My name is James Huy Bao. I am the co-founder and executive director of OneVietnam Network, a social enterprise that connects the people and groups that seek to make Vietnam a better place.  We are building a cutting-edge network that makes people, organizations, and data centrally accessible. Our goal is to completely change the way people interact with their communities.  Please visit our website for more on our efforts.

My Background: I was born in Vietnam and moved to the Bay Area as a child.  I attended the University of California, Berkeley where I was a Regents’ and Chancellor’s Scholar and was fortunate enough to receive a full scholarship.  At Berkeley, I became president of the American Advertising Federation Chapter and lead teams in several finance and strategy case competitions.  I graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration.

After graduation, I worked at FTI Consulting as a corporate finance analyst for nearly 2 years.  At FTI, I gained experience in equity analyst, transaction advisory, and the bankruptcy and restructuring process.  My work and interest are focused in TMT (Technology, Media, Telecommunications); my past engagements and analyses includes  Pay by Touch, T-Mobile, AT&T, Google,Hewlett-Parkard, and General Motors.  I am currently in pursuit of the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification, a 3 year program covering graduate level topics in finance, accounting, and economics.

Circa 2004

My Interests: I build my first computer at the age of 12 and my first website at 13.  The website went on to attract 1 million unique visitors, earning enough ad revenue to cover my expenses for the year.  My life since then has involved technology in one way or another, from multiple websites to teaching as a undergraduate computer science instructor at Berkeley.

I often say that my first love was tech but I married finance.  I’ve come to find out they are very similar; both are sciences of efficiency.  I have been lucky enough to combine both passions in my career as a analyst covering the technology industry.

My Goals: In my career, I want to be able to establish myself as a complete student of business, from finance to marketing to operations.  I hope to one day be able to use my abilities to create opportunities for less fortunate communities through providing education, jobs, and fair and ethical business practices.