Gordon Liao

Founding Board Member & Vice Chair

Founder and Managing Partner - Promise Holdings LLC

A life-long resident of the Chicago area, Gordon is an independent entrepreneur, investor, operator and performer. He is the Founder and Managing Partner of Promise Holdings (www.promise-holdings.com), which along with affiliated investment firms Modjule LLC, Surge CPG, and 4C Capital LLC (all of which Liao co-founded), invest in many businesses, primarily in the consumer space.

Among the companies where he is a co-owner and active board member, include Hickory Farms, a retailer of food gifts, AKIRA, a leading fast fashion women's apparel & shoes retailer, MVI, a leading manufacturer of snack nuts, IgeneX, the best-known lab in the U.S. focused on Lyme disease and Chicago Switchboard, a leading manufacturer of customized switchboards. Gordon is also an operator as he is CFO of AKIRA, Chairman of Chicago Switchboard and has served as a co-founder of several start-ups.

Prior to his current activities, Gordon spent 15 years in institutional Private Equity as a Principal and Investment professional with Baird Capital, Reliant Equity Investors, and Wind Point Partners. Gordon received his MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Toigo Fellow and the Founder of the Asian American Business Association (AABA), and his BS from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he graduated with Highest Honors and as a recipient of the Bronze Tablet.

Gordon's core mission in life is focused on lifting up underserved communities, with an emphasis on economic wealth creation and the enhancement of self-esteem through the performing arts. He is the past President of the Goodman Theater's Auxiliary Board, a Founding Board Member and current Vice Chair of AAAIM (the Association of Asian American Investment Managers), and former Board member of the Chicago Sinfonietta.

Finally, he is a published poet, produced playwright, spoken word artist and wedding singer.