Issue :：September 2012

The 19th Annual APEX Awards is almost here. Don't forget to get your tickets today. Plus, learn about APEX events and community volunteer opportunities this month.

19th Annual APEX Awards:
Empowering the Community. Inspiring Change.

On September 8th, 2012, APEX will hold its annual awards dinner at the Sheraton Los Angeles Downtown Hotel in Los Angeles. Our theme this year is "Empowering the Community. Inspiring Change."

Our annual awards will celebrate APEX's past and present accomplishments in helping to build tomorrow's leaders in the APA professional community. We will also recognize prominent Asian Pacific Americans who are opening doors for more leaders to rise.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Sheraton Downtown Los Angeles Hotel

6PM VIP Reception （by invitation or Premium Members only）
7PM Awards Dinner Show
California Ballroom

711 South Hope St.

Los Angeles, CA 90017

AWARDEES

Excellence in Arts and Entertainment：Far East Movement

Excellence in Community Service：Center for Pacific Asian Family（CPAF）

Excellence in Corporate Leadership：The Gas Company

President's Award：Dan Au, Vice President of Planning & Operations – OC

EMCEES

Aaron Takahashi, Cold Tofu

Jully Lee, Cold Tofu

ENTERTAINERS

Vy Nguyen, Singer/Songwriter

Ryan Fleming & Israel Waahila of HaleAmanO, Singers/Songwriters

David Lee, Choreographer/Dancer

Many thanks to this year's sponsors who generously support our programs and events, including Macau Government Tourist Office（Platinum Sponsor）, Southern California Gas Company（Gold Sponsor）, City National Bank（Silver Sponsor）, Southern California Edison（Silver Sponsor）, Plan C （Crystal Sponsor）, and CAUSE（Community Sponsor）.

PURCHASE TICKETS TODAY UNTIL 11:55 PM.

General Admission：$100

Includes 3-course dinner, awards show, gift bag, and after party admission.

Purchase your tickets here：apexawards2012.eventbrite.com

Premium Members：$80

Includes access to VIP reception, 3-course dinner, awards show, gift bag, and after party admission.

Premium Members can purchase tickets here：membership.apex.org

No walk-ins allowed.

Attire：Black-tie/formal

To volunteer for this event, please contact stephanie.huynh@apex.org

For more information, please visit：www.apex.org/awards

OC Mixer：An Evening of Good Ideas

Join APEX for our OC Social Networking Mixer - An Evening of Good Ideas. This is the follow-up to our Spring Mixer, Turning Good Ideas into Good Deeds. We've turned a lot of good ideas into good deeds over the last few months so it's time refill the well!

We need your help and input to shape the future of our programs in Orange County so if you have an idea for a professional development, community service, or cultural awareness program or event you think APEX should execute, let us know! The best idea will win a prize! The more detailed and specific, the better!

Wednesday, September 25, 2012
6:30PM - 9:30PM
Posch Restaurant
18912 MacArthur Blvd
Irvine, CA 92612

Premium Members：FREE with pre-registration
Please register here：http://membership.apex.org/

Non-members：$9 with pre-registration
Please register here：http://2012apexocsummermixer.eventbrite.com/

At-door：$15
Appetizers will be served!

Orangewood PALS Sports Night

Join APEX as we volunteer for a fun night of sports with the children of the Orangewood Children's Center.

Orangewood PALS, an auxiliary of the Orangewood Children's Foundation  provides assistance, love, and support to abused and neglected children in Orange County. On Thursday, September 20th from 6PM-8PM, APEX volunteers（ages 18+）are needed to help run a sports night for the children that live in the Orangewood Children's Center in Orange. Friends and family members are welcome to join.

To learn more about Orangewood PALS, visit www.orangewoodpals.org.

Thursday, September 20, 2012
6:00PM - 8:00PM
Orangewood Children's Home
401 The City Drive
Orange, CA

To sign up, please register here.

If you have any questions, please contact Tylor Laigo, Chair of Community Service, at tylor.laigo@apex.org.

Volunteer for the LA18 Harvest Moon Festival

APEX Cares is recruiting volunteers to assist with a variety of tasks（including security and translation）at the annual LA18 Harvest Moon Festival in Arcadia, CA on Sunday, September 23. This is a pan-Asian fun event that brings up to 45,000 Asian Americans from the Los Angeles area with music and entertainment for entire families to enjoy food, fun, and music with a CAR giveaway! This event has two shifts, from 10AM-2PM（arriving 9:30AM）or 1PM-5PM（arriving 12:30PM）. Lunch and a t-shirt will be provided!

If you are interested, please contact alvin.tam@apex.org or charles.tran@apex.org by Wednesday, September 5 with your choice of which shift you'd like to volunteer for（or both）!

APEX Mentoring Program（AMP）2012 Closing Ceremony

The APEX Mentoring Program（AMP）Closing Ceremony took place at Chinatown's Plum Tree Inn on Thursday, August 9. Over 50 mentors, mentees, APEX board members, and sponsors gathered together to celebrate the end of AMP 2012!  Ricky Choi, APEX President, recognized East West Bank and Warner Bros-Network for Asian Pacific Americans for their support of AMP this year with a special plaque. Linda Akutagawa, President & CEO of the Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics（LEAP）was the special guest speaker. Attendees enjoyed a multi-course chinese meal and were all given a small gift（sponsored by East West Bank）.
 
AMP had a record 27 mentee/mentor pairs this year. From the opening ceremony in March to the closing ceremony in August, the AMP participants got to know their mentee/mentors, as well as their fellow participants during the AMP workshops（Mentoring and Networking, Personal Branding）and APEX events（mixers, youth olympics, resume workshop, APEX Cares events, etc）. There was also one social outing to the Japanese American National Museum to see the Origami Exhibit. This year, there was a diverse group of mentees/mentors, covering entertainment, marketing, finance, accounting, IT consulting, law, entrepreneurship, and government. Congratulations to AMP 2012!
 
For pictures of AMP 2012 and to learn more, please visit the APEX website：http://apex.org/events/mentor. To sign up for AMP 2013 as a mentee or mentor, please contact Joyce Nakashima, Director of Mentorship at joyce.nakashima@apex.org.
 
Special thanks to sponsors for AMP 2012, which include East West Bank, Network for Asian Pacific Americans at Warner Bros, and Delivering Happiness（in-kind donation）.
 
Photos courtesy of Gavin Holt.

Festa dell'Autunno
November 2 - 4

From live entertainment and art to authentic Italian fare and olive-inspired Spa indulgences, the traditions of Italy come alive this harvest season. Inspired by 750 mature olive trees across the 504-acre Resort, Pelican Hill's three-day autumn festival includes entertainment and epicurean experiences open to Resort guests and locals. Please visit www.pelicanhill.com/festa for event details and packages.