For us, we are who we are, as we don't pretend to be something we are not. Our motto since we started in 2012, has always been about knowing nothing, much like how a shoebox comes to be from cardboard - printed, cut, shaped, glued, and folded. So is it really empty? And then adding the shoe itself, is it really full? Being a 501c3 entity that provides technical assistance to organizations, founders, students, people, and random folks we meet who are connected to us, we find our shoebox is often filled with more knowledge with what others share, and that's how we like it.
The folks we work with, we run alongside, walk-in step, kick up the boots and listen to as they may pontificate their dogmatic, dug-in deep, issues. We ground ourselves at that moment, listening attentively or inattentively, trying to understand their POV. From there, we work our magic, no secret sauce, no formulations, just brutally honest context on what we heard, what it may sound like, how it seems to make them, and from a baseline, they take whatever tidbit of tar they found interesting from our feedback, or stuck to the top of their heel after they have trekked through our path. We do this until that shoebox of knowledge seems a bit more full than it was.
And the interesting factoid is that in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, Shoebox Ventures received the New World Report Awards for Legal Elite - Best Organizational Management Consultancy and this wouldn't have happened without our cadre of volunteers, our mentees, the people and organizations we advise.
The folks we work with, we run alongside, walk-in step, kick up the boots and listen to as they may pontificate their dogmatic, dug-in deep, issues. We ground ourselves at that moment, listening attentively or inattentively, trying to understand their POV. From there, we work our magic, no secret sauce, no formulations, just brutally honest context on what we heard, what it may sound like, how it seems to make them, and from a baseline, they take whatever tidbit of tar they found interesting from our feedback, or stuck to the top of their heel after they have trekked through our path. We do this until that shoebox of knowledge seems a bit more full than it was.
And the interesting factoid is that in 2020 at the height of the pandemic, Shoebox Ventures received the New World Report Awards for Legal Elite - Best Organizational Management Consultancy and this wouldn't have happened without our cadre of volunteers, our mentees, the people and organizations we advise.
Our Team of dedicated volunteers - come to us with an epiphany to do great. Holding to Shoebox Ventures standards to the highest mark, and who have assented to our Conflicts of Interest Policy. We're here to assist a select group of nonprofits, founders, leaders, and organizations fill their shoe box of knowledge. Our shoe box is filled with nothing. Our polymaths and polyhistors have an eclectic array of diversity. We volunteer when we can, between our regular jobs and family demands, community commitments, by email, telephone, chat, or the usual cup of joe, or a bite of dim sum. Every person who dives into the shoe box has a story to tell, their own reasons and rhymes for joining this endeavor, everyone at Shoebox Ventures are interconnected to the founder. Each will have their own story to tell, each with their version of the facts, a method to the madness, and sanity of grounded goodwill.
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Johnson Hor is the Director of Unimaginable Heuristics (also Founder/Board Member). He is a neurodiverse polymath and polyhistor - learning to be like Encyclopedia Brown. Nowadays, he takes care of his elderly mom. He was the PBCS Analytics Team Lead at JP Morgan Chase. Prior to that he was the VP, Analytics and Development / VP, PBCS Head of Data Quality / VP, Operation Special Services at First Republic Bank, Grants/Compliance Manager at one of California's largest Behavioral Health providers - Walden House (now known as Healthright360). With his free time, he's advising on the random and in between connecting the dots on random. He's a student still remarkably and has also taught at undergrad and grad CompSci courses. He also is an Ambassador for The Hero Club, Ambassador for the HITLAB Women's Health Tech Initiative, Local Board Member for the US Selective Service System, Ambassador for the Sports Philanthropy Network and on their SF Chapter Leadership Council. He was the Program Advisor for Big Data at Cal State East Bay University. He is a Certified Financial Crimes Specialist, Registered Trust and Estate Practitioner, Certified Cannabis Banking Professional, Certified Cyber Risk Specialist, Certified Fraud Specialist, Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, & Specialist Certificate, Money Laundering Risk in New Payment Products and Services. He's also a member of the California State Bar, U.S. Court for the Northern District of California Bar, and the Supreme Court of the United States Bar. He's an Alameda County Honorary Deputy Sheriff, Life Fellow at the American Bar Foundation, Association of Asian American Bankers Life Member, & Gemological Institute of America Alumni Member. Other languages: 1930s Shanghainese
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Soody Tronson is our General Counsel and Board Member. She is an intellectual property lawyer ( stlgip.com ), startup founder in the maternity wearable health-tech space ( Presque ), a co-founded the popular HighNoteCoffee Co. Soody is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience combining law, science, engineering, and business management in start-ups and established environments. She instructs courses in IP and licensing at the USPTO, University of California, and Stanford University and is a mentor with several entrepreneurship-focused courses/programs at Stanford University. Soody serves on various boards, advisory, and leadership capacities with several organizations including STEM to Market, a national accelerator started by the Association for Women in Science (AWIS); California Lawyers Association Executive Committee of the Intellectual Property Section, Licensing Executives Society USA/Canada Women in Licensing Committee, and the Palo Alto Area Bar Association. Soody is a Commissioner with the city of Menlo Park in California; a member of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group (SVLG); and a delegate to CALNET, a statewide network of California’s Asian Pacific American public elected or appointed officials. Soody is an active hands-on volunteer with several civic organizations including Defy Ventures, an entrepreneurship, employment, and character development training program for currently and formerly incarcerated men, women, and youth. Soody is listed in the IAM Strategy 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists 2019. Other languages: Persian
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Milton Lee, PMP, CSM has been our Entrepreneur in Residence and adviser since we started in 2012. He also serves on the board of Young Professionals Council for the Meritus College Fund. By day, he's a Technical Program Manager - Financial Products and Platform for a leading American mobility as a service provider. He used to be at SAP in Global Digital Transformations and was awarded as Top 10 North America Account. He's an experienced leader - leading SAP teams both on and offshore. He learned about being smart about how one works as he ran a restaurant at age 16. SAP Certifications [Project Management, HANA, ERP, S4 etc]; Harvard Business School Executive Education Certificate: Strategy and Leadership; Lean Six Sigma Black Belt; Scrum Alliance Certified Scrum Professional; Real Estate License.
