STEPHEN LIU
CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Stephen C. Liu is the ex-officio Chairman of APEX founded the organization in 1993 and served as its founding President from 1993 to 1997.
Currently, he serves as the CEO of Privy Groupe Inc., a technology-based startup that has a mission of empowering relationships that matter and includes a luxury lifestyle brand called Privy Circle and a human-powered matchmaking app called M8, which recently presented at Techcrunch Disrupt SF (as seen on HBO’s Silicon Valley).
Beyond APEX, Stephen has been active over the past two decades in supporting a variety of Asian and Asian American related philanthropic initiatives, both personally and through Privy Groupe’s non-profit arm, Privy Causes. One of those causes is the National Asian Breast Cancer Initiative (a program of APEX) that was created to address the unique cultural, linguistic and biological challenges that Asian women face related to breast cancer. Stephen’s varied accomplishments has earned him the honor as an “Entrepreneurial Innovator” by Asian Enterprise Magazine in 2017, “Icon of Inspiration” by Martell/APEX in 2014, a “Local Hero” by KCET/Union Bank in 2009 and an “Emerging Leader” by the Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF) in 2008.
Stephen’s first internet venture was one of the early streaming video-enabled B2B digital marketplaces catering to the global film and television distribution industry called Reelplay.com, a Forbes-recognized Top 200 B2B Company. At Reelplay.com, Stephen served as co-President and was personally responsible for raising close to $6M in venture capital from a number of Silicon Valley and Hollywood heavyweights, including Softbank Venture Capital and WaterView Advisors, run by former Viacom and Universal Studios studio chief Frank Biondi Jr.
Stephen is also a member or sits on the advisory boards of various organizations and companies. Some of these include, past and present: SparkLabs, Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO), FF Fraternity, Joint US-China Cooperation on Clean Energy, The Pacific Council, Rotten Tomatoes, National Asian Breast Cancer Initiative, Golden Gate University Center for East/West Entrepreneurial Studies Board, LMU Center for Asian Business and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.
In addition, Stephen is an active commentator on technology, media and Asia — having spoken at such events as: iDate, Monte Jade, Luxury Marketing Council, APEX, NAAAP, Asian American Advertising Federation, Red Herring on Hollywood, Internet Content West, Broadcast Worldwide, IFP, eMediatainment World, Digital Media Wire, CalTech/MIT Enterprise Forum and the Softbank Venture Forum (partial list).
Stephen is also the executive producer of the feature film documentary entitled “Yours Truly, Miss Chinatown” and received his MBA in from the Marshall School at the University of Southern California and lives in Hermosa Beach, California.