11 Asian American and Pacific Islander Board Directors to Meet in 2022
For AAPI month this May, we celebrate 11 AAPI leaders making an impact.
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Every May for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) month, theBoardlist celebrates the contributions and impact of AAPI leaders and board directors—while also shining a light on the pressing need for action in diversifying the boardroom.
Preliminary research in 2022 by Ascend, our partner who co-published their report on Asian representation on Fortune 1000 boards with KPMG in 2020, indicates the needle has not moved over the past two years.
The 2020 report shared that 71.6% of Fortune 1000 companies do not have the benefits of an Asian perspective in the boardroom
And while Asians now make up 7% of the nation’s overall population, their numbers are projected to surpass 46 million by 2060, nearly 4x the current total. In order for organizations to consider the breadth of perspectives of their stakeholders, AAPI leadership at the top will be an imperative.
Together with Ascend, and in support of Ascend’s 10x25 Initiative to have at least 10% of Fortune 1000 board directors be Asian America/Pacific Islanders by 2025, we’re working to increase equity and representation in the boardroom and workplace.
That is why for this AAPI month, we're excited to present 11 outstanding AAPI leaders already making an impact in the boardroom.
Click on the candidate below to learn more about their background and get connected.
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Expertise: Media and Entertainment, Technology, e-Commerce, Strategy, M&A, Government Relations & Digital Transformation.
Wei Zhang is a global senior executive with extensive experience across media and entertainment, technology, e-commerce, and digital sectors in some of the most iconic global companies including Alibaba Group, News Corporation, NBCUniversal, Bain & Company, and General Electric. Most recently, Ms. Zhang was President of Alibaba Pictures, leading global operations since its formation in 2014.
Wei currently serves on the Boards of Amblin Partners and Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission. Her former boards include Alibaba Pictures, Meituan Company, UCweb Company, Lakala, Xingchen Jibian Express, CNZZ, and ShopEx. Additional earlier board roles in the non-profit arena include The Jack Ma Foundation, Alibaba Foundation, and Aba Songpan Grameen Microcredit.
Expertise: Strategy, Legal, International Business Development, Risk
Vinod Mahboobani has over 30 years of international experience, legal, compliance, and risk management and a deep understanding of the complexities of businesses operating in multiple geographies. Vinod is currently an executive leadership team member for KFC Global and Pizza Hut International, both divisions of Yum! Brands, Inc. with over $5.6B in annual revenues and over 50,000 restaurants in 150+ countries, making it one of the largest restaurant companies in the world.
Vinod co-chairs both brands’ Enterprise Risk Management Committees and is a member of the Yum! Compliance Oversight Committee. He also chairs the Franchise Policies Committee which ensures compliance of standards and policies globally and reviews P&L impact on growth initiatives. Vinod has deep expertise in international expansion, franchising, M&A, PE/IPOs, corporate governance and FCPA, information security, payment and customer data, operations, and brand reputation.
Expertise: VR, Product, Technology, SaaS, Data, Scaling
Yardley is currently Director of Product for Virtual Reality Ecosystem at Facebook (Meta). Prior, Yardley was the Head of Product for Small Businesses at Facebook, and the Chief Product Officer at Thrive Global. She held several general management and product leadership positions in technology companies encompassing leading SaaS, Marketplaces, Platforms, and Data and Predictive Analytics businesses.
She currently serves on the board of Range and is also a co-founder and board member of Women in Product. An NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) Governance Fellow, she takes pride in serving on boards using her expertise in the application of technology to transform and grow companies to stay innovative and succeed in their business outcomes. She has extensive experience building zero-to-one, and scaling businesses and teams inside companies such as Dun & Bradstreet, eBay, Trulia, Zillow, Yahoo, and Thrive Global.
Expertise: Strategy, Marketing, Business Development, Operations, Fundraising, Product Growth
Sree Menon is a global business executive with a successful record of delivering strong financial performance for both brand name Fortune 500 companies and start-ups alike. Currently, she is CEO at Acorn Connections, a Femtech startup in stealth mode. Prior to that she was COO at Tophatter, a mid stage e-commerce startup (GMV $300M), General Manager at eBay Motors (GMV $8B), and Director of e-business at Dell ($6B).
Sree is a Board member for Parivaar (Non profit), Advisor to the board at Taskhuman, Vitalxchange, Flourishlabs, Committed Agency, and former advisor at Shift Mobility and Jebbit. She is also an Angel investor and a Founding Partner at Neythri Futures Fund & serves on the Fund Advisory Council. Sree has led product led growth, fund raising, international expansion, & BOD-facing P&L responsibilities.
Expertise: Innovation, Disruptive Technologies, Marketing, Business Development
Sonita Lontoh is an independent board director at SunRun and True Blue, Inc. (NASDAQ: RUN; NYSE: TBI) serving on Audit, Compensation, Nominating & Governance, and Innovation & Technology Committees. She is a global, award-winning C-suite executive (HP, SIEMENS, PG&E) who advises companies and governments on digital transformation, disruptive technologies, and the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Over her 25-year diverse leadership career in high-growth businesses at Fortune 100 companies with total revenues of ~$200B: HP Inc. (formerly Hewlett-Packard, NYSE: HPQ), Siemens (DAX: SIEGY) and PG&E (NYSE: PCG); and venture-backed Silicon Valley startups, she has led and advised on innovative, customer-centric programs that have contributed to multibillion-dollar revenues, double-digit growth, and the creation of multibillion-dollar benefits to global enterprise businesses, end-consumers, and society.
