Stephen Cheung - President and CEO of LAEDC & WTCLA | Los Angeles Leaders - Los Angeles Leaders

Episode Transcript
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Narrator 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast, where
we dive deep into the stories ofthe visionaries shaping the
future of our region.
Hosted by Christopher Luna,this podcast brings you
conversations with the moversand shakers driving innovation,
leadership and community impactacross Los Angeles.
Whether you're an entrepreneur,a community leader or simply

(00:21):
someone passionate about makinga difference, this podcast is
your gateway to the insights andinspiration you need to lead
and succeed.
Get ready to be inspired by theleaders making waves in Los
Angeles and beyond.

Narrator 2 (00:37):
In this episode we welcome Stephen Chung.
Stephen's career began in thenonprofit sector, serving as a
children's advocate at a shelterfor survivors of domestic
violence and as a communityadvocate at a legal aid
organization, a product of thepublic education system.
Stephen holds a Master of SocialWelfare and a Bachelor of
Psychobiology from theUniversity of California, los

(00:58):
Angeles, and is a proud Angelenowhose career journey from
working as a busboy and garmentworker to representing Los
Angeles on the global stageunderscores his unwavering
belief in the power ofopportunity and the importance
of building an inclusive,resilient economy that benefits
every Angeleno.
Stephen Chung serves as thepresident and chief executive

(01:18):
officer of the Los AngelesCounty Economic Development
Corporation and its subsidiary,the World Trade Center Los
Angeles.
In this dual role, stephenleads the organization's mission
to reinvent the regionaleconomy by advancing growth,
equity and prosperity for allAngelenos.
Stephen's exceptionalcontributions to the region have
earned him widespreadrecognition.

(01:39):
In 2024, he received theprestigious Coro Southern
California Crystal Eagle Awardand was named Regional Champion
of the Year by the NationalSmall Business Advocacy Council
for his tireless advocacy onbehalf of small businesses and
economic mobility in Los AngelesCounty.
Please welcome Stephen Chung.

Christopher Luna (01:59):
Welcome to Los Angeles Leaders.
I'm your host, christopher Luna, today.
I'm honored to have you,stephen, and, just so you know,
we're going to play your introright before this.
I didn't say it beforehand, butyou have quite an impressive
resume and background and I'mhonored to have you here.

Stephen Cheung (02:17):
Thank you, I'm delighted to be here.
Thanks for having me.

So I'm not sure if you know a little bit
and we never talked previous tothis about the show but there's
a reason why I'm having aplatform like this is I go to a
lot of different events and Isee very inspirational leaders,
have a lot of speakingopportunities being on a panel
and you know fireside chats andconferences and you guys are

(02:43):
always so humble and you alwaystalk about your organization and
what you do for the community,but we don't really get to know
you as a person, and Los AngelesLeaders is kind of formed from
that, because it's inspiring tosee people in these leadership
roles and all I'm trying to dois learn from you and learn how
are those techniques and whatcan I do to kind of better

(03:04):
myself and better our audience.
So that's kind of the platformthat I'm building here and thank
you again for giving me yourtime.

Thanks for sharing the stories.
I'll do my best.

So just from what I've read and obviously
I've been to some of your eventsI know you come from Hong Kong
and that's your background.
At what age did you move to LA?
I was eight when I moved here,okay, so by that time you have
memories of being in Hong Kong,I'm assuming.

Yeah, I do Not clear memories.
I have bits and pieces.
What's interesting is thatwe're known as the 1.5
generation.
We're not quite firstgeneration, not quite second
generation, because I was tooyoung to remember Hong Kong and
too old to be truly American inthat sense.
So I always felt when I movedhere I didn't really quite fit

(03:53):
in like a lot of immigrants.
But later on I think I usedthat to my advantage because I
realized if you don't fit in,you can actually become that
bridge and it's not justbridging between here and Hong
Kong, but here and everywhereelse, because you have that
experience to be able tounderstand.
When people don't quite fit in,you have to adjust differently

(04:14):
and I think that's a lot ofAngelenos.

Definitely.
I mean, we're definitely amelting pot, and I think a lot
of us get put in that situationas well.
Before you came to the UnitedStates, did you come straight to
Los Angeles, and who did youcome with?

Yeah, so it's actually an interesting story.
We actually came here becausewe won the lottery not financial
lottery, but there is animmigration lottery by the
United States and so I thinkwe're one of 2,000 families that
were selected to get a greencard.
So at that point, I think ourfamily was getting ready for

(04:54):
some transitions.
It was around 1987 is when thathappened, and we knew that in
1997, China was going to takeover Hong Kong and our family my
father is from Malaysia, butethnic Chinese, my mother is
from Indonesia, ethnic Chineseas well and both of them met
while they were in China,learning Chinese, and so we were

(05:16):
born in Hong Kong and I think,with all the transition, not
knowing what's going to behappening with the transition,
they wanted to give us a newbeginning, and so at that point
we were looking to immigrate andwe were supposed to actually
move to Australia.
Wow, and when we won the greencard, my mom and my father

(05:37):
figured it's a better option forus to be in the United States
and that's why we came.
Was it you three, or do you havesiblings?
Oh, yes, I have an olderbrother and an older sister, so
the five of us came together.
Yeah, Awesome Straight to LosAngeles.
Straight to Los Angeles, toHacienda Heights.

Oh, did I tell you.

Narrator 1 (05:53):
That's where I'm born.

No, or where I was born.

No, no, oh well.

Small world high school.
Okay, wilson high schoolawesome.
So tell me about yourupbringing.
I mean, uh, yeah, so now movedover here.
Uh was a bit of a struggle.
Uh went to elementary school inhacienda heights and remember
they were very kind.
Um, it was la puente unifiedschool district actually got me
a tutor and back then, uh, thereare a lot of um asian families
already around that area.
However, I think most of themwere already second generation,

(06:30):
so they spoke english fine, sothey're not a lot of uh
immigrant families.
So they got me a tutor becausethey realized that they don't
have a full esl class.
So the tutor was for me and mysister and, I think, one other
kid, except that tutor was fromTaiwan.
So I think the school districtat that point didn't have enough
experience knowing that peoplefrom Hong Kong spoke Cantonese.

(06:53):
So this tutor, in order for herto teach us, we had to learn
Mandarin before we can learnEnglish, which is great, though.
Which is great now but back thenit was quite stressful.
When you're eight, you're justtrying to assimilate and all of
a sudden you have to learnanother language before you can
learn.
So English is actually my thirdlanguage, um, and at that point
I was a bit resentful, but now,uh, I I can speak three

(07:16):
languages.
So I'm very, very grateful forfor that opportunity.
Yeah, so yeah, we, we, we movedhere, we grew up.
What did your parents do?
This became an interestingstory.
We're known as astronaut kids.
My father was doingimport-export business,
especially with Chinese medicineBack then.

