The Ascend Foundation celebrated the success of 30 inspiring and amazing leaders at Ascend's A-List Award Gala at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. The awards spotlighted exceptional leaders who have embraced resiliency and success during times of economic uncertainty. Master of Ceremonies and Co-Anchor of Nightline Juju Chang and Domee Shi–a 2023 A-List honoree, VP, Creative of Pixar Animation Studios, and Director of Turning Red–engaged in a fireside chat about storytelling and its impact on corporate America. "It's been an incredible year for Asian American cinema. I feel a sense of responsibility as a VP of Creative at Pixar to pay forward all the trust that I received in my career," said Shi. "I really want to bring up the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers because seeing "Turning Red," seeing "Everything Everywhere All at Once" seeing the impact that animation and movies have on the next generation, it's important now more than ever to be paying attention to the kinds of stories we're showing. This is how we're going to raise the next generation of Americans, citizens, and humans."

Ascend celebrated the following honorees:
Dr. Shantanu Agrawal, Elevance Health
Muneera Carr, Wells Fargo and Company
Pam Cheng, AstraZeneca
Paul Choi, Sidley Austin LLP
Jae Evans, Oracle
Umar Farooq, JP Morgan Chase & Co
Tiffany Hong, Franklin Templeton
Angela Hwang, Pfizer Inc.
Joyce Lee, Johnson & Johnson
Megan Myungwon Lee, Panasonic Corporation of North America
Helen Lin, Publicis Groupe
Sarena Lin, Bayer AG
Sangeeta Moorjani, Fidelity Investments
Maran Nalluswami, Synchrony
Todd Park, Devoted Health
Nereida Perez, McCormick & Company Inc.
Kavitha Prabhakar, Deloitte
Nancy Quan, The Coca-Cola Company
Faiza Saeed, Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP
Anand Selvakesari, Citi
Helen Shan, FactSet
Raj Sharma, EY
Domee Shi, Pixar Animation Studios
Prahlad Singh, PerkinElmer
Inhi Cho Suh, DocuSign, Inc.
Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh, Asana
Brenda Tsai, State Street Corporation
Tiger Tyagarajan, Genpact
Kenji Yoshino, NYU School of Law
Farhad Zaman, PwC

"The collective contributions of all 30 honorees recognized at the 2023 Ascend A-List awards is a testament of the impact we as Pan-Asians make in not just the workplace, but also our society at large. At Ascend, it is the bedrock of our mission to build and empower leaders of today and tomorrow. Whether that's striving toward our goal of doubling Pan-Asian representation on Fortune 1000 boards by 2025, providing scholarships to our future leaders, or building a coalition to address issues that affect us, together we're igniting change and advancing our community. When Pan-Asians rise, we all ascend," said Anna Mok, President & Executive Board Chair, Ascend & Ascend Foundation.

"Ascend was able to again bring together great companies and organizations in recognition and celebration of Asian success. It does not get better than this for this community," said Sandeep Gupta, Event Chair, Past Board Director, Ascend.

About Ascend Foundation and Ascend

The Ascend Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization that drives and supports initiatives that make a positive impact for the Pan-Asian community at work across all major global industries. The Ascend Foundation aims to increase recognition of pan-Asian leadership through initiatives like the 5-Point Action Agenda, the Ascend Impact Fund, and other research, education, volunteerism and advocacy efforts.

The Ascend Foundation's research and thought leadership reports uncover the lack of equity for Asians in the workplace and on corporate boards. The Foundation's The Other Side campaign features Ascend storytellers who shine light on the long-held societal biases that make Pan-Asians less likely to be promoted to leadership levels. These initiatives and the A-List Awards reinforce the Ascend Foundation's goals to drive awareness through shared experiences and support the hopes and dreams of future API leaders.

Founded in 2005, Ascend is the first and largest global network advancing API professionals in the workplace. Ascend's 60+ chapters partner with global organizations to cultivate and empower API talent as they rise to their full potential.

Please support the Foundation here, or for more information, please contact Michelle Meow, Email Contact.

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SOURCE Ascend Foundation