Leadership in Philanthropy Honorees

A Palo Alto native, Jeremy Lin is a guard for the Beijing Ducks and was the NBA’s first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent. In 2019 he became the first Asian American to win an NBA Championship with the Toronto Raptors. Prior to his NBA career, Lin played four seasons at Harvard and was an All-Ivy First Team selection two times (2009, 2010).

In February 2012, two years after going undrafted in the NBA Draft, Lin’s rise to prominence spread like wildfire.… Read More

Maulik is an award-winning actor, author and activist whose work has spanned hit television shows, the Broadway stage and films. He is best known for playing Jonathan on NBC’s award-winning comedy 30 Rock, Sanjay on the Showtime hit series Weeds, and Neal on the NBC comedy Whitney. He is also the voice of Baljeet on Disney’s Phineas and Ferb, and the title voice of Sanjay on Nickelodeon’s Sanjay and Craig – the first lead Indian-American character on a network cartoon.… Read More

Kevin Chou is the founding CEO of Forte, a blockchain venture in the games industry. Forte’s mission is to build a more collaborative future in gaming by realigning the economic relationship between players and developers. Kevin was the founding CEO and currently serves as the Chairman of Gen.G, an esports enterprise bridging Asia and North America. Previously, Kevin was CEO and co-founder of Kabam, a top developer of mobile games. He led the company from business plan founding to over $400M in annual revenue serving over 500 million players.… Read More

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Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye is the 28th Chief Justice of California and the first Asian American and the second woman to serve as the chief justice of the nation’s largest state judicial system. She has served for more than 20 years on California appellate and trial courts and has been appointed or elevated to higher office by three governors. Among her many accomplishments, Cantil-Sakauye created the first domestic violence court of its kind in 1998.… Read More

Emerald Yeh is a founding member of the Asian Pacific Fund who advocated for the formation of the Fund as a board member of the United Way of the Bay Area. She has been on the board for 18 years, including five years as board chair leading the successful completion of the Fund’s Endowment Campaign during the Fund’s most formative years. Her leadership helped the Fund to secure $12 million to invest in future grantmaking to the API community.… Read More

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For more than 40 years, Minami Tamaki LLP has been a trailblazer in legal services and civil rights on behalf of the Asian American community. The firm made history by reopening the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Korematsu v. the United States, and overturning the conviction of Fred Korematsu. The outcome led to reparations for interned Japanese Americans.

A 1983 press conference on the Korematsu internment case. Seated (L to R) Dale Minami, Fred Korematsu, and Peter Irons.… Read More

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Sheila is the founder, chairwoman and CEO of Care.com, the world’s largest online destination for finding and managing family care, with more than 20.7 million members across 18 countries. She has been honored with numerous accolades, including one of the “Top 10 Women Entrepreneurs” at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit (2009) and Fortune Magazine (2014). Sheila is a Board Trustee of the Philippine Development Foundation, a non-profit organization that works with the Philippine government on education, innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives.… Read More

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Gideon Yu is the chief executive officer and co-founder of Eva Automation as well as a co-owner and former president of the San Francisco 49ers. He was the first team president of color in the history of the National Football League. Prior to his career in sports management, Gideon was the chief financial officer of both Facebook and YouTube. He was also a general partner at Khosla Ventures. Through his family foundation, he has supported anti-poverty programs, scholarships at Stanford University and ministries across the country.… Read More

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Steve Chen was instrumental in building YouTube – a site which has had a profound impact on the way we communicate, learn and connect. As a Co-Founder, he played a key role in launching  the company and turning YouTube  into the world’s premier entertainment destination.

With his success, Steve has also become a role model for the next generation of Asian American philanthropists. He has led the way for young entrepreneurs who believe in investing in the community.… Read More

The Banatao name is synonymous with vision and achievement in technology and entrepreneurship. But Dado and Maria Banatao should be just as highly regarded for their philanthropic achievements. Dado and Maria established the Banatao Family Filipino American Education Fund with the Asian Pacific Fund in 2002 to help California high school students of Filipino heritage pursue careers in science and engineering–fields where Filipinos are underrepresented.

“Maria and I hope this will inspire students to dream big and to make the sacrifices needed to continue their education so they can fully contribute to society and make their dreams a reality,” Dado says.… Read More

As the Chairman and CEO of East West Bank, Dominic Ng has transformed his company from a small Los Angeles Chinatown savings and loan association to one of the 30 largest banks in the US. Named one of 25 most notable Chinese Americans by Forbes and one of L.A.’s 100 most influential people by the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Ng also serves as the Chairman of the Committee of 100 and sits on the boards of several other major organizations. … Read More

Hsing Kung is a Managing Partner of Acorn Campus Ventures, a technology venture fund and incubator in Silicon Valley and East Asia. Hsing co-founded Pine Photonics in 2000 and was CEO and founder of Luxnet Corp from 1998 to 2000. He has co-founded and led several other optoelectronics companies after beginning his career at Hewlett-Packard in 1974. In recent years, Dr. Kung has devoted his time to promoting civic engagement among the Chinese American community.… Read More

Norman Mineta most recently served in President George W. Bush’s Cabinet as the United States Secretary of Transportation, the only Democratic Cabinet Secretary in the Bush administration. He was the longest-serving Transportation Secretary in the Department’s history. Mineta also served as President Bill Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce for the last six months of his term in 2000–2001. Save for a span of five days between the end of Clinton’s term and Bush’s appointments, Mineta spent nearly six full years as the first Asian American member of the US Presidential Cabinet. … Read More

Amy Tan is the world renowned author of best-selling novels including “The Joy Luck Club.” Her books have received numerous awards and have been translated into 35 languages. She co-produced and screen-wrote the highly acclaimed movie “The Joy Luck Club” and wrote the libretto for a major opera based on another novel, “The Bonesetter’s Daughter.” Her children’s book about her cat, Sagwa, was turned into a PBS animated series. Amy sings in a rock band to raise money for charity and is a highly sought-after speaker.… Read More