(07:37):
There's not a whole lot ofconnection between especially
Taiwan and China, especiallyTaiwan and China.
So my father actually had abusiness that basically became
the intermediary to basicallybring goods between China and
Taiwan and other locations aswell, and he was basically
flying back and forth betweenHong Kong, taiwan, china and the

(07:58):
United States and my mother wasjust basically here with three
kids just basically trying toestablish a home.
He started getting more andmore busy and we started seeing
him less and less over the yearsand my mother felt really bad
and wanted to surprise him.
So I popped back to Hong Kongto surprise him, but she was

(08:18):
surprised because there wasanother family and my mother
gave an ultimatum either us orthem, and he chose them.
So we very quickly became asingle, uh, parent family, uh,
with three kids, monolingual ummother.

(08:40):
At that point it was the early90s, the underwater mortgage
situation became real for us andwe became a bit stuck, wow.
So my mother started basicallytaking on all sorts of different
jobs odd-end jobs as a waitress, as a seamstress, and so
basically we didn't do quitewell and we struggled, but we

(09:01):
got through.
So it was definitely not aneasy upbringing, but at the same
time, you know, kind of that'show I think we built our
resiliency, we learned how tosurvive and, uh, I think one one
of the things I learned is, uh,learned how to be scrappy, and
I think that's a word that Ialways use to describe myself
and very proud of thescrappiness I bring with it Well

(09:22):
.

I think it gives you that sense of urgency
too, to assist right in thosesituations.
I think when you have theupbringing and you see your mom
in particular trying to makeends meet I think in those early
90s the interest rates werereally high during that time and
I'm sure it was very difficult.

So what age?
Was that around, if you don'tmind me asking yeah, I think
everything started to go southaround.
I think I was nine years old,so it was pretty quick that we
moved in, yeah.
So I think it wasn't a clean,you know kind of separation.
It took a while because mymother still believed a family

(10:04):
should have two parents, and soshe insisted that that.
You know, uh, your fathercheated on on me, not on the
family, um, but you know, Ithink as the the time passed, um
, he stopped visiting.
So I think by the time I waslike 12 or 13.
Uh, we haven't really seen himafter that.
Uh, I think this is where, also, when it comes to what you're
mentioning in terms of thatexperience, right, I also would

(10:28):
follow my mom, and when she'sworking as a seamstress in a
sweatshop in El Monte, I wasthere too, and when she was
making sewing the clothes for Ijust remember very clearly every
single shirt that she sewed,she would get about five cents
for each one, and I would be onthe floor cutting the strings

(10:49):
that were coming off of theleftover from the sewing.
And for every single shirt thatI would snip the threads for, I
would get half a penny for eachshirt.
Wow.
So for me, I get to work, right, I get to contribute.
So I was happy about that.
But in hindsight, and evenduring that time, I get to work
right, I get to contribute.
So I was happy about that.
But in hindsight and evenduring that time, I remember how

(11:10):
do you let a 9-, 10-year-oldkid work 12 o'clock at night?
You know we saw the underbellyof society very quickly and the
conditions were not great.
But this is also why you knowkind of the jumping ahead, the
work that I do means so much tome because it's about giving

(11:30):
people opportunities, a careerand trying to basically promote
livelihoods and that folksaren't taken advantage of.
So once you've seen theunderbelly of society when
you're young, you know what canhappen if people are not taken
care of.

Yeah, I mean you tap into.
You tap into a lot right there.
I think it's it's incredible toknow your journey.
I mean fast forward now.
Right, you're in internationaltrade, so I can see where your
dad and your background and ininternational relations
importing, exporting that allties into what you're doing now.
But before I get into that partum, tell me a little bit about
your high school years andcollege years.

(12:10):
I mean you mentioned los altos.
Have you ever gone to los altos, or or is your, as your family,
your mom, still no?

yeah, yeah.
So, um, uh, when I graduatedhigh school, I was the youngest
of three, so my uh brother, um,you know, was doing his own
thing.
My sister actually moved backto Hong Kong, and when that
happened, my mom actually once Igraduated high school, I was an
adult, so she actually wantedto move back to Hong Kong as

(12:37):
well and she wanted to also helptake care of my sister.
So I then went to UCLA for myundergrad, but during high
school, basically, I was at LosAltos, I worked as a busboy and
eventually became a waiter,played volleyball, you know

(12:58):
nothing, nothing special, butreally actually I didn't want to
go to UCLA, to be honest withyou, you did not, I did.
I didn't want to go to UCLA, tobe honest with you, you did not
, I did not.
I didn't know much about mybrother and my sister.
I think my brother actuallytried to go to college, but it
didn't work out.
So I was the first to graduatefrom college, and so there was
not a lot of blueprint for usbeing the youngest.

(13:21):
Yeah, we didn't really know muchabout it.
So in my school, however, therewere a lot of smart kids, and
so I'm a competitive guy, so Iwanted to be up there with them.
So everybody was talking aboutgoing to Ivy League schools.
So of course, we'll have to goto an Ivy League school.
I have no clue what an IvyLeague school was.
I remember each of thoseapplications.

(13:43):
At that point, you have tobasically submit your
application and you have to paya fee, and I think each one of
them were like $74.
And so I would be working as abusboy sometimes in the weekend
and, if you're lucky, you get$120 for a weekend of tips, and
that would be amazing for me,and so I was collecting it so I

(14:04):
can pay for the application wellum, the, the results came back
and I think I got into maybelike one or two.
I was waitlisted in one schooland when the financial aid
packet came I just realized Icouldn't go because there's no
way I can afford it.
Yeah, um, and then then.
So the only school that I gotin as a backup in California was

(14:26):
UCLA.

What a great backup Well again.

Narrator 2 (14:30):
I didn't know any better right.

And thank goodness.
I mean it's probably the bestchoice and that was.
I mean we'll get to it later,but it's one of my favorite
memories and experiences goingto UCLA, but at that point I
just didn't because you don'tknow any better.

But the studies that you did tell me
more about that.
I mean, it wasn't ininternational relations or
policy work.

No, I actually graduated with a psychobiology
degree, but initially when Iwent to UCLA, I was pursuing a
degree in chemical engineeringbecause, again, not knowing much
, and I had to basically tell agood story.
So I thought I wanted to dobiomedical engineering and make

(15:15):
robotic arms, not really knowingwhat that is and they actually
didn't have a program that didthat.
But chemical engineering wasthe closest thing.
Two years into it I justrealized I didn't like chemical
engineering.
But now I have this wholeprogram that I've committed to.

(15:35):
And I remember calling my momwhen she was in Hong Kong and I
was just so what's the word?
Maybe regret was the wordLetting her know that I have to
change my major and letting herknow that I was going to have to
disappoint her.
And she's like look, stephen,I'm going to support you
regardless.
I just want you to be happy.

