APCF Annual Gala
See you for our 35th Anniversary Giving for All Seasons Fundraising Gala
on June 5, 2025 at Los Angeles Athletic club
Honorees
Corporate Philanthropy Award
U.S. Bank
Philanthropy Leadership Award
Edward Yen
Edward Yen serves as the Executive Officer for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. With a budget of $340 million, which includes funding for nearly 500 budgeted positions, the Executive Office oversees administration for the Board of Supervisors and is responsible for preparing the Board’s weekly agendas and maintaining the Board’s official records.
Mr. Yen exercises full responsibility for the direction of the Department to facilitate transparent governance while providing staffing, technology, procurement, facility management, and other services to ensure the Board can efficiently operate and respond to the needs of County residents. The Department also provides administrative support to dozens of boards and commissions, including the Office of Inspector General, the Sheriffs Civilian Oversight Commission, the Office of Child Protection and more.
With nearly two decades of exemplary performance in local government, Mr. Yen most recently served as the
Assistant Executive Officer overseeing technology, project planning, legislation, and the Assessment Appeals Board. He effectively led a diverse staff of 140 employees in setting change management strategies
on significant matters impacting the Board of Supervisors. Mr. Yen directed the implementation of Digitizing and Automating the Employee Onboarding Process and Enhancing the Assessment Appeals Board Public Education Program, both of which earned a 2023 National Association of Counties (NACo) Achievement
Award. In addition to creating a productive and positive working environment, he interfaced with local officials, state legislators and staff, regulatory bodies, and department executives.
Admitted to the State Bar of California in 2001, Mr. Yen’s focus was in litigation, healthcare, information technology, contracts, and property tax. His County career has allowed him to advise and collaborate with numerous County departments. As a County Counsel attorney, he advised Health Services, Public Health, Mental Health, Public Works, Regional Planning, Internal Services Department, the Board of Supervisors Executive Office, the Assessor, and the Chief Executive Office, among others. At the Office of the Assessor,
he improved taxpayer responsiveness, enhanced the workflow processes of the 160 employees he oversaw, and was integral to the COVID reconstitution plan.
He is also actively involved with statewide organizations, serving on the Board of Equalization Advisory Council, the California Association of Clerks and Election Officials (CACEO) and California Clerk of the Board of Supervisors Association (CCBSA). As the Legislative Committee Chair for CACEO and CCBSA, he ensures members of both organizations are updated on California bills that impact the clerk of the boards in the state, while also organizing workshops to provide training and education to members.
Mr. Yen values community service and mentorship, and he believes as a member of this community we all must be grateful for what we have and to give back when you can. He has served as president of the Los Angeles County Asian American Employees Association (LACAAEA), chair of the Faith and Community Empowerment (FACE), and a member of the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA). LACAAEA focuses on advocacy for AAPI employees and equitable treatment for the AAPI community. FACE provides education about searching for homes, financing, and obtaining other assistance to first-time homebuyers.
A national organization, APAPA works to empower diverse communities, increase voter engagement,
and develop a new generation of AAPI leaders in America.
Through his work with community organizations, Mr. Yen regularly organized resource fairs in communities across the county to promote County of Los Angeles services. These include County sponsored events like Memorial Day at Arcadia County Park or community-organized homeownership fair at Carson Community Center. Mr. Yen is a proud Los Angeles County resident and employee, and he works every day to promote
Los Angeles County.
Mr. Yen has a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola Law School and a Bachelor of Business Administration and Management from the University of Southern California. He lives in the Pasadena area with his lovely wife, Michelle, his kids Scarlett and Caleb, and their dog, Amour. A proud USC Trojan and an LA native,
Edward supports all his hometown teams including the Lakers, Clippers, Rams, and Dodgers.
Spirit of Giving Award
Karthick Ramakrishnan
Karthick Ramakrishnan has served in leadership roles that span academia, government, public policy, and philanthropy. He is founder and director of AAPI Data, a nationally recognized publisher of demographic data and policy research on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, and Researcher at UC Berkeley. He is also Strategy Lead for the Americas at School of International Futures, and Senior Advisor at States for the Future.
Ramakrishnan previously served as Executive Director of California 100, a transformative statewide initiative focused on California’s next century, and as president of the Association of Princeton Graduate Alumni. He also served for 4 years as associate dean of UC Riverside’s School of Public Policy and for 19 years as a professor. He also serves on the Boards of The California Endowment, the U.S. Census Bureau’s National Advisory Committee (NAC), and the Asian American Alumni Association of Princeton (A4P). Ramakrishnan also served as chair of the California Commission on APIA Affairs for 6 years, founded and led the Center for Social Innovation at UC Riverside for 6 years, and founded and led for 3 years the Journal of Race, Ethnicity, and Politics, an official section journal of the American Political Science Association.
Ramakrishnan has published many articles and 7 books, including most recently, Citizenship Reimagined (Cambridge, 2020) and Framing Immigrants (Russell Sage, 2016), and has written dozens of opeds and has appeared in nearly 3,000 news stories. Ramakrishnan was named to the Frederick Douglass 200 and is currently working on projects related to equitable futures and innovative governance. He holds a BA in international relations from Brown University and a PhD in politics from Princeton.
Featuring Special Guests
John Chiang serves as a member of the board of directors of Apollo Medical Holdings, Inc., Zeuss Technologies and Aegis Systems. In addition, he serves on the corporate advisory boards of Pasadena Private Finance, Calyx Peak, Adept Development and Faraday Future.
From 2015 until 2019, John Chiang served as California's 33rd State Treasurer. As the state's banker, he oversaw trillions of dollars in annual transactions, managed a $75 billion investment portfolio and was the nation's largest issue of municipal bonds.
Prior to being elected Treasurer, Chiang served as State Controller from 2007 through 2014. During the Great Recession, he took steps to preserve cash to meet obligations to education and bond holders. His cash management decisions - which included delaying payments and issuing IOUs - were instrumental in keeping the state's credit rating from plunging into junk status, and his actions saved taxpayers millions of dollars. Additionally, Chiang aggressively used his audit programs to identify more than $9.5 billion of fraud, waste and abuse in government programs, the most by any Controller in California's history.
In 1998, he was elected to California's Board of Equalization and served two terms, including three years as Chair.
John Chiang serves as Co-Chair of California Forward, member of the Board of Councilors at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, Treasurer of the California State Guard Foundation and Chief Financial Officer of the Committee of 100.
Chiang served as an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, Hunt-Kean Leadership Fellow and USC Center for the Political Future Fellow.
Chiang is a graduate of the University of South Florida and Georgetown University Law Center.
John Chiang
Former California State Treasurer
Rachele is a passionate R&B and hip-hop artist with an unwavering passion for music. You might recognize her from her unforgettable performances on Season 24 of NBC’s The Voice, where she left the judges and audiences in awe with her incredible vocals and captivating stage presence. Now, Rachele is stepping into the year stronger than ever, bringing fresh energy and passion to her music. She’s been putting in work, perfecting her sound, and is now releasing new R&B and hip-hop tracks that hit just right. Stay tuned…there’s plenty more on the way.
Rachele Nguyen
Performer
