The Young Professionals' Group

Our Organization

The History Behind The Young Professionals’ Scholarship

Upon graduating high school, both So-Young and I received a number of scholarships to help fund our college educations. However, we both observed that a large percentage of the scholarships awarded in our high schools went to a very small percentage of our graduating classes. In particular, many of the scholarships went to the students who had the highest GPA s and SAT scores. Moreover, we noticed that a number of our friends, who we believed had great potential, were not eligible to apply for many scholarships simply because they did not have the strongest of academic credentials.

In 2000, So-Young and I teamed up to establish an organization that would provide scholarships that would be very different than most. Although academics would be a key component in the scholarship awarding process, there would also be a number of other factors that would be considered equally important. Among them would be quality of character, demonstrated track-record of dedication to a particular occupational field, and desire to make a positive impact to society.

In addition, to providing financial support, we wanted to take a longer-term role in ensuring the success of our scholarship recipients. As such, we began assembling The YPG Advisor Network, which would be made up of individuals working in various fields. These individuals would be available to provide information, guidance and advice to each of our scholarship recipients. The idea for the network stemmed from my earlier experiences.

Since the age of 12, I have had a strong interest in investing and the stock market. However, because I did not know of anyone who worked in the field, I found it extremely challenging to learn more about it. At the time, there was no internet like we know it today. All I had access to was my uncle, who was an individual investor and photographer by profession. Although he taught me a great deal about the stock market, his knowledge of how to pursue a career involving the stock market was somewhat limited.

With that in mind, So-Young and I decided that, as part of our scholarship award, the recipient would gain lifetime access to The YPG Advisor Network. We believe that the information, guidance and advice from one or more of our advisors could be worth well more than the monetary portion of our scholarship.

Currently, we are working on increasing awareness of our organization, scholarship and initiatives. In addition, hope to increase the number of scholarships that we award by attracting corporate and individual contributions. If you would like to help, or know someone who would like to contribute, please contact us.

Thank you for visiting our site and for your interest.

- Orton Chen
The Young Professionals’ Group – Investing In Our Future.

The Founders

Orton Chen, CFA

Orton graduated from Bergenfield High School (Bergenfield, NJ) in 1991. Subsequently, Orton attended Rutgers University from 1991-1995 and obtained a B.A. in Economics with concentrations in Accounting and Finance.

From 1995-1996, he worked for an economic consulting firm performing financial/economic valuations for litigations. With the goal of pursuing a career on Wall Street, Orton obtained an M.B.A. in Finance from Rutgers from 1996 to 1998. Since then, he has worked for a number of Wall Street firms such as PaineWebber, Wasserstein Perella Securities, Salomon Smith Barney, RedChip Research, and Pinnacle Associates in the equity research and portfolio management areas. Currently, Orton is a Senior Analyst at Al Dhabi Investment in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Orton is a CFA charterholder.

So-Young Kang

So-Young graduated from Brandon High School (Brandon, FL) in 1992. She then attended the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA) where she majored in International Relations and Japanese studies with a minor in Music Theory. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School.

Her interest in mentoring and tutoring started at a young age from teaching piano lessons in high school to tutoring international students while attending college. After moving to Japan in 1996, So-Young spent a year teaching English to Japanese junior high school students in Chiba, just outside of Tokyo, Japan. She then went on to manage International Sales and Promotion for the Chiba Convention Bureau. Since then, she has worked at Citigroup and McKinsey &Company. Currently, So-Young is Catalyst, Founder & Managing Partner of The Awaken Group, a global leadership development consulting firm in the US and Singapore.