(15:56):
And I was like what are youtalking about?
Mom, you always told me, ifyou're not a doctor, an engineer
or a lawyer, you're nobody.
That's why I'm pursuing this.
And she's like no, steven, Ijust want you to be happy, I
just don't want you to be astarving actor or something.
And behind my back was myapplication to the UCLA theater
department, wow.
So I didn't want to.
I didn't have the heart tobreak it to her and so I decided

(16:18):
to not pursue my passion ofbecoming an actor and I decided
to just finish my program asquickly as possible.
And so all the science classesand all the engineering physics
classes I took, the only degreethat was applicable that I can
finish as quickly as possiblewas psychobiology.
So I went into neuroscience andbasically finished the next two

(16:38):
years and I think it was liketwo or three months before I was
about to graduate.
I had this crisis situation inmy hand because I was in my
internship and this crisissituation was literally in my
hand because I had two dead ratsin my hand.
I was doing neuroscience, so Iwas doing opiate receptor
research for a lab and in orderfor me to do that research, I

(17:00):
have to inject the rats withopiate and then put fix in them,
bleed them out, decapitate them, take out the brains, freeze
them, cut them up and study them.
I love animals, so I just I'mlike I can't imagine doing this
for the rest of my life.
What do I do?
I'm about to graduate, so Ifinished college with a

(17:22):
psychobio degree, not knowingwhat on earth I'm going to do.

And did you pursue your master's right after
, or did you waste some time?

No, no, no.
I was so lost I didn't knowwhat to do.
So there was an escape path andI actually UCLA offered a
program that allows you to go toLondon, go to England and get
some sort of a temporary jobthat you can work there.
So I actually ran out to Londonfor a year to work there and I

(17:53):
got a job as a headhunter.
And this is where it becomesreally interesting.
Remember, I was born in HongKong, so I actually have a
British national overseaspassport Nice.
So I can actually have aBritish national overseas
passport Nice.
So I can actually have apathway to actually stay there
more permanently if I want to.
And that's why I decided tobasically just move to London
and be there for good.

(18:15):
But one of the most importantthings is because at that point
I thought I hated LA.
I thought LA is so fake LA.
I don't like it anymore.
There's nothing here for me.
I want to go to London, I wantto get cultured.
Instead, I got seasonalaffective disorder.
I didn't know what that was,but for those of you who grew up

(18:36):
in Los Angeles, you know we getabout 300 days of sunshine.
I moved to London.
I didn't see the sun fromSeptember to April and when you
don't get the sunlight and thevitamin D, your body just
changes and emotionally I wasjust a wreck.
And one day I was just walkingdown the streets in my little

(18:59):
London fog rain jacket andsomeone bumped into me and I had
to walk into a phone booth notthe cute red ones, but the
silver one that smells of urineand I just sat down on the floor
because someone bumped into meand I cried for 20 minutes and I
said something is not righthere.
So I picked up and moved rightback to LA and never complained

(19:24):
about LA again.
And that's why this job is sogreat for me, because I get to
be LA's cheerleader.

It's incredible, stephen, I think,
that you I mean throughout thiswhole time you didn't have
anyone next to you just kind ofguiding you through all of this,
right?
You're literally on your ownthis whole time, right, even
when you talk to your mom.
I'm sure she's a great support,but not having her so close or
near must have been hard just tokind of be put in those

(19:51):
positions.

Yeah, I think this is a story of many
Angelenos around and going backto UCLA a little bit as a
first-time college student andonce I moved there my family was
gone my sister and my motherthere in Hong Kong.
My brother was around, but notreally around that much, so no
one told me that the dorms willbe closed during the holidays.

(20:16):
Where do I go?
I don't have a home.
That's a big problem now stillthat's exactly it.
So, thank goodness, I madefriends with the janitorial
staff, so I don't want to getthem in trouble.
But uh, they just left the sidedoor open at the dorms and I
would just basically stay therefor thanksgiving and the winter
break and they don't sayanything.
I just stayed in my room, Ijust stayed out of the way.

(20:37):
So, be nice to the janitorialstaff and, uh, they be friends
with them.

I was talking talking to a nonprofit, depaul.
They assist these collegestudents at USC, ucla, who can't
go back home during theholidays because it's still a
big problem, right, it's notcheap to be in Los Angeles, so a
lot of these students don'teven have the money to fly back
home.

Yeah, that's exactly it and unfortunately for
some, they might actually livein their cars during some of
those breaks because there's nooption for them If they have a
car, if they have a car right.
So yeah, it's challenging for alot.

I'm sure you've been back, but do you go
to Hong Kong often?

Not often actually.
I didn't start traveling againuntil I started pretty much
working.
I didn't start traveling againuntil I started pretty much
working, and so when I wasworking for the city of Los
Angeles in the port, I got to dothat.

How did you get there?
We skipped that part.

Oh, it's quite a bit between, so I'll just kind
of fast forward.
So UCLA went to London, cameback.
Once I got back I had thisepiphany that I don't want to do
something that I'm notpassionate about again.
And so, by the way, when I wasin London straight out of

(21:53):
college, this headhunter job wasdifficult, but at the same time
I fell into.
I was quite lucky, I think,because it's based on commission
and basically you have to placefolks, and at that point I
think I was supposed to berecruiting for financial

(22:15):
officers and there was aposition that came up in the
Mars company over in London andthey're looking for a chief
financial officer.
So in my brilliant mind it'slike hmm, let me recruit from
Nestle, because you have torecruit from a chocolate company
to a chocolate company, ofcourse, a CFO.
They can do anything right frommy mind, but anyways, I called

(22:37):
Nestle and it just so happensthat they actually have a full
team of folks that are ready togo.
So I recruited them and wasable to place them, and so I got
commissioned.
So I made quite a good living.
So that was fine.
But coming back to.

I'm sorry to cut you off but it's incredible
that you're out there trying tofind a good role.
But being a headhunter is a bigdeal, right?
I mean, you have to have an eye, because it's not just placing
them, they have to stick aroundtoo, so you have to be good with
recruiting.

You have to develop a relationship, you have
to basically earn their trust,and I think one of the things
that helped me was because Icame with this weird accent not
quite American, not quiteChinese.
There's this bit of somethingthere and the Brits, when
they're picking up the call,like who is this guy, why are
you calling me?
And so that's how I was able touse that to my advantage.

(23:28):
Going back to what I was sayingscrappiness.
I was scrappy and it worked out, but once I got back, I decided
let's try something new, let'stry something that I wanted to
do.
So I actually actively wasseeking to work with people, and
the job that I got was workingin a domestic violence shelter
for women and children who areescaping the domestic violence

(23:49):
situation.
Because I really believe insocial work and knowing,
especially for a lot of theAsian community members, they
don't have access, and if you'remonolingual you're really
limited.
And if you're monolingual,you're really limited.
And having grown up the way thatI did, I knew the power of
helping folks that didn't have avoice, and so I worked for the

(24:15):
Center for Pacific Asian Familyfor about two years, one of the
most rewarding jobs I've everhad in my life, but also one of
the most emotionally challengingjobs I've ever had.
I was never emotionally strongenough to do that job, so two
years later I was recruited bythe Asian Pacific American Legal
Center to basically be acommunity legal advocate, doing
similar work, but the thing is Idon't have to do direct

(24:35):
services anymore, so it's moreabout connecting resources and
advice and making sure thatfolks are getting connected and
this is where going all the wayback, because I was able to
speak Cantonese and advice,making sure that folks are
getting connected and this iswhere going all the way back,
because I was able to speakCantonese and Mandarin.
I'm now able to help twocommunities, and so thank you
for La Fuente Unified SchoolDistrict for getting me that
tutor again that became-.

