Jim brings extensive corporate and business experience to AAAIM. He has founded and served as CEO of several companies including the Mortgage Collaborative and New Vista Asset Management, and served as an executive at Freddie Mac. Additionally, Jim has significant experience in Washington, DC, as an advocate for issues affecting AAPI community for several decades. His work in DC also included serving as a political appointee at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and chairing the Federal Reserve’s Consumer Advisory Council.

Kit Canlas executes all programming for AAAIM, from ordering ramen to event coordination and sourcing strategic partnerships. Her passion for Asian Pacific Islander (API) advocacy was sparked in high school when she spent a summer living in the Philippines as a teacher with Gawad Kalinga. She is a proud Filipinx American and comes to the organization with a broad range of skill sets from her experience in talent acquisition, entertainment, nonprofit, and technology. 

Immediately prior to joining AAAIM, she was a sales executive for technology brands such as Google Cloud and Eventbrite. She graduated from Belmont University in 2012 with an undergraduate degree in Social Work and focus in educational policy. Immediately after graduating, she served as program coordinator for various schools in the most densely populated area of immigrants and refugees in the state of Tennessee. From there, she moved on to the corporate sector, restructuring and managing Operations for a healthcare technology recruiting firm. As a fourteen-year Nashvillian, and in true Music City fashion, she eventually transitioned to corporate and private consulting so that she could hit the road as a full-time touring performer! 

Outside of AAAIM, she donates performances and produces events primarily to raise funds for API organizations across the country. She currently serves as inaugural Board President of Asian Pacific Islanders of Middle TN, whose mission is to work toward racial justice by building API communities, lifting API voices, and unpacking API identities. In her free time, she’s a dance instructor and meditation facilitator.

Brenda is a Director at Paladin Capital Group a leading, global venture and growth stage investor in cyber security technologies. Paladin is based in Washington, DC , with offices in Palo Alto, London and Luxembourg. Brenda’s responsibilities include identifying and developing new opportunities for Paladin in the areas of LP relationships, investments, co – investments and exits. She is also a sought – after advisor to funds and companies with ambitious growth plans.

From 2007 until 2012, Brenda was a Founding Board member and the first President of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM). She led AAAIM to national prominence as the diversity and inclusion advocate for Asian Americans in the investment industry. Brenda is the current Board Co – Chair for the organization. She provides tangible board leadership in setting the vision and pace for AAAIM, fundraising and building consensus around current key initiatives. She plays a major role in fostering the organization’s key relationships with U.S. public pension funds, endowments, foundations and Asian sovereign wealth funds.

While attending business school at Harvard, Brenda developed the strategy and ma rket approach to commercialize a proprietary technology for reconfigurable computing developed at MIT. The company, Silicon Spice, was funded by Kleiner Perkins, Cisco Systems and New Enterprise Associates, among others. Broadcom acquired Silicon Spice in 2000.

Brenda has broad U.S. and international experience developing and executing business, marketing, and operational strategies for emerging and established companies. She served as a case leader with The Boston Consulting Group in Boston and a project manager for Accenture in Asia and Europe. Brenda has worked abroad extensively in Singapore, London and Jakarta.

She holds a B.S. degree in Computer Science, graduating at the top of her year with First Class Honors from National University of Singapore, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. She is fluent in Cantonese, Mandarin and Bahasa Indonesia.

Managing Director – HarbourVest Horizon

Sanjiv K. Shah is a member of the HarbourVest Horizon team, which focuses on meeting the targeted mandates of institutional investors by seeking investment opportunities in emerging managers, diverse managers, the lower middle market, and underserved markets. His responsibilities include deal origina tion, due diligence, and the structuring of new investment opportunities.

Sanjiv joined HarbourVest in 2016 as part of its acquisition of the BAML Capital Access Funds business, which he co – founded, from Bank of America (“BAC”). He joined BAC in 1994 and was instrumental in growing its portfolio of community development equity investments, including the formation of the group’s fund – of – funds investment vehicles. He serves on the limited partner advisory boards of several private equity funds in which his g roup is invested.