Expertise: HR, Strategy, Culture, People Leadership, Change Management
Jevan Soo Lenox is the Chief People Officer at insitro, former Chief People and Culture Officer at Stitch Fix, and former SVP of People and Culture at Minted. He has embraced the joys and heartaches of hyper-growth and consumer-oriented companies, drawing upon two decades of operational leadership and consulting experience in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.
Half of Jevan’s career has been in People Ops and half in business roles such as management consulting at McKinsey and Sales Ops at Square. Jevan spends his time thinking about how to create long-term, sustainable competitive advantage through a lens of people, culture, and organization. Jevan serves on the board of Reaching Out MBA and previously Out 4 Undergrad.
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Expertise: Finance, Accounting, eCommerce, Electronics, International Business
Janet S. Wong is an experienced business executive named by the National Association of Corporate Directors to its 2022 Directorship 100™, an annual honor for leading directors and governance professionals. She is an independent board director and Audit Committee Chairman of Lucid Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: LCID), an electric vehicle manufacturer and energy storage company, and Enviva Partners (NYSE: EVA), a leading global energy company manufacturing sustainable bioenergy. Janet also serves as an independent board director of Lumentum (NASDAQ: LITE), a market-leading manufacturer of innovative optical and photonic products, and Allegiance Bancshares (NASDAQ: ABTX), a commercial banking organization.
A retired senior partner with KPMG LLP, Janet held responsibilities for national and global practices including eCommerce, electronics and new media, and R&D incentives. Her qualifications include recognition as an experienced Financial Expert by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ. Janet serves on the Board of Trustees for the Computer History Museum, the Louisiana Tech University Foundation, and the Tri-Cities Chapter of the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Expertise: International Markets, Strategy, Operating, IoT, Technology, Security, M&A
Jane Li is a successful high tech industry General Manager and Chief Operating Officer and is currently a Strategic Advisor and Operating Partner at Diversis Capital LLC. In her 20+ year career, Jane Li ran and grew many businesses and managed large P&Ls for Fortune 500 companies – Corning, Fujitsu, Huawei and Huawei Symantec Joint Venture. Jane advises, strategizes, provides leadership insights, and monitors executions of investments expand across information technology, telecommunications, semiconductors, Internet of Things (IoT), and cyber security.
Jane is an independent director and member of the Compensation Committee of Semtech (SMTC, Semiconductor), independent director and member of Audit and Nominating and Governance Committees of Knowles (KN, Semiconductor), strategic advisor and operating partner for Diversis Capital (Private Equity), on the advisory board for Zadera Storage (Cloud Storage), and on the growth and acceleration board of Skytap (SaaS). Jane Li also brings to the boardroom strong skillsets in strategy development, including M&A strategies and international JVs, digital transformation, and in marketing and sales leadership.
Expertise: Health, Finance, Advocacy, Education, Policy
Dr. Leana Wen is a practicing physician and healthcare executive who has received recognition as one of Modern Healthcare's Top 50 Physician-Executives, World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders, Governing’s Public Official of the Year, and TIME’s 100 Most Influential People. Dr. Wen has extensive experience in public policy and regulatory affairs, including having served as the health commissioner for the City of Baltimore.
Dr. Wen serves as an independent board member of Glaukos Corporation (NYSE: GKOS), where she is on the Audit Committee. She also serves as Chair of the advisory board of the Behavioral Health Group, and is a member of the board of directors of the Bipartisan Policy Center and Baltimore Community Foundation. Her previous board experience includes being board chair of Behavioral Health System Baltimore for four years and serving on boards and advisory of boards of more than ten nonprofit and venture-backed health innovation companies. Past committee service includes being chair of the governance committee; board secretary and treasurer; and member of audit and finance, oversight, advocacy, education, and investment committees.
Expertise: Sustainability, Operations, PR, ESG, Marketing, Civic, Jewelry
Anisa Kamadoli Costa is Chief Sustainability Officer at Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF), where she drives the company’s global sustainability and corporate responsibility agenda, connecting it to brand and shareholder value through marketing and communications, merchandising, investor relations, risk management, and internal culture. Since 2010, Anisa has served as Chairman and President of the Tiffany & Co. Foundation. Prior to joining Tiffany & Co., Anisa held roles at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and JP Morgan Chase.
Anisa currently serves on the boards of the Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge Foundation, American Swiss Foundation, and Conservation International’s Leadership Council. In addition, she serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Rights, having previously served on its Mining and Metals Council. Anisa is also a former director and past Chair of the board of directors of the Environmental Grantmakers Association.
Expertise: Cloud, Software, e-Commerce, Search, Advertising
Caroline Tsay is CEO and Co-founder of Compute Software, a cloud optimization software company that helps enterprises run optimally on the cloud. Prior to Compute Software, Caroline was Vice President and General Manager of Software at Hewlett Packard Enterprise from 2013 to 2016. She previously held product leadership positions at Yahoo! across the e-commerce, search, and advertising businesses. Before Yahoo!, she spent three years at IBM Global Services as a Senior Consultant in Supply Chain and CRM.
Caroline serves as an independent board director for The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) and Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN). She formerly served on the board of Rosetta Stone (NYSE: RST) and as a Strategic Advisor to late stage VC-backed NextRoll Group (formerly AdRoll Group). She has been recognized as Silicon Valley Business Journal's 40 Under 40 and The National Diversity Council’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology.
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Thank you >>> Ascend Pinnacle for your partnership on this AAPI series - if you want to learn more about Ascend Pinnacle's platform to support and increase the number of Asian-Americans on U.S. Corporate Boards - you can find them here. And thank you to Janet S. Wong for your invaluable insight and partnership as well!