A New Chapter: Preeti Sriratana Concludes His Tenure as Apex Board Chair After Nearly 20 Years of Impact

After 20 years on the board of Apex for Youth, including the last 16 as Board Chair, Preeti Sriratana will conclude his term this summer. Under his leadership, Apex grew from a small organization serving 80 youth into a nearly $10 million institution reaching 2,700 youth. As he steps down, Preeti reflects on building an organization that has changed the lives of thousands of low-income Asian American and immigrant youth. Read Preeti’s full letter below.

Dear Friends of Apex,

Twenty years ago, our founder Alex Tsui asked me to join Apex’s executive board. I did not fully understand nonprofit board service at the time. I simply knew I cared deeply about supporting young people because I was mentoring Eric, one of our Apex students. That decision shaped the next two decades of my life.

Soon after I joined, the Great Recession of ‘08 tested Apex in ways few organizations our size could withstand. Quarterly board meetings became monthly and focused on survival and the resources needed to keep programs running. Those moments clarified how real and often overlooked the needs of Asian American and immigrant youth were, both outside our community and sometimes within it.

When I became Board Chair in 2010, Apex served about 80 youth, had one full-time staff member, a $150K budget, and limited runway. The years that followed brought economic disruption, divisive politics and racial tension, a public health crisis, rising anti-Asian hate, and broader pressures affecting immigrant communities. Apex did not step around these realities. We faced them directly and stayed rooted in mission.

Today, Apex impacts 5,000 lives annually, serving more than 2,700 youth with a team of 50 staff, 1,000 volunteers, and a budget approaching $10 million, placing the organization roughly among the 3% of nonprofits nationally operating at this scale and forming the backbone of the city’s human services and cultural sectors. We also have a clear path toward reaching 10,000 youth in the years ahead.

With that foundation in place, and consistent with the governance practices we institutionalized years ago, my term as Board Chair will conclude this summer. Apex will then welcome Ray Chan as its next Board Chair. This transition reflects the importance of renewing leadership while preserving the mission, culture, and ambition that have guided the organization’s growth for so many years.

Ray has played an important role in helping shape Apex’s long-term strategy and growth over the last five years. His leadership style is quietly bold, and his dedication to the community is constant and deeply felt across the organization. Most importantly, Apex enters this transition with an exceptional executive team. Under the leadership of our Executive Director, Jiyoon Chung, Apex has deepened its impact, strengthened its culture, and built a talented organization well positioned for its next phase of growth alongside Ray, our board, staff, volunteers, and broader community.

I often think about my former mentee Eric, his sister Priscilla, and their best friend Gawa, all Apex alumni who grew up together in the tougher parts of Chinatown. Today, they are an architect, a dentist, and a nurse, each raising families and continuing to give back to their communities. Seeing that full-circle impact has reinforced for me that Apex is not simply a youth organization. It is a long-term community institution that changes lives across generations.

Thank you for your belief in this mission and for helping build an organization that continues to create opportunity, belonging, and leadership for Asian American youth. What Apex has become today was made possible by believers who chose to invest in young people long before others saw the need.

I would like to personally thank my fellow board members, especially Kathy Wong, Karen Wong, Eric Lee, and Blaise Chow, who are also concluding their terms. Apex would not be where it is today without their leadership and years of service.

As Apex enters its next chapter, I hope you will continue carrying this work forward by mentoring, volunteering, or introducing someone new to the organization. That is how institutions like Apex endure: one generation passing the baton to the next. Apex has always belonged to the community that sustains it, which gives me great confidence in what comes next.

I remain deeply committed to Apex and look forward to supporting Ray, Jiyoon, our staff, volunteers, and young people in the years ahead.

With appreciation and conviction, let’s keep building.

Preeti Sriratana
Outgoing Chair, Board of Directors
Apex for Youth