Sanjiv was previously one of the youngest individuals to be promoted to the Managing Director level within BAC’s legacy Principal Investing division. In 2002, he was profiled in the India Tribune as a successful, young professional from the Indian – American community. Sanjiv was recently an executive sponsor of BAC’s Asian Leadership Network (Chicago) and a business mentor for the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women’s mentoring women in business program. He is a member of the executive committee and is a Vice Chair of the board of directors for The Association of Asian – American Investment Managers. Sanjiv received a BS in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northw estern University. He is a Registered Certified Public Accountant in the state of Illinois.

A life – long resident of the Chicago area, Gordon is an independent entrepreneur, investor, operator and performer. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of Promise Holdings (www.promise – holdings.com), which along with affiliated investment firms Modjule LLC, Surge CPG, and 4C Capital LLC (all of which Liao co – founded), invest in many businesses, primarily in the consumer space.

Among the companies where he is a co-owner and active board member, include Hickory Farms, a retailer of food gifts, AKIRA, a leading fast fashion women’s apparel & shoes retailer, MVI, a leading manufacturer of snack nuts, IgeneX, the best – known lab in the U.S. focused on Lyme disease and Chicago Switchboard, a leading manufacturer of customized switchboards. Gordon is also an operator as he is CFO of AKIRA, Chairman of Chicago Switchboard and has served as a co-founder of several start-ups.

Prior to his current activities, Gordon spent 15 years in institutional Private Equity as a Principal and Investment professional with Baird Capital, Reliant Equity Investors, and Wind Point Partners. Gordon received his MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Toigo Fellow and the Founder of the Asian American Business Association (AABA), and his BS from the University of Illinois, Champaign – Urbana, where he graduated with Highest Honors and as a recipient of the Bronze Tablet.

Gordon’s core mission in life is focused on lifting up underserved communities, with an emphasis on economic wealth creation and the enhancement of self – esteem through the performing arts. He is the past President of the Goodman Theater’s Auxiliary Board, a Founding Board Member and current Vice Chair of AAAIM (the Association of Asian American Investment Managers), and former Board member of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Finally, he is a published poet, produced playwright, spoken word artist and wedding singer.

Mr. Kim is a Managing Partner of Big Rock Senior Housing, a national developer of upscale senior housing communities. Mr. Kim is also the Chief Investment Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Big Rock Acquisition Corp., a publicly-traded Special Purpose Acquisition Company (NASDAQ: BRPA). Prior to Big Rock, Mr. Kim was Head of Acquisitions for Carefree Communities, which was then the fifth largest national owner and operator of manufactured housing communities and RV parks. Mr. Kim re-joined Richard Ackerman, Founder of Big Rock, after Carefree was sold to Sun Communities. Mr. Kim was the Chief Investment Officer at Big Rock Partners (BRP) and was responsible for acquisitions, development, asset management, and dispositions. BRP wa s an opportunistic real estate investment firm that invested in and managed over $800 million in assets.

Prior to BRP, Mr. Kim was a Vice President at Apollo Real Estate Advisors, a global private equity firm that had then invested over $7 billion of equity. Prior to Apollo, Mr. Kim worked at Oaktree Capital Management, Merrill Lynch Real Estate Investment Banking, Walt Disney Imagineering, and Disney Development Company. In 2006, Institutional Investor News selected Mr. Kim as one of “The 20 Rising St ars of Real Estate” in the nation. Mr. Kim graduated with an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in Economics from UCLA.

Lead Funds and Real Estate Counsel, EQT Exeter

Diana C. Liu, a member of the AAAIM Board, is Lead Funds and Real Estate Counsel at Exeter Property Group in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Before Exeter, Ms. Liu served as Founding Principal, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer for private equity real estate investment manager Artemis Real Estate Partners. Prior to Artemis, for over 20 years, she practiced commercial real estate law as an equity partner with WolfBlock and Cozen O’Connor in Philadelphia. Immediately prior to Exeter, from 2016 – 2019 Ms. Liu was Chief Development and Construction Officer for the Chicago Housing Authority. She graduated from Cornell Law School and Johns Hopkins University.

David Lam is General Partner of Atlantic Bridge Capital. David has spent over a decade in cross-border technology investing between China and Western markets. Prior to Atlantic Bridge, he was Managing Director at WestSummit Capital, a leading US – China cross – border technology investment firm, where his board involvement included Twitch (Acquired by Amazon), Maginatics (Acquired by EMC), Mirantis, 3D Robotics and Nexenta.

