ABOUT

EXNW is the future of racialized global storytelling and entertainment across all continents.

The Racial Equity Screen Office (RESO) is proud to announce the launch of a new global summit in Vancouver, BC to highlight, elevate, and empower racialized creatives in and across film, tv, streaming, gaming, and animation. East by Northwest (EXNW) is where the creative world comes together to catalyze the development of creative content and storytelling by racialized creators, and create a more inclusive and equitable future. 

Attendees will be part of a vibrant new community of producers, funders, agents, talent, executives, policymakers, and through the Summit, be equipped with insights, connections, and imagination needed to launch them into new creative horizons.

This groundbreaking new gathering is a bold first step in building a new space for people across multiple sectors to engage with and focus on racialized content producers and creatives, and the unique possibilities for sharing and telling their stories to the world. For this inaugural EXNW Summit, RESO is thrilled to partner with Gold House, the leading Asian Pacific cultural ecosystem that unites, invests in, and champions Asian Pacific and other marginalized content creators and companies.

The Opportunity

A global summit of this magnitude provides a boundless realm of opportunity for tastemakers, leaders and talent to connect and grow together. As EXNW develops and changes alongside humanity’s perpetual motion, we will invest in our communities through programming, talent incubators, and building closed-loop content creation systems for racialized creatives to cultivate their passions, visions and stories within their respective industries.

EXNW Team

Cissy Yuan

UX Designer, Web Developer

Pocket Sun

EXNW Ball Co-Chair, Program Advisor 

Vivian Chan

Program Advisor 

Karl Chen

Event Planner

Lucy Lei

Event Planner 

Barbara Lee

RESO Founder, Creator EXNW

Selena shiu

Event Producer

Alister Lee

UX Designer, Web Developer

Brian Pang

RESO Board, EXNW Director

Hanna Cho

RESO Interim Executive Director,
EXNW Event

Bing Chen

Gold House Co-Founder, EXNW Advisor

Karen leung

Sr. Graphic Designer

evelyn tindjau

Graphic Design

Caitlin Alinsod

RESO Administrative Assistant,
EXNW Social Media Coordinator

Osric chau

Program Advisor

regina leung

Operations Support

Nico Soule

Marketing, Media Manager

Nathan sing

EXNW Outreach & Researcher

Alisha weng

Photography, Graphic Design

Andy Chu

EXNW Ball and Fashion Show Producer

Jeremy Tran

Gold House Co-Founder, EXNW Advisor

Clement Lau

Program Advisor

Karl Chen

Event Planner

Karl Chen (they/he) is an event planner and community builder whose work focuses on advancing the lives of marginalized communities and social justice. Karl is the founder of RYSE - Professional Asian Network, a community of 65,000+ sharing their experiences as racialized individuals in professional settings and uplifting each other through dialogue and mentorship. Karl is also the host of Ganbei, a podcast dedicated to amplifying the voices of Asian professionals as they explore the intricacies of their Asian identities.

yvonne chapman

Fashion Design Advisor

Pocket Sun

EXNW Ball Co-Chair, Program Advisor

Pocket Sun is Co-founder and Managing Partner at SoGal Ventures, an early stage venture capital firm backing world-class women and diverse entrepreneurs. Since 2015, Pocket and co-founder Elizabeth have invested in 150+ startups worldwide, managed $50M LP capital, and built a track record of picking five $1B+ unicorns from the earliest stage.    Growing up in China, Pocket is passionate about raising overlooked voices. She became one of the youngest to be on the cover of Forbes and is frequently invited for keynotes and panels by Fortune 500 companies and high-profile conferences including the Microsoft CEO Summit. She has been recognized with awards and features including Entrepreneur Magazine 100 Most Powerful Women, Forbes Under 30 in VC. Singapore 100 Women In Tech, LinkedIn Top Voices, and many more. Besides investing, Pocket has also been a TV host, podcast host, community builder, and influential content creator. 

Selene Shiu

Event Producer

Often described as the wizard, Selena helps founders and creative teams scale, grow, and find flow with ease and efficiency. She is an architect of building bad-ass back-ends that prioritize people, systems, and agility in reaching business objectives. In her decade of corporate operations and project management, from her work with TED Conferences to living abroad in London, UK, she led teams and partnerships to success. Through managing technology adoption in teams, and delivering complex projects across Europe, Africa, and the US, she has controlled budgets up to £560k and contributed to projects worth £1M GBP - $3M USD. Currently, she is a Consultant of Business Operations and Event Production . She is also a life coach, CFO and COO of Human Potential Academy startup in the wellness and coaching space.

Lucy Lei

Event Planner

Lucy Lei is an experienced project and product manager in various tech sectors, including healthtech, digital marketing, and fintech.   She is the founder of Roots Collective, a non-profit events organization that celebrates Asian pop culture and empowers Asian minorities in North America. Through engaging events and workshops, the team has fostered a community in both Vancouver and Calgary.  Lucy's pursuits are fueled by her profound love for food, culture, and people, serving as a constant source of inspiration and motivation.

Vivian Chan

Program Manager

Vivian Chan is a technology executive who has been involved in launch, monetization, and go to market strategies for multiple waves of disruptive technology Analytics/AI, Cloud, AR/VR and Digital Transformation. She brings over 23 years of experience founding start-ups, taking mid-sized companies to IPO and leading teams in large enterprises like SAP and ServiceNow. She was named one of The Globe Mail Report on Business Top 50 Best Executive for her work as a community builder and champion of diversity for entrepreneurs, the Downtown Eastside and sits on the Board of Ballet BC and the Frontier Collective.

Cissy Yuan

UX Designer, Website Developer

Hi, I’m Cissy, a UX designer. My role at EXNW has allowed me to step into and be a part of a scene where I am able to not only advocate for but also help empower racialized content creators. I’m grateful for this opportunity and for the people I have met along the way!

Currently, I am working with Vancouver Coastal Health as a UX facilitator, working on Learning Health Systems with industry professionals to find better communication pathways between health care providers and patients.

Outside of work I enjoy creating art, figure skating, and spending time with my cat (Deli)!

News

  • Collaboration with Gold House

    Vancouver - June 6, 2023

    Racial Equity Screen Office announces collaboration with Gold House to unveil the Gold Stage at East by North West (EXNW) Global Summit July 28-30, 2023 in Vancouver, B.C.

  • Reso launches East by northwest (exnw)

    Vancouver - June 6, 2023

    The Racial Equity Screen Office Announces the Launch of the Inaugural East by Northwest (EXNW) Global Summit July 28-30, 2023 in Vancouver, BC.

  • EXNW ANNOUNCES SHANNON LEE AS SUMMIT KEYNOTE

    Vancouver - July 6, 2023

    Honouring 50 years of Father Bruce Lee’s Hollywood Legacy.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

EXNW and RESO are grateful to live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. We thank the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities that have cared for Turtle Island since time immemorial. With this acknowledgment, we remind ourselves of discriminatory, racist, and colonial practices that have and continue to create barriers for Indigenous peoples and communities across Turtle Island.