I'm gonna blast this video out there,
because I know a lot of peoplethat still sit on the board over
there.

Please, please, no that really, really little
things that were there.
Those opportunities justbasically create an entire
life-changing experience forfolks right.
So at the legal center for twoyears.

And you can tell your mom you kind of became
an attorney.

Kind of you know .
That's why I have to chooseright.
So after two years, I realizedthat, in order for me to
progress in the things I wantedto do, I need an advanced degree
, and so I was actually choosingbetween a law degree or social
work, and because I was in theAPOC, there were a lot of
attorneys already, and seeingsome of the struggles that they

(25:38):
have, I decided to go aftersocial work, and that's when I
went to UCLA to get my master'sin social work.

And did you do anything continuously after
your master's in that industry?

No so what happened was at UCLA.
The first year I interned forthe Department of Children and
Family Services and again directservices.
That was tough, reaffirming myinability to control my emotions
.
I was just basically weepingalmost every week because you're
working with seeing some of themost devastating experiences

(26:14):
when children are removed fromtheir home.
I just remember I was doing agroup therapy session every
Wednesday in Long Beach forchildren, my group of children
that I was working with.
They're 7 to 10, and all ofthem have been sexually
assaulted by their own familymembers.
How do you process that?

(26:34):
And I just couldn't do itanymore.
So next year, my second year, Idecided to pursue my internship
with a pop on the macro side,the policy side.
So there was a assembly memberwho was known for her work in
foster care.
So there was an assembly memberwho was known for her work in

(26:54):
foster care and I was hooked.
So I got my placement with herand she then, in her work,
started progressing in hercareer path and eventually
became the firstAfrican-American Speaker of the
Assembly.
Assembly member.
Karen Bass was my supporter andmentor in many ways and after
the internship was done sheconnected me with the city of

(27:16):
Los Angeles, with MayorVillaraigosa.
That's how I got started withthe city.

And that's why you have such strong ties and
relationships with her now.

Yeah, no, I was actually doing Select LA.
She came to our 10thanniversary and gave an amazing
speech, but I took thatopportunity to give a back story
about how, even when she was inthe assembly, I was asking her
what she cared about and shetalked about international
relations.
And 15, 20 years later, here weare to see what she's able to

(27:49):
do and how she's able to inspiresomeone like me to basically
now take on international tradeas well.

And you started as an intern.

I started as an intern.

Incredible.
So, when you're entering fromher, what are some of those
leadership?
You know skills and what didyou see from her coming from
your background?
How did you learn from herpersonally and how do you apply
that to your life now?

yeah, um a few things.
One from the beginning you cansee her vision.
She has such a big vision.
She knows um from herbackground and from her work in
community coalition as a nursepractitioner.
All the things that she didbefore um uh, not nurse

(28:32):
practitioner, sorry as aphysician's assistant, um, she
knows the direct impact toindividuals but at the same time
she sees how larger policiesand and um movements can change
millions of people.
So that vision is somethingthat I always admired, and I can

(28:56):
see also the way that she'sable to place things together
and play the long game.
It's not about short-term wins,it's about how do you basically
build a coalition to changesociety as a whole.
That back then I didn't trulyunderstand until much, much
later.
So that's one of those skillsets.
Second thing that I learnedfrom her is collaboration.

(29:18):
It's easy to say.
It's different, it's verydifficult to do and that takes
time.
That takes nurturingrelationship, and she worked
with people across the aisle, itdoesn't matter what their
background is.
If you can find thatcommonality and you build that
relationship and you build thatcoalition and again, in the long
run you can actually make a lotof changes.

And I can see that from you now personally in
the past and I'm new to thisworld, I'm new to the scene
three years in right Likeliterally working for the
chamber I was in a bubble beforethen but I can see the power
and the influence between all ofthese organizations and all of
these community partners workingtogether and you guys

(30:00):
definitely, as leaders, learnhow to lean into that quite a
bit.
I feel like in the past and Icould be wrong, but in the past
there was a lot of redundancy.
There's a lot of, you know,just separation, just separation
between all this, and it wasn'tso much of a regional approach.
And you guys, um, you know,because of the leaders that we
have now, you guys are reallywell diverse and know how to
work hand in hand with oneanother.

Well, I think we've also seen um the
shortcoming and the challengeswhen you're not working together
.
Because when you're not workingtogether, a lot of times you
end up working against eachother and you start duplicating
the services and you startcompeting with each other, and
in my mind, this is too big of aregion and no one can do it on
their own anyway.
So why compete against eachother when you can unite

(30:43):
together and actually turn lainto this massive region that we
really are, that people don'tknow about, right?
um, when I say, people don'tknow about is that when you go
internationally, a lot of timeswhen they think of los angeles,
they only think of los angelescity.
They don't even know that wehave 88 cities, over 100
incorporated regions, we have140 nationalities, 224 languages

(31:04):
we speak and all they think isone thing hollywood yeah, and
when you're international andabroad, you could say Los
Angeles and it could be.

I mean, you can be living in Riverside or in
Orange County and to thesepeople overseas it's LA, right.
So that's what brings you guysand puts you in these positions,
where you take these regionalapproaches.
It's all of Southern California, all of California, and we'll
get to all of the work that youguys are doing.
Now Tell me a little bit aboutyour transition between Carabas

(31:37):
and Antonio Virgos, EricGarcetti and all that.
Yeah, that's a transition.

Yeah, it's also a fun path.
So after working with Karen, Iwas working first as Mayor
Antonio Virgos' West Area Deputy.
So I was West Area Directoroverseeing the Neighborhood
Community Service Division inthe West Side, Anything from

(32:04):
Pacific Palisades down toWestchester, all the way to
Robertson that's my jurisdiction.
So community engagement,working with transportation
issues, LAX issues, and soreally got to learn how to work
with the community, how towallop your sleeves and

(32:25):
basically build coalitions.
I was concurrently.
I'm a nosy and a very curiousindividual so I'm always trying
to do more and learn more.
So besides working on theNeighbor Community Service
Division, there were policyissues that I was very curious
about.
So back then the NeighborCouncil, the Department of

(32:45):
Neighborhood Empowerment, wasalready having, I think, over 90
neighbor councils.
So I also became the liaisonfrom the mayor's office to the
Department of NeighborhoodEmpowerment.
So I was able to work with alot of neighborhood councils and
one of the things I tried to doback then and now I've
replicated that process in manydifferent ways was to bring
together the Westsideneighborhood councils and,

(33:06):
working with a couple of theneighborhood council leaders, we
were able to create theWestside Regional Councils.
So it's called REC, so it'sstill going.
So it's been fun to kind ofbuild those synergies and then
to see what they can doafterwards.
So that's how I got started withViragosa.
Five years with him.

