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Christopher Yang '20 C-Suite Advisor Since 2020

Vice President of Engineering | Away

Biography:

Christopher Yang’s experience in software engineering and project management spans more than 17 years. Currently, he serves as vice president of engineering at Away, a direct-to-consumer lifestyle brand with a mission to create equitable access to the transformative benefits of travel through its product and content. As a member of Away’s leadership team, Chris is responsible for all engineering functions, including application, QA, data, DevOps, and site reliability engineering. Before joining Away, Chris was the vice president of engineering at Onriva, an AI-enabled travel marketplace, and Corporate Travel Management (ASX: CTD), an ASX Top 200 global company. He also held various leadership and management roles at DIRECTV and Ticketmaster. In addition to his career, Chris is an executive committee member at the Tech Coast Angels (TCA), the United States’ leading and most active angel investing network. As the co-chair of the events committee, he consistently manages TCA’s relationships with universities, accelerators, and VCs and is responsible for planning and organizing events in Los Angeles to increase TCA’s exposure to potential members and start-ups. Chris is also a part-time instructor in the Department of Engineering and Technology at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Here, he develops and delivers post-baccalaureate curricula, spearheading UCLA Extension’s first agile project-management certificate. Finally, Chris is a member of the Forbes Technology Council, where he frequently contributes to Forbes.com on topics related to technology, business strategy, project management, and entrepreneurship. Chris has been involved in almost every aspect of technology in his professional life. He is consistently sought as a thought leader in product strategy and development, agile coaching, project and program management, and business-process improvement. He is also an expert presenter, negotiator, and innovator and can forge solid relationships with strategic partners and build consensus across multiple levels. He has established a reputation for meeting organizational objectives and exceeding productivity and revenue goals. He does all of this with a smile on his face and a fire in his heart. Chris holds an MBA, an MS in industrial and systems engineering, and an MS in computer science from USC. He also has a wealth of key certifications, including Project Management Professional (PMP), Program Management Professional (PgMP), PMI Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP), PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM), Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), ICAgile Certified Professional (ICP), ICAgile Certified Professional in Agile Coaching (ICP-ACC), Certified Product Manager (CPM), Professional Agile Leadership (PAL I), AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner, and ITIL.

Thought Leadership By Christopher:

Pyramids for Sale! Virtual Real Estate Hits the Market

Meet Hrish Lotlikar, the co-founder and CEO of SuperWorld; the digital landscape that allows people to buy...
By Christopher Yang | Away

Horizen Labs Co-Founder Dean Steinbeck Shares What You Need to Know About Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Assets

Multitasking crypto insider Dean Steinbeck offers a greater understanding of how new developments in...
By Christopher Yang | Away

The Art of Financial “Goal” Setting: Q&A with Matilda Sung, General Partner, Ludis Capital Partners

Matilda Sung, general partner at Ludis Capital Partner, reflects on game-changing trends in sports media and...
By Christopher Yang | Away

Blockchain Game Company Lucid Sight Invests in Software Developers

Randy Saaf talks dev tools, space MMOs, and the future of the blockchain gaming industry.
By Christopher Yang | Away

NFTs in 2022: Mechanisms, Subindustries, Weaknesses, and Predictions

A recap and analysis of the non-fungible token industry after its 2021 boom.
By Christopher Yang | Away