Timeline

04/93 Stephen Liu and Santi Smithsuvan draw out the concept of APEX on napkin at Souplantation in Torrance

05/93 The first meeting of APEX. 30 people meet for dinner at the Westside Pavilion Panda Inn

08/93 “APEX Inaugural Affair” at Jade West Restaurant: Reception attended by representatives from over 30 community organizations and keynoted by Secretary of State March Fong Eu.

10/93 First APEX Professional Workshop “Understanding Your Cultural Values” Workshop, co-sponsor by Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP)

07/94 APEX incorporates as a non-profit California corporation

08/94 First APEX Gala Award Dinner at the Biltmore Hotel

11/94 First APEX Community Service Event “A3M Bone Marrow Drive/Sports Day”

12/94 First Christmas Toy Drive Event

05/95 First APEX Youth Event

01/96 Launch of www.apex.org

09/96 Formation of the APEX Advisory Board

03/97 First Asian American Career Day, later rebranded as the APEX Career Symposium

04/97 Launch printed quarterly X-Change newsletter published and mailed to APEX members

11/98 First APEX Mentoring Program (AMP) geared towards college juniors and seniors

01/00 Special Interest Group (SIG) started. Conduct monthly meetings on various specific interest topics and provide member an informal way to meet other professionals

10/00 Hosted NAAAP National Convention, with about 50 speakers and Ammy Awards

2001 Launch APEX E-mail Newsletter

08/01 Hosted professional event with United States Cabinet members. First event with Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao

10/01 Paid Members exceed 1,000 and mailing list 3,000

04/03 APEX’s 10th Anniversary

03/07 First APEX Community Leadership Reception (CLR), featuring US District Court Judge Ronald S.W. Lew

05/07 Honored by Asian Pacific Women’s Center with the Community Service Award

06/07 Featured on a McDonald’s sponsored commercial aired on KSCI-TV

07/07 Launch of APEX Leadership Luncheon Series to champion leadership by introducing figureheads in the Asian Pacific American (APA) community

06/08 First OC Mixer

01/09 Launch of Premium Membership

01/09 Launch of APEX Cares

03/09 First APEX OC PD Event

4/09 Honored by Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF) with the Community Excellence Award

01/10 Formation of the APEX Orange County Board

02/10 Launch APEX Facebook Fan Page

01/11 APEX Board grew to 70 members

05/12 First official OC Newsletter

09/12 Honored by Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance (OCAPICA)

10/12 APEX’s First Official Office in Los Angeles

04/13 APEX’s 20th Anniversary

06/13 First APEX OC Youth Education Summit

09/13 20th Anniversary Awards Gala

01/14 APEX Rebranding Introduced

02/14 Launch @apexorg on Instagram

09/14 APEX & Martell Icons of Inspiration Program Launch

04/15 20th Anniversary of Youth Event

10/16 Launch Leadership Conference