(33:26):
I had about eight differentpositions, so eventually I
became a liaison to the Port ofLos Angeles.
Through that, working on energy, working on business, became
Mayor Vigosa's Senior Directorfor Scheduling and Advance,
which is also a very interestingjob.
Then did international trade,became Managing Director for

(33:49):
International Trade and CleanTech.
So a bit of everything.

Give me the time frame again for
international trade and cleantech.
Wow, so a bit of everything.
Give me the time frame againfor those who don't know those
years.

Oh, that was 2007 to 2000 and maybe about
2012 when he turned out, soalong the way, each position
that you're in, you're growing.

I'm assuming they're not lateral moves, so it
takes a lot to kind of grow anorganization as big as LA right
working for the mayor.

Yeah, so there were some lateral moves, there
were some, you know, kind ofjumping around, but you know,
all within the mayor's office.
It's just basically, I think,once you get to city hall and I
think, many government entities,it's just basically, I think,
once you get to City Hall and Ithink, many government entities,
if you have the passion, youhave the desire and you have the
patience and you have therelationship, people will give

(34:40):
you a chance.
And again, I was saying, oneI'm scrappy and two I'm nosy.
So I'm always trying to learnsomething new.
And you're passionate and youcare, I try to care, I try to be
passionate.
Uh, it's been.
It's been a great learningexperience, because it's not
everywhere that you get thisopportunity as well.
It really has to do with a lot,has to do with the leadership

(35:04):
and mayor virgos.
Uh, you know, I think sometimesyou see folks, they give access
because you have access tomoney or power.
He knew that I didn't haveaccess to any of that.
He didn't care when he wasasking, when he was interviewing
me.
He doesn't care about mybackground.

He asked me about what I can do.
It's your work ethic.
I mean, it's like you said.
You don't have that influenceor the background or the funds,
like you said, but I think howdo you?
What were some of thosecharacteristics that he saw in
you?
I mean, obviously we see it now, but think of the emerging
leaders.
People like me are stillgrowing.
Like, what can we learn off ofthat?
What were some of thosecharacteristics that you had

(35:44):
that said hey, you know, this issomeone I can trust.
This is someone I can helpcarry along the way and that can
support is someone I can helpcarry along the way and I can
support.

I don't know.
I think I remember an interviewwith him when I was
interviewing for the portliaison position and he sat down
with me and he said, steven, itseems like you've been doing
great work in the west side andthe neighborhood side.
You have great recommendations.
However, I don't know whetheryou can do this job at the port.

(36:16):
It's a completely differentposition.
And I told him it's like well,I also didn't know anything
about the West Side and Ilearned, so I will learn.
It's like well, if you don't, ifyou're successful, great.
If you don't, let's justbasically give it a three month

(36:38):
trial period and if you can doyour job, grow with it, right.
But if you can't, let's moveyou back to the, the west side,
and I'll be fine with that aswell.
So, given that, thatflexibility flexibility for me
to learn and to grow and to trydifferent things that type of
leadership, um, I don't thinkyou see everywhere.
And so I think he sees folkswho are eager, who want to do
good and who cares, and I thinkhe gives people that chance and
I think he also gives you thefreedom and the flexibility and

(37:01):
he will back you right, and sothat allowed me to do a lot and
allow me to grow.

And I think, if you were to ever go back to
him and say hey, you know, I'mway over my head, I don't
understand this you to ever goback to him and say, hey, you
know, I'm way over my head, Idon't, I don't understand this,
you know, I don't feelcomfortable.

He's not gonna, you know, be upset or hold you
to that right.
He's gonna, yeah, align it andyeah, yeah, I, I absolutely
think that's the case.
Uh, for me, though, um, I don'tknow how to do that, so, even
if I didn't know how to do it, Ijust basically start moving
forward, uh, you know, moving tothe, the various positions,
right, um, going from enviro,the environmental uh side.
I didn't know much about it.
I got to work with davidfreeman, who was the deputy

(37:41):
mayor back then overseeing, uh,um, the energy side, but he was
also the port, uh commissionerand just a really, really smart
individual, and learned a lotfrom all these deputy mayors I
got to work with.
So the City Hall experience hasbeen fantastic for me, because
I just kept on getting to learnfrom amazing, amazing and smart
people.

And it opens up so much.
I mean, when you're at theports now, you're thinking of
all the logistics, you'rethinking of the supply chain,
you're thinking of all these youknow manufacturing companies,
these terminals.
I mean I'm just learning itmyself.
I went to not so long ago.
I visited Otis from PacificHarbor Line and he's man, he's
so inspirational as well and hegave me a whole rundown of how

(38:24):
the ports work.
I could spend a whole day therejust learning from him and
people like him.
And I mean that's such a majorport complex I mean you hear it
on the news now with everythingthat's going on but just to
understand that world andunderstand that it's a vein not
only to our region but to theUnited States in general, I mean

(38:45):
I'm sure you learned a lotthere.

And I still learn all the time.
I think to your point point youcan spend not a day, you can
spend a year and you still don'tknow a portion and a fraction
of basically what's happeningthere.
Uh, and that's why for forfolks like gene soroka and mario
cadero um, just to run theseoperations, these major major
operation that influences, again, not just la but the world, as

(39:09):
you're talking about the railpart, right, most people in los
angeles they don't know that wehave the alameda corridor.
They don't know the joint powerauthority that that got created
and what that meant for forgoods movement for this entire
region.
They don't know that because ofthe work that's there now, over
902 000 jobs are directlysupported in the five county

(39:30):
region by these two major portsand the entire trade and
logistics sector.
They don't know how rail trucks, warehouse, distribution center
longshoremen, like all thesefolks all tied in together that
makes this entire very, verycomplex ecosystem.

I nerd out about things like that and most
people don't know.
I learned that from COVID.
So I grew up in a familybusiness and my parents used to
import quite a bitinternationally and when I took
over the family business I usedto import from Germany, turkey,
china, mostly from Turkey.
And when COVID happened, thenyou understand it all right.
It's like where's my product,how is it stuck and how do I get

(40:08):
it?
So it's incredible to see thatwork.
So tell me about your positionthere at the port.
Where did you go from there?

So, after close to four, four and a half years
or so with the mayor's office, Iwas, you know, one of the
positions earlier on was liaisonto the Port of LA.
So I was working very closelywith the port's leadership team
as well as the commission, and Icontinued that relationship as

(40:39):
I had the other positions.
And then, when I became themanaging director for
international trade, mayorRigosa wanted to do a trade
mission to Asia.
So I again, not knowinganything about it, put together
a trade mission to China, koreaand Japan.
Very successful.
We got to meet with then VicePresident Xi Jinping.

