Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

Meeting Attendees

Hope Atuel National Executive Director, AREAA Hope Atuel is the Executive Director of AREAA, which is a nonprofit trade organization dedicated to promoting homeownership within the Asian American Pacific Islander community. AREAA accomplishes these goals by creating a powerful national voice for housing and real estate professionals that serve this dynamic market, advocating for policy positions at the national level that will reduce barriers to homeownership for the AAPI community, increasing business opportunities for mortgage and real restate professionals that serve this growing community, hosting national and local events to educate and inform members about housing issues and developments affecting the AAPI community, and conducting trade missions through Asia to develop business partnerships and increase brand awareness.

Irene B. Bueno Co-Founder & Partner, NVG Irene co-founded Neuva Vista Group. Prior, she served in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to the President in the White House Chief of Staff’s Office and Domestic Policy Council and as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Early in her career, she worked as a Legislative Assistant for Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA) and Congressman Edward Roybal (D-CA).Advises on issues ranging from education to health care. She has worked with House and Senate Democratic Leadership; Congressional Committees with jurisdiction over health, education, and appropriations issues; and the Tri-Caucus (Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Black Caucus, and Asian Pacific American Caucus). She serves on multiple national AAPI boards: Asian American Justice Center’s National Advisory Council, Asian American Action Fund Board, and previously served on the Board of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS).

 

Lanhee Chen David and Diane Steffy Research Fellow, Hoover Institution Lanhee J. Chen, Ph.D. is the David and Diane Steffy Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution; Director of Domestic Policy Studies and Lecturer in the Public Policy Program at Stanford University; His current research focuses on health policy, retirement security policy, campaigns and elections, and California policy and politics. A veteran of several high-profile political campaigns, he currently advises the presidential campaign of Senator Marco Rubio and in 2014 was Senior Adviser on Policy to the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Chen was the policy director for the Romney-Ryan 2012 presidential campaign, as well as Governor Romney’s chief policy adviser; a senior strategist on the campaign; and the person responsible for developing the campaign’s domestic and foreign policy. Chen also served as the deputy campaign manager and policy director of Steve Poizner’s 2010 California gubernatorial campaign, the domestic policy director of Governor Romney’s first presidential bid in 2008, and a health policy adviser to the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign in 2004. In the Bush administration, Chen was a senior official at the US Department of Health and Human Services. His private-sector experience includes having been an associate attorney with the international law firm of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, where he practiced business litigation.

Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

Francis Cheung President, Asian American Professional Association (AAPA) Francis is President of AAPA and a retired technology executive. Francis has a deep passion for developing leaders and has been an advocate for the advancement of Asian American professionals. He served as Co-Chair of Asian Leadership Network at Bank of America and as a long-time board member of AAPA. Francis has over 30 years of technology management experience in Financial Services, Entertainment, Oil Services and Engineering/Construction. He held technology management positions at Bank of America, American President Lines, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Halliburton Company and Brown & Root. Francis was Senior Vice President for Bank of America where he was responsible for infrastructure demand management which includes forecast, capacity and performance management of infrastructure resources until 2015. Prior to joining Bank of America, Francis was Director, Technical Services and later as Director, Technology Planning through 2005 before he moved to Oakland, California and led the program management function as Director, Program Management Office. He continued his innovation of bringing emerging technologies such as digital content management and distribution and infrastructure best practices to enhance business position and improve cost effectiveness. He considers his retirement a new chapter of his life where he dedicates his passion and experience to focus on meaningful causes.

Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

Glen S. Fukushima Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress Former President, American Chamber of Commerce in Japan Former Deputy Assistant United States Trade Representative for Japan and China Glen S. Fukushima is a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC, where he focuses on U.S.-Asia relations. From 1985-90 he served as a senior official at USTR (Office of the U.S. Trade Representative) in the Executive Office of the President. From 1990-2012, he was based in Tokyo as a senior executive at one European and four American companies, served on numerous corporate boards, and was elected President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan. During the Clinton Administration, he served in the White House-appointed position of Vice Chairman of the Japan-United States Friendship Commission. In 2014, Glen co-founded CAPA21 (Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans for the 21st Century). Glen is a member of the Director’s Circle of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Jade Circle of the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and former Chairman of the Mori Art Museum Best Friends in Tokyo. He was a founder of the Tokyo office of Human Rights Watch.

 

S. K. Gupta President, Essen Associates He is an expert in leadership development, change management, environment, safety & health and nuclear, cyber and physical security. Currently he serves as an Executive Advisor to the Ascend Board and is the co-founder and Managing Director of Ascend-Pinnacle, a network of Asian American Corporate Board Directors. He also teaches Executive Insight Series to senior and middle management. As a Charter Member and angel investor at TiE – Silicon Valley, he has advised and coached entrepreneurs in leadership and soft skills, He was recently elected to the Board of APIASF. S. K. has served in key leadership positions on a wide range of board of directors, including the Sandia National Laboratories, Bay Area Council, San Jose Museum of Art, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) and Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) Consortium. He is a recognized expert on leadership, especially for leading change and developing minority leadership, and has been quoted in various national media. He has provided guest lectures at University of California, Davis, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburg. He has been a keynote speaker and panelist at many national conferences.

 

L. Jasmine Kim Principal, Modus Operandi L. Jasmine Kim is an innovative builder of brands and businesses that bring value to consumers around the world. She has extensive and broad experience in consumer Internet media and commerce, having worked in consumer package goods, luxury, and hospitality, and service industries for more than 20 years. She is a results oriented leader who has created and scaled multiple consumer and media/e-commerce businesses to profitability worldwide, with such storied brand companies as Oil of Olay/Procter & Gamble, LVMH, Yahoo!, BabyCenter/Johnson & Johnson, and Hotwire/Expedia. Jasmine provides advisory consult on a range of businesses and often speaks on panels to foster dialogue in the media/marketing industry. She is on the Board of Cairn, an early stage subscription box company for the outdoor category, and an advisor to Volta Industries, an outdoor media/electrical vehicle charging company. In addition to her career pursuits, Jasmine is actively involved in the San Francisco community and currently serves as a Trustee of the San Francisco Park Alliance and is an active member of the a+d forum of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She lives in San Francisco with her family.

 

Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

Betty Lo Vice President, Community Alliances & Consumer Engagement, Nielsen Betty Lo serves as Vice President of Community Alliances & Consumer Engagement at Nielsen. In this role, she works with community leaders, media and entertainment companies, and consumer goods companies to promote Nielsen’s education, philanthropic, and public affairs efforts to the community, as well as civic and special interest groups. Betty stewards and leads the national strategy for Nielsen's outreach to the Asian American community, and partnerships with organizations across the Eastern U.S. She also leads multicultural advertising efforts to deliver a holistic and integrated approach across the African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic advertising landscape. A frequent speaker at various community and civic events, she is also an active community leader who advocates the importance of giving back to our community. She serves on the national board of ACE (APIA Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship) and National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP), as well as on the advisory board for APIASF and OCA – Asian American Advocates.

Clarence Low CEO, Archipelago Web Mr. Clarence Low is the President and CEO of the Asian Chamber of Commerce (ACC) in Colorado, serving to connect businesses locally and internationally to the Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) community in the greater Denver Metro area. ACC enjoys partnerships with the City and County of Denver, the Colorado Governor’s office and the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Clarence serves on the Denver Mayor’s Asian Pacific American Commission and is passionate about creating opportunities for AAPI students at the University of Colorado, Denver. Clarence is also the founder of a Denver-based multilingual web design company, Archipelago Web. The company provides web marketing solutions for clients seeking a successful presence online.

Richard Lui Journalist/News Anchor, MSNBC/NBC News Richard Lui is currently a journalist and news anchor for MSNBC and NBC News. Before that, at CNN Worldwide he became the first Asian American male to anchor a daily, national cable news show in the U.S. He’s covered every national election since 2004. His interviews range from Detroit mayor to U.S. President. Lui is a contributing columnist, for USA Today, Politico, Huffington Post, and others. Before journalism, Lui worked with Fortune 500 and tech companies. He worked at Citibank and also Mercer Strategy. Business Insider has recognized Lui as one of 21 dynamic careers alongside Mark Cuban and Warren Buffett. Lui’s community work spans 30 years and six continents. He is a UN Spokesperson, U.S. State Department Traveling Speaker, and ambassador for NGOs like Plan International and anti-human trafficking NGO Not For Sale. He’s received civil rights awards from national organizations including the National Education Association, AAAJ, AAJA, WWAAC, and OCA.

Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

Jason L. Ma Founder & CEO, Chief Mentor, ThreeEQ Passionate about unleashing the full potential of next-generation leaders, Jason L. Ma (馬良傑老師) is a compassionate Silicon Valley CEO, America’s chief mentor for millennials and teens an international business rainmaker, a global thought leader in both business and education, and a featured speaker invited often to influential private and large public events in the global theater. In 2016, the U.S. Department of State recruited Mr. Ma as a most select, global U.S. Speaker, a dynamic expert on entrepreneurship and innovation, civil society, education, and youth empowerment. Today, Mr. Ma serves as founder, CEO, and chief mentor of ThreeEQ, Inc. (Through his career he has mentored privately and successfully hundreds of high achievers); author of Young Leaders 3.0; a distinguished Forbes contributor on education, admissions, leadership, and entrepreneurship; a member of the B20 Employment Taskforce for the G20 (the world’s 20 largest economies); a Kairos Society mentor; a top career expert in the United States per LinkedIn; and one of the world’s top experts for Audvisor. He has also been a Forbes Global CEO Conference delegate for eight years and an APEC CEO Summit delegate. He has appeared on Forbes, CNBC Asia (including its top shows, Managing Asia and Squawk Box), Business Rockstars, iHeartRadio, Fast Company, Bloomberg, Reuters, Business Journals nationwide, Core of Education, and other leading media.

Shekar Narasimhan Managing Partner, Beekman Advisors The Leaders Forum, Co-Chair Shekar Narasimhan is the Managing Partner at Beekman Advisors which provides strategic advisory services to companies and investors involved in real estate, mortgage finance, affordable housing and related sectors. He also serves as Chairman of Papillon Capital, focused on sustainable infrastructure investing, and is Co-founder of the Emergent Institute in Bangalore, India. Prior to Beekman Advisors, Shekar Narasimhan was a Managing Director of Prudential Mortgage Capital Company. He was Chairman & CