ABOUT US
Meet our team of volunteers, leaders, and impact makers
It all started in New York City, 1998.
A group of young Asian American professionals comprised of different backgrounds across finance, consulting, technology, media, entertainment and law founded a team to empower the Asian American community. They established an organization with the mindset of volunteering, increasing awareness and fundraising for fellow organizations within their own community.
Building upon those principles and looking to empower our community, PbP created an innovative platform by which our members exercise leadership skills through direct work and engagement with our partner non-profit organization.
As a mark of its success and impact, PbP’s influence expanded to Los Angeles in 2001. Eventually it reached San Francisco in 2009. Since then, all three chapters have been continuously providing a platform for Asian Americans to practice, develop, and execute their leadership skills.
OUR VALUES
PEOPLE FIRST
Respect and trust is the cornerstone of creating a safe environment for our members to participate and engage, thereby allowing growth and development.
ASPIRE TO INSPIRE
As leaders in the community, it is critical that our members maintain a philosophy of aspiration and empowerment. Our members challenge themselves and those around them to inspire change.
TAKE OWNERSHIP
PbP fosters an environment of collaboration and peer-to-peer learning. Growth only happens when ownership is taken. We deeply believe in the idea of “our community, our responsibility”.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Liliana Chen
Co-Founder & Board Member
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Nirendran Kathirithamby
Board Member
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JT Kim
Board Member
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Patrick Lee
Board Member
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Ms. Liliana Chen is a co-founder of Project by Project and the only member of the founding team to continuously serve through present day. She has held various position on the leadership team throughout her many years of volunteering with the organization including National President. Under her guardianship, PbP grew to three chapters nationwide (NYC, LA and SF), bolstered the PbP brand through marketing initiatives and expanded the organization’s marquee gala event, “Plate by Plate.” Ms. Chen graduated from New York University with a Bachelor degree in Broadcast Journalism and an Associate degree in Liberal Arts. She is a public relations executive currently working at The Swatch Group as P.R. Manager for the prestige watch brand, Breguet.
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Mr. Nirendran Kathirithamby has volunteered with PbP since 2006 and now serves on the Board as a director. He started his service to PbP as a general volunteer for events and then a member of the Restaurant Committee, before being appointed Director of Volunteer Management, all with the New York Chapter. Then furthering his commitment, in 2009 he was appointed as Legal Counsel for New York, and then eventually General Counsel, to become an integral part of the executive leadership in matters of strategic development and compliance. Mr. Kathirithamby graduated from the University of Rochester with a degree in Political Science and received his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 2006. He currently works as the General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer for Universa Investments L.P., a registered investment adviser based out of Miami, Florida.
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Mr. JT Kim joined Project by Project in 2008 and served as the Los Angeles chapter’s President in 2011 and 2012. He went on to serve as the National President of the organization from 2013 to 2016. As National President, he led the charge in updating PbP’s mission to focus on leadership development through innovative philanthropy. He has been a Director on PbP's Board of Directors since 2018.
Outside of PbP, JT has curated and produced countless events as a consultant to some of the most exciting hospitality groups in Los Angeles, including fundraisers for various community organizations.
He is currently the Head of Business Development at Career Karma, an education technology startup that has a mission of helping 1 billion lives in the next 10 years through its upskilling and reskilling education solutions. JT is passionate about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and as an ed tech executive who partners with large-enterprise companies, he seeks to provide access to life-improving education that has traditionally been out of reach for many disadvantaged groups.
JT graduated from UCLA in 2005 with a dual bachelor's degree in Psychology and Asian American Studies.
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Patrick joined the PbP Board of Directors in 2023, after serving as the National President. He began his journey in PbP in 2016 as a member of the Events Team with PbP-Los Angeles, an experience that, to this date, he considers of his most memorable years. His passion for enhancing the volunteer experience led to Patrick serving as the Director of Team & Leadership for PbP-LA and, subsequently, as the National Director of Leadership Development, where he had the opportunity to work with members from all 3 PbP chapters. What brings Patrick back to PbP every year is seeing the friendships and bonds that grow within the organization every year and he believes that PbP has the ability to bring together people from various circles that otherwise would not meet. Personally, he has met some of his closest friends from PbP, some of whom are now raising the next generation of PbP-ers as parents.
Professionally, Patrick works in the clinical research and biotechnology space. He currently works with the Operational Design Team at Amgen, working with cross-functional teams to develop the most innovative and patient-centric clinical trials in the industry. Prior to Amgen, Patrick worked at two clinical research start-ups: Science 37 and Lightship, helping to build out an innovative clinical research model, called Decentralized Clinical Trials, to bring research directly to the patients. Patrick earned his Bachelors degree in Neurobiology from the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD in Molecular and Medical Pharmacology from the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
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Chern Lee
Board Member
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Jennifer Lee
Board Member
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Chern is a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in online advertising, digital marketing, and e-commerce. Throughout his career, he has founded multiple startups that have collectively generated more than $600M in sales for clients. His own e-commerce brands - spanning electronics, health, and beauty categories - have sold over $50M. He currently leads Iconic Industry, a boutique product development & performance marketing agency.
