny Chen
Jenny has been involved with Apex as an Elementary Program volunteer since 2022. She is currently an investor at Alua Capital. Previously she worked at Lindsay Goldberg (middle market private equity firm) and Evercore. Jenny graduated from UC Berkeley where she majored in Business Administration and Operations Research. In her free time, Jenny enjoys running, playing tennis, watching shows and exploring brunch/coffee shops in NYC.
Michelle Cho
Michelle is a producer at “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” covering breaking news to in-depth feature stories for the broadcast. She is passionate about reporting on foreign policy, inequality, human rights, education and ballet. Michelle has been with NBC News for over the last decade, having started in the NBC Washington bureau. She started volunteering with Apex for Youth as an elementary volunteer at P.S. 169 in Sunset Park in 2021, and is now currently a middle school mentor. In her free time, Michelle loves watching ballet performances, traveling, meeting new people and reading memoirs.
Christina Cheng
Christina has been involved with Apex as a high school mentor since 2020. She is currently a Senior Associate at Morgan Stanley Private Credit focusing on middle market private debt investments and previously worked in Morgan Stanley’s Leveraged Finance team. Christina graduated from Duke University with a B.S. in Economics (Finance Concentration) and minors in Computer Science and English. In her free time, Christina loves exploring New York’s restaurant scene, running, yapping, reading, doing the crossword, and attending trivia.
Bhargava Chitti
Bhargava is a fourth year radiation oncology resident at Northwell Health in Queens, NY. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science, and the BS/MD program at The George Washington University. He is a proud NYC native, having grown up in Flushing. He joined Apex as a middle school mentor two years ago and continues in the program. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, particularly history and Asian American related content, running as part of Run for Chinatown, and making boba for friends and family!
Heather Deng
Heather is a Vice President at Olympus Partners, a middle market private equity fund. Prior to joining Olympus, Heather was an Investment Banking Analyst at William Blair in Chicago and graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Northwestern University. In her spare time, you can find Heather at group fitness classes, farmers markets, and speakeasies. She has been volunteering with Apex as a Middle School Mentor since 2021.
Sophia Hui
Sophia is currently a Product Marketing Manager at Google, but one day aspires to become a middle school math teacher. She believes in problem-solving-based, student-centered learning. Born and raised in California, she played collegiate golf at Pomona College and graduated with a B.A. in Mathematics. In addition to volunteering at Apex as a middle school mentor, Sophia enjoys playing tennis, taking long walks (the NYC-version of hiking), and exploring her new home, New York City.
Do Hee Jeong
Do Hee is Product Counsel at SeatGeek, a live event ticketing platform. He also serves as the executive sponsor for the company’s AAPI ERG. Prior to moving in-house to SeatGeek, Do Hee specialized in private equity and venture capital fund formation, and investment management at two law firms. Do Hee holds a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a B.A. in political science from UC Berkeley. Do Hee has been involved with Apex for 2 years as an MSMP/HSMP mentor. He is a proud Californian who finds himself in his 8th year in New York City. Outside of work, you will find him roaming the halls of the many museums in the city, attending a show at Broadway or the Lincoln Center, or planning for his next trip (and tending to his two very affectionate cats!).
Jacqueline Liang
Jacqueline is the Director of Art & Design at Arlo Hotels, doing creative direction and design for properties across New York City, Miami, and more. Prior to Arlo Hotels, she worked at Christie’s Auction House designing catalogs for exhibitions and auctions. In Jacqueline’s free time, she loves creating art pieces and experimenting with different mediums, ranging from gouache painting to relief block printing to sculpting to digital animations. And of course, she loves volunteering for Apex for Youth as a mentor.
Hannah Liou
Hannah Liou is the Co-Founder of Ladder Education, an educational startup focused on reaching elementary students with diverse learning needs. She previously worked as a Development Coordinator at Stanford’s Office of Development, managing fundraising strategies and relationships with key university donors. Prior to that, Hannah led research projects at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute, contributing to several peer-reviewed publications. Hannah earned her M.A. in International and Comparative Education from Stanford University, her B.A. in Integrated Humanities from NYU Shanghai, and was a Fulbright Scholar in Malaysia. She has been a Read with Apex volunteer since 2023. Outside of work, Hannah loves finding new restaurants, traveling, and petting any dog that crosses her path.
Wesley Ru
Wesley is a Pricing Analytics Lead at Affirm. Prior to Affirm, Wesley was a Program Manager at Meta and an Associate on the CIO Treasury team at PNC. Wesley graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Cognitive Science and PPE. Wesley has been involved with Apex since 2019 as an Elementary Test Prep Tutor and Virtual High School Mentor. In his free time, Wesley enjoys singing karaoke, playing tennis and finding delicious eats in NYC.
Minh-Y Tran
Minh-Y is Director of Business Development and leads brand expansion and new revenue initiatives for Robb Report, a luxury-lifestyle magazine, and Art Media, which includes Art In America, Art News and Artforum magazines. Prior to this, she worked at Dow Jones with The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s Group and MarketWatch in strategic initiatives and events. Minh-Y is currently pursuing an MA in Food Studies at NYU and graduated from Boston College in 2016 with a BA in Communication. She has volunteered with Apex across their elementary, middle and high school programs since 2021, and is currently a high school mentor. In her free time, Minh-Y loves sharing a good meal, testing new recipes, playing volleyball, watching movies and seeing live music.