Previously, David was Managing Director at WI Harper Group, a pioneering US – China technology venture capital firm, and led the firm’s investments in Quixey and Innovation Works China. Before WI Harper, David was Vice President at The Carlyle Group where his investments included eScreen (Acquired by Alere), and prior to that, he headed business development for Panasas, a Carlyle portfolio company in the data storage industry.

David’s operating experience also includes marketing, business development and corporate development roles in leading enterprise technology companies ONI Systems, CIENA, Cisco and Proxim.

David is a board member, past president and past chairman of the Asia America MultiTechnology Association (AAMA), which is the oldest and largest pan-Asian, cross-border technology executive network in Silicon Valley.

David holds a BS and an MA from Stanford University, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Tony is Senior Vice President/Portfolio Manager at Progress Investment Management (Progress) located in San Francisco, CA. Tony is a voting member of the firm’s investment committee and a member of the Portfolio Management Team. He is responsible for managing client portfolios, including portfolio construction, manager evaluation, monitoring performance and rebalancing initiatives. He also helps lead the team of research analysts. Prior to joining Progress in September 2014, he was a Senior Portfolio Manager at the $20 billion San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS) pension fund where he managed public equity staff members and was responsible for oversight of the $10 billion public equity portfolio. Prior to SFERS, Tony was an Investment Officer at the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) of Illinois. While at SURS, he was responsible for oversight of the internal emerging manager of managers program and worked closely with the CIO and Deputy CIO on various initiatives across various asset classes for the fund’s investment portfolio.

Tony has nearly 20 years of experience which includes working in both New York and Chicago at Citigroup, Silverado Capital, and Citadel Investment Group in various asset management, research and corporate finance roles.

Tony received a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago and holds a MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. He has completed the Series 7 and 63 (inactive) securities examinations.

Tony’s hobbies include coaching sports, mentoring young professionals, volunteering with local foundations and charities to better the lives of those in underserved communities and spending time with his two children and wife.

Prashant Mehrotra is a Partner and Managing Director at Clearlake Capital Group where he focuses on investments in software businesses. Prior to joining Clearlake, he was a Principal at Silver Lake Partners, where he focused on investments in technology and technology – enabled industries. Before that, Mr. Mehrotra was a Principal at Tennenbaum Capital Partners. Prior to Tennenbaum, he worked in investment banking in the Technology, Media and Telecommunications Group at Goldman, Sachs & Co.

Mr. Mehrotra cur rently serves as a director on several Clearlake portfolio boards, including Digicert, Dude Solutions, Ivanti, MetricStream, NetDocuments, Perforce Software, symplr and Zywave. Mr. Mehrotra graduated with a B.S. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University, where he was also a Mayfield Fellow, and he received his M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their two children.

Managing Director, Private Equity
Aksia TorreyCove Partners

Heidi has over 18 years of financial markets and investment research experience, including over 9 years primarily focused on the private markets. She is responsible for sourcing, conducting due diligence, evaluating and monitoring funds in the venture capital and growth equity sectors, as well as private equity funds based in Asia.

Prior to joining Aksia TorreyCove (f/k/a TorreyCove Capital Partners) in 2013, Heidi was an Investment Officer of San Jose Retirement Services’ Investment Group. She was primarily responsible for the Hedge Fund, Fixed Income, and Private Equity investment activities at the city’s two pension plans. Previously, Heidi was an Equity Research Analyst, covering the semi conductor industry for investment banks including Thomas Weisel Partners, Piper Jaffray and Robertson Stephens. She serves as a Board Member of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers.

Heidi graduated from Stanford University with a BS in Industrial Engineering and holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a CFA charterholder and has earned the CAIA designation.

Chief of Strategy and Capital Development, Private Investment Activities of Two Sigma.

Ms. Soh joined Two Sigma in 2017 as Chief of Strategy and Capital Development to lead the growth initiative and fundraising efforts. She is responsible for overseeing the marketing process and leading the team in new business development.

Previously, Ms. Soh was a founding partner and global head of Marketing and Client Services at Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP). In this role, she was responsible for marketing and client services, strategic business development, and sourcing new managers for PWP’s asset management business. Prior to PWP, she was Managing Director and Head of Hedge Fund Marketing at Highbridge Capital Management. Previously, she was a vice president at Lightyear Capital, responsible for business development and investor relations. Prior to that, Ms. Soh was a Vice President in the Merchant Banking Group and an M&A Banker at Bear Stearns. She began her career as an attorney at Cravath Swaine and Moore. Ms. Soh is an active board member of AAAIM (Association of Asian American Investment Managers). Ms. Soh holds a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in Economics, summa cum laude, from Yale University.

Ms. Tseng is a Partner and a member of Fairview’s investment committee. She is involved in research, due diligence, investment monitoring, and business development for Fairview’s venture capital and private equity partnership and direct co-investment portfolios. Prior to joining Fairview, she was an investment banking associate at JPMorgan. Ms. Tseng joined JPMorgan in 2000 and focused on convertible bond and equity origination in the retail, media and chemical industries. There, she structured and executed capital raising transactions for Fortune 500 companies. For a portion of her career at JPMorgan, Ms. Tseng covered aerospace companies in equity research for a top ranked Institutional Investor Analyst. Ms. Tseng also has prior experience at Neutrogena Cosmetics – Johnson & Johnson as a brand management intern.

Ms. Tseng received her MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds a B.A. in Applied Mathematics/Economics from Brown University and graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. Tseng is a CFA charter holder and a member of the Hartford CFA Society. She is a member of the board of directors of The Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM), Hartford Performs and The Connecticut Health Foundation.

Johnny Wu is CEO of Quartzy Capital Advisors, LLC, a company he started in 2020 to provide high impact and value added consulting and product development advice to leading financial services organizations including asset management firms, asset owners, financial technology firms and investment banks. Quartzy solves puzzles in the financial markets and takes its name from “Quartzy” being the highest scoring opening word possible in Scrabble. Prior to starting Quartzy, Johnny spent 20 years in financial services across buy side and sell side firms. As Head of Cross Asset Solutions at Barclays, Johnny led origination and distribution of risk recycling transactions, risk premia strategies, retailed structured products, and exchange traded products. During 12 year tenure from 2005 – 2017, Barclays was known as one of the top investment banks for derivatives and structured products. Johnny earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics – Mathematics from Columbia College and his Masters of Business Administration in Finance from Columbia Business School. Johnny, his wife and two children reside in New York City.

Deepa Patil Madhani is the Head of Investor Relations of One Rock Capital Partners, LLC. Before joining One Rock, Ms. Madhani was part of the Capital Partnering Team at General Atlantic, where she focused on investor relations. Prior to General Atlantic, Ms. Madhani was an Associate in the Fundraising Group at TPG. Ms. Madhani began her career as an Analyst in the Mezzanine Fund at Lehman Brothers, where she analyzed investment opportunities across different sectors.Ms. Madhani earned a B.S. in business administration from Georgetown University. She graduated cum laude with a double major in finance and management and a minor in Spanish.

Sammy Suzuki is Co-Chief Investment Officer of Strategic Core Equities at AllianceBernstein. He has been managing the Emerging Markets Strategic Core Portfolio since its inception in July 2012, and the Global, International and US portfolios since 2015. Suzuki has managed port folios for well over a decade. From 2010 to 2012, he also held the role of director of Fundamental Value Research, where he managed 50 fundamental analysts globally. Prior to managing portfolios, Suzuki spent a decade as a research analyst. He joined AB in 1994 as a research associate covering the capital equipment industry, and then became an analyst covering the technology industry. Suzuki became portfolio manager in 2004. From 1998 to 2004, he served as senior research analyst for the global automotive industry. Before joining the firm, Suzuki was a consultant at Bain & Company. He holds a BS in materials science and engineering and a BS in finance (both magna cum laude) from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a CFA charter holder and a member of the Board of the CFA Society New York

Ginger is the CEO of Three Oaks Investments, LLC, a n advisory services firm based in Naples, Florida.

Ginger was one of the co-founders of Cube Hydro Partners, and its predecessor company, Enduring Hydro. She served as Managing Director and General Counsel. She guided the company through an expansive acquisition period g rowing from one 6 Megawatts Western Pennsylvania hydropower plant and five employees to nineteen facilities, 374 Megawatts in five states along ten river systems with 130 employees in less than four years. She provided a broad range of advice and led critical regulatory and financial negotiations throughout the life cycle of the company. In October 2019 Cube Hydro was sold to Eagle Creek Renewable Energy, owned by Ontario Power Generation of Canada. She continues to provide consulting transition services to the new owners. In addition, since 2014, Ginger is a senior policy advisor to I Squared Capital, a $13 billion global infrastructure fund based in Miami, Florida.

