Dear Friends,
To keep the entire community informed about Apex, I am proud to present to you the first quarterly report for the organization. In these reports, I will share with you program highlights and organizational strategies with hopes that you’ll all feel closer to the Apex family.
The most exciting news to report is the Apex Inspiration Awards Gala, our biggest benefit of the year, raised a record breaking $1.1M this year. This was a wonderful surprise and unprecedented. The gala also had four Underwriter Sponsors, the most ever for the event. The Underwriters were Eric T. Lee & Cindy Chua, J.T. Tai & Co. Foundation, GE Capital Aviation Services and Xi’an Famous Foods. Our Inspiration Award Winner Norman C. T. Liu pledged $100K to Apex to fund scholarships for our high school graduates for the next five years. Finally, Tony Award winning actor B.D. Wong led an inspirational call for donations that raised $200K at the end of the night.
The funds raised come at an opportune time because Apex is currently developing a strategic plan to expand and improve its services for the next three to five years. Apex enlisted the services of Alvarez and Marsal to lead the process and the agency has taken the initiative to interview principals, nonprofit executives, government officials and the Apex staff. They are currently presenting their findings to the Apex board. By this summer, Apex will have its first-ever professionally produced plan that will help propel the organization into the future, and we plan to use the 25th Anniversary as a launching pad.
With all these milestones, it’s always sobering to confront the challenges our students face. Right after gala, one of our students received a substantial financial aid package from an engineering university that would allow him to be the first in his family to attend a private college. Unfortunately, the student was undocumented. He would not be eligible for federally funded aid which put his attendance in jeopardy. Opening up to us at Apex, we took him to visit the school, met with financial aid officers, and worked on his appeal to receive more private aid from the school. I proud to say he received the aid to allow him to attend and is committed to be part of the graduating class of 2020.
While we are preparing for the future, I’m truly proud of all the accomplishments we’ve made in the past and the present. We are making a difference every day and are going to make a bigger impact in the years ahead.
Sincerely,
Michael Lee
Executive Director
Michael.Lee@ApexForYouth.org
upcoming Summer Golf Benefit. Contact michael.lee@apexforyouth.org for updates.