With a theme of Casino Royale, Young Elite Vancouver Business Association gathered 450 members and guests at the JW Marriot Parq Vancouver for the seventh annual Y.E. Gala 2023.
Stepping into the seventh year of Young Elite, President and Co-founder Jerry Wang hopes to continue celebrating the achievements of Vancouver’s finest young entrepreneurs and startups, and provide a platform to gather and connect. Y.E. is committed to being at the forefront of recognizing peers who have made tremendous contributions to community. The Y.E. has a vision that begins with Community Contribution, Meaningful Connections, and Valuable Mentorship, followed by Business Collaboration, Continuous Partnership, culminating in creating Life-Long Friendships.
Wang shares, “This year, Y.E. will uphold the tradition to present awards to outstanding young startups and young entrepreneurs of the year, and we are delighted to also present “Y.E. Youth Elite of the Year” to recognize our future leaders and show our support to them.”
Sponsors of the gala event included Title Sponsor Marco Polo by Gryphon, with others including Concord Pacific, ASPAC Developments, Cosentino, and Livingspace.
Special guests included MP Wilson Miao, MLA Kevin Falcon, MLA Michael Lee, and Burnaby City Councillor James Wang.
Charity Partner of the Year – Vancouver Art Gallery
Y.E. has consistently been keen on giving back and contributing to the society where they live and work. As of today, Y.E., with the support of their generous members, has donated over $200,000 to local organizations such as the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation, Burnaby Hospital Foundation, and Chinese Canadian Museum.
This year, Wang and Y.E. fundraised $32,000 for the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Institute of Asian Art. As VGA’s new $400 million gallery project is under development, Y.E. will be supporting the Institute of Asian Art (IAA) to demonstrate Asian cultural heritage and artwork in order to connect the East and West.
Elite Award 2023
Since 2017, Y.E. has nominated over 27 young outstanding individuals and businesses at its Annual Year-End Gala. Those selected as Young Elite of the Year are entrepreneurial pioneers, successful young professionals and philanthropic contributors who have made a difference in the community. They actively innovate and implement ideas into reality that have significant impacts on the growth of the city for both business and community contribution.
“At Y.E. Annual Gala 2023, we awarded many young and extraordinary individuals with our “Young Elite Award” and recognized their success and contribution to our community. This year we were thrilled to announce a brand new “Youth Elite Award” and recognize teenagers who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and potential, and to encourage them to keep working hard as Y.E. and all our members will be here to support their development,” says Wang.
Past award winners have included Aylex Thunder (AylexTV Inc & ThunderDogs Apparel, Ming Yang (Honolulu Cafe), Ann An (Blara Organic House), and Crystal Hung (Icon Marketing Inc).
Author Profile
- Helen Siwak is the founder of EcoLuxLuv Marketing & Communications Inc and publisher of Folio.YVR Luxury Lifestyle Magazine, PORTFOLIOY.YVR Business & Entrepreneurs Magazine, and digital women's lifestyle magazine EcoLuxLifestyle.co. She is a prolific content creator, consultant, and marketing and media strategist within the ecoluxury lifestyle niche. Post-pandemic, she has worked with many small to mid-sized plant-based/vegan brands to build their digital foundations and strategize content creation and business development. Helen is the west coast correspondent to Canada’s top-read industry magazine Retail-Insider, holds a vast freelance portfolio, and consults with many of the world’s luxury heritage brands. Always seeking new opportunities and challenges, you can email her at helen@ecoluxluv.com.
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