OUR TEAM

Venture Partner, CatchLight Capital Partners

“Having been involved with the Asian Pacific Fund for twenty years, I have had the opportunity to witness the invaluable work the organization does for the Asian and Pacific Islander community. I am so grateful for the existence of the Asian Pacific Fund, without which the API community would lack needed visibility and support for the important issues facing it, and I’m thrilled to be able to support it directly with my time and resources.”

Tom Cole is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital and angel investor, startup CEO, entrepreneur, board member, and advisor with a diverse and proven 25-year track record across the software, Internet, and e-commerce sectors. He is currently the Co-Founder & CFO at Pantastic.

He previously served as a Venture Partner at TransLink, advising on all aspects of fund strategy and operations, and he was a Managing Partner of Hone Capital, a Palo Alto based venture capital firm investing in early-stage technology and Internet companies. As a co-founder of the Hone Capital, he opened the Silicon Valley office and was involved in its investments in companies such as Stripe, Carbon Black (CBLK), Roofstock, Gusto, TransferWise, and Guardant Health (GH). Prior to that, Tom was the CEO of Beau-coup, the premier online retailer of party favors, gifts, supplies, and decorations. Tom led Beau-coup for over five years, during which time he grew the business and ultimately guided it through a successful merger exit. Previously, he was a General Partner at Trinity Ventures, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm where he spent over a decade investing in leading-edge technology and new media companies. Tom has served as a personal investor, advisor and/or equity holder in startups. Earlier in his career, he held numerous software design and development roles at both startups and larger companies including Oracle Corporation, Wells Fargo, and Approach Software.

Tom studied computer science in his undergraduate studies at Yale, and later earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He is a past board member and Chair of the Glow Foundation, and served on the Corporate Advisory Council of StarVista (Youth and Family Enrichment Services), and works with the admissions committees of Yale College and the Stanford GSB. Tom is known as a foodie, golf hack, and Bay Area sports fan.

Managing Partner and the Chief Investment Strategist, Bivium Capital Partners

Kai leads investment strategy and strategic research at Bivium and is responsible for asset allocation and market research, portfolio construction and risk management, manager search and due diligence, as well as product development. Kai has over 25 years of investment experience.

Prior to joining Bivium, Kai was a Managing Director and the Head of Investment Management Consulting at Thomas Weisel Partners, where he oversaw the outside manager investment platform for the firm’s institutional and high-net-worth clients. Kai was formerly a Vice President and Senior Investment Analyst at Northern Trust Global Advisors, where he was the lead research analyst for fixed income and the emerging manager program. Before Northern Trust, he was part of Goldman Sachs’ external manager of managers group. Kai worked on a number of the outsourced CIO portfolios at both Goldman Sachs and Northern Trust.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Engineering degree from MIT. He is a CFA charter holder and a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of San Francisco.  Currently, Kai also serves on the board of The California Endowment.

Journalist; Former Anchor, KRON4

“As one of the founding board members in 1993, I remember clearly our vision of catalyzing Asian American wealth for public good in a way not done before. With your help, we are shaping a dynamic Asian philanthropic presence in the Bay Area, ensuring that overlooked needs in the Asian community are addressed through millions of grant and scholarship dollars.”

Emerald Yeh is an nine-time Emmy Award-winning television journalist who served as an anchor for 19 years at KRON4 in San Francisco. During her tenure at KRON4, she received numerous national and local awards for her reporting. Emerald also led KRON4’s Contact 4 unit with reports that examined consumer issues and provided problem-solving information. Her Contact 4 team received the Consumer Excellence Award from advocacy organization Consumer Action. Prior to joining KRON in 1984, Emerald anchored for CNN in Atlanta. Before CNN, Emerald was weeknight anchor and co-producer of the nightly news program at KPTV, an independent station in Portland, Ore. She began her television career as reporter and weekend anchor at KITV, the ABC affiliate in Honolulu.

Emerald has also received community awards from the State Attorney General, Youth Advocates, the Association of Children’s Services, CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates for Foster Children), the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Asian Women’s Shelter, Asian Perinatal Advocates, the Organization of Chinese Americans, Nihonmachi Legal Outreach, and the Chinatown Community Development Center.

