
John Shen – Chief Executive Officer
John Shen is the creative pioneer behind the groundbreaking integration of banking’s senior loan origination with EB-5 operations. John obtained his master’s degree from Duke University in 1996 and his undergraduate degree from the Law School of Peking University in 1992.
John founded American Lending Center (“ALC”) in June 2009. By early 2024, ALC had fully financed senior loan products for 94 qualified EB-5 projects in 31 states, contributing to a combined construction and business expansion budget of over 1.4 billion dollars. ALC’s lending practice has successfully created more than 40,000 new jobs nationwide since 2009. In October 2017, John received the Coleman Report’s “SBA 504 Lender of the Year Award” for his outstanding leadership and contributions to business lending across the nation. As an Economic Development Commissioner for the City of Long Beach, John also co-founded the first ever Long Beach Accelerator™ to support tech startups and to help promote foreign direct investments (FDI) and international trade for the City.

Stella Zhang – Chief Operating Officer
Stella Zhang is the Chief Operating Officer of American Lending Center Holdings Group and a cofounder of Sunstone Management, a private capital firm investing in private credit and early-stage technology startups. She graduated with an MBA from the University of California, Irvine, in 2005, and has been instrumental in driving ALC’s nationwide growth and success, with both companies recognized on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies in the U.S.
Her accomplishments include the Coleman Emerging Leader Award in Lending (2017) and UCI’s Distinguished Alumna Award (2023). Since 2020, she has been the title sponsor of UCI’s New Venture Competition, supporting aspiring student entrepreneurs.
With extensive experience in operational management and a passion for giving back, Stella continues to lead with strategic vision while remaining deeply engaged with her alma mater and community.
Leo Zhou – Co-founder
Leo Zhou is the co-founder of ALC Regional Center. Prior to founding ALC, Leo was with a top 3 national bank in the U.S. for about 10 years, where he received the Top 10 Producer award for four consecutive years. He has extensive experiences in private banking, commercial and government guaranteed lending as well as structural financing. Leo is also a top-notch banker understanding the needs of UHNW clients. Leo graduated from Beijing Foreign Affairs College in 1997 with a B.A. majoring Diplomatic English & Administration then earned a M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Washington (Seattle) in 2000. Leo is a member of the National Rural Lenders’ Association and active in supporting non-profit education initiatives and youth welfare.
Queena Zhao – Chief Financial Officer
Queena grew up in China and Singapore and earned a master’s degree in computer information system from Boston University in 2004. As one of the founders and the Chief Financial Officer of American Lending Center, she has led the small startup into one of the most successful nonbank small business lending institutions in the U.S. over the past fifteen years. The company has been instrumental in fostering development, job creation, and economic growth in rural areas, particularly in the energy, agriculture, healthcare, and manufacturing industries.
She is also one of the founding partners of Sunstone Management Inc., a diversified investment firm that supports early-stage technology entrepreneurs. She plays a key role in driving economic growth through innovative public-private partnerships and brings a unique perspective with experience across government, education, and the private sector. Queena is actively involved in supporting non-profit education initiatives and advocating for community engagement in cultural preservation, innovation, and harmony. She also volunteers her time with her daughter’s dance team.
Gregory Scott Wagner – Economist
Scott is an economist specializing in the EB-5 program. From 2011 to 2013, Scott worked on-site with the USCIS Investor Program division, where he was a team leader for a group of economic and business consultants that modernized and facilitated USCIS’s adjudication of EB-5 investment projects. In 2014, Scott founded Wagner Consulting Group (www.wcgeb5.com), an EB-5 economic advisory firm. Scott’s past work experience includes research positions at San Francisco State University and San Diego State University, and he was a senior business consultant at LECG Corporation. Scott received his bachelor’s degree in economics and business from Westmont College in 2004 and his master’s degree in economics from San Diego State University in 2010. Scott’s master’s thesis investigated trends in Chinese foreign direct investment in the early 2000s.
Justin Blackhall – Finance Counsel
Justin earned his J.D. from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and his B.A. from Syracuse University. He has clerked for the Honorable Shira A. Scheindl in in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Honorable Thomas B. Bennet in the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Alabama and the Honorable Thomas K. Moore in the District Court of the Virgin Islands. As a shareholder and the founding member of Blackhall, P.C., Justin’s practice focuses on the representation of U.S. and international bank and non-bank lenders in complex financing transactions, planning and compliance in addition to the creation and deployment of secondary market and securitized loan products (with a specialization in representing lenders in SBA loan related transactions).
Tony Wong – Immigration Counsel
Tony has been licensed to practice in the State of California since 2006. Tony obtained his bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Hong Kong, master’s degrees in law from the City University of Hong Kong and the Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, and J.D. degree from the University of West Los Angeles, School of Law. Tony is also licensed to practice law in Hong Kong, England and Wales. For his EB-5 practice, he represents investors through the immigration process including filing of 526, 526E, and 829 petitions. Tony has also practiced law in different areas including corporation, international business transactions, asset protection and estate planning, intellectual property, civil litigation, and a wide spectrum of immigration law.
Scott Thompson – VP, Chief Lending Officer
Mr. Thompson serves as the organization’s lead in developing new international markets. He also develops and maintains relationships with government agencies, trade associations and other global strategic partners. Mr. Thompson is an alumnus of Azusa Pacific University, and has over 18 years of experience developing marketing campaigns and business development projects throughout the United States. During his career, Mr. Thompson has managed marketing campaigns that have successfully targeted millions of American households and businesses utilizing all advertising mediums including digital, print, telecom, broadcast, outdoor, and direct mail. As a business developer, he has assisted dozens of organizations in achieving their financial goals through customer and capital acquisition. Much of his capital acquisition experience came while serving as an officer of a large publicly traded bank where he helped secure U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) 504 and 7(a) loans, and USDA Business and Industry loans for start-ups, equipment, and commercial real estate.