David Duong, Founder and Chairman of the Vietnamese American Business Association (VABA)
David Duong is the founder and chairman of the Vietnamese American Business Association (VABA), which he established in San Jose, California, in 2011. He is also the founder and CEO of California Waste Solutions, the Oakland recycling company he started in 1992, and chairman of Vietnam Waste Solutions.
At a glance
Founder and Chairman, Vietnamese American Business Association (VABA), founded in 2011 in San Jose, California
Founder and CEO, California Waste Solutions, founded in 1992 in Oakland, California
Chairman, Vietnam Waste Solutions
Outstanding Community Advocate Award, Asian American Prosecutors Association, 2017
Subject of the documentary The King of Trash
From refugee to recycling entrepreneur
David Duong's family left Saigon in 1975 and spent years in a refugee camp in the Philippines before resettling in the San Francisco Bay Area, as CBS Bay Area reported. The family began collecting and selling recyclable materials, and in 1992 David Duong founded California Waste Solutions. The company grew into a municipal recycling provider for Oakland and San Jose.
Building a business across two countries
David Duong was one of the early Vietnamese American investors in Vietnam's modern waste-treatment industry. In 2005 his company received an investment license for the Da Phuoc Integrated Solid Waste Facility near Ho Chi Minh City, which began operating in 2007. VietNamNet profiled his work in the sector after the Asian American Prosecutors Association presented him with its Outstanding Community Advocate Award in 2017.
Founding VABA
That experience on both sides of the Pacific shaped the association he founded in 2011. In a 2021 interview with Thanh Niên, he described VABA's role in building business ties between Vietnam and the United States and connecting Vietnamese American investors with opportunities in Vietnam. VABA's work rests on three core values, Support, Advocacy and Networking, under the motto "Speak with One Voice."
Today VABA reports a network of more than 2,200 professionals and 720 businesses, with connections in 12 U.S. states and eight countries.
“The mission has always been support, advocacy, and networking.” David Duong, founder and chairman of VABA
Advocacy for small businesses
During the COVID-19 pandemic, David Duong contacted local governments about financial support programs for Vietnamese-owned businesses and worked with the Oakland and San Jose police departments on safety programs for commercial districts, as he told Thanh Niên in 2022. VABA also receives business and government delegations from Vietnam, including representatives of Tay Ninh Province at the U.S.-Vietnam Business Investment Forum in Oakland in April 2026.
Opening doors to capital
Under his leadership, VABA launched the Pitch Perfect startup competition in 2024. Season 4, held in Orange County in September 2025, drew more than 260 founders, investors and business leaders, with 10 startups pitching onstage and 20 more companies in the showcase. VABA Venture Capital, established in 2024, is supported by $50 million in investment capital designated by the Duong family office.
Community and philanthropy
VABA contributed $51,000 to 2020 flood relief in central Vietnam, presented through the Vietnamese Consulate General in San Francisco, according to Thanh Niên.
The first two VABA and South Bay Golf Alliance charity tournaments raised and donated more than $36,000 for Vietnamese-language education and cancer-related causes, according to the organizers. Read the recap.
VABA supports the Văn Lang Vietnamese-language school and, together with California Waste Solutions, the LoveLife Foundation's college scholarship drive in Oakland.
On May 31, 2025, David Duong delivered the keynote address at Gratitude to America, VABA's celebration of 50 years of Vietnamese American history, which drew more than 300 guests to the Saigon Grand Center in Fountain Valley, California.
The King of Trash
The Duong family's story is told in the documentary The King of Trash, which follows the family from refugees to the builders of California Waste Solutions and Vietnam Waste Solutions. The film's U.S. tour reached 12 screening events and more than 5,000 tickets sold, according to the production team. Read VABA's coverage of the film.
Further reading
VABA Marks 15 Years of Uniting Entrepreneurs Under "Speak with One Voice" (PR Newswire, October 13, 2026)
Oakland Vietnam War Refugee, Recycling CEO Brings Expertise Back To Homeland (CBS Bay Area, 2015)
Waste treatment expert an exemplary expatriate (VietNamNet, 2018)
Media inquiries
Vietnamese American Business Association, 1211 Embarcadero, Suite 202, Oakland, CA 94606. Media contact: Lynn Agustin, info@vabaus.com, (510) 570-7079.
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