A longtime supporter of Project by Project (PbP), Chern attended his first Plate by Plate event in Los Angeles back in 2012. Through mutual PbP friends in New York City, he even met his wife, Stacey. Now, as a PbP board member, he is eager to leverage his expertise and passion to further the organization’s mission.
When he’s not driving growth, Chern enjoys traveling the globe, seeking out culinary adventures, and spending time with his pup, Ollie. A true Californian at heart, he grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, spent most of his adult life in San Diego, and has also lived in NYC and the Caribbean. He holds a degree in Cognitive Science from UC San Diego.
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Jennifer has been part of Project by Project since 2018, when she served in the role as Co-Chair for Plate by Plate, SF Chapter. She has also served as Co-Event Producer to create PbP's first ever online fundraising event, PbP Connects, in lieu of an in person fundraising event during Covid.
Beyond Project by Project, Jennifer has worked in the fashion industry for over two decades. As a Fashion Stylist, she has worked on global advertising campaigns in the US and Europe, alongside celebrities and media personalities. As Fashion Director, Jennifer has contributed to multiple luxury publications and brand activations, having been instrumental in shaping the visual conversation of the projects. Currently a Contributing Editor to Forbes.com, she writes about sustainability in the luxury fashion, beauty, and travel sectors. She is often invited to speak on panels, attend exclusive global press experiences and international fashion shows.
In addition to her work in fashion, Jennifer is an avid environmentalist and advocate for social justice. In her spare time, she has volunteered with various non profits including the Surfrider Foundation for ocean clean ups, fundraised for Muttville, a non profit senior dog rescue, and worked on both statewide and national election campaigns.
THE NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE
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Helen Ma
National President
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Kent Chen
National Team and Leadership Director
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Alek Tan
National Secretary
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Ray Warriner
National Director of Operations
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Helen’s love of community service, supporting AAPI businesses, and events brought her to Project by Project in 2020. She is now serving her 6th year with PbP and her 2nd year as National President, having previously served as the National Team & Leadership Director and SF Chapter President. Helen has been involved in community service since elementary school and loves that it provides opportunities for her to volunteer, meet people from all walks of life, and practice leadership skills in a way that hasn’t always been available in her career in Human Resources.
Helen graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a BA in Sociology and Feminist Studies and loves using her education to better connect people and communities together. Helen loves making home cooked meals from around the world, often adding Asian influences to her cooking.
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Kent has volunteered with PbP-LA since 2017, with experiences on the Team & Leadership and Outreach teams. From 2020 to 2021, he served as the Director of Team & Leadership team before taking on the LA President role from 2022-2023. Kent aspires to volunteer and serve his community as PbP has allowed him to interact with many community partners along with learning about social issues in the Greater LA API community.
Outside of PbP, Kent is a Senior Business Analyst at SoCalGas, working in the Financial and Business Planning team and also actively involved in SoCalGas' Employee Resource Group, Community of Asian Pacific Islanders in Energy (CAPE), serving as President. Kent also serves on the board of OCA Asian Pacific Advocates Greater Los Angeles Chapter (OCA-GLA) as Board Treasurer. Kent graduated from UC Berkeley in 2016 with a bachelor's degree in Applied Mathematics and earned his MBA degree from Pepperdine University in 2022.
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Alek has volunteered with PbP since 2013 and served as the National Treasurer on the National Steering Committee reporting to the Board. He started volunteering with PbP as a Sales Manager on the Fundraising Team and then a Fundraising Director before taking on the Finance Director role with the LA Chapter. Alek graduated from the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) with a degree in Economics focusing in business. He currently works at KPMG on driving the CFO agenda forward through Finance Transformation.
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Since joining in 2011, Ray has played an integral roles in growing PbP to reach new heights. Through his previous roles as Director of Operations and Volunteer Manager in LA he has proven the ability to take his skill sets, talents and project management skills to improve processes, efficiency and accountability for the entire organization. Community service is what originally attracted Ray to PbP but it is the great leaders and friends he has made throughout the organization that fuel his passion for PbP's ideals and goals. Recognizing the various issues affecting the Asian-American community and working with driven professionals inspire him each year that together we can make change in our communities. Ray graduated from UC Riverside with a double major in Psychology and Ethnic Studies with an asian concentration. He is a Senior Systems Engineer focusing on IT Security for a litigation support firm. Outside of PbP, his hobbies and interests include spending time with his wife Theresa and two children, watching movies (especially superhero genre), the Lakers, the Patriots, finding new restaurants\eateries, morning hikes and various adventures.
