218 - Frank Jao - Founder + Operator Phuoc Loc Tho/Asian Garden Mall

Frank Jao (Triệu Như Phát) is a prominent Vietnamese-American businessman, philanthropist, and educational consultant. He is the founding donor of the Harvard Global Vietnam Wars Studies Program at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation.

Jao was a presidential appointee to the Vietnam Education Foundation, which provides educational exchanges between the United States and Vietnam, and served as its Chairman in 2002. He was also served as a board trustee member for multiple universities and institutes including Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies.

His Jao Foundation initiated and funded for building campus and developing major programs including the Vietnamese-American Oral History Project, English curriculum for international students, and Jao Sculpture Garden at UCI, Chapman University, and Coastline Community College.

Jao’s family was from North Vietnam but moved to South Vietnam in 1955. He later worked as an interpreter for USAID and US Marines. He and his wife, Catherine Duyên Phạm, immigrated to the United States in 1975, and later founded Bridgecreek Group, Inc. that includes real estate development, realty services, investment, and international affiliate. Jao was the principal developer of the Little Saigon in Orange County, CA, the cultural, commercial, and tourist hub for Vietnamese overseas.

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