After the completion of this internship, Senator Torres asked him to work for his campaign for state Insurance Commissioner as his volunteer coordinator. Being a part of this campaign fueled and solidified his passion for politics even though Torres lost.

Continuing his passion, he started an Asian American organization at his university. It aimed to engage Asian American students in politics and issues that affect Asian Americans. At the time, the biggest issue was Proposition 209, the anti-affirmative action measure. To help defeat it, he interned for Ron Wong’s then-firm, Lang Murakawa and Wong to raise money for and build support against it within the Asian American community.

Upon graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering, James worked as a policy consultant for a state senator and later as a legislative director for an assemblymember in Sacramento. He successfully developed, advocated for, and built community support for many bills that were signed into law.

James served as the executive director of California League of Conservation Voters, an organization that elects pro-environment candidates by raising money to support its endorsed candidates, targeting districts with independent expenditures and volunteers, and mobilizing grassroots support.

Politically, he worked on a number of campaigns for individuals — from president down to city council — and for ballot measures. In addition, he served as an Assembly District Delegate for 16 years and as an elected member of the Los Angeles County Democratic Central Committee for six years.

In 2009, he ran for the state assembly in one of the most competitive races in the state. To support his campaign, he raised nearly $500,000 in the election cycle, earned endorsement from major political organizations, and built a strong grassroots operations of over 300 volunteers. With seven candidates in the race and over $5 million spent by candidates and through independent expenditures, James finished a close second.

While he fell short, the lessons and experiences from this campaign helped to successfully elect his wife, Sandra Chen Lau, who defeated an incumbent in 2018, to the Pasadena Community College District Board of Trustees.

Previously, Jenny served as a consultant for the Asian and Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus. With a background in public service and politics, she was proud to previously serve as California Democratic Party Secretary from 2017-2021.

As President and CEO of Imprenta Communications Group, Inc. an award-wining public affairs, campaign and ethnic marketing firm, Mr. Wong oversees a multi-million-dollar business.  He develops and implements political and communications strategies for Fortune 500 companies, elected officials, government entities and candidates for elected office.  Imprenta is one of California’s leading public affairs and campaign firms and has made Inc. Magazine’s list of the 500 Fastest-Growing Companies in America two years in a row (2015 and 2016).

Prior to founding Imprenta and APALF, Mr. Wong served in President Clinton’s Administration at the U.S. Department of Justice and on the staff of some of the country’s most prominent elected officials including California Governor Gray Davis, Speaker of the California Legislature Willie Brown, State Senator Art Torres, and L.A. County Supervisor Ed Edelman.

Mr. Wong’s work on behalf of his clients is recognized as “best in the business,” and he has received nearly 100 individual awards including “Professional of the Year” in 2018 by the Public Relations Society of America and “Boutique Agency of the Year” from Bulldog Reporter, as well as awards for creative ads and successful campaigns.  The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized Mr. Wong as the Asian Business Advocate of the Year 2013, and he was a semi-finalist for the Ernest & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2016 and 2017.

He has also been honored by the State Senate, State Assembly, Los Angeles City Council, Organization of Chinese Americans, Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, Chinese Elected Officials, Asian Business Association, Organization of Chinese Americans, and the Korean American Federation, among others.  In 2018, the API Legislative Caucus presented Mr. Wong with an Excellence in Business Award.

From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Wong served as the Chief Deputy Appointments Secretary to California Governor Gray Davis.  In this position, he served on the governor’s senior staff and advised Governor Davis on filling the more than 3,000 appointments to various commissions, boards and exempt positions in the governor’s administration.  From 1994 to 1997, Mr. Wong served as founding partner of Lang, Murakawa & Wong (LMW), one of the nation’s very first APA owned strategic communications, political campaign, and public relations firms.

Additionally, Mr. Wong has served in various appointed and leadership positions.  In 2012, he was appointed to serve in President Obama’s Administration on the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Regulatory Fairness (RegFair) Board.  Governor Davis appointed Mr. Wong to the L.A. County Metro Board of Directors and the Board of Governors for the California Community Colleges.  In addition, he is the former co-chair of the Asian Business Association, and Secretary of the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, Board Member of Center of Asians United for Self-Empowerment (CAUSE), Board member of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and Member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Mr. Wong received a bachelor of arts degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).  He is a recipient of the Sloan Foundation Fellowship at the University of Washington, Graduate School of Public Affairs, and completed the Management Development for Entrepreneurs program at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Business.