Anna Yang
Anna joined Apex for Youth in 2021 as an Elementary Program volunteer and is now a mentor in the College Access Program. She currently works at Deutsche Bank as a high yield credit analyst, covering the healthcare sector. Anna graduated from Temple University with a BBA in Finance and Risk Management and a minor in Economics. In her free time, she enjoys recipe testing, exploring new restaurants and cafés and traveling to new designations.
Cornerstone Council
The Cornerstone Council aims to build the Apex community by cultivating the next generation of major Apex donors. Council members have frequent touchpoints and input to the organization as well as special access to Apex events, helping out when needed.
Interested in learning more about the Cornerstone Council and how you could pitch Apex for Youth to your organization? Reach out to associate.board@apexforyouth.org for more details!
Frank Li
Frank is a Vice President at Ardea Partners, a private investment banking advisory firm. Prior to joining Ardea, Frank worked at AIG in corporate development. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Fine Arts. Frank has been a supporter of Apex since 2019. In his spare time, Frank enjoys finding good food, staying active and spending time with good people.
Anthony Liu
Anthony is an aspiring teacher with a passion for learning and mentoring others. Prior to joining the Cornerstone Council, he served on the AB for four years, taking on the role of Treasurer for one year. Anthony joined the Apex community in 2016, starting as an Elementary Test Prep tutor for PS 001. Professionally, he is co-founder of Deepblue Capital Partners, a real estate investment firm, after previously being a Managing Director at Hines and contributing to the One Vanderbilt project near Grand Central. Anthony is a CFA Charterholder and an alumnus of the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon. In his free time, he enjoys reading, skiing, and running. He resides in Queens with his wife and their mini goldendoodle.
John Lu
John is currently a portfolio manager at Marshall Wace. Previously, he worked at Lakewood Capital, KKR, Evercore and Ampush Media. John graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S.E. in Materials Science and Engineering, an M.S.E. in Materials Science and Engineering, and a B.S.E. in Economics. In addition to volunteering with the high school mentoring program, John enjoys playing soccer and watching horror movies.
Chia Pan
Chia is a Principal in Neuberger Berman’s Principal Strategies Group (PSG), an event-driven hedge fund, where he focuses on private and public equity investments. Prior to joining PSG, Chia worked at Neuberger Berman’s private equity group and at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s TMT investment banking group. He graduated from Babson College with a Bachelor of Science in Business Management. Chia has been involved with Apex since 2016 and was formerly a middle school mentor. In his spare time, Chia enjoys playing volleyball, biking, singing karaoke, and playing chess. He is a co-owner of Japanese ramen and sushi restaurants in New York, including TabeTomo, TomoTomo, Tomokase, and the Office of Mr. Moto.
Jason Shih
Jason is a Managing Director at Cinven, where he leads the fund’s US capital markets efforts. Jason received his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and Bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. He is a prior Apex volunteer and a long-time supporter of the organization. In his personal life, Jason’s an avid swimmer, saxophone player, and Knicks fan.
Stephanie Sit
Stephanie is a Director in Debt Capital Markets at TD Securities, with a specialization in the origination and execution of Esoteric ABS products. Additionally, she actively contributes as a member of both the Women in Leadership Committee and the AAPI team within Minorities in Leadership. Before joining TD, Stephanie worked as a CPA at Deloitte. She holds an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Boston University, graduating with honors. Outside of work, she enjoys skiing, walking around the city with her dog Ruby, reading, traveling, and is currently pursuing her passion on learning how to DJ.
Emily Tung
Emily serves as Chief of Staff to the Chairman and CEO of General Atlantic. Prior to joining GA, she was an Investment Banking Analyst within the Technology, Media and Telecom group at Guggenheim Partners. Emily joined the Apex community six years ago when she was first introduced to her mentee as a Middle School mentor and just sent her mentee off to college at Binghamton University. She also served on the Apex for Youth Associate Board as a member and Vice-Chair for four years before joining the Cornerstone Council. Emily graduated from NYU Stern with a B.S. in Finance and Accounting. In her free time, she loves traveling to surf, playing tennis/pickleball and finding the best eats in New York City.
Sean Wang
Sean is a Vice President at Oaktree Capital Management, a global alternative investment manager, and focuses on life sciences investments. Prior to joining Oaktree, Sean was on the investment teams at Ares Management and Athyrium Capital Management. Sean started his career in healthcare investment banking at Guggenheim Partners. Sean graduated with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University. In his spare time, Sean enjoys eating his way around NYC.
Jonathan Yip
Jonathan is a Principal at Blackstone in the Private Equity group, where he also co-chairs Blackstone’s firmwide East Asian affinity network. Prior to Blackstone, Jonathan served as an economic policy advisor on President Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, as well as on Secretary Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. He previously worked at Centerbridge Partners and began his career as an analyst at McKinsey & Company. Jonathan started as an Apex volunteer in 2014, serving as a mentor in the Middle School and High School Mentoring Programs. He graduated from Harvard Business School with an M.B.A. and from Harvard College with an A.B. in Economics. In his spare time, he likes trying to perfect cooking his Hainanese chicken rice.
Ben Zhou
Ben is an investment analyst at Capital Group. Prior to Capital, he worked in private equity, management consulting, and retail strategy. Ben graduated from Harvard University with a BA in Economics, and from the Wharton School with an MBA. He grew up in Shanghai, Queens NY, and New Jersey. At each of his later stops (Boston, SF, LA), he’s been involved in local organizations to mentor and serve underprivileged immigrant communities. In his spare time, Ben enjoys traveling, basketball, exercising, and reading.
