Profession: Community Organizer
Birthplace: Midland, Michigan
Position: Founder/Chairman, Asian Professional Exchange
Stephen Liu has played a key role in the emergence of young Asian American professionals as a highly networked part of California’s business and social landscape. As Founder and Chairman of APEX, Liu has built and guided an organization devoted to helping each professional appreciate what his success means to the Asian community at large.
While working as a successful Wells Fargo private banker, Liu founded the Asian Professional Exchange (APEX) in 1993. He served as the organization’s founding President from 1993 to 1997. Today its 10,000 members make APEX one of the handful of America’s biggest, most active Asian professional organizations.
“I really believe that Asian Americans play an increasingly important role in the social, political and economic landscape of America,” says Liu. “We will shatter this relatively thin, sometimes imaginary glass ceiling, but we will do [it] together.”
Liu takes pride in his success at conceiving and building innovative enterprises. His most recent venture is Privy, a private global network and travel resource targeted at a select group of influential executives with an Asia focus.
Liu’s contribution to the Asian American and general business communities have been recognized by KCET/Union Bank, Asian Pacific Community Fund, the Boy Scouts of America and the Asian Pacific American Studies School at Loyola Marymount University.
“It is my vision to create a unified sense of community among all Asian Americans here in L.A. as well as across the U.S.,” says Liu.
Liu received his MBA from the Marshall School at the University of Southern California. He lives in Hermosa Beach, California.
