Meet Our Board

Kristian is originally from the Pacific Northwest and has lived in San Francisco since 2006. He received his B.A. from the University of Washington in Political Science, then went on to pursue his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an Associate Editor of the Journal of International Economic Law. He earned a Certificate in Business and Public Policy from the Wharton School of Business, with a concentration in real estate finance and development. Kristian is currently the President of Compass Real Estate. Kristian has spent more than a decade as an attorney in San Francisco. His focus has primarily been on commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, financings, structuring joint ventures, leasing, and developments of commercial, mixed-use and multifamily projects. During the course of his career, he has represented some of the nation’s leading real estate lenders, national and international real estate developers and hospitality companies, and several preeminent telecommunication and technology companies.

Angela Cheung, President and Founder of Pillar Capital Group and Pillar Capital Properties, holds Real Estate Broker licenses in both California and Massachusetts. She is an immigrant from Hong Kong.  She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance, with a specific emphasis on real estate investment, from California State University, East Bay. With 30 years of experience in real estate development, project management, marketing, commercial sales, and property management, she has led the company into the global marketplace by forming significant partnerships locally and internationally through her offices located in the United States and Hong Kong. She provides project management/consultation services and execution of projects from land acquisition, entitlement, and architectural review, to construction management and marketing, while maximizing opportunities for her clients.  She is currently managing and providing consultation services over approximately $250M in value of the real estate development projects in San Francisco.

Philip Wong is Vice President, Relationship Manager at Bank of the West. Bank of the West is part of BNP one of the largest banks worldwide. Philip Wong is in charge of developing banking relationships with both inbound and outbound business and along with local companies. Prior to his current position, he has also worked in Bank of Communications, Preferred Bank, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, World Savings Banks, HSBC, and Chinatrust Bank (CTBC); where he worked in areas of residential/commercial estate to corporate lending even trade finance dealing with local and international clients.

Erica Tom was born in San Francisco and obtained her BA in Social Welfare with a minor in Asian American studies and MSW degrees from UC Berkeley. Currently, she is a counselor at City College of San Francisco providing counseling to a diverse student body. Prior to this, she worked at the California State Department of Rehabilitation and Asian Women’s Shelter. She is bilingual in conversational Cantonese and Taishanese dialects.

Myriam Chen co-founded two Information Technology companies:  the first one in the early 90’s and the second in 2005. Both headquartered in San Francisco, the last venture took her to establish a Technology Development Center in Beijing in 2006, servicing customers in the U.S. Japan and China. Myriam is currently Consultant of the City of Wuhan and the City of Chongqing in China. FDEG’s business model is creating/developing high tech, large scale water performance shows in Las Vegas, Paris, Italy, Dubai, Macau, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand and China.

An immigrant from Macau, back in the late 70’s, Myriam was Executive Director of Chinatown Resources Development Center (CRDC), a non-profit, community-based organization providing vocational ESL and employment training for newly arrived Chinese immigrants in San Francisco.

Pearl Chen is bilingual, bi-literate and bicultural. Born in Southern China.  Immigrated to the US after elementary school in Hong Kong.  She obtained her BA in Social Work from SF State University, MA in Counseling from Idaho State University and MA in Multicultural Education from University of San Francisco. Recently retired from City College of San Francisco as an academic counselor, worked with domestic and international students for more than three decades.  In addition, she taught and coordinated the counseling program at Chinatown North Beach campus, graduate internship program, bilingual orientation and courses without pre-requisite program. She also presented workshops internationally in Hong Kong and locally.  She calls San Francisco Bay area home where she has raised her family with husband, Joe.

Dr. Lau has been serving on the APACC Board of Directors since 2014. He is a seasoned executive in the dietary supplement industry with strong history of working at leading CPG/nutraceutical companies. He is a proven subject matter expert in nutraceutical/nutrition product development and regulatory affairs. He has an exceptional track record of scientific publication and invention. He has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, book chapters, conference abstracts, and two books on nutraceuticals in human health. He is the inventor of a number of patents. He currently serves as the Head of Innovation & Regulatory Compliance at MaxNutra Formulations. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Sonoma Dignity Care – a home care agency helping people in their golden years to lead a happy and dignified life. 

Vivian Lee is the founding principal of Edmonds + Lee Architects, an award-winning architecture and interior design firm based in San Francisco.  It is also one of the few women and minority-owned architecture firms in the Bay Area.

Originally from Hong Kong and fluent in Cantonese and Mandarin, Vivian received her Master’s degree in Architecture from Columbia University and holds a Bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University. As a registered architect, Vivian has been actively transforming the urban landscape of the Bay Area for more than a dozen years by spearheading some of the most successful multi-family projects in the region.  Most notably, her firm was awarded the Best of the Year Design Award by Interior Design Magazine and has also been honored with a prestigious AIA Design Award. Vivian is excited about the future of San Francisco and honored to work with the APACC board to make positive changes and uplift our community.

Jonathan is equally passionate in support of the charitable efforts to alleviate social and economic disparities that exist today, in a society where the middle class are continuing to disappear. He was born in San Francisco Chinatown’s Chinese Hospital, and shortly after his family moved to Oakland where he spent half of his childhood years. Later, they moved to the next-door suburbs of Alameda, an experience which provided a constant reminder of the social and economic disparity profoundly contrasted between two neighboring communities. At age 21, he was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) at United Ambulance, a company which focused on IFT contracted throughout a number of the Bay Area hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. With that company, he found the disparity still existed and apparent even in our medical system. Eventually resigning from his position as operations manager at UA prior to committing full time with a real estate firm, it is with this experience he was driven to do more to help the underserved communities.

George graduated from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland with a B.A and M.A.  degree.  He also holds a J.D. degree from UC Berkeley School of Law where he served on the California Law Review. After a brief period practicing real estate law, George embarked on a real estate career.  His 35+ year real estate career is distinguished by repeated, stellar performances at TRI/Prudential Real Estate, Coldwell Banker, Pacific Union/GMAC where he managed both residential and commercial agents. George was the Chief Legal Counsel and one of the founders of Paragon Real Estate, a company that achieved almost $3 billion in annual sales before  merging with Compass in 2018.  George has overseen in excess of 10,000 real estate transactions during his career.  He has extensive experience developing, selling and managing new home subdivisions, condominium conversions, commercial properties and mixed use residential and commercial developments, and has successfully developed multiple projects in both San Francisco and San Mateo.

Kenneth Sung was born and raised in Hong Kong before moving to the Bay Area during 10th grade in high school. He holds a B.A. degree in Communication and Economics from the University of California, Davis. In 2012, he obtained his Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) license. With over 15 years of experience in the Trust & Safety and Payment industry, Kenneth has been actively involved in the tech industry for over a decade. Currently, he serves as the Manager of Payment Risk Operations Americas at Airbnb. With a strong dedication to helping those in need, he brings support, compassion, and practical solutions to make a positive impact on people’s lives and the community as a whole.

The recipient of numerous awards and honors, Chef Yan is internationally recognized as an accomplished Asian chef among his peers. He has also captured the attention, admiration and hearts of billions of fans by spicing up his cooking artistry and lessons with a personal ingredient: wit. Through television, or in person, a session with Chef Yan proves invigorating, as well as educational. Dedicated to dispelling the mysteries of Asian and Chinese cooking, Chef Yan furthers an understanding of Asian cuisine and culture with spirited lessons, fun and entertainment.