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Amy Wong
National Treasurer
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Amanda Gau
General Counsel
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Andy Tran
General Counsel
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Irene Nham
National Fundraising
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Amy is the National Treasurer for Project by Project (PbP). She joined PbP NY Chapter in 2019 to develop her leadership and networking skills, as well as empower the Asian community. Previously, she was the Director of Fundraising, Director of Operations and Director of Finance. Outside of PbP, Amy is a full-time corporate accountant. To keep mentally sane, she likes to travel and hang out with her friends and family. She grew up in Brooklyn and lived in Philadelphia for 13 years. She recently returned to New York City in 2017 and is excited to see how much NYC has changed. She received her Bachelor’s in Accounting from Pennsylvania State University and her Master’s in Accounting from Rutgers University. She is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Pennsylvania.
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Andy joined Project by Project in 2020 and currently serves as General Counsel, providing legal and advisory guidance within the organization. Andy was born and raised in Chicago, plays soccer, and enjoys acoustic, Spanish music.
He is Senior Counsel at Gordon & Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP in the Employment Law Practice Group, representing and defending employers and corporations against retaliation, discrimination, harassment, wage/hour, breach of contract, and fraud claims, including potential class actions. Before GRSM, Andy was a litigator at two national law firms, defending healthcare institutions and Fortune 500 companies against professional and general liability claims. During law school, he served under the Obama administration in the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Treasury, and Federal Communications Commission.
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Amanda joined Project by Project in 2023 as Legal Counsel for the San Francisco chapter and is excited to continue her service as General Counsel for the national organization. She always looks forward to collaborating with other enthusiastic volunteers and is motivated by the opportunity to use her legal experience to engage with and give back to the communities that shaped her. Amanda is a bay area native who never lived too far, receiving her B.S. and B.A. from UC Davis and her J.D. from UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings).
Amanda currently works as Head of Legal for an AI SaaS company where she advises on a variety of legal matters, including commercial transactions, product, marketing, and privacy, and she appreciates applying the same problem-solving skills to support PbP initiatives. In her spare time, Amanda enjoys traveling anywhere outside the bay, eating delicious and/or new foods, scuba diving, and starting new hobbies.
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Irene is the mother to a beautiful 4 year old child with special needs. Watching him grow, learn, and thrive is her biggest joy. By trade she works at an LA County hospital as a Physical Therapist Assistant treating patients with varying diagnosis from Neurological (Stroke, Spinal injury, and Brain injury) to orthopedic and surgical.
In her first year as a member and Fundraising Director in 2023, Irene played a pivotal role in the strategic planning, contributing significantly to the Los Angeles chapter of PbP surpass their fundraising goals for the year. Joining PbP provided her the opportunity to hone in on leadership skills, networking, and to venture into doing something out of the ordinary during her free time.
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Jason Chen
Finance Director, New York
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Adrian Wong
Finance Director, Los Angeles
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Brandon Ye
Finance Director, San Francisco
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Rory Zia
National Outreach Director
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Jason started in 2021 as a Manager on the Team & Leadership committee, followed by serving as a co-Director of the Team & Leadership committee in 2022. He discovered Project by Project via 2019’s Plate by Plate and joined after COVID restrictions loosened to find more volunteer opportunities and explore the philanthropic & non-profit space. He is a native New Yorker, having grown up in Brooklyn and graduated from Baruch College with a degree in Finance & Investments.
He started his professional career in finance at J.P. Morgan, and after 5 years working in various functions and different parts of the bank, he changed industries and spent the following 2.5 years working at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Presently, he works in Operations at a boutique consulting company.
In his spare time, he loves finding new music to listen to on Spotify, hiking (mostly regional New York hikes), and watching almost any sport that is televised. Go Yankees!
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Adrian first joined Project by Project in 2017 and spent three years as part of the Los Angeles Chapter's Events Team, including two years as Beverage Relations Manager. He now serves as the Finance Director for the San Francisco chapter. Adrian received his Bachelor's degree in Political Economy from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently an Associate Vice President in the Real Estate Debt group of Ares Management Corporation. In his free time, he is an avid home cook and baker as well as an amateur wine enthusiast.
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Brandon joined Project by Project in 2023 on a mission to create positive impacts in the Bay Area community with a group of like-minded and ambitious leaders. He began as a Fundraising committee member and is now guiding the finances of the San Francisco chapter as Finance Director. Brandon graduated with an Economics degree from the University of California, Berkeley and built a career in corporate development and strategy. When he is not thinking of ways of helping the Asian community, Brandon enjoys trying new restaurants, hiking and spending time with family and friends.