(41:00):
He was starting to ascend tobeing contention for the future
president and so when it wasdecided that he was going to
likely become the next president, he did a tour of the United
States.
He went to Washington DC, hewent to a place just outside of
Des Moines, iowa, because that'swhere he did a stint as an

(41:23):
exchange official, and then hewas going to go to and I don't
know whether people know this,maybe I shouldn't be saying this
, but he was supposed to go toSan Francisco.
And then we, through the mayor'sleadership, convinced the
Chinese government that thefuture president should visit
one of the largest populationsof Chinese individuals here in

(41:44):
the United States.
In Los Angeles, they should bevisiting a location that has
control over the port complexand the airport complex.
That really facilitatesinternational trade.
So when he came over here, weactually arranged for a visit to
the Port of LA where the Chinashipping terminal was investing,

(42:04):
I think, over 240 milliondollars on the new terminal
construction that allows forshort side, plugside, plug-in.
That will basically reducecarbon emission while moving
goods right.
So great sustainability effortsfrom the Chinese government as
well as from the US, so thatbecame a highlight.
And at the terminal itself, whenwe're just about to basically

(42:26):
have the vice president come tovisit us, I spoke to the
leadership of the port at thatpoint and they came up to me and
said they would like to recruitme to work for the port.
And so then we arranged a dealand they recruited me to become
the director for internationaltrade for the Port of Los
Angeles at that point.
And I gave notice and the mayorwished me luck and was very

(42:52):
gracious about the the exit andI moved to the the port.
Uh was just learning the ropesand a month later I got a call.
Uh, back then it was myblackberry as a block call and I
picked up the phone and therewas mayor Virgoza basically
saying hey, how are you doingover there?
I'm'm like doing fine.

Narrator 2 (43:08):
You like it.

I hope you like it there, but we need you back
here too.
So because support belongs tothe city of Los Angeles as a
family.
So I basically concurrently didmy international trade role as
well as supportive Los Angelesrole until he turned out.

Wow, yeah, yeah, that's incredible.
So when you're at the port, Imean, we went through a lot
right there.
But when you're at the port,how did you transition and be
become in charge of World TradeCenter Los Angeles?

Oh well, that didn't.
It didn't happen like that.
So after Mayor Virgos hadturned out, I was going to go
back to the port.
So after Mayor Virgosa turnedout, I was going to go back to
the port.
But Mayor Garcetti came intooffice and asked me to join his
administration to help him setup his international office.
So I actually went back to themayor's office again and was

(44:10):
running international trade butalso oversaw the port and the
airport.
So that's when anotherportfolio that I got to learn
about what's happening with uh,laua, uh, very interesting as
well, and because I wasconcurrently still working at
the port.
Um, that's why I think it'slike I was.
I was there for a while and Ithink I was only with the, the
garcetti administration formaybe a two and two and a half
years or so two and a half threeyears, uh and two and a half

(44:30):
three years and then after thatI left City Hall altogether and
the city altogether, and then Ijoined the World Trade Center at
that point.

Okay, and at that time it was still under
LADC, right, yeah, yeah, yeah,it's always been under LADC,
yeah, it's always been underLADC.

So World Trade Center is a subsidiary, a
nonprofit organization under theumbrella the LADC umbrella.
So LA County EconomicDevelopment Corporation was
created by LA County Board ofSupervisors 44 years ago, in
1981.
And so it acquired World TradeCenter Los Angeles, I think back
in about 2000 or so.

(45:04):
So it's really one entity.
You can consider the WorldTrade Center international trade
arm with LADC.
So back then Bill Allen was theCEO and he and I worked
together.
When I was at the mayor'soffice and I think we were doing
a trade mission to Brazil andat that point he was starting to
recruit me for this position, Isaid no many times and after

(45:24):
two years he was able toconvince me to join the World
Trade Center because I had acivil service position at the
Port of Los Angeles.

I mean, and I'm sure you're eyeing the EED
role there.

Oh, no, no, I was far from it, I was just, you
know.
No, no, I was just basicallyreally still learning because I
haven't been fully engaged atthe port.
Every single time I try to workat the port full time, I get
pulled back to the mayor'soffice by both administration
right.
So I really wanted to basicallydedicate some time to really
learn the operation at the port.

(45:55):
But when this opportunity cameup to work for the World Trade
Center and it was thepresident's role and I get to
basically shape it the way thatI want to and Bill gave me full
authority and support to reallyenvision a new World Trade
Center, and that's when I startfocusing on transforming World

(46:16):
Trade Center to focus on foreigndirect investment attraction.
And that's been a fun ride andit's been 10 years.

And that's where you come across all the
great countries and you workwith the counselor corps and you
become friendly with them andunderstand what their priorities
are.
What are some of yourmilestones heading World Trade
Center in Los Angeles?

Yeah, one of the first things we did is we
created Select LA InvestmentSummit in partnership with our
board chair, steve Olson, whowas the first executive director
for Select USA in DC.
When he came back to LA he wasworking with Mayor Garcetti
actually to launch select lahere in la so that we can
actually do the internationalattraction program here.

(46:54):
And um actually at the veryfirst select la was when they
announced I was going to beswitching to world trade center
los angeles.
So last week when we had ourselect investment summit, it's a
10th anniversary.
It's also my 10th anniversarybeing with the organization, so
that's definitely a greatmilestone, because when we first
started it it was a smallconference and now it's becoming

(47:15):
one of the largest foreigndirect investment summits of the
state and it's actually themost successful spinoff event
from SelectUSA.
So that's definitely a hugemilestone.
The other one is our foreigndirect investment report.
We talk about the impact, butthe thing is without data and
information, it's just basicallyanecdotal story.
So we want to quantify it andthat's what LIDC does really

(47:38):
well.
So, utilizing LIDC's capacityof research, we married that
together with World Trade Centerand we've been doing this
report that quantifies theimpact of foreign direct
investment.
So you know how manyforeign-owned companies are
actually located here, how manyjobs are they creating, what
sectors are they in, what arethe top investment countries.

(47:59):
Once you have that information,then you can start allocating
your resources right.
So those are the two thingsthat I think we are most proud
of yeah, I mean, I've gone to afew of your events and I've.

What I love about your events is you always
come out with so muchinformation and I would love to
have your notes and talkingpoints when it comes to all of
it, cause you have a reallygreat team that that you work
with and you build with that.
How do you I mean, how do youbuild a great team around you
working in so many differentverticals, so many different
areas right now heading AlleyEDC?

