National Board of Directors & Steering Committee

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Liliana Chen

**Co-Founder & Board Member**
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.

Nirendran Kathirithamby

**Board Member**
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.

JT Kim

**Board Member**
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.

Patrick Lee

**Board Member**
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.

NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE

NATIONAL OFFICERS

Helen Ma

**National President**
Helen’s love of community service, supporting AAPI businesses, and events brought her to Project by Project in 2020. She is now serving her 5th year with PbP 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.

Kent Chen

National Team and Leadership Director

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.

Alek TaN

National Secretary

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.

Ray Warriner

**National Director of Operations**
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.

Amy Wong

**National Treasurer**
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.

Andy Tran

**General Counsel**

Andy joined Project by Project in 2020 and currently serves as General Counsel, providing legal and advisory guidance within the organization. He is a Staff Attorney on the Impact Litigation team at Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California, challenging laws and policies that violate the civil rights of AAPI communities and leading the organization’s election protection plan to ensure fair representation and safeguard the right to vote. Andy was born and raised in Chicago, plays soccer, and enjoys acoustic, Spanish music.

NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE

Kathy Chang

**San Francisco Chapter President**
Kathy joined Project by Project in 2020 and has been volunteering with the San Francisco Chapter for over three years. As the SF Director of Team and Leadership for two years, she led programming and activities that enhanced SC members’ leadership skills, personal/professional development, team bonding, and overall sense of community within PbP. Prior to joining, Kathy graduated from UCLA with a degree in Physiological Sciences and received her Masters in Public Health (MPH) from Yale with a concentration in Healthcare Management in 2019. She now works as a strategy consultant for CVS Health’s insurance subsidiary, Aetna. When she is not solving Aetna’s business problems or volunteering with PbP, Kathy enjoys taking fitness classes, practicing yoga, binge-watching reality TV shows, and playing with her cat.

Brian Kohaya

**Los Angeles Chapter President**

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.

Berton Wang

**New York Chapter President**
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.

Jason Chen

Finance Director - New York

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!

Amanda Gau

**SF Legal Counsel**

Amanda joined Project by Project in 2023 as Legal Counsel for the San Francisco chapter, motivated by the opportunity to use her legal experience to engage with and give back to the communities that shaped her. She 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 in-house counsel for a booking and expense SaaS company where she advises on a variety of legal matters, including commercial transactions, 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.

IRENE Nham

**National Fundraising**
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.

Loretta Wang

**National Events Director**
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.

John Wie

**National Marketing Director**
John is an experienced marketing and communications expert in the nonprofit and gaming industries. He has been a part of Project by Project for three years and is now taking on the National Marketing Director role. John's other activities include being the content + marketing manager at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS), a nonprofit dedicated to celebrating interactive entertainment achievement, as well as the program manager for the AIAS Foundation scholarship program. John is also an adjunct lecturer at the University of California, Irvine, teaching social media marketing and policy as well as a University of Southern California Annenberg alumni mentor. He is also participating in the 2023 cohort for the CAUSE Leadership Institute Fellowship.
On his free time, John loves to discuss where to find amazing food options and support local AAPI small businesses (and is celebrating his 12th year as a Yelp Elite member), as well as the latest movies/TV shows/theater and travel/Latin dance spots.

Adrian Wong

**Finance Director - Los Angeles**
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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