OUR MISSION
Lunar Accel is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and community of ambitious, early-career East and Southeast Asian American professionals who want to have an outsized impact on the world by becoming the next generation of executives, entrepreneurs, thought leaders, community organizers, and change makers.
We believe that one of the best ways to celebrate the diversity of our community’s unique cultural backgrounds, experiences, and accomplishments is to invest in each other and give back. That’s why we organize our flagship accelerator and year-round programming — keynote speaker series, executive coaching workshops, mentorship program, and social events, and more — to create more opportunities for early-career Asian American professionals to connect, be inspired by, and support each other’s growth.
EXECUTIVE TEAM
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Jasper Huang
CO-FOUNDER
Jasper is currently co-founding a technology company, in addition to Lunar Accel. He previously worked on alternative data at Point72 Asset Management. Outside of work, he enjoys playing tennis, discussing the future of data and AI, and volunteering for other Asian American initiatives. Jasper graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. and M.S. in Computer Science.
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Amanda Xu
CO-FOUNDER
Amanda is an Associate at Boston Consulting Group. In her free time, she can be found reading global fiction, and trying new fitness classes. Amanda graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with her B.S. in Economics from Wharton, and an M.S.E. in Data Science.
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Grace Zhou
HEAD OF PROGRAMMING
Grace is an Associate at Boston Consulting Group, who loves sunset runs, board games with friends, and eating her way through NY. Grace graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S. in Finance and Business Analytics from Wharton.
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Lydia Kim
HEAD OF MARKETING
Lydia is an Associate Manager in Marketing at Pernod Ricard who is passionate about wine, exploring NYC’s restaurants, and film festivals. Lydia graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in Industrial and Labor Relations and minors in Business and Archaeology.
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Jessica Peng
HEAD OF COMMUNITY
Jessica is an Associate Engineer within Asset Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs. Outside of work, Jessica loves to choreo/teach dance, write short fiction, read nonfiction, play volleyball/spikeball, and visit all the boba shops in the city! Jessica graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in Computer Science.
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James Wang
TREASURER
James is a Machine Learning Engineer at Atlassian and enjoys photography, taking long walks, and trying new eats. James graduated from Columbia University with a B.S. and M.S. in Engineering.
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Donna Li
CO-DIRECTOR OF MENTORSHIP
Donna is a Swiss army marketer; with experience in brand strategy, content creation to growth marketing. Her career spanned multiple industries from Media & Entertainment to FinTech, working on various brand initiatives in both web and app. She has been a DEI lead at previous companies and champions DEI efforts whenever & wherever she can. A native New Yorker with a penchant for food and travel. When not traveling, you can find her at the dog parks with her pups, Lola & Rainbow.
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Nicholas Felicidario
CO-DIRECTOR OF MENTORSHIP
Nicholas is a Senior Product Manager at Rokt, where he loves tackling scaling challenges. Outside of work, he spends his time in books, cycling around parks, or stumbling through a new language. Nicholas graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Computer Science.
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Carolyn Chen
CONTENT MARKETING MANAGER
Carolyn is a Senior Associate in Product Marketing at Capital One who is passionate about trying new workout classes, cooking, and music festivals. Carolyn graduated from Northeastern University with a B.S. in Business Administration.
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Vivian Chiang
DESIGN LEAD
Vivian is a Software Engineer at Squarespace and in her free time, loves to spend time with friends, travel, and explore the NYC food scenes. Vivian graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.S in Marketing and Operations Management from Wharton and a B.S. in Computer Science.
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Lauren Yoo
EXTERNAL CHAIR
Lauren is a Software Engineer at BlackRock who is interested in tennis, traveling, and film photography. Lauren graduated from UC Irvine with a B.S. in Computer Science.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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Jason Shen
BOARD MEMBER
Jason is an executive coach and the author of The Path to Pivot. He works with outlier founders and senior leaders to master hard pivots in their business and life. He previously founded 3 venture-backed startups and led product teams at Etsy and Facebook. Jason is a two-time Stanford graduate, NCAA mens gymnastics national champion, and a proud member of the Lunar Accel board of directors.
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Daniel Sheng
BOARD MEMBER
Daniel Sheng is a Managing Director in Blackstone Strategic Partners, Blackstone's dedicated fund solutions sponsor with over $70.0 billion of AUM, with experience providing capital and liquidity solutions to private market investors. Dan joined Blackstone in 2013 and prior to joining the firm spent time at Credit Suisse and Citi. Dan attended the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University where he graduated with a B.S. in Finance and International Business. Dan is originally from Fremont California and enjoys playing golf and traveling in his spare time.
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Jean Sonia Lee
BOARD MEMBER
Jean Sonia Lee is a Senior Product Manager at Google and advises startups at the intersection of retail and technology through her advisory, JSL Advisory LLC. Driven by her own journey to financial security, Jean is passionate about helping others achieve economic empowerment through career success. Prior to Google, she built her career in investment banking, private equity, before heading up global digital and e-commerce strategy at Ralph Lauren during the company's digital transformation. Jean earned a B.S. from NYU Stern in 2009 and an MBA from Wharton in 2018.