Yeah, Well, one.
We have this amazing talentpool here in Los Angeles with
180 higher educationinstitutions all throughout this
entire region.
You just got some of the mostbrilliant minds that are trained
here.
And then, additionally, becauseLA is LA, so we attract all

(48:53):
these folks that want to be here.
Because they don't want to, Idon't know they don't want to
get seasonal affective disorderand they want the sunshine and
they love the vibrancy of thisentire region.
So we get the best minds.
So, when we're recruiting, ifyou tell the right story and the
right narrative, people want tobe a part of this organization
because they can see that youcan actually make changes in the

(49:15):
difference.
And so we, basically, when we'rebringing the team together, we
start identifying onespecifically, what skill sets
we're trying to cultivate, andalso you start identifying the
characteristics and thepersonality that you want to
build.
Uh, one of the things that Ithink is like crucial to to to

(49:39):
me and to the organization, isthat you don't want to sell
snake oil, and this is what wetell the team all the time
develop the expertise andactually be good at your job,
because sometimes people overadvertise and they don't
actually have the quality andthe content to be able to back
those claims.
And that's why, to what you'resaying, we pride ourselves in

(49:59):
making sure that when we haveour events, whether it's Select
LA, whether it's EconomicForecast, it's based on
information, fact and data thatwe can collect and that we are
proud of releasing.
And then, once you have thedata, we have the goods.
Then you also need therelationship, and so you can't
build relationship if you're nota nice individual.

(50:23):
So we always look for folksthat are able to build
collaboratives and partnerships.

I mean, when you're building this team,
though, like if you're giving aleadership course, what are some
of those characteristics thatthese individuals can take away
from?
Because, like I said, you'vedone so much in your career and
it's hard for me to capturethose characteristics that you
have without people knowing youright.
So, for those who don't knowyou personally, like, what are

(50:55):
some of those key factors thatwe can tell people like this is
what you need to do or hone inon that can make you that better
person?
Because if they have the degree, they have the, the, the
analytics and the smarts to itall, like, how do we build that
character?

when I screen for our staff members, excuse me
.
When I start interviewing forfolks, I actually look at their
background.
When I look at their background, I actually would ask for
things that are not on theresume.
One of the things that I alwaysvalue is when someone tells me
they've been a waiter or abusboy before.
I said would ask for thingsthat are not on the resume.
One of the things that I alwaysvalue is when someone tells me

(51:33):
they've been a waiter or abusboy before.

I said it.
She was here.
I said it on one of myinterviews.
I always used to hire peoplethat were in the service
industry.

Because I think folks that are able to be in
fast pace and sometimes workwith individuals and groups,
that might be difficult andstill have to have that
composure.
That's not an easy skill set,and if you're able to be

(52:01):
successful there, that's thatquality that you're looking for,
that adaptability, thatscrappiness.
And then if you're able toidentify the intelligence, the
ability and when I sayintelligence there are different
types of intelligence I'mlooking for not only the book
smarts, I'm also looking for thestreet smart, to your point
where you're saying there are alot of folks with great minds

(52:23):
the engineers and the economistsbut if they're not able to
connect with folks, then thatbecomes a problem because your
information is not able to getout to the public, and so you
have to look at really what therole and what is the mission.
What are you trying to do?
Once you're able to understandthat your job is to not only
just send out the data, it's tomake sure that people understand

(52:46):
the data, then you hiredifferently.
So that characteristic is amixture of different
characteristics, so it's hard todefine and quantify.
But I'll say one thing thoughbecause you can't find
everything in one singleindividual.
That's why it's a team.
I think a lot of people getsurprised.
But I tell folks all the timenow because I was ashamed of it
before, but I realized thatthere's nothing to be ashamed of

(53:09):
.
I'm an introvert by nature andthroughout high school and I
would be the guy in the back ofthe room, very quiet, very shy.
In many ways there's thisstereotypical kind of quiet
Asian kid that was me.
When I have to basically standup and read, I stutter and I
would get so nervous because I'mvery self-conscious of my

(53:32):
accent and when I read I don'tread well.
So once I mess up one word,then it basically sends me into
this spiral, so I don't want tobe out in public.
It basically sends me into thisspiral so I don't want to be
out in public.
And now what I do is be publicevery single day.
This is a performance and thisperformance was actually created

(53:55):
because I work for Mayor ofYergoza.
What I learned is when you goon stage and you present the
certificates in the West Side,you can't say hi, my name is
steven chung, I'm here to,especially when you have a mayor
that's so dynamic.
And I start learning thatperformance, that showmanship,
because that's when you getpeople's attention, and once you
get people's attention, you cannow convince them.

(54:16):
You can now, um, uh, basicallyget your message across.
So it's about the outcome,right?
If you really want?
Going back to what I was sayingbefore, ladc is about making
sure that people absorb theinformation, the data about the
economy, and then you can makepolicies and you can make
decisions.
So, if your outcome isbasically convincing folks to

(54:36):
get to, you have to do certainthings that are different, maybe
things that you're notcomfortable with, and so to find
those individuals who have theskill sets but who are willing
to push themselves out of theircomfort zone and be a performer
you're in hollywood, you have tobe a performer yeah, did you
have any formal training to yourpresentation skills or your
your?
um, the training is that I, Itrain myself in the car quite a

(54:59):
lot.
So if you see me driving, I'malways talking to myself because
I I know that, um, you reallyhave to think fast and then,
especially when you're doingmedia interview, especially when
you're doing a presentation,when someone's asking you a
question and you don't yourbrain doesn't always function
that way.
So you need to practice and bewell rehearsed that if you get

(55:23):
asked a question that you're notquite comfortable with or you
don't know what the answer is,you have your stock happen you'd
have to answer.
So you probably have heard mesay this even in this interview
um, I like my stats and that'smy comfort level, so that's why,
when something happens, you seeme basically needing my time.
Let's talk about the 88 cities128.

Well, I know you carry your little notebook a
lot.
I've observed that quite a bit.
You've been on multipleinterviews recently on the news
talking about the ports andinternational relations and
trade.
You do quite a bit publicly.
So to hear someone like youthat was kind of quiet and and
didn't have any formal trainingbut you observe that through

(56:07):
your mentors and everyone I meanit says a lot.
I think it inspires a lot of usto to get out of that comfort
zone and I'm definitely, youknow, doing something new too,
where being on a platform likethis and speaking in front of a
camera it's, it's not natural tome I have no training myself
and I'm still learning butdefinitely very inspirational.

(56:29):
So thank you for all you dothere.

I think we're all learning At least we should
all be learning and for me, Ithink the thing that drives me
to do that is I have a job to do, and if I'm not performing and
I'm not able to convince folks,if I'm not performing, I'm not
able to convince folks I'm notdoing my job well.
So, whether I like it or not,that's for me to basically deal
with.

After the camera's off and after I go home
, well, the thing is that youthere's a sense of
responsibility.
I mean, you represent such aninfluential and powerful region.
Um, when you speak, you speakon behalf of a lot of us, so I'm
sure it's a weight on you too,where you're maybe driving home

(57:11):
and you're thinking about did Isay that right?
Or I hope I didn't misspeak.
Or, when it comes to numbersand analytics, everyone looks
for you for those details.
So I'm sure it's not easy tomemorize all of that.

It's not and I really hate to listen to myself
and actually watch myself oncamera, but I have to do it so
that I can learn.
Recently I was in Coden CodenNolan and I watched the video
back and I was just cringingevery other word I was saying,

(57:44):
because I noticed my accent, Inoticed my grammar is not
perfect, right, and so everysingle time I'm very
self-critical and I want toimprove.
But sometimes when you're askeddifficult questions because you
don't have all the stockanswers, it basically kind of
exposes your vulnerability.
So it's you know, all you cando is basically try to learn and

(58:05):
try to grow.
But I'll just say it's not easy.
It doesn't come naturally to meand I know it doesn't come
naturally to a lot of folks, butpeople just see the camera.
They don't see the other side.

Oh yeah, and that's what I'm trying to
capture.
Here is the other side ofStephen Chung, so I'm coming up
on my hour if I haven't passedit already.
But what's next for you?
I mean, I know you have quite arunway still and a lot to
accomplish with LADC, but whatdo you see yourself doing after

(58:37):
this?
Or any thought to what's tocome or what you?

would like to do .
Yeah, I had a lot of plans whenI was younger because I said
this is what I'm gonna do and Irealized that None of them
actually have come to fruition.
Life just takes you to adifferent direction.
I know every single time I'mdoing something, whether it's on
stage, whether I Last week,select LA again right, mayor

(59:01):
Bass was there, supervisorMitchell was there, we had all
these concert generals and I wasdoing a fireside chat with the
lieutenant governor.
Last week, select LA againright, mayor Bass was there,
supervisor Mitchell was there,we had all these consul generals
and I was doing a fireside chatwith the lieutenant governor,
and halfway through I was doingthat fireside chat interview.
I just had this moment.
It's like what am I doing here?
How did I get here?
You're just with the lieutenantgovernor.

You've been with the governor, just recently
at your other event.

So, yeah, you do sit there and you, and for me
it's uh, the time frame in mymind is still, I still feel, uh,
like that kid that was on thefloor at nelmonte in the
sweatshop all the time, and so,for me, I'm always, I have this
performance, I have to do, butat the same time, I'm always
constantly like this impostersyndrome syndrome that people

(59:45):
talk about.
It's not so much as impostersyndrome, it's not so much Um,
what are you?
Who, who, who, who the hell doyou think you are to actually be
doing this?
And um, that's why, going backto what you're saying, right,
that weight is heavy, because II feel that there are so many

(01:00:06):
other folks that don't have thisopportunity and, since I'm
giving this opportunity, don'tmess it up.
Don't mess it up for yourself,don't mess up for other people,
because this is an amazingopportunity.
So, in terms of what's next, um,I truly I don't know.
Uh, but my goal, again, this isnot the, the path I chose.

(01:00:28):
I think I was just veryfortunate to be given this path.
I keep on kind of enjoying thisride in my mind.
I would love to move to NewZealand and open a shelter for
dogs, old dogs that basicallyneed rescuing, and if I don't
have to talk to another personfor three months, I'll be very

(01:00:50):
happy.
I'll do some hikes.
I'm a simple, simple person, Idon't need a lot, and so that
would be actually my escape plan.

Christopher Luna (01:00:58):
Well, hopefully that's a long, long,
long time from now, because wedefinitely need Stephen Chung,
we need you in this communityand what I love about you is
that you do have such a strongpassion for our region and it
shows.
And when I took this role too,what I do now is, like I

(01:01:19):
mentioned, I come from thatfamily business and we have a
lot vested in this community.
My parents did a lot for LosAngeles and we continue to live
off Los Angeles and whatever wecan do to help right, big or
small.
So I think that when you don'thave that alternative motive, it
really shines through and I'veseen that from day one when I

(01:01:43):
saw you on some stage somewhere.
So, like I said, thank you somuch for everything you do for
the community, thank you forbeing part of this show.
It really means a lot.

Narrator 2 (01:01:53):
And.

I really hope that I get to sit down with you
more, because I have a ton ofquestions that I did not ask,
but before you go, I'm not sureif you saw, but they opened a
new Javier's down in thisbuilding, so I wanted to give
you this gift.
Thank you, and definitely enjoya nice dinner there.
It's Javier's across the streetfrom Crypto Arena here in

(01:02:14):
downtown Los Angeles, so we'relucky to have them here.
And again, just thank you.
Is there any last words thatyou would like to to give to the
audience?

Stephen Cheung (01:02:22):
uh, no, uh, well , thank you for for having me.
I I think, uh for for me, andas I'm kind of, um, kind of
building what's next for ladc,what we're trying to do, we
actually came up with our newvision.
Uh, that will be announced soonfor ladc and we've been
previewing for a while, and itgoes back to a lot of things

(01:02:42):
that we've been talking about.
I realized that this actuallyinterview has helped me
understand where it came from,and our vision is a coalition of
one, an economy for all.
It's really about building thatcoalition so that we can all
come together to build a strongeconomy that will support all
Angelenos, and it's a goodtagline.

(01:03:03):
But what was everything wetalked about before is that it's
not easy building thatcoalition.
So we hope to work with you andeverybody else to make sure
that we come together asAngelenos, especially during
this time where it's going toget more and more challenging.
When resources are tight, wesee competition and we see
people infighting with eachother.
That's not going to help us andthat's why, having seen all the

(01:03:26):
conflict I've seen throughoutmy life, if there's something
that I can do and we can dotogether to help bring together
this entire region so that wecan collectively work together
to make people's lives better.
That would be wonderful.

Yeah, it's great and we didn't really tap
into anything you do at LAEDC.
And just search Stephen Chungon YouTube and you'll find a lot
of things.
Or follow him on LinkedIn,follow you really.
Or follow LAEDC as well.
They do a lot of great work.
You do have a lot of greatinterviews where you talk about
the regional and how we need tostay competitive and what we

(01:04:01):
need to do to not lose thecompetitive advantage with other
states and, like I said, itboils down and it is a domino
effect.
You see it, when things are notdoing well, you'll see these
businesses close and, like Isaid, you speak for a lot of us.
So, thank you for all.
You do Search his name forthose who don't know who you are

(01:04:21):
, but you're well known.
So, but, thank you again forbeing here and I appreciate your
time.
Thank you for joining us.
Look forward to the next one.

Narrator 1 (01:04:29):
Thank you for joining us on this episode of
the Los Angeles Leaders Podcast,hosted by Christopher Luna.
We hope you found ourconversation as inspiring as we
did.
Don't forget to subscribe andleave us a review on your
favorite podcast platform.
Thank you.

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Stephen Cheung - President and CEO of LAEDC & WTCLA | Los Angeles Leaders

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Stephen Cheung - President and CEO of LAEDC & WTCLA | Los Angeles Leaders