Board of Directors

Mr. Chang founded GEN by opening our first restaurant in September 2011 in Tustin, California and, since our formation in October 2021, he has served as our Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director. Prior to founding GEN, Mr. Chang has been the owner, operator and manager of multiple restaurant concepts, including the Shabuya, Sumo, Octopus, H2O Sushi and California Gogi brands. Mr. Chang received his Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Mr. Kim joined GEN shortly after the opening of our first restaurant in September 2011 and, since our formation in October 2021, he has served as our Co-Chief Executive Officer and Director. Before founding GEN, Mr. Kim served as Chief Executive Officer of La Salsa, Inc. and of Baja Fresh Enterprises, President of Caliber Capital Group, an equity investment firm focused on distressed companies, as managing member of CinnaWorks, LLC and of Sweet Candy, LLC, and managed Golden Den Corp. and RD Restaurant Group, Inc., which owned Denny’s, Carl’s Jr., Golden Corral and Pick-Up Stix franchises. Mr. Kim has also established the Kim Family Foundation, through which he supports various charitable causes related to scholastic achievement and leadership.

Mr. Cowan has served as a member of our Board of Directors since the completion of our initial public offering on June 21, 2023. Mr. Cowan is the President and Chief Executive Officer of H-1 Auto Care, LLC (d/b/a Honest1 Auto Care), a privately held franchisor of auto repair services with more than 60 retail locations, and has served in such role since 2018. Mr. Cowan has also served as the Managing Member of SLC Capital Partners, LLC and its affiliated entities since he co-founded it in 2010. SLC Capital Partners is a private investment firm located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Prior to founding SLC Capital Partners, Mr. Cowan worked at J.H. Whitney & Co. in multiple roles, including as Chief Financial Officer for the company’s numerous investment funds with a total of over five billion dollars in assets under management. Mr. Cowan also previously helped build two private equity-backed companies. Mr. Cowan began his career at Purina Mills, Inc., one of the U.S.’s largest manufacturers of animal nutrition products. Mr. Cowan received his B.S. in Finance from La Salle University.

Mr. Gregory has served as a member of our Board of Directors since the completion of our initial public offering on June 21, 2023. Mr. Gregory is the Chief Executive Officer of RMX Resources, LLC, a private oil and natural gas company backed by CIC Partners in Dallas, Texas. RMX operates oil and natural gas properties primarily in Los Angeles County, California. Mr. Gregory has served in such role since 2018. Immediately prior to forming RMX, Mr. Gregory served as the Chief Executive Officer of Royale Energy, Inc. (OTCQB: ROYL) a publicly traded oil and natural gas company formed in 1986. Mr. Gregory joined the board of Royale in 2014 and became CEO in 2015. Prior to becoming CEO of Royale Energy, Inc., Mr. Gregory served as the Chief Financial Officer of two other private oil and gas companies, Americo Energy Resources, LLC, and J&S Oil & Gas, LLC. While CFO of these companies, Mr. Gregory raised over $200 million in private equity and senior debt capital to support the companies’ respective operations and acquisition activities. Mr. Gregory began his career in the banking industry where he held various positions over a 25-year banking career. As a banker, he closed over $1 billion in transactions focused primarily on the upstream oil and gas industry, holding officer positions at various Texas based institutions. In addition to his corporate activities, Mr. Gregory has been active on multiple nonprofit boards addressing homelessness, early childhood education issues and social justice. Mr. Gregory received his BBA in Finance from Lamar University.