SPEAKERS
Featuring our keynote speakers
George Takei
Actor, Social Justice Activist, Social Media Mega-Power
George Takei is known around the world for his role in the acclaimed original TV series Star Trek, in which he played Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the starship Enterprise. Takei's story, which includes an acting career that spans six decades, goes where few have gone before.
From a childhood spent with his family wrongfully imprisoned in Japanese American internment camps during World War II to becoming one of the country's leading figures in the fight for social justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and marriage equality, Takei remains a powerful voice on issues ranging from politics to pop culture.
Michelle Wu
Michelle Wu is the Mayor of Boston. She is a daughter of immigrants, Boston Public Schools mom to two boys, an MBTA commuter, and a fierce believer that we can solve our deepest challenges through building community. As Mayor, Michelle is working in coalition to deliver bold, systemic change and make Boston a city for everyone.
Mayor Wu has been a voice for accessibility, transparency, and community engagement in city leadership. First elected to the Boston City Council in November 2013 at the age of 28, Wu is the first Asian-American woman to serve on the Council. In January 2016, she was elected President of the City Council by her colleagues in a unanimous vote, becoming the first woman of color to serve as Council President.
https://www.boston.gov/departments/mayors-office/michelle-wu
Mayor of Boston
Bing Chen
CEO & Co-Founder of AU Holdings and Gold House
Bing Chen is an impact founder, investor, and new world builder. He is Executive Chairman and Founder of AU Holdings: a family of companies that incubate and invest in multicultural creators, companies, and communities to rebalance socioeconomic equity.
He is also Executive Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and Co-founder of Gold House which powers cultural change by uniting, investing in, and championing Asian Pacific communities. He is also a General Partner and Co-founder of Aum Group, a premier multicultural film fund; and serves as a Board Director and Advisor to several leading digital media companies.
Hao Tran
Hao currently serves as the CEO of Vietcetera Media, a digital media network that he co-founded in 2016! Vietcetera is Vietnam's online town square. Today, it reaches millions of Vietnamese delivering content as a leading voice for the new Vietnam.
Vietcetera's mission from day one has been to bring Vietnam to the world, and the world to Vietnam. Hao has shared trends in Vietnam and greater Southeast Asia including but not limited to venture capital, technology startups, food and beverage, tourism, retail, and trade.
CEO of Vietcetera Media
Julie Chen
Julie Chen was named chancellor of UMass Lowell in July 2022. She previously served as vice chancellor for research and economic development — a role that entailed building partnerships with government and industry, while expanding UMass Lowell’s Core Research Facilities.
Under her leadership, UMass Lowell developed the Fabric Discovery Center; the Rist Center for Sustainability and Energy; the Raytheon-UMass Lowell Research Institute; and the HEROES partnership with the U.S. Army.
Chancellor Chen is an accomplished mechanical engineer with three degrees from M.I.T. She is an expert in materials processing and nano-manufacturing and has led programs in those areas at the National Science Foundation. She is also an award-winning professor.
Chancellor Chen’s leadership at UMass Lowell has taken many forms in her more than 26 years at the university, including in initiatives related to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; sustainability; as well as championing experiential learning opportunities for students.
Chancellor of UMass Lowell
Hitha Palepu
CEO Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, Author & Entrepreneur
Hitha Palepu is a consummate multi-hyphenate. She is an entrepreneur, author, and speaker. She is the CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, whose lead product was acquired by Hyloris Pharmaceuticals. She is also the author of “We’re Speaking: The Life Lessons of Kamala Harris” and “How To Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip”
As CEO of Rhoshan Pharmaceuticals, Hitha oversees financing, partnerships, and strategy for the company. She led the raise of a $5M seed round and a licensing agreement with Hyloris Pharmaceuticals for the company's lead product.Hitha’s books have collectively sold over 50,000 copies! Her longtime blog, Hitha On The Go, established her as an authority on lifestyle topics and gave way to her book (How To Pack: Travel Smart for Any Trip), collaborations with leading brands (Delta, Headspace, and Google), and a highly engaged Instagram following and newsletter. She curates the Webby-honored #5SmartReads every weekday, which reaches nearly 100,000 accounts. Hitha lives in NYC with her husband and two sons.
We have brought together some of the best and brightest API speakers in the country. We will continue to add to this lineup as they are confirmed.
Highlighting our incredible lineup
Dr. Abby Hamilton
Industrial Organizational Psychologist
Akemi Mechtel
Assistant Director of Leadership Development at LEAP
Amy Yee
Author and Award-Winning Journalist
Anu Chitrapu
SVP, Technology Executive at Bank of America
Andrew Hsieh
Co-Founder & CEO of Liminal Insights
Andrew Wu
Associate Medical Director at McLean Hospital and Instructor at Harvard Medical School
Anne Wang
Co-Founder & CEO of CryptoClear INC
Arthur C. Butcher
Executive Vice President & Group President (MedSurg & Asia Pacific) at Boston Scientific
Bernice Chao
Creative Director and Co-Founder of Asians in Advertising and Award-Winning Author
Bhavik R. Shah
VP of Research at Genetic Medicine
Dr. Bryan Dosono
Design Research Lead at eBay
Camille Chang Gilmore
VP of Human Resources and Global Chief Diversity Officer at Boston Scientific
Caroline Tanbee Smith
Co-Founder of Collab and aapiNHV
Cecilia Lui
Founder & Director of ILIA Connect
Charles Hua
Co-Founder of Poised
Christina Farinacci-Roberts
Founder of Head Heart Hands Consulting
Christine Hsieh
Venture Partner at Third Culture Capital
Courtney Henderson
Founder & CEO of Develop & Empower Consulting, LLC
Curtis Chin
Writer and Former US Ambassador for the Asian Development Bank
Dan M. Lee
CEO & Co-Founder of Yura Health
David Doan
Managing Consulting Senior Manager at Accenture and DEI Leader
David Moore
Senior Director of Programs at NAAAP
David R. Nguyen
Director at Putnam Investments
Donna Sciarappa
Talent Sourcing & Developing Leader,
Partner at RSM
Gladys Griffiths
Senior Vice President of Financial Risk Audit at State Street
Gyasi Burks-Abbott
LEND Program Faculty at Boston Children's Hospital / UMass Boston Institute for Community Inclusion
Irene Shiang Li
Co-Founder and Award Winning Chef at Mei Mei Dumplings and Prepshift
James Cheng
Global Head of Diversity Equity & Inclusion at Zimmer Biomet
Dr. Jay Shah
Associate Director of Business Development at Ginkgo Bioworks
Jenny Lam
SVP, User Experience Design at Oracle
Jerry Won
Founder/CEO of Just Like Media, 1587 Sneakers, Dear Asian Americans
Joanne Chang
Founder and Award Winning Chef at Flour Bakery and Myers + Chang
Jonathan Chang
Founder & CEO of Markit Social
Jonathan "JT" Wu
Founder & Executive Director at Preface
John Lee
Tax Partner & InspriAsian National ERG Leader at RSM
Kate Seitz
Audit Partner & STAR National ERG Leader at RSM
Jyoti Sinha
Professor of Sociology at UMass Boston
Kevin Wong
Co-Founder of Lunar Hard Seltzer
Kim Shui
Fashion Designer and Forbes 30 Under 30
Kinh T. Vu
Associate Professor of Music at Boston University
Laura Kinzel
Transaction Advisory Services Manager at RSM
Lee Wang
Managing Director at Stop AAPI Hate
Linda Zhou
Head of Operations at Gold House Futures
Linh Truong
Content Creator
Mari Chumley
Tax Partner at RSM
Nazif Sharique
Consulting Partner at RSM
Meha Parashar
IT Leader (Enterprise Data & Analytics) at Dow
Mervyn Louis de Souza
Senior Director of Business Development at Ginkgo Bioworks
Michael Tow
Actor, Director, and Producer
Nicolas Emmons
Owner and Chief Instructor at On Point Krav Maga
Peter Wang
Postdoctoral Fellow
Priya Raju
Director of Specialist Management at Microsoft
Rachel Poker
Associate Director of Human Factors at AstraZeneca
Rose Nguyen
Director, Talent Enablement at Point32Health
Sam Hyun
Director of Federal Relations at City of Boston
Shane Carlin
President & CEO of Asian Student Achievement
Shruti Bahadur
Global Leader ERG at Dow
Stephanie Lomibao
SVP, Philanthropy Program Director
Sudhir Kondisetty
Consulting Partner & RSM Board of Director
Sulochana Modur
Sr. Project Manager at Putnam Investments
Susan Martinelli
Partner at RSM
Suzanne Lee
Chairman of Boston’s Chinese Progressive Association
Tiffany Chu
Chief of Staff to Mayor Michelle Wu
Tim Ma
Co-Founder of Chefs Stopping AAPI Hate and Chef at Lucky Danger and Laoban Dumplings
Vienne Cheung Brown
Founder of VienneMilano
Vineet Anand
Senior Tax Manager at RSM & InspirAsian Committee Chair at RSM
William Tung
General Manager at ‘47 and Managing Partner at Peaks Consulting
Yi-An Huang
Cambridge City Manager