Ascend OC’s Inspiring Across Generations (IAG) Conference 2026
Leading with Innovation
Speaker Bios
AI-Turning Innovation into Everyday Impact
Yen Anderson
Motivational Speaker, Coach, AI Consultant, Gen AI Trainer
Vortexa AI
As a seasoned AI consultant and dynamic speaker, Yen Anderson has empowered thousands of Microsoft employees and business leaders to embrace generative AI tools, transforming how they work. A trusted voice in the AI space, Yen is a sought-after podcast guest, panelist, and conference speaker known for breaking down complex concepts with clarity and relatable stories. A prolific content creator, Yen shares actionable insights on personal growth, brand building, and leveraging AI to reclaim time for meaningful work. With 25 years of tech industry expertise, including NASA projects and startups, Yen inspires audiences to think big, work smarter, and thrive in the AI era while maintaining the human touch.
Mahmoud Hajo
Executive Vice President
PIMCO
Mr. Hajo is an executive vice president at PIMCO based in the Newport Beach office. He leads Transformation and Strategic Change, an AI-first team dedicated to delivering business solutions and driving implementation across people, process, and technology. Previously at PIMCO, he co-headed client solutions and analytics for the Americas and Asia-Pacific regions, covering thought leadership, client analytics, solutions, and data science initiatives. Prior to joining PIMCO in 2011, he was a macro strategist at Citadel Securities, working on building their equity research business model and developing the sell-side coverage platform. Earlier in his career, he was a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton in Abu Dhabi, covering the public sector. He has 18 years of investment experience and holds a master's degree in mathematics and finance from the Courant Institute at New York University and a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.
Kyle Greeley
Technical Specialist
IBM
Technical Sales Specialist at IBM and hands-on AI developer specializing in enterprise-scale agentic systems. He architects multimillion-dollar AI and data integration solutions for Fortune 500 clients across healthcare, government, and commercial sectors, with a focus on translating autonomous AI capabilities into production-ready business applications. Kyle is co-inventor on US Patent No. 11,770,409 for threat level clustering—an early application of ML-driven autonomous decision-making in cybersecurity. His current work focuses on implementing AI agents in regulated, high-stakes environments where reliability, compliance, and seamless human-AI collaboration are non-negotiable. His work demonstrates that effective AI agents require more than powerful models—they need robust system architecture, thoughtful human-AI interaction design, and deep domain expertise to deliver reliable outcomes in high-stakes environments.
Will Li
Senior Technical Architect
Microsoft
Will Li is a Senior Technical Architect at Microsoft, based in Irvine, CA, where Will helps enterprise customers transform their businesses through AI-driven solutions. Will focuses on enabling organizations to adopt Microsoft technologies to automate workflows, enhance collaboration, and unlock data-driven decision-making. Will has led strategic engagements across industries, guiding customers through envisioning sessions and prototyping AI-powered processes that improve efficiency and deliver measurable outcomes. Before joining Microsoft, Will directed IT infrastructure initiatives at Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, overseeing technology modernization across 20 branches. Will also gained experience at Google as a Partner Technology Manager, contributing to payment technology partnerships. Will holds a PhD in Computer Science from Peking University and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, combining deep technical expertise with business strategy.
Moderators
Ted Chang
Program and Supply Chain leader
IBM
Program and Supply Chain leader with 20+ years of experience delivering complex global transformations, including M&A and divestitures, for Fortune 500 companies.
Lillian Lin
Portfolio Manager
Wellington
Lillian Lin is currently a portfolio manager at Wellington. Prior to joining Wellington, she worked as a portfolio manager for over a decade at pimco , and interned in fixed income portfolio analysis at Harvard Management Company and was a FICC (fixed income, commodities, and currencies) derivatives trader at UBS. She was named a Wall Street rising star in 2023 by Business Insider. She was awarded Role Model of the Year by ASCEND OC in 2023. She was named the Next Generation Leader of the Year in 2022 by Women in Asset Management, and was named a Rising Star at Markets Media’s 2020 Women in Finance Awards. She has 11 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Peking University. She ranked top out of more than 100,000 students in Beijing 2007 College Entrance Examination Gao Kao Zhuang Yuan.
Mental Health: The Foundation of Resiliency
Speakers
Gary Lu
Chief Financial Officer
Biomerica
Gary Lu, CPA is a seasoned finance, accounting, and operations executive with over 20 years of leadership experience across SEC publicly traded companies, privately held organizations, and high-growth startups. A UCLA graduate, he brings deep expertise in business transformation, capital strategy, and operational execution across MedTech, fintech, and SaaS industries. Mr. Lu has led enterprise finance, accounting, and strategic planning functions while overseeing HR, IT, legal, and investor relations teams. His experience includes raising capital in public and private markets, executing mergers and acquisitions, implementing enterprise systems, and building scalable financial infrastructures. He currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of Biomerica, Inc., a publicly traded MedTech company, and has been recognized as an Orange County Business Journal CFO of the Year nominee and LA Times Studios CFO Executive of the Year finalist. Beyond his corporate role, Mr. Lu is the founder of Forge Optima, a nonprofit focused on career awareness, financial literacy, and personal growth, and serves on the UCI Paul Merage School of Business Master of Finance Advisory Board and the American Cancer Society Orange County Board. He also maintains an active creative practice, producing original music featured on the International Billboard Hot 80 playlist, reflecting his belief that disciplined leadership and creativity are mutually reinforcing.
Dr. Kiran Bath
Partner at Neurology Center of N. Orange County and
Director at St. Jude Comprehensive Stroke Program
Dr. Kiran K.S. Bath is a board-certified neurologist with subspecialty certification in Neurocritical Care and serves as Director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Stroke Program. She is an experienced clinical neurosciences researcher with extensive leadership in stroke, dementia, and neurodegenerative disease clinical trials. Dr. Bath has a special interest in the Alzheimer’s disease spectrum, with a focus on early detection, lifestyle-based risk reduction for vascular and Alzheimer’s dementia, and patient-centered disease management. Her work emphasizes reducing neurological disease burden not only for patients, but also for caregivers. She is deeply committed to patient and caregiver education, believing that informed individuals are empowered to take control of their health and make confident decisions about their future. Dr. Bath views healthcare innovation and technology as essential copilots in advancing brain health and transforming neurological care.
Dr. Michael Imerman
Assistant Professor of Teaching
University of California, Irvine – The Paul Merage School of Business
Dr. Michael Imerman is an Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Finance Area at the Paul Merage School of Business in the University of California, Irvine where he is also Faculty Director for the Master of Finance program. Previously he was a tenured Finance faculty member in the Drucker School of Management and Co-Director of the Financial Engineering program at Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Imerman’s areas of expertise include banking, risk management, credit risk models, financial regulation, financial data science, and FinTech innovation. He is a highly regarded expert in FinTech innovation and has spent the last decade of his career studying how digital transformation is impacting financial services. In 2022, Dr. Imerman spent a sabbatical term with the FinTech Group at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Fransico. He also co-authored the highly regarded book The Economics of FinTech: Understanding Digital Transformation in Financial Services, with Frank J. Fabozzi (2025, MIT Press). Dr. Imerman is actively working on how private markets fund innovation. He is currently writing his second book, with Frank J. Fabozzi, titled Managing and Funding Innovation: The New Playbook for Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity (MIT Press). Dr. Imerman is Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Private Markets Investing and has been on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Financial Data Science since its inception in 2018. He regularly advises and does consulting for companies ranging from startups to large financial institutions. Before his career in academia, Imerman worked as an analyst at Lehman Brothers, supporting high-grade corporate bond and credit derivatives traders. He received his PhD in Finance and Economics and BS in Finance from Rutgers University. He completed a NSF-funded postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton University in the Operations Research and Financial Engineering Department, researching big data analytics and financial data science.
Moderators
Jas Kaur
PIMCO
Anita Tse
Strategy Manager
Experian
The Power of Happiness: Explore how joy, purpose, and emotional wellbeing shape truly impactful leaders
Speakers
Angela Chee
Keynote Speaker
Angela Chee
Angela Chee is a keynote speaker, emcee, communication coach, podcast host, and award-winning author of The Power of The Only-Own Your Voice, Thrive in Any Environment. A former TV news anchor/reporter with 20+ years on air, she’s worked with top TV stations from Los Angeles to San Diego, (KCBS, KNBC, Fox 6,) and hosted national shows from HGTV to E! She now helps leaders Own Your Only™ and become YOU, Amplified!® -clear, confident, and connected on camera and off, and step into their leadership. Trusted by Microsoft, Cisco, Intel, JPMorgan Chase, and more, she engages audiences with insight, warmth, and transformative takeaways. Her speaking career began at age 15, when she became the first Asian American woman to win the title of Miss California National Teenager. She’s been featured as an expert on The Today Show, local morning shows, and served as a media mentor on Lifetime’s The Pop Game and even made an appearance in the film Blades of Glory. Born on the East Coast and raised in Los Angeles by her Chinese immigrant parents, she is conversational in Mandarin Chinese and now lives in San Diego with her husband and two teenagers. Connect with her @AngelaCheeTV or visit www.AngelaChee.com.
Phillip Lau
Founder
SoCal Boba Run Club
Phillip Lau is the founder of SoCal Boba Run Club, one of Southern California’s largest social clubs, and the co-founder of Bedrot.Me, a tech startup focused on combating the growing “bedrot” epidemic and digital burnout. A seasoned entrepreneur, Phillip has spent over five years building mobile apps and AI-powered projects, primarily in the food and restaurant space, with a focus on product development, social media branding, and community-led growth. By day, Phillip also works at PIMCO (Pacific Investment Management Company) on the Hedge Fund and Quantitative Strategies team as a Product Strategy Associate. He joined the firm after graduating cum laude from the University of Southern California in 2022 with a degree in Economics and a minor in Business Finance. Outside of work, Phillip is an avid pickleball player, longtime foodie creator, and community builder passionate about bringing people together—online and offline.
Moderator
Steve Horio
PIMCO