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Amy Vongthavady, CPCS is our Board Secretary. She's medical staff at a local hospital and health insurance company. She's also involved in the Bay Area's Laotian Community. Other languages: Laotian
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Kenneth Chow is our Treasurer/Board Member/ F&B Coach. As a Restaurateur and Professional Caterer for over two decades and working in the F&B industry for 3 decades, Ken has a good grasp of what's needed to grow a small business and have it thrive. Other languages: Cantonese and Mandarin
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Howard Chan is a Board Member / Running Coach. By day, he manages a Bay Area auto service and auto body company. Loves Marathons. Other languages: Cantonese
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Norman Chu, Board Member. He is a real estate agent. Loves fishing and spending time with his family. Other languages: Cantonese
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Chanthanom Vongthavady is our Financial Analysis Manager. She is a challenge-driven finance and analytics professional with over 10 years of demonstrated expertise in financial analysis, reporting, accounting systems, and accounts receivable. Proven ability in implementing initiatives for improvement of financial operations and cost control. Accomplished contract negotiator with strong customer service and relationship-building skills. By day, she works as a Financial Analyst II for one of the world's leading providers of laser-based technologies. Her favorite pass-time is being a semi-professional baker. Other languages: Laotian
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Matt Ahangi is our Business Intelligence Analyst. He was the Business Intelligence Analyst at JP Morgan Chase and First Republic. Using bits of data and Py on his Mac to make wonderful Apple Py. Prior to being a data chef, he was in product marketing in the semiconductor and networking space. He's an awesome chef by hobby. He also as a BSEE, Electrical Computing Engineering from University of Texas at San Antonio. Other languages: Persian
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Anis Salah, CFP is our Salsa Coach. He's a Private Advisor/VP at Rockefeller Capital Management. Prior to that, he was a Wealth Management Associate for JP Morgan Chase, First Republic Wealth Management, and First Republic Bank. And he was also an operations specialist and QA at First Republic Bank where he was also a Certified Anti-Moneylaundering Specialist. He's an avid Salsa dancer, thus our Salsa Coach. He serves as a Alumni Board Member at Saint Mary's College of California and a mentor for the East Bay College Fund. Other languages: Ethiopian
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Jule Ann Garilao, CCRS, CCBP is our Engagement and Training Coordinator. She graduated UCD and majored in Speech Communication and Rhetoric. She worked at JP Morgan Chase and First Republic Bank, prior she worked in the Healthcare, Film Production, Defense, Maritime, and Space Manufacturing. She is a Certified Cyber Risk Specialist and Certified Cannabis Banking Professional. Other Languages: Tagalog
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Greg Matt, LAc is our Implementation Coach who takes the holistic approach in everything he does. He mentors his employees; to taking an idea, a concept to design, launching Philz Coffee Truck; to founding Onovations - changing the way food is packaged; to rehabilitating residential properties while wearing multiple hats as investor/developer /project manager; and while being a Licensed Acupuncturist as well. He says, everything you do, is about building relationships and taking a chance to make an impact. He inspires others to fulfill their dreams, by helping them move forward. He's also an Alameda County Honorary Deputy Sheriff.