Ginger has held numerous roles in federal government. She was the Acting Chief Counsel for the Western United States, Department of Energy. She was appointed by Secretary Vance to be Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia. When Bill Clinton was elected President, she served on the transition team and subsequently joined the White House Presidential Personnel Office with a focus on economic agencies. Ginger was nominated and unanimously confirmed as the General Counsel for the Department of Commerce under Secretary Ron Brown. She was nominated and unanimously confirmed as Deputy Administrator and Chief Operating Officer of the Small Business Administration under Administrator Phil Lader. Ginger worked on the Obama transition team as co-chair of the SBA agency team. She then joined the Obama White House National Economic Council as a senior advisor and focused on small business issues, entrepreneurship and women in the economy.

For ten years, Ginger was a member and Board Chair of the Slovak American Enterprise Fund – a US government authorized investment fund in Central Europe to promote small business and entrepreneurship. She was a managing member and venture partner of two venture funds in Washington DC. Ginger also served on the NASDAQ Listing and Hearing Review Council for ten years as a member and Co-Chair.

Ginger has also served on numerous corporate and not for profit boards including Yo semite National Institute (now NatureBridge), the Meyer Foundation, the Smithsonian Institute Travel Exhibitions, Asian Americans for Advancing Justice, and the East West Center. She is the Co-Founder of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers, a trade organization that promotes diversity and inclusion in the investment industry.

Ginger and her husband, Lennart Ehn, live in Naples, Florida. They have two adult children and three grandsons. She enjoys bicycling, hiking and pretends to play golf.

Maeley Tom, co-founder of Association of Asian American Investment Managers, was the former President of the California State Personnel Board. She previously served on the CalPERS Board from 2005 – 2007 and part of 2009. While serving on the CalPERS Board, Ms. Tom served on the Investment and Benefits and Program Administration Committees and served as the diversity advisor to the CalPERS Board. She also served as a special consultant to the California State Controller John Chiang and was instrumental in helping the State Controller launch his Corporate Board Diversity initiative with CalPERS and CalSTRS.

Ms. Tom spent 20 years in the California State Legislature serving as Chief Administrative Officer of the California Assembly under Speaker Willie L. Brown Jr. and Chief of Staff to the California State Senate President pro Tem, David Roberti. She also served as the Director of the California Senate Office of Asian Pacific Affairs.

Ms. Tom was selected by President Ronald Reagan to serve on the Advisory Committee on Women’s Business Ownership. President Clinton appointed her to serve on the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Fourth World Prep com Conference on Women in 1995. She was a former member of the Executive Committee of the Democratic National Committee from 1989 – 1997 and served as a delegate to the White House Conference on Small Business. She was an advisory board member to the California Senate Subcommittee on Asian Trade and served on Governor Gray Davis Diversity Task Force before he appointed her to the California State Personnel Board, the governing board that oversees the California civil service system.

A former political columnist for Asian Week and a former producer and host of the Central Valley Channel 40 “Facets’ television series, Ms. Tom is also the founding president of the California Joint Asian Pacific Legislative Caucus Institute.  She is a member of the Committee 100 and recently published her memoir “I am not who you think I am” on Amazon.  She is a graduate of California State University of San Francisco.

David is Vice Chairman and has over 30 years of experience in the private markets industry. David is responsible for the overall framework of the firm’s private markets offering and provides senior advisory support to Aksia TorreyCove’s client advisory and private market investment research activities.

Prior to Aksia’s acquisition of TorreyCove Capital Partners, David was co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of TorreyCove Capital Partners. He was responsible for managing the day-to-day business activities of the firm.

Prior to TorreyCove, David was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Corporate Group. Throughout his career, David has led investment organizations that have invested/committed over $4 5 billion in private equity investments. He has invested in 26 leveraged buyout, private equity and venture capital investments as a lead investor or co-investor, of which ten became publicly traded through initial public offerings – a number were acquired by Fortune 500 companies. Previously, he was a Managing Director of US Trust and Vice President of Citicorp Venture Capital. David has served on the board of directors of eleven companies, as a board observer for seven, as chairman of the board of directors for two companies, and currently serves on the Honorary Advisory Board for the Association of Asian American Investment Managers and on the advisory board for the Robert H. Toigo Foundation.

He graduated from Stanford University with a BAS in Industrial Engineering and Economics (dual degree).

Former Secretary of Commerce and Secretary of Transportation of the United States

Secretary Mineta was the Secretary of Transportation from 2001 through 2006. He also served as Secretary of Commerce in the Clinton Administration. From 1975 to 1995, he served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing the heart of Silicon Valley. Congressman Mineta was known for his dedication to the people of his district, for consensus building among his colleagues and for forging public private partnerships. Secretary Mineta’s legislative and policy agenda was wide and varied, including major projects in the areas of economic development, science and technology policy, trade, transportation, the environment, intelligence, the budget and civil rights. He co-founded the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and served as its first chair.

Roger J. Sit directs investment management activities for Sit Investment Associates, a diverse financial asset management firm with capabilities in both domestic and international investment products. Roger joined the organization in January 1998 and worked closely with firm founder Gene Sit for over ten years. Prior to joining the firm, Roger was a Vice President and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Goldman Sachs & Co. in New York for seven years. Additionally, he was a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, serving six years active duty with financial management responsibilities at Headquarters Sp ace Division. Roger Gradated with Military Distinction from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1984. He earned a M.S. in Systems Management from the University of Southern California in 1987 and an M.B.A. with honors from the Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1991. Roger serves on the boards of TCF Financial Corporation, Convergent Capital, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and the McKnight Foundation.

Ambassador Yang chairs the Asian Corporate Governance Association based in Hong Kong. It is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating corporate and economic development in Asia through improved corporate governance. A Non-Executive Independent Director on the board of Bank of China (Hong Kong), she is the founding chair of the Strategy and Budget Committee of the board and serves on the board’s Audit Committee and Nomination and Remuneration Committee. She is on the board of The Committee of 100, a national Chinese-American organization, and an advisory board member of The Center for Asia Pacific Policy, RAND Corporation. She is a Trustee of The Asia Foundation which operates 17 field offices in Asia focused on development programs and is a member of its Audit committee. She was a director of the Pacific Pension Institute for six years. Currently, she serves on the Advisory Council of the institute and its Program Committee.

Ambassador Yang was the U.S. Ambassador and Executive Director to the Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Manila from 1993 to 1999. During her 6-year tenure at the bank, she made many field trips to developing members countries to gain first-hand knowledge on the formulation and execution of development projects. Upon her retirement in December 1999, Ambassador Yang was presented the Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Treasury Department. The award citation states, ” … Ambassador Yang played a key role in defining the Bank’s participation in the international response to the Asian economic crisis, including pushing for early and expanded attention to social impacts and social development. She has provided strong fiduciary and operational oversight of Bank operations and has worked to make the Bank more transparent and accountable.”

The first woman Executive Director appointed by the United States Government to the board of a multilateral financial institution and the first Executive Director appointed by President Clinton and confirmed by the U.S. Senate., Ambassador Yang initiated and led the ADB Board to adopt a comprehensive private sector development strategy policy. She was complimented by President Clinton in his letter accepting her retirement that, ” … I am particularly grateful for your work to reform the Bank’s operational policies in order to encourage private investment, which will help to reduce poverty. Your actions have upheld American values and improved our ties with Asia.” To date, with the policy in place, the Private Sector Group at the bank greatly expanded its operations which lately reached an annual volume of close to US $2.0 billion in direct investments in projects, private equity funds, and credit risk guarantees.

From 1980 to 1982, Ambassador Yang was California’s Savings and Loan Commissioner responsible for the regulation and supervision of all state-chartered savings and loan institutions. She was the first Asian American appointed to the Board of Administration of the Public Employees’ Retirement System of the State of California (CalPERS) and served as Vice President of the Board and Vice-chairman of its Investment Committee. She is a graduate of St. John’s University in Shanghai and earned her Master of Philosophy degree (Economics) from Columbia University of New York with areas of concentration in banking, finance, and international economics.

Ms. Wong joined Palladium in 2017. She serves as Chief Financial Officer and is a Partner of the Firm. Previously, she was the Head of Tax Finance at Apollo Global Management, LLC. Before joining Apollo, Ms. Wong worked at KKR & Co L.P. as Vice President of Tax and served as a Tax Director at Sony specializing in partnership deals in the entertainment and electronic manufacturing and gaming areas, as well as public company reporting. Ms. Wong began her career in tax at Arthur Andersen advising clients in the real estate industry. Ms. Wong serves on the board of The Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM) and the NY Chapter advisory board for the non-profit African Children’s Choir. Ms. Wong received her B.B.A. in Public Accounting and M.S. in Taxation from Pace University and is a CPA.

President & CEO – Leading Edge Investment Advisors, LLC 

Clayton Jue is founder and CEO of Leading Edge Investment Advisors, LLC (LEIA), a San Francisco based Manager-of-Managers. During his 30+ year investment career, he developed more than 40 emerging manager programs for large institutional investors and has provided early funding to numerous firms. 

Prior to founding LEIA in 2005, Mr. Jue was Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Northern Trust Global Advisors, where he managed $3 billion in emerging manager programs. He was also a senior member of Northern’s Hedge Fund and Trust Investment Committees which oversaw $25 billion in global assets. 

Previously, Mr. Jue was co-founder and Chief Investment Officer at Progress Investment Management in 1990 where he successfully developed and managed multi-manager programs for over 11 years. Prior to Progress, Mr. Jue was a Consultant with Callan Associates Inc. 

Mr. Jue is one of the six founding Board members of the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM) in 2006 and served as a Board Chair from 2010-2017. 

Mr. Jue is a graduate of San Francisco State University (MBA) and the University of California, Berkeley (Dual BA). He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation (1991). 

Partner, Avante Capital Partners

Paul Hayama is a Partner of Avante Capital Partners, the largest women-owned private credit and structured equity fund in the US. Based in Los Angeles, Mr. Hayama is responsible for identifying, executing and managing investment opportunities. He currently manages the fund’s deal execution, due diligence and portfolio management activities. Mr. Hayama joined Avante in 2009 as a founding member of the firm and serves on its investment and management committees.

Mr. Hayama has over two decades of lower-middle-market debt and equity experience. Prior to Avante, he held positions at Allied Capital and Houlihan Lokey. Mr. Hayama serves on the board of Katahdin and holds numerous other board observer positions.

Paul is a frequent speaker on a variety of investor panels ranging from mezzanine debt to consumer products to aerospace and defense investing. He is also a recurring lecturer on unitranche and mezzanine debt as part of the Certificate in Private Capital Markets program at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio Business School.

Mr. Hayama graduated magna cum laude from the University of Southern California. A native of Hawaii, Paul lives with his wife and two children in Manhattan Beach. When he isn’t coaching his kids’ sports teams, you can find him cheering loudly in the stands.

Co-founder and Managing Partner, Diversis Capital

Kevin Ma is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Diversis Capital. He is the Chairman of the Board of Caligor Coghlan Pharma Services, PureCars, FORM, and Black Box Intelligence and sits on the boards of RFi Group, Tempo, Marketron and ServicePower. Prior to co-founding Diversis in 2013, Kevin held positions in private equity, strategy consulting (BCG), investment and operational roles. As such, he brings a transaction, due diligence and operational transformation skill set to the team.

Kevin graduated as a Joseph Wharton Scholar and Benjamin Franklin Scholar from the Management and Technology Program (M&T) at the University of Pennsylvania with a BS from The Wharton School and a BS in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Computer Science, Telecommunications and Robotics. He was born and raised in the Los Angeles area.

President and Chief Operating Officer, Rice Hall James & Associates

Thao Buuhoan joined Rice Hall James & Associates (RHJ), a boutique investment firm headquartered in San Diego in 2000, and was initially responsible for Institutional Marketing and Client Service. In 2009, Thao assumed responsibility as President and Chief Operating Officer and leads the growth and strategic initiatives of the firm. She also oversees Operations and Trading in addition to her Marketing and Client Service responsibilities. Prior to joining RHJ, she was a Marketing Manager at State Street Global Advisors in Hong Kong, responsible for sales and marketing to Asian institutions. Thao is a former board member of AAAIM and remains involved as a co-chair of the Southern California chapter. She is active with a number of affinity groups focused on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Thao received a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.