JUNTA DIRECTIVA

Preeti has over two decades of experience scaling mission-driven organizations through growth, transition, and institutional maturation. An executive and civic leader, his work sits at the intersection of hospitality, design, and community impact.

Most recently, Preeti served as Chief Executive Officer of Kent Hospitality Group, a multi-Michelin-starred platform founded by the late Chef Jamal James Kent, where he led an ambitious phase of expansion through new concepts and acquisitions while advancing a long-term vision for the future of hospitality. In parallel, he is a founding partner of the architecture and design practice Modellus Novus, recognized for shaping some of New York City’s most celebrated cultural and dining destinations. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Asian American Policy Review at Harvard Kennedy School and is a co-founder of Central Queens Academy Charter School, the highest-performing public middle school in Queens. Preeti began his career in Paris working for Pritzker Prize–winning architect Jean Nouvel and holds degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Columbia University, and Harvard University. He has been honored with an Official Commendation from the City of New York for his leadership in the Asian American community.

Eric T. Lee es actualmente gestor de carteras en Soros Fund Management, una empresa de inversión con sede en Nueva York. Anteriormente, el Sr. Lee fue codirector de inversiones y socio gestor de Blockhouse Capital Management, un hedge fund centrado en inversiones de crédito y renta variable con un componente macroeconómico. Antes de Blockhouse, el Sr. Lee fue socio y gestor de carteras en PointState Capital Management, donde se encargaba principalmente de inversiones de alto rendimiento y créditos en dificultades. El Sr. Lee también ha sido Director Gerente y Gestor de Cartera en Duquesne Capital Management, así como Director en Deutsche Bank en el Grupo de Investigación de Alto Rendimiento. El Sr. Lee se licenció en Ciencias Económicas por la Wharton School de la Universidad de Pensilvania en mayo de 1998, con especialización en estudios asiático-americanos.

Kathy es Directora de Agregación de Exportaciones en Chase Digital, liderando el Canal de Terceros para Chase. Es la responsable de la estrategia y la hoja de ruta de productos para el intercambio de datos de los consumidores y las asociaciones con terceros y FinTechs. Antes de Chase Digital, ocupó varios puestos de liderazgo en JPMorganChase. Antes de trabajar en JPMC, fue consultora principal en IBM Business Consulting Services y PricewaterhouseCoopers Management Consulting en el sector de los servicios financieros.

Kathy es licenciada en Ingeniería y Sistemas de Gestión con especialización en Economía por la Universidad de Columbia. Se unió a Apex en 1999 como mentora de secundaria y voluntaria de SAT Prep. Mantuvo la relación con su alumna hasta que se graduó en el instituto y continuó dirigiendo el programa SAT Prep hasta 2004. Curiosamente, su antigua alumna fue clave para que Kathy volviera a Apex y se uniera a la junta directiva; hoy en día siguen en contacto. Kathy nació y creció en la ciudad de Nueva York y es un orgulloso producto del Sistema de Escuelas Públicas de Nueva York.

Blaise es socio del bufete de abogados Kennedys. Concentra su práctica en litigios comerciales y en el análisis de pólizas de seguros de responsabilidad profesional. En estos contextos, su práctica también incluye la negociación de acuerdos en mediación derivados de disputas empresariales y laborales que abarcan desde empresarios individuales hasta empresas medianas y grandes. Blaise también defiende a directores y ejecutivos contra demandas que incluyen incumplimiento de contrato, incumplimiento de deber fiduciario y fraude civil. Fue admitido a ejercer en el Colegio de Abogados del Estado de Nueva York en abril de 2001, y se licenció en la Universidad de Rochester en 1997 y en Derecho en la Brooklyn Law School en 2000.

Ray Chan is a Senior Managing Director at Blue Owl and member of the Alternative Credit Investment Team. In his role as co-head of the Asset Based Finance team within Alternative Credit, he is jointly responsible for the team’s efforts in non-corporate, private credit investments which are backed by financial or hard assets.

Before joining Blue Owl, Ray was a Partner at Atalaya Capital Management, the predecessor firm to Blue Owl’s Alternative Credit team, where he co-founded the ABF/Financial Assets Team and co-led the firm’s efforts in the space. Ray also sat on the firm’s Executive Committee, Risk Committee, DEI Steering Committee and the Investment Committees for multiple funds.  Prior to joining Atalaya, Ray was a Partner and Co-Founder of TTM Capital, LLC, an investment firm focused on acquiring and lending against portfolios of financial and other assets. Previously, he was a Managing Director and co-head of the Assets Group at Highbridge/Zwirn Capital Management. Earlier in his career, Ray was a member of the Principal Transactions and Principal Finance teams at Lehman Brothers and the Asset-Backed Securities Group at Salomon Brothers. He began his career as a consultant at Price Waterhouse, followed by internal consulting and operations roles at Lehman Brothers.

Ray is a member of the Board of Directors for Apex for Youth, a nonprofit providing mentoring, education, and after-school services to underserved Asian and immigrant youth.

Ray received a BA in Economics and Political Science from Columbia University.

Jeff Chen es un profesional de la inversión en capital privado y miembro fundador de Enhanced Healthcare Partners. Antes de incorporarse a Enhanced, Jeff trabajó como asociado en el grupo de banca de inversión sanitaria de Goldman, Sachs & Co., donde se centró en operaciones de fusión y adquisición, así como en operaciones de financiación de capital y deuda para clientes del sector minorista de consumo y sanitario. Antes de su puesto en Banca de Inversión, Jeff trabajó en el Grupo de Estrategia de Clientes dentro de la Oficina Ejecutiva de Goldman, Sachs & Co, donde se centró en la realización de análisis de objetivos de clientes globales para altos ejecutivos de la empresa. Jeff se licenció con honores en Administración de Empresas por la Ivey School of Business. Anteriormente, Jeff fue entrenador de baloncesto de Apex, mentor, voluntario y Presidente de la Junta de Asociados de Apex.

David Jar is a Managing Director at Blue Owl and member of the Technology Investment Team. In his role, he focuses on credit, equity, and structured capital investments in technology businesses, and leads Blue Owl’s efforts in cybersecurity and infrastructure software. He currently serves as a Board Observer for Arctic Wolf.

Before joining Blue Owl in 2019, David led the software/technology vertical at SLR Capital Partners, a credit-focused asset manager based in New York. Prior to that, he was a Principal at KKR in the Capital Solutions Group, and a Vice President at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the Natural Resources Financing Group. David began his career as an Investment Banking Analyst at Lehman Brothers.

David is a member of the Board of Directors for Apex for Youth, a nonprofit providing mentoring, education, and mental health services to underserved, low income Asian American and immigrant youth. He is also a member of the Board of Advisors for the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a bipartisan research and policy institution focused on national security matters.

David es licenciado en Finanzas y Negocios Internacionales por la Stern School of Business de la Universidad de Nueva York.

Aya Kanai is the VP of Enterprise Content at American Express. Previous roles include Head of Editorial and Creative for Shopping at Google, Head of Content and Creator Partnerships at Pinterest and Editor In Chief at Marie Claire. Aya also spent nearly twenty years as a Fashion Director at publications including Cosmopolitan, NYLON, Women’s Health and Teen Vogue. She was also a judge on Project Runway Junior on Lifetime. A native New Yorker, Aya lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

Roy is a design leader and strategist who has advised real estate developers across the US, helping to shape and form luxury residential and hospitality projects in New York, Miami and LA.

He has held leadership roles across Extell Development Company, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran Sunshine. Currently, he advises on new projects for Extell, ensuring that they achieve sales and marketing goals. As Chief Creative Officer at Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, he advised the nation’s most accomplished developers on matters related to design, development, construction and marketing.

Roy’s foundation in strategic design thinking began at the University of British Columbia, where he earned an M.Arch. It was honed at Eight, Inc., while working for clients like Apple and Nokia and where he was Principal of the NY office. 

Some of Roy’s projects include One57, the building that created Billionaire’s Row, as well as Deer Valley East Village in Park City, One Manhattan Square, Carlton House, The Park Hyatt New York, Central Park Tower, the Gem Tower, 432 Park, The Residences at the West Hollywood Edition, 87 Park, 152 Elizabeth Street, and 100 East 53 Street, to name a few.

Reparte su tiempo entre Nueva York y el norte del estado con su marido, Clayton Crawley, y su perra, Georgia.

Melody Lee is Chief Marketing Officer, Mercedes-Benz USA. In this role, she oversees brand
positioning and marketing strategy and execution with an aim to ensure long-term growth and
profitability for the Mercedes-Benz brand in the United States.

Previously, Melody was Senior Vice President, Global Brand & Product Marketing for the
Herman Miller and Knoll brands at MillerKnoll. In that role, she was responsible for ensuring a
cohesive brand-led strategy across the two marquee design brands’ products, channels,
messages and audiences.

Prior to joining MillerKnoll, Melody was Global COO and Principal, Americas for Camron, a
global design communications agency, where she led the agency’s New York and Los Angeles
offices.

She was, previous to Camron, the vice president for brand development at Shiseido, a 140-year
old global prestige beauty company. In that position, she led critical strategic initiatives across a
comprehensive remit of brand strategy, product development, marketing and retail planning for
one of Shiseido’s multinational prestige brands.

Prior to Shiseido, Melody spent six years with Cadillac. There, as head of brand marketing for
the iconic luxury car brand, Melody oversaw brand strategy, global planning, partnerships and
experiences and marketing innovation. She also led BOOK by Cadillac, the brand’s vehicle
subscription business, as a discrete business unit, with commercial responsibility for operations
and logistics, financial management, product development, branding and marketing, PR and
business development and corporate sales.

Before joining Cadillac, Melody was executive vice president at global PR agency Hill+Knowlton
Strategies from 2006 to 2012, where she led high-stakes communications campaigns for
Fortune 500 corporations.

Melody lives with her husband and two boys in Atlanta. She attended Georgia Institute of
Technology, receiving her B.S. and M.S. in International Affairs.

Gil es socio de Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP, donde dirige el grupo de titulización y financiación estructurada. Gil está especializado en complejas operaciones esotéricas de titulización y financiación estructurada. Entre ellas se incluyen la primera titulización de activos solares por SolarCity Corporation, la primera titulización de contratos gubernamentales de eficiencia energética y varias titulizaciones de propiedad intelectual, incluidos los derechos de autor del equipo de compositores de Motown Records, Holland-Dozier-Holland, los derechos de sindicación nacional e internacional de docenas de comedias televisivas de éxito y los ingresos por licencias de marcas y/o franquicias relacionados con muchas marcas famosas, como The Athlete's Foot, Joe Boxer, Guess? y Max Azria. Ha sido galardonado con el premio National Asian Pacific American Bar Association Best Under 40 Award. En 2014 recibió el premio Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business.

En la actualidad, Gil forma parte del consejo de administración de Homerun Projects, una organización sin ánimo de lucro que apoya programas para jóvenes en la ciudad de Nueva York. Durante más de 12 años, formó parte del consejo de administración de Harlem RBI, una organización sin ánimo de lucro que presta servicios sociales, académicos y deportivos a más de 1.200 niños y niñas de East Harlem, Nueva York. También ha sido miembro de la junta directiva de Volunteers of Legal Service. Participa en asuntos pro bono y otros proyectos benéficos para Harlem RBI, la DREAM Charter School, la CAIPA Foundation, la Chinese American Medical Society, la American Cancer Society - Asian Initiatives, The Lowline, Broadway Barks, Infinite Variety Productions y la Seido Juku Benefit Foundation. Gil es licenciado por la Universidad de Michigan y doctor en Derecho por la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Nueva York.

Patrick Lo is the Co-Chief Investment Officer at Saluda Grade. Mr. Lo has 20+ years of structured product experience as a portfolio manager, trader, and banker. Prior to joining Saluda Grade, he was a partner and Co-CIO of Waterfall Asset Management LLC, a specialty finance manager across asset backed, residential and commercial mortgage sectors. Prior to being named Co-CIO, he was Head of International and Private Asset Backed Finance team at Watefall. Prior to Waterfall, he worked in the Asset Backed Finance group at Citigroup Global Markets. Mr. Lo holds a BS in Management Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Yukari es la presidenta del consejo de kindness.org y aporta experiencia en múltiples sectores y empresas mundiales, como Toyota Motor Corporation, Google, Twitter, ngmoco y charity:water. Yukari se centra en la eficiencia operativa, la ampliación de productos a través de la tecnología y la innovación de productos, y la internacionalización de plataformas para muchos idiomas. Además de acumular experiencia en el sector lucrativo y no lucrativo, Yukari fue la primera mujer asiático-americana ejecutiva en Twitter y charity: water. Yukari se licenció en la Northwestern University y obtuvo un MBA en la Sloan School of Management del MIT.

Maxine Ng Dalio is the founder of Bodhi House Advisors, a development and philanthropic advisory organization that provides strategic planning, training, and implementation support for non-profit organizations and philanthropic entities across the United States, Singapore, and Southeast Asia. 

Maxine fue anteriormente Directora Ejecutiva de Pioneer Works, un centro cultural de arte y ciencia situado en Red Hook, Brooklyn, donde ayudó a la organización en una fase de crecimiento y estabilidad, creando modelos de ingresos sostenibles, infraestructura de desarrollo, sistemas operativos y lanzando la primera campaña de capital de la organización. También ha desempeñado funciones en la institución de artes escénicas Park Avenue Armory de Nueva York, donde recientemente fue Directora de Grandes Donaciones.

Maxine is a member of Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy and Co-Chair of Philanthropy Asia Alliance Next Gen Impact Collective.  Maxine splits her time between NYC and Singapore, where she resides with her husband Mark and their daughter and son.

Karen Wong es cofundadora y directora creativa de GBA/Guilty By Association, un mercado digital y una comunidad inclusiva para artistas, diseñadores y consumidores de todas las generaciones. Se consolidó como líder innovadora durante sus 15 años en el New Museum, donde fundó las iniciativas NEW INC, una incubadora de arte, diseño y tecnología, e IdeasCity, un festival-conferencia centrado en la creación de espacios creativos. A través de ambos programas, Karen fue mentora de un amplio abanico de talentos artísticos y fomentó entornos que propiciaron la aparición de NFT y nuevas empresas creativas de RV/AR. Experta narradora y productora, Karen ha dirigido colaboraciones multimillonarias con Apple, Audi, Google, Nokia Bell Labs y la Fundación Onassis.

Patrick is a Partner and the Chief Business Officer at World Team Tennis. He was previously Chief Marketing Officer at Callisto Media and Daily Harvest. Prior to Daily Harvest, Patrick was CEO of Laird & Partners, the luxury brand and creative agency, working with clients like Tiffany, Tommy Hilfiger, Soulcycle and Swarovski. Patrick was an early partner and the Chief Marketing Officer at Refinery29, where he led growth, marketing and strategy for 9 years. After graduating New York University, he started his career as an investment banker at Wasserstein Perella and an equity research analyst at Soros Fund Management.

At 31, Wen Zhou founded her third company and became CEO of 3.1 Phillip Lim. With her friend, the designer
Phillip Lim, they pioneered a cool, easy, chic style that paved the way for an entirely new market and redefined
the modern luxury space in the fashion industry.

3.1 Phillip Lim’s prescient wardrobe essentials are synonymous with an understated elegance that speaks to
today’s global citizens on the go. Equally important to the brand is the company’s commitment to social
change and sustainability, reflected in special projects, campaigns, and collaborations.

As a co-founder and sole investor in the privately held 3.1 Phillip Lim, Wen took on the roles of President and
CEO from day one and scaled the business from a 5-person team to its current position: a company with an
international footprint, including online, offline, and experiential marketing. The brand offers womenswear,
menswear, footwear, and accessories with offices in New York, Tokyo, Shanghai and distribution centers
worldwide.

Wen has trailblazed — from embracing inclusivity on the runway as early as 2007 to cultivating meaningful
collaborations, including Maya Lin designing a sustainable fashion show; the Brooklyn Nets celebrating
Lunar New Year; a three-year “at leisure off-court dressing” with Fila; sustainable material innovation with
Volvo; and clean beauty with Aveda. These partnerships represent a model for building communities and
actively promoting culture. Most notably, Wen and Phillip leveraged their global audience during the
pandemic to raise awareness and money for AAPI nonprofits. Wen thrives on a double bottom line —
balancing her business acumen with her passion for sustainability and social causes.

Wen demonstrates her soft power by mentoring young female leaders and investing in BIPOC-owned
startups. Additionally, she has chaired the Apex for Youth Gala the last four years, raising more than $10M+
in total, and co- founded the Taste of Asia Festival (2021 $1.2M raised, 2022 $1.6M raised), an outdoor Asian
food community event welcoming 100+ chefs to Madison Square Park for a joyous celebration of culture in
the heart of NYC.

Born in Ningbo, China, Wen arrived in NYC at 12 and settled in Chinatown. In true entrepreneurial style, she
juggled jobs at a fast food restaurant and garment factory while attending high school. After two years at FIT,
at 21, Wen independently founded a high-end fabric import company Aegis Group and never looked back.
Her dynamic, witty, personable, visionary leadership style has drawn accolades, including BOF500, EY’s
Entrepreneur of the Year, and “Top 60 Most Influential Chinese-Americans” by Forbes China.