FOUNDERS

SANDY CHAU

Mr. Chau has started numerous successful technology companies. He is a long-time venture capitalist and real estate investor and was a founder of the Acorn Campus, a technology incubator that provides early round seed funding. He has more than 40 years of business experience in the United States, Taiwan, China, and elsewhere in the Pacific Rim.

Mr. Chau is a philanthropist and focuses on social justice issues. In addition to the Civic Leadership USA, he is the board chair of Vision New America and the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association. He is also an executive board member of Shin Shin Education Foundation, an organization dedicated to education equity in China.

Mr. Chau was born in Shanghai and raised in Hong Kong and Vietnam. He received his Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and MBA from UC Berkeley.

MARIA CHEN

A respected leader in the non-profit performing arts field, to which she has devoted countless volunteer hours in the past twenty years, Maria Chen was the founder of Dimension Performing Arts, a non-profit presenter of Chinese performing arts from the 1990s to 2010 in the San Francisco Bay Area. These invaluable experiences provided Maria a solid foundation for leadership and team building, which was essential to her success in the mortgage industry. In 2005, she started her own company The Loan Story in a down market. The company thrives in chaos of the financial meltdown and to this day there is not a single loan default in her entire career.

A literature major in College, Maria brings a very personal touch to her business. To her, business is about building relationships and understanding needs. Throughout the years, her office has become the ultimate resource center for home owners. House, finance, family, investment, neighborhoods, kids, education, arts… the list can go on and on.

JOYCE HSU

Born in China, Joyce grew up in Hong Kong and Taiwan. After graduating from National Taiwan University, she came to California in 1965 to pursue her graduate studies in biochemistry at Caltech. She later married her college sweetheart and raised three wonderful children- two sons and a daughter. 

Though educated as a biochemist, Joyce has always fostered a strong interest in the arts, theatre and script writing. During her treatment in 1996, an urge to pursue her dream of being a playwright awoke. Her first work, “Who’s the Winner?” was produced that year. “Date of a Lifetime”, “Hsi-Shih-The Aching Heart”, “A Bushel of Love”, “Yin and Yang” and “It’s Too Much Trouble to Change Your Wife”. In 2011, the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic of China, Joyce wrote and produced a grand historical drama "Soaring Over A Century - A Family Saga". All seven of her plays (written and performed in Chinese with English subtitles) premiered in the California Bay Area. Among them, four of her works were adopted by professiobal drama groups in Shanghai and showcased there and also other cities.“Hsi Shih” a historical drama, was transformed into a musical in 2001, and exhibited in the Shanghai International Arts Festival. In 2006, “It’s Too Much Trouble to Change Your Wife”, a comedy, was showcased in Shanghai’s Grand Theatre.

HSING KUNG, Chairman of the Board

Mr. Kung is a successful entrepreneur and venture capital investor. He is a philanthropist both in America and in China. He has funded internships and scholarships for Asian American students and supported programs to increase Asian American civic participation. He has founded elementary schools in low income regions of China and donated the school supplies and clothing needed by impoverished students to succeed in school.

Mr. Kung has also been a tireless advocate of art in the Silicon Valley. He has been a board of numerous art organizations, including SVCreates and Dimension Performing Arts.

Mr. Kung was raised in Taiwan and received his Ph.D in electrical engineering from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Santa Clara University.

ANTHONY NG

Mr. Ng has over 25 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations. He has provided services including strategic planning, management consulting, program development and evaluation, fundraising, and public relations. He has worked with numerous nonprofits including the Pennsylvania Council for the Arts, the Pew Charitable Trust, Nueva Esperanza, and the Latin American Economic Development Association. He is currently the Executive Director of Civic Leadership, USA.

Mr Ng graduated from Drexel University with a Masters Degree in Art Administration focusing on nonprofit organizations. He grew up in Hong Kong and is an award-winning composer and a gourmet cook.