President
Edward Chen
Edward was born and raised in northeast Ohio and graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007 with a degree in Electrical Engineering.
He currently works in downtown Chicago as the Senior Engineer at an LED lighting manufacturer.
In his free time, he likes to solder stuff together and hang out with his friends. He is also obsessed with his niece (seen left) and loves spoiling her every chance he gets. He also spends too much time playing Words and Scramble with Friends.
Vice President
Stephanie Huang
Stephanie was born in Ohio and raised in St. Louis, MO. She graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007 with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Asian American Studies. While in school, she was an active member of the Taiwanese Intercultural Association, holding the position of Webmaster one year, and being elected as Internal Vice President the next year.
She currently works in downtown Chicago at a marketing agency on the Volkswagen of America Service & Parts account.
In her free time, she enjoys traveling, watching anime and TV shows, playing video games, and reading forums like Slickdeals and XDA Developers. She also loves food, photography, and taking photos of food.
(stephanie.huang@tap-chicago.org)
Treasurer
Maxwell Youngquist
Maxwell was born and raised in Illinois. He graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2006 with a degree in Accounting, and received his Masters in Accountancy – Tax in 2007.
He currently works in the Personal Financial Services practice at Ernst & Young’s Chicago branch. Prior to his current job, he was the Treasurer and Accounting Manager at Simpson Estates, Inc., a Private Wealth firm. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Illinois.
In his free time, he likes to travel, snowboard, play board games with friends, play video games, and put together Warhammer figures.
(maxwell.youngquist@tap-chicago.org)
Secretary
Larry Cheng
Larry grew up in Bridgeport near Chicago’s Chinatown and has lived there for most of his life. Eventually he made his way to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to complete his bachelor’s degree in General Engineering in 2004. While in school, Larry served as a resident advisor for 2 years. Currently, he works as a construction project manager for a contracting firm in the west loop.
Larry loves playing guitar, taking photos, and watching bad music covers on youtube. He also has a penchant for life threatening activities such as rock climbing, scuba diving, and carousing at TAP happy hours.
Director of Social Programs
Nancy Suen
Nancy grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008 with a degree in Biochemistry. During school, she was active in the Asian American Association and the Midwest Asian American Student Union. After undergrad, she went on to pursue her dream in optometry and graduated from the Illinois College of Optometry in 2012 with a Doctorate of Optometry degree.
In her free time, Nancy enjoys trying various foods in the community. She also enjoys the great outdoors and challenging herself to creative works such as sewing, painting, and paper crafts.
Director of Events Projects
Dunping Yang
Dunping was born in Shanghai and moved to the Midwest at a young age. Since graduating from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a masters in Accountancy, Dunping has been living and working in Chicago as a fund accountant.
In his free time, he enjoys trying new restaurants, exploring Chicago, and video games.
(dunping.yang@tap-chicago.org)
Director of Membership Services
Howard Wei
Howard was born in Illinois but spent most of his childhood in Tokyo, Japan. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007 with a degree in Biochemistry and is currently working for a sports nutrition company in the food industry.
In his free time, he enjoys trying out different cuisines, watching TV shows, and playing video games.
Director of Information Systems
Jason Lu
Jason grew up in Buffalo Grove (a suburb of Chicago) and graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2007 with a degree in Economics. However, somewhere in the past 5 years, his focus has changed from Econ to IT and he now has a job as a Systems Administrator for a company called The Parking Spot in downtown Chicago.
If there is one thing that Jason loves doing, it is keeping himself preoccupied with technology! He loves reading all the latest specs on any gadget and getting his hands on that device at least once. Perhaps that’s why one of his part time jobs in the past was a sales representative for Best Buy Mobile. When he isn’t spending countless hours researching about gadgets, he spends his nights with his wife, Barb (married in August 2012) and his super hyper dog, Ellie, cooking for them and watching TV.
Director of Collegiate Services
Derek Suen
Click here to see what positions are available if you’re interested in getting involved!
[ Advisors to the Board ]
TAP-LA Public Relations Director: Michelle Ng
Michelle is a Chicago native who recently found her way to Los Angeles. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Economics. During school, she was actively involved with Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity and also served as the Intercollegiate Chair on the Asian American Pacific Coalition board. Other Asian American organizations Michelle has been involved with include ITASA and TAP-Chicago.
Traveling is one of her passions. During her senior year, she was lucky to get the chance to study abroad in Sydney, Australia for a semester. While she was there, she joined the Taiwanese Student Association which led to many great volunteer opportunities with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office. After graduation, she traveled to Taiwan and co-founded a summer camp that focused on teaching children English in a fun and engaging environment. Since then, she has had work experience in consulting, travel, and account management. Currently, she works in the insurance industry.
In her free time, she enjoys eating, reading, Bikram Yoga, and scrapbooking.
TACL National President: Teddy Liaw
Teddy graduated from UC Berkeley with a double major in Business Administration and Ethnic Studies. At Cal, he was the student body President, as well as 3-time President of the Asian American Association, which is still today, the largest pan-Asian American collegiate organization in the nation. He has been involved in the TA community as a Board member of TACL, Coordinator of the college Political Internship Program, and LID advisor.
In his free time, he enjoys time with friends, coaches high school track and cross country, works with youth leadership development programs, and travels. Previously, Teddy served three terms as the TAP-LA President and was the Community Service Chair. His contributions include authoring the Mission Statement and Constitution, and leading the structural reorganization. He previously served as the National Chairman.
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