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Rory was born and raised in Hawaii, and went to university in New England. While he has lived abroad for a majority of his post-grad life, he is currently living in the Bay Area, previously working in tech as a product manager. Rory and the SF Outreach team have worked on campaigns and partnerships with East Bay Asian Youth Center, APA Family Support Services, Florence Fang Community Farms, and more. He is excited to work with all of PbP's chapters to increase PbP's impact with the AAPI community and beyond, as well as help develop the next generation of innovative leaders.
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Loretta Wang
National Events Director
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Hing Potter
San Francisco Chapter President
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Brian Kohaya
Los Angeles Chapter President
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Berton Wang
New York Chapter President
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Though Loretta only joined PbP last year, she had the pleasure of volunteering at all three chapter ATBs, engaging with F&B vendors, steering committee members, and observing how each chapter operates their events. Loretta is an Ops & Business strategist and Freelance Consultant for small businesses. Through her work, she has cultivated strong networks, forged brand relationships, and has built partnerships with diverse individuals and groups. She is actively immersed in the AAPI community—connecting, elevating, and finding strategic ways to support creators and businesses.
During her spare time, you’ll likely find her reading at local cafes with her pup or mastering the craft of ceramics. Loretta also thrives taking on side projects, leading beverage operations for a private supper club, establishing bar programs for food festivals, and bartending for events.
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Hing (he/him) enters his first year as SF Chapter President and fifth overall with Project by Project. Previously Hing worked us way up through Team and Leadership learning all the ins and outs of the chapter logistics and leading membership experiences. Outside of PbP, Hing has work in student affairs higher education for 12 years, where his passion is supporting students to have a complete collegiate experience through identity and leadership development and intentional experiential learning experiences.
As a Khmer transracial-transnational adoptee (TRA), Hing also spends time in the adoptee community advocating and amplifying adoptee narratives, particularly to ensure Asian adoptee voices are included in the Asian American conversation. This includes volunteering his time on the leadership team of the Asian Pacific Islander Knowledge Community (APIKC) within NASPA, Hing's professional association. On his free time, Hing enjoys global travel, freelance photography, spending time with his 18-year old dach"son" name Buster wedding planning with his fiancé and is an aviation enthusiast.
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Brian joined PbP in 2021 on the fundraising team. He served as the Director of Fundraising in 2022 and the Manager of Campaign Theme Awareness in 2023. Brian is a proud double Bruin completing his bachelor's degree in Asian American studies and psychology and is currently finishing his master's degree in urban and regional planning. His focus is on housing policy and community development in Asian American ethnic enclaves.
Brian enjoys spending time going to the gym, trying new restaurants, and completing his living national Pokedex. His least favorite weather condition is wind.
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Berton is a Taiwanese American born and raised from Central New Jersey. After growing up in a town with few Asian Americans, Berton has over time developed a passion for empowering the same community. He joined Project by Project as a way to give back to the community while also developing his leadership skills as a young professional. He previously served as a Co-Director of Events and a Member of the Outreach Team.
Berton graduated from Rutgers University with degrees in computer science and business analytics and currently works in business strategy at Synchrony Bank. In his free time, you can find Berton doing some type of leg sport like inline speedskating, distance running, or skiing.
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Mike de Vera
National Marketing Director
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Vanessa Wong
National Web Design
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Mike de Vera plays many roles including a non-profit marketing specialist, videographer, online learning administrator, travel enthusiast, and foodie. In 2022, he joined PbP in San Francisco, and then moved to Los Angeles the following year, where he eventually served as LA's Marketing Director, leading a team of awesome creative-minded people. During his time in LA, he co-produced a video series called Menus Unwrapped.
During the day, Mike works as the Director of Graduate Student Services for Online Programs at Northeastern University, managing the residency program and advising a caseload of diverse graduate students from all over the country who are breaking into the tech field.Some of his favorite books areMan’s Search for Meaning,Emergent Strategy, andDesigning Your Life. You can find him listening to EDM, BlackPink, The Killers, or John Williams.
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Vanessa has been involved with PbP as the LA chapter marketing director in 2023 and design manager in 2021-2022. She is currently an art director and multidisciplinary designer at Accenture Song, who specializes in visual design, brand identity, and UX strategy. She graduated from the Speculative Design Visual Arts program at UC San Diego and found her curiosity in the intersection of design and tech innovation that drives positive social impact for the community.
Besides sharing ideas through design, Vanessa also shares a passion for education and youth development. This led her to cofound an educational nonprofit called Menti, a learning platform and community for young adults to access essential professional and personal development resources. When she's not thinking about design, she's planning on her next travel itinerary.
MEET OUR CHAPTER TEAMS
EST 1998
NEW YORK
LOS ANGELES
EST 2001
EST 2009