First Place for Youth
Suzanne Zhou is an experienced finance professional currently serving as the Director of Finance at First Place for Youth since March 2022, following a role as Accounting Manager within the same organization. Prior to this, Suzanne held the position of Controller at VACC and Group of Companies from November 2020 to March 2022, where responsibilities included managing regulatory reporting and financial close processes. From February 2006 to August 2019, Suzanne worked as a Financial Controller at Citco Fund Services - San Francisco, providing financial analysis and developing systems for measuring operational effectiveness. Earlier experience includes roles as Accounting Manager at HIC Pacific Mountain Region and Staff Accountant at Golf BC, alongside a position as Debt Reporting Officer at the Ministry of Finance - BC Gov't. Suzanne holds a Chartered Professional Accountants designation from CPA, CGA, and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from Simon Fraser University.
First Place for Youth
First Place for Youth was founded in 1998 to prevent poverty and homelessness among youth who age out of foster care. The mission of First Place is to help foster youth build the skills they need to make a successful transition to self-sufficiency and responsible adulthood. First Place was the first organization dedicated exclusively to providing housing for transitioning foster youth in Northern California and has grown into the state’s largest provider for this vulnerable population. First Place utilizes a scattered-site housing program model, which puts youth in a realistic, independent setting in their local communities.