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Clayton Wong is our Operations Coach. By day, he is the Director for the PBCS Analytics Team at a JP Morgan Chase and First Republic Bank. Other languages: Cantonese
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Josefina Tram is our Volunteer Coordinator. She has been in the banking industry for over 25 years, focusing on Compromised Accounts at JP Morgan Chase and First Republic Bank. Her experiences have been enriched by working in financial institutions, dealing with many different individuals and personalities. During her tenure at private schools, she volunteered for a few organizations, working with seniors. While earning her Psychology Degree at USF, she volunteered at Laguna Honda. She possesses a passion to help others and enjoy sharing her vision to assist people as well as mentor anyone who embraces the same passion. She published a book of poems because she loves to make others smile. Other Languages: Tagalog
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Yuhong Xie is our Design Coach. He is a mechanical engineer at Intuitive and prior to that, was a Custom Design Engineer for DMG MORI Manufacturing USA. He graduated from UC Davis as a mechanical engineer, with a focus in manufacturing technology. Johnson met Yuhong when he was a high school intern at the San Francisco Assessors Recorders Office, where Johnson was also a special projects intern of sorts. Other languages: Mandarin
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Jackson Chen, CFE, PGDL is our Risk Management Coach. He was a FIU specialist for BSA/AML department at JP Morgan Chase and First Republic Bank. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner and has a Post Graduate Degree in Leadership from MIT/Tuck/Columbia/Emeritus. Other languages: Cantonese
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Kristopher Ling, CFCS, CCRS, CCS, is our VFX Fellow. By day, Kris has returned to Cal State, East Bay working on his MPA. Kris was the PBCS Analytics Team, Assistant Manager at JP Morgan Chase and First Republic Bank. He's a Certified Financial Crime Specialist, Certified Cyber Risk Specialist, and Crypto Compliance Specialist. He's a well known photographer in the Anime and Comic Convention world.
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Adam Alexander is our Cybersecurity and Information Systems Fellow. He worked for First Republic Bank and was responsible for fraud prevention through client education. He has experience in incident response, anomaly detection, cybersecurity threat intelligence, and fraud monitoring/prevention. In his free time, Adam enjoys working on cars and playing billiards.
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Michael Huskii is our Global Public Policy Fellow on Cultures, Organizations, and Generations. He is our Point Guard who understands generational shifts and how it relates on a global scale. He's in Melbourne, Australia. And he also is the Point Guard on a basketball team called the Huskii Group and lives in the #music #culture #tech #innovation #startup reality. This 'protagonist' invests in people first, figures out how to grow the community, next, and lastly, drives business development for those projects of interest. Other language: Vietnamese.
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Shawn Tram is our KYC Specialist. He is Certified Financial Crime Specialist (CFCS), Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS), and Certified Cyber Risk Specialist (CCRS), Certified Cannabis Banking Professional (CCBP), and Automotive Service Excellence (ASE). He worked as a Senior Banking Analyst for JP Morgan Chase. Prior to that, he worked for First Republic Bank as a PBCS Special Services Banker, ran his own mechanics shop, as well as worked for automotive companies. Other language: Vietnamese.
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Advisory Council
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Noni Virani is our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Adviser. She has sat on a DEI Council for a Forbes Global 2000 Financial Institution. And now works as the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Manager for a nonprofit agency. On her free time she's a co-founder of an independent film studio. She volunteers on countless community projects dealing with media and entertainment, from organizing a music expo to serving on the board of Sketch Comedy organization. Other Languages: ASL
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Joy Suacillo, CFS has over 30 years of banking experience. She is a Certified Fraud Specialist. Other Languages: Tagalog
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Raymond Ko has over 18 years in the Data Center and Telecom space. Currently, assisting customers with Best Practices used in a Data Center to achieve Digital Transformation and Optimal Performance to meet their business demands Globally. If you're looking for that Platform, Reliability, and Edge into the Global Market Place, he can help. He's currently the Enterprise Account Manager | Enterprise Solutions (West) for Digital Realty. Other Languages: Cantonese
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Mary-Joan Fitzgerald has over 30 years of banking experience and was a preschool teacher as well. And was a Certified Fraud Specialist before she retired.
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Past Advisory Council Members
- Jonathan Leong, Founder, Asian American Donor Program; President’s Advisory Commission on AAPI (Oakland)
- Dr. Minoo Makassebi, Dentist - http://www.drmakassebi.com (San Francisco)
- Dr. Tao Lin, Partner, Intebridge Capital (Shanghai)
- Shyam Desai, CA, CFA, MBA, Senior Vice President, Citi (Denver)
- Calvin Louie, CPA (San Francisco)
- Lisa Ma, Chief Growth Officer at Hub, Former Yahoo Chief of Staff (San Francisco)
- Mark Igou, Managing Director, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (San Francisco)
- Charles Jo, Founder, Startup Study Group (Silicon Valley)
- Willa Qian, Outside GC, Beijing Energy Investment Holdings; co-authored the Top Capital Magazine “Clean Technology Innovations in China” (Oakland)
- LeChara Gregory, Taxonomist, VMware (Denver)
- Sophie-Sokphal Duong Karet, PhD, founded Cambodian International Investment Group (San Francisco / Cambodia)
- Ethan Bynoe is the Chief Experience Officer at Noms Bake Shop. (Boise)
- Michael Nguyen is the cofounder of MyLong and RX Delivered Now (San Francisco / Vietnam )
- Kitty So, Business Development/Technologist and Miss Chinatown-Houston Pageant Director (Redwood City / Houston )
- Michael Schwartz, Relationship Manager, First Republic (Miami / Menlo Park)
Corporate and Community Partners we have worked with, advised, and/or collaborated
* Denotes: Organizations we have advised |
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