In addition to being a founding board member of the Asian Pacific Fund, Emerald has served on the boards of the United Way of the Bay Area and the Center for the Pacific Rim at the University of San Francisco. She currently serves on the UCSF Wellness Lecture Committee and chairs the James Beard Foundation’s Broadcast Awards Committee. A graduate of the University of Hawaii, Emerald majored in journalism and minored in political science. She earned a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University.

Partner, Goodwin Procter LLP

Neel Chatterjee is a partner in Goodwin’s Intellectual Property practice. An internationally recognized technology litigator and trial lawyer, Mr. Chatterjee has a proven track record of wins in hard-to-win technology cases. Mr. Chatterjee has a passion for representing entrepreneurs and disruptive technology companies, even at their earliest stages. His cases often break new ground in undefined areas of the law. Clients frequently turn to Mr. Chatterjee shortly before trial to handle complex technology cases. A key strategist on complex litigation spanning multiple venues, Mr. Chatterjee simplifies extremely complex concepts to ensure that judges and juries understand the key issues in each case.

Founder, Chavez Family Foundation

Rosalyn Chen spent 10+ years as an investment banker at Merrill Lynch, UBS Investment Bank and Piper Jaffray to secure capital market funding for infrastructure projects for her government agency clients.  She also worked as an expert witness for financial litigations. She has since transitioned from finance to philanthropy and have focused her time on the areas of immigration, education and anti-violence against women.

In 2016, Rosalyn along with her husband and sister-in-law founded their family foundation, the Chavez Family Foundation, whose mission is to advance causes related to immigration, education and entrepreneurship.  She serves on the board of Upwardly Global, with a mission to eliminate employment barriers for immigrants and refugees professionals.  She also serves on the board of Every Woman Treaty, waging a campaign for a global treaty to end violence against women and girls.  She served on the board of the Good Samaritan Family Resource Center, which provides basic services and pre-school education to new immigrants to San Francisco.

Rosalyn received her BA in political science from UC San Diego and her MBA in finance from University of Southern California.

Senior Vice President, SaaS Engineering, Nutanix

Kathy Chou is SVP of Saas Engineering at Nutanix. Prior to this, she has held the positions of Senior Vice President of Sales Strategy and Operations for VMware, Senior Vice President of Sales Strategy and Operations for Informatica, and Vice President of Sales Operations and Strategy at Intuit. Before that, she was HP’s Vice President of Strategy and Operations for the Personal Systems Group (PSG) in the Americas region, where she was responsible for driving sales strategy. Chou led the HP team that won the 2009 Franz Edelman award for outstanding achievement in applied operations research, awarded by the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS).

Chou has more than 20 years of operations and management experience in the high-tech industry. She was Vice President of Strategic Relations for Linux Networx, a Linux server start-up, and Vice President of Operations for Penguin Computing. At Agilent Technologies, Chou served as Manufacturing Manager in the start-up imaging electronics division. In addition to HP, Chou worked for General Motors, SRI International, and Monitor Company, a strategic management consulting firm.

Chou holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a master’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Stanford University, and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. She most recently served on the Stanford Presidential Search Committee, has chaired the Stanford Alumni Committee on Trustee Nominations and served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors. She is currently a director for the Stanford Institute for Research in Social Sciences (IRISS). Chou lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and four sons.

President, Check Point Software Technologies

Rupal Hollenbeck is the President of Check Point Software Technologies, where she manages all commercial and go-to-market functions for the company. Prior to joining Check Point, Ms. Hollenbeck served as a senior executive in some of the world’s largest technology companies, including Oracle and Intel Corporation. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Blackbaud, a publicly traded technology company in the US. As an advocate for inclusive organizations and the development of women, Rupal is an industry advisor to the California State University’s Women in Leadership program. She is also a Founding Member of Neythri, an organization dedicated to the professional advancement of South Asian women, and a Founding Limited Partner in the Neythri Futures Fund.

General Counsel, 3Degrees Group, Inc.

“As a former member of the Asian Pacific Fund Advisory Council, I’ve had a front row seat in seeing how the Fund operates and the value it brings to a community that many don’t recognize as being underserved. The Asian Pacific Fund sees that need, and I am honored to now serve on the Board and work with its amazing staff and other Board members to help many more members of the Asian community.”

Jan Kang is the General Counsel at the 3Degrees Group, Inc. She was previously the COO & General Counsel at Stairwell Inc. and the Acting General Counsel at Makani. Prior to Makani, she held the position of Chief Legal Officer of Chronicle LLC. Born from X, the moonshot factory, Chronicle is one of the independent companies within Alphabet, dedicated to helping companies find and stop cyberattacks.

Over 25 years in the legal field, Jan Kang has held positions in organizations focused on revolutionizing industries and being on the cutting edge of fighting cybercrime. During her tenure at  X, the moonshot factory, Jan served as General Counsel for a stealth project that graduated to become Chronicle. She’s also served as General Counsel for a number of companies, including Bromium, AOptix Technologies, Inc., Cupertino Electric, Inc. (where she also served on the Board of Directors), Prism Solutions, MyTeam and Asera, a Vinod Khosla-founded company, and associate general counsel at Lam Research Corporation. Jan worked overseas in Seoul as a foreign legal consultant for the law firm of Shin and Kim and started her career with Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton in Los Angeles, California. Her broad expertise includes corporate governance, contracts, litigation, financing, labor and employment law, mergers and acquisitions and intellectual property.

Jan is also the moving force of the Women’s General Counsel Network (WGCN). Founded in 2009, WGCN is comprised of some of the most influential, powerful female general counsel and heads of legal departments across the Nation. WGCN’s impressive membership is over 600 members strong and is still growing. Jan also serves on the Board of Directors for the Asian Pacific Fund and is a member of Hipower, the Council of Korean Americans and the Bay Area Asian American General Counsel. In 2014, Jan was the winner of the 2014 Corporate Counsel Awards (Community Champion Category) by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal. She was named as one of the Top 100 Women of Influence in Silicon Valley by the Business Journal and one of The Recorder’s 50 Women Leaders in Tech Law. Jan was also chosen as Legal Professional of the Year by the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California.

Former Executive Vice President, Kaiser Permanente

Margaret Lapiz is a seasoned corporate executive and board member with over 25 years of experience leading operations, corporate strategy, diversity and succession planning efforts. A former Kaiser Permanente EVP, she led organizational turnaround, created new business models and built health care delivery approaches geared towards market expansion and growth. A recognized health care innovator, Margaret is a pro-active, results driven leader who values a collaborative and collegial approach to decision-making.

Since her retirement from Kaiser Permanente in 2018, Margaret has worked in advisory and project roles with Google, Netflix and the Aspen Institute. She also co-founded Under One Roof, a social impact venture focused on advancing a collaborative, future-oriented, coordinated approach to health and wellbeing in farmworker and rural communities. In Spring 2020, she was tapped to lead the COVID-19 response and recovery efforts for Santa Cruz County, California.

Margaret is in her third term as a trustee on the University of California at Davis Foundation Board, where she previously served as vice-chair of the audit committee, member of the finance and investment committee, and chair of the Davis Chancellor’s Club. She led the launch and is currently chair of the university’s women and philanthropy initiative and member of their Global Leadership Council. Her other community volunteer experience include advisory board roles with the Asian Pacific Fund, Health Career Connection and Prep Medico, one of the nation’s largest physician pipeline programs for Latino college students, which she co-founded in 2015.

Margaret served for eight years on the board of Mid-Atlantic Permanente, a professional corporation with $1B in annual revenue. In addition, in her EVP role within Kaiser Permanente, she had the unique accountability of functioning as the executive liaison between the Permanente board chair and the CEO, working with both leaders on board effectiveness and agenda development over an 18-year period. She was responsible for director on-boarding and education. She also worked with and presented to the board in the development, approval and oversight of strategic plans focused on growth, capital strategy, talent management and diversity/inclusion.

In 2018, UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health named her one of its 75 Most Influential Alumni. Margaret received the UC Davis Alumna of the Year award that same year. In 2016, she was selected to the second class of the Aspen Institute’s Health Innovators Fellowship, a network of health care entrepreneurs and innovators from across the United States. She is a recipient of the Kaiser Permanente Latino Association Visionary Award and its RJ Erikson National Diversity Award. Margaret was recognized by Diversity MBA magazine on its Top 100 Under 50 list in 2014 and was named one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World by the Global Filipina Women’s Network. Most recently, the McNulty Foundation selected her as a recipient of its Catalyst Fund award for her efforts at addressing health inequities in farmworker communities.

With respect to research, her work with faculty at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business has resulted in the publication of papers in The Leadership Quarterly and Healthcare Management Review. Margaret earned both an MBA and MPH from the University of California, Berkeley. She received her BA in Economics from the University of California, Davis.

Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer, McKesson Corporation

Michele Lau is Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer for McKesson Corporation. As a member of the Executive Operating Team, Michele leads McKesson’s General Counsel Organization, which consists of the legal, public affairs, compliance, brand, marketing & communications, quality management, and corporate governance functions for the company and its subsidiaries.

Michele joined McKesson in 2008 and served in a variety of leadership roles, including as Senior Vice President, Corporate Secretary & Associate General Counsel from 2018 to 2021. From 2021 to 2023, Michele was appointed as Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary for GoDaddy, where she was responsible for the company’s global law, compliance, internal audit, government & industry affairs, corporate sustainability & ESG, and security, safety & resilience functions. Earlier in her career, Michele was a corporate attorney for Morrison & Foerster LLP and served as Coordinator for International Relations for the Foreign Affairs Division of the City of Wakayama, Japan.

Michele co-chairs the National Asian Pacific Bar Association’s In-House Counsel Network and serves on the board of directors of the Asian Pacific Fund.

Michele holds a Bachelor of Arts from Wesleyan University and a Juris Doctor from Cornell Law School.

Anchor & Journalist, NBC Bay Area

“When I immigrated from Mumbai to Palo Alto in 1977, there was no Asian Pacific Fund. I wish there was. In recent years, I’ve seen firsthand how the Fund impacts the Bay Area Asian/Pacific Islander community and changes lives. As our community continues to grow, the role of the Asian Pacific Fund is even more valuable as the organization not only helps people with grants and guidance, but also helps build community by encouraging those who have “made it” to give back.”

Ten-time Emmy award winner Raj Mathai is the weeknight news anchor for NBC Bay Area. Raj anchors the nightly 5 pm, 6 pm and 11 pm News and is among the Bay Area’s most well-known journalists.

Raj has interviewed many high profile newsmakers including Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom, Colin Powell, Tyler Florence, Jed York and many more.

He joined KNTV in 1998 as Sports Director and transitioned to primary news anchor in 2011.

He has reported on-location from the Olympics in London, Vancouver, Turin, Athens and Salt Lake City.

Raj is among the handful of people in the world to have run the Olympic Torch three times (1996, 2002 and 2008). He was part of the Giants broadcast team (2008-2012) with Jon Miller and Mike Krukow during NBC Bay Area telecasts of the Giants.

Raj grew up on the Peninsula and graduated from Los Altos High School. He went on to graduate from San Diego State University with a degree in journalism and political science. Before arriving at NBC Bay Area, he worked for NBC stations in Fresno, San Diego, and Arizona.

In 1995, Raj became the country’s first Indian sportscaster. Prior to his career in television, Raj served as a public relations assistant for the San Diego Chargers for five seasons.

Raj and his family contribute to the Stanford Cancer Center, Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund, College Track, Indian Community Center and various other Bay Area charities.

He is a regular guest instructor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. Raj was born in Trivandrum, India.

Managing Partner, Silicon Valley, Deloitte

Carina Ruiz Singh is Deloitte LLP’s Silicon Valley Managing Partner and leads the Risk & Financial Advisory business’ telecom, media and entertainment (TMT) industry sector. She has 25 years of experience in treasury strategy & design, finance, banking, and consulting. She leads large-scale treasury transformation initiatives that have helped clients to restructure their treasury organizations while focused on improving transactional and structural benefits.

She has advised clients of all sizes, in the design, structure, and implementation of their respective treasury groups. This includes modeling the business case for streamlining initiatives as well as determining end-to-end process flows to support efficient structures. She has reorganized treasury groups with global coverage, with consideration for the impact of the model to other functions, including tax, legal, accounts payable, IT and accounting.

Carina has led multiple divestitures in the TMT industry requiring the re-design and implementation of the treasury functions of the split businesses. This has involved the stand-up of hundreds of bank accounts across dozens of jurisdictions, covering all facets of the treasury organization, including enablement of payments capabilities ranging from checks, ACHs, to wire transfers. The engagements included the development of a strategic expansion of treasury’s responsibilities, a gap analysis of current resources to end-state requirements, an assessment of treasury system options to support the end-state design, and the end-state process flows to outline transactional and data movements across various stakeholders.

Prior to joining Deloitte, Ms. Ruiz held various positions in a global financial services institution, including as regional financial control in Asia as well as a brokered products trader in Manila, Philippines. She is a licensed CPA in California.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bun Mee Vietnamese Sandwich Eatery

Denise Tran, a former attorney, is the founder and CEO of Bun Mee Vietnamese Sandwich Eatery, a gourmet fast-casual restaurant concept with five locations in San Francisco: Pacific Heights, Financial District, SFO Terminals 1 & 3, and Marina District.

Bun Mee has been locally and nationally recognized as a pioneer in the Asian sandwich niche making delicious banh mi sandwiches with wide crossover appeal.

Launched in 2011, Bun Mee blends the street food concepts of Vietnam with Denise’s flavorful modern interpretations using fresh, local ingredients. Within months of opening, Bun Mee was critically reviewed, with many of their menu items landing on San Francisco’s “best” lists. In 2013, Bun Mee was named on Fast Casual Magazine’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers in the country at #28 between Panera Bread and Five Guys Burgers. Bun Mee has been featured on the Travel Channel’s “Food Paradise,” and has countless press mentions local, national, and international. Most notably, Bun Mee launched its national franchise program, and Bloomberg listed Bun Mee as one of the best airport restaurants in the world in 2025.

Denise has been recognized by Quick Service Magazine as one of the country’s top Wonder Women founders who are changing the game in the fast-casual industry. In 2020, the San Francisco chapter of the Entrepreneur’s Organization awarded Denise with the Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Board Emeritus

Robert Lee is the former Chairman of the Board of Blue Shield of California. He was previously the Chairman of the Committee of 100 (2002-2006) and has been a member of that organization since 1991. Bob has also served on the board of Broadvision.

Bob retired from Pacific Bell in May 1998. At the time of his retirement, he was a corporate Executive Vice President (EVP) and President of Business Communications Services, which included responsibility for $3 billion in revenue and 15,000 employees. When he was first appointed an Executive Vice President in 1987, he was the highest ranking Asian American in a major telecommunications company in the U.S. He was also the youngest EVP in the company’s history.

Bob is also a Big Brother in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program in the Bay Area. Bob received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from the University of Southern California in 1970. He received his MBA from U.C. Berkeley in 1972.

Board Emeritus

Raymond L. Ocampo Jr. is president and chief executive officer of Samurai Surfer LLC, a private investment and consulting company, and is a board member of Actuate Corporation and H5, Inc. He retired in November 1996 as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Oracle Corporation after serving as its chief legal counsel for more than a decade. Before joining Oracle Corporation in 1986, Ray specialized in antitrust and complex litigation with various law firms in San Francisco. He also taught professional responsibility, trial practice, and legal writing and research at Hastings College of the Law. After retiring from Oracle Corporation, Ray co-founded the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, the top-rated intellectual property program in the United States, and served as its executive director for two years. He was the 2001-02 chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Science & Technology Law.

In addition to serving on numerous corporate boards, Ray has served on several nonprofit boards, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, Crystal Springs Uplands School (Hillsborough, Calif.), Earthjustice, and KQED. He co-founded and served as president of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California.

Ray was born in the Philippines and received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley.

Board Emeritus

Raymond L. Ocampo Jr. is president and chief executive officer of Samurai Surfer LLC, a private investment and consulting company, and is a board member of Actuate Corporation and H5, Inc. He retired in November 1996 as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary of Oracle Corporation after serving as its chief legal counsel for more than a decade. Before joining Oracle Corporation in 1986, Ray specialized in antitrust and complex litigation with various law firms in San Francisco. He also taught professional responsibility, trial practice, and legal writing and research at Hastings College of the Law. After retiring from Oracle Corporation, Ray co-founded the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, the top-rated intellectual property program in the United States, and served as its executive director for two years. He was the 2001-02 chair of the American Bar Association’s Section of Science & Technology Law.

In addition to serving on numerous corporate boards, Ray has served on several nonprofit boards, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the Berkeley Center for Law & Technology, Crystal Springs Uplands School (Hillsborough, Calif.), Earthjustice, and KQED. He co-founded and served as president of the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California.

Ray was born in the Philippines and received his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley.