Board of Directors

James W. Kao, Ph.D. Dr. Kao is the Chairman of the Board, and has served as a member since 2015. Dr. Kao had a long and distinguished career at Philip Morris, USA in the research and development department. Since his retirement in 1998, Dr. Kao has been a successful investor in many companies. Dr. Kao holds a B.A. from National Taiwan University, an M.B.A. from Virginia Commonwealth University and his Ph.D. from Miami University. Our Board considered Dr. Kao’s experiences as an investor and his educational background in determining that he should be a member of our Board.  

Wendell Chen. Mr. Chen has served as a member of the Board since November 2010. Mr. Chen has been the Chief Executive Officer of US Development LLC, a real estate development firm, since 2015. From 2006 to 2015, Mr. Chen served as the Chief Executive Officer and managing partner of Vanetti, Inc., a start-up firm that successfully designed, manufactured, and delivered branded and private labeled men’s suits to specialty shops and major chain stores in the United States. Mr. Chen holds a B.A. from California State University Pomona. Our Board considered Mr. Chen’s experience as an executive of a small business that does international trade and his relationships within the Chinese American business community in determining that he should be a member of our Board.

Christina Kao. Ms. Kao has been a local business owner in Las Vegas, Nevada since 2017.  From 2009 to 2017, Ms. Kao was a marketing manager for a number of major U.S. corporations.  Ms. Kao holds a B.S. from Virginia Commonwealth University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.  She is passionate about mentoring young women and is trained in Cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, France.  Our Board considered Ms. Kao’s marketing experience and involvement as a business owner in determining that she should be a member of our Board.  

Chie Min (Christopher) Koo, CPA. Mr. Koo has served as a Board member since the founding of the Bank in 2008. Mr. Koo is the President and founder of Christopher Koo Accountancy, an accounting and tax service in the city of Diamond Bar. Mr. Koo holds an M.B.A. and a B.S. in Hotel and Restaurant Management from U.S. International University in San Diego, California. Our Board considered Mr. Koo’s experience as a C.P.A. and his relationships in the Chinese-American community in determining that he should be a Board member. 

Joyce Wong Lee, ERPA. Mrs. Lee is founder and president of California Benefit Planners (CBP) at Pasadena, a retirement plan consulting and design firm providing services nationally to all range of business entities to sponsor qualified retirement plans under ERISA law since 1994. Mrs. Lee holds a B.S. and M.Ed from Texas A&M University at Kingsville, Texas. Mrs. Lee is passionate about providing consultation services to her clientele for planning towards retirement through pension programs. As an Enrolled Retirement Plan Agent (ERPA), Mrs. Lee has successfully practiced and represented her clientele’s pension programs before the IRS. Our Board considered Ms. Wong's knowledge of investment products, particularly for financial planning and retirement, and her strong ties to the Chinese-American small business community in determining that she should be a member of our Board.

Chuang-I (Christopher) Lin, Ph.D. Dr. Lin has served as a Board member since 2010. Dr. Lin is the President and Chairman of three separate specialty real estate firms: Forte Resources, Inc., which specializes in senior and affordable housing management and development, Sonnycal Development Company, which specializes in real estate development in market-rate residential houses and industrial warehouses, and Linkage Financial Group Inc., which specializes in real estate development in China. Dr. Lin previously served as a director of General Bank from 1981 to 2003. Dr. Lin holds a B.S. from Cheng Kung University, a M.S. from National Tsing Hua University and a Ph.D. from Duquesne University. Our Board considered Dr. Lin’s real estate background, specifically in affordable housing, and his prior experience as a bank director in determining that he should be a Board member. 

Feng (Richard) Lin. Mr. Lin has served as a Board member since 2011. Mr. Lin is the President and Chief Financial Officer of Arche Investments, LLC, a real estate development firm specializing in developing condominiums and work-live detached condominium projects in Southern California. In addition, he is a regional director of Harmony Bioscience Inc., a personal healthcare product company. Mr. Lin holds a B.S. in Economics from University of California, Irvine. Our Board considered Mr. Lin’s real estate background in determining that he should be a Board member. 

Paul Lin. Mr. Lin has served as a Board member since 2012. Mr. Lin is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Drill Spot, LLC, an ecommerce company specializing in industrial and hardware supplies for contractors. Drill Spot has generated over $100 million since its inception in 2005. Due to the success of his startup, in 2010 Mr. Lin was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Top 10 Asian Entrepreneurs. Mr. Lin attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and studied Information Systems. In his spare time, Mr. Lin designs technology products and currently has three issued design patents. Our Board considered Mr. Lin’s experience as the founder of a small business and his strong technology and security background in determining that he should be a member of our Board. 

Geraldine Pannu. Ms. Pannu has over 25 years experience in investment and financial management, fund operations, consulting and marketing. She is the Managing Partner of GLTJ Pioneer Capital, a real estate firm specializing in development and fixed income investments. Ms. Pannu is an Independent Board of Director for Processa Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PCSA). She also mentors several startup companies and assists them as Interim CFO. Previously, she was the managing Director of Golden Gate Global, one of the largest EB5 regional centers in Northern California. She was the COO and Managing Partner for ChinaRock Capital Management, a leading hedge and venture capital fund company in San Francisco for nearly 10 years. She worked in McKinsey & Co, Monitor Company as a management consultant before and after business school. She had successfully raised capital for several hedge, venture capital and real estate funds.  Ms. Pannu was born in Shanghai and grew up in Hong Kong. She received her Bachelor of Business Administration from Chinese University of Hong Kong and M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. She is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese. Our Board considered Ms. Pannu's investment and financial expertise as well as her involvement in the Chinese-American business community in determining that she should be a member of our Board.

David R. Morris. Mr. Morris has served as a Director, President, and Chief Executive Officer of the Company and the Bank. Prior to his appointment as President and Chief Executive Officer in February 2022, Mr. Morris has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Bank since February 2010 and of the Company since 2011. He serves on our Board’s asset/liability committee, information technology and security committee, community reinvestment act committee, and a non-voting member of the Directors’ Loan Committee. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Morris was the President and Chief Executive Officer of Metro Pacific Bank from August 2007 to June 2009, and its Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operations Officer from October 2006 to July 2007. He was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer/Chief Operations Officer of San Diego Community Bank from June 2003 to September 2006, the Vice President and Controller of Community National Bank from 1999 to 2003, the Vice President and Manager of participant accounting at City National Bank (formerly North American Trust Company) in 1999, its Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Risk Management Officer and Director from 1997 to 1998, and its Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer from 1991 to 1996. Mr. Morris started his career with First Interstate Bank, Ltd. in 1986 followed with being controller for Banker’s Trust Company of California, a subsidiary of Banker’s Trust Company. Mr. Morris holds a B.S. from University of Maryland and an M.B.A. from University of Southern California. Mr. Morris is on the Economic Development Commission for the City of Oceanside, is on the Board for California State University, Fullerton, Entrepreneurship Program, and Zeta Psi Educational Foundation.