Alvin Chu

Alvin Chu is the founder and president of Urban Bridge Builders (UBB).  He graduated from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1996 with a Bachelor of Arts both in Economics and Political Science, and spent the next three years working in various finance and law-related jobs. During this time, in October 1997, Alvin came to know the Lord, which stretched and deepened his perspective on and passion for urban-education reform. This passion led him, in 1999, to pursue graduate studies at the University of Wisconsin (Madison), where the UBB vision was born in January 2001.  Alvin graduated in May 2003 with his Juris Doctor, Master of Business Administration in Finance and Master of Science in Educational Administration.

Alvin was born in Guatemala City and spent most of his childhood in California—including five years in Los Angeles and ten years in Santa Cruz.  The Urban Bridge Builders’ vision stems from Alvin’s (1) struggle with stuttering, (2) experiencing low educational expectations, and (3) seeing the vast disparities in socioeconomic and educational quality between the more urban environment he witnessed in Los Angeles and his more suburban surroundings in Santa Cruz.  As he began getting to apply to college in 1990, Alvin began reflecting on key factors that paved his path to higher education.  He realized his achievements in large part were due to his stable and supportive home environment, and the significantly-improved educational quality and community environment he experienced after moving to Santa Cruz.  Alvin’s lessons learned and ideas generated from these reflections started him along a journey that has led to the current vision for Urban Bridge Builders. 

Alvin is currently an attorney in Washington D.C. and active at Grace Presbyterian Church (DC).  His other passions include spending time with family/friends, reading, music, anything food related, traveling and Michigan Wolverines football.

Joseph Kaufmann

Joseph Kaufmann first became involved with UBB in 2009 as a volunteer and joined the board in 2011.  He serves as a deacon at Grace Presbyterian in Chinatown and lives in the H St. NE neighborhood.

Samuel Chang

Samuel Chang is a program officer at the Department of State, where he focuses on rule of law issues.  He formerly worked as a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate.  Samuel joined the UBB board in 2010.