Apex for Youth empowers Asian American youth from low-income and immigrant backgrounds to unlock their potential today and a world of possibility tomorrow.
We are building a world without limits for all Asian American youth.
Alex Chi is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer of Global Credit and Head of Direct Lending at Carlyle and is a member of the firm’s Leadership Committee.
Prior to joining Carlyle, he was a partner at Goldman Sachs where he spent 31 years and most recently served as Co-Head of Americas Direct Lending within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs’ affiliated Business Development Companies.
Earlier in his career, Mr. Chi spent 25 years in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs in a variety of leadership roles in New York, Hong Kong and Seoul. He was also global head of the Asian Network which he co-founded.
Mr. Chi currently serves on various non-profit Boards and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
BD Wong has performed in four Broadway shows, including M. BUTTERFLY (Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Clarence Derwent, Theatre World, and Tony Awards), as well as the Broadway revivals of YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN and PACIFIC OVERTURES.
On television, he has been a series regular on ALL-AMERICAN GIRL, OZ, LAW & ORDER: SVU, AWAKE, MR. ROBOT (Emmy nomination), and AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS, and his many films include BIRD BOX, FOCUS, four JURASSIC films, two MULAN films, two FATHER OF THE BRIDE films, THE SALTON SEA, and SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET. He was the 2014 La Jolla Playhouse Artist in Residence, where he directed and co-wrote (with Robert Lee) ALICE CHAN for the LJP Pop Tour. He directed THE GREAT LEAP at Pasadena Playhouse, Judy Gold’s YES, I CAN SAY THAT! at Primary Stages, and …NORA FROM QUEENS for Comedy Central.
He serves on the boards of the Entertainment Community Fund, Rosie’s Theater Kids, and American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, his hometown.
Emerging as classical music’s boldest 21st-century star, Korean-American virtuoso pianist and sought-after composer Chloe Flower ushers classical music into the future on her own terms. She has distinguished herself as a powerhouse performer equally at home on stage at the Kennedy Center Honors in front of the President of the United States, as she is accompanying the likes of Cardi B, 2 Chainz, Nas, and more.
Beyond a litany of unforgettable performances, she has released original music at a prolific pace in between composing for films, television series, and major brand campaigns, including Netflix, Volvo, Krug and Estée Lauder. Simultaneously, she has earned widespread recognition for her efforts to fight human trafficking and support music education, receiving awards from Gloria Steinem and CAST (The Coalition to Abolish Slavery).
Thanks to Chloe Flower, classical music may never be the same now. “Truthfully, I just want classical music to be relevant again, especially for the younger generation,” she leaves off. “Classical musicians are rock stars, period.
Dave Lu is the founder and Managing Partner of Hyphen Capital, which has invested over $30M in Asian American founded companies. In 2021, Dave started a movement with an open letter condemning hate crimes against Asians that was signed by over 8,000 prominent business leaders and influencers including the CEOs of Google, LinkedIn, DoorDash, President George W. Bush, Andre Iguodala, and JJ Abrams, and was published as a full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal which led to the launch of Stand with Asian Americans, a non-profit organization committed to fighting discrimination against Asian Americans.
Dave was also an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning HBO documentary ‘38 at the Garden’ about Jeremy Lin. He regularly writes thought pieces about leadership and hosts a podcast with influential Asian American leaders on Hyphen Nation.
Helen Zia is a writer, activist and Fulbright Scholar who has been outspoken on issues ranging from human rights to countering gender and hate violence and homophobia. Her book Last Boat out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao’s Revolution was an NPR best book and shortlisted for a national PEN AMERICA award, while her first book, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People, continues to be a textbook in schools across the country.
Helen was Executive Editor of Ms. magazine. Her role in the national Asian American civil rights movement of the 1980s against anti-Asian violence and racism is documented in the Academy-award nominated “Who Killed Vincent Chin?” In 2010, Helen testified as a witness in the federal case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court on marriage equality. In 2023, Helen founded the Vincent Chin Institute to build multiracial solidarity for equal justice and against hate. Helen graduated from Princeton’s first coeducational class, then quit medical school to work as a construction laborer, an autoworker, and a community organizer, until she discovered her life’s work as a journalist and writer.
Juju Chang is an Emmy-winning journalist and co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline, celebrated for her powerful long-form storytelling on IMPACT x Nightline, 20/20, and across ABC News platforms. Chang is a cofounder of Korean American Community Foundation (KACF), serves on the board of 92NY, and is an active member of both the AANHPI and Jewish communities.
Michael Chung is Global Co-Head of Equities and a member of the Senior Management team at Millennium. Prior to this role, Michael served as Millennium’s Deputy Global Head of Equities. He is responsible for the daily oversight and management of the firm’s equity portfolio managers and teams globally, including fundamental equity, volatility, convertible bond arbitrage and event driven equity strategies. For these strategies, Michael is responsible for portfolio manager selection, capital allocation, evaluation of transactions and risk exceptions, and management of the global firmwide equity aggregated risk. He has nearly 25 years of experience in trading and risk management.
Prior to joining Millennium in 2016, Michael was the Head of Global Distressed Debt and U.S. Credit Strategies at Arrowgrass Capital Partners, where he was a Founding Partner. Before joining Arrowgrass, Michael spent four years working at Deutsche Bank, where he was the Head of Distressed Debt and Event Driven Strategies at Omnis, a proprietary trading unit of Deutsche Bank. He began his career at Lehman Brothers as a research analyst for the firm’s Distressed Debt business.
Michael received a BS in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern University, where he currently serves as a member of the Advisory Council for McCormick School of Engineering.
Zareh Baghdassarian is a Director at Assured Guaranty, where he focuses on not-for-profit healthcare credit. He holds a B.S. in Economics from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and is a CFA charterholder. Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, Zareh enjoys long-distance running, exploring new restaurants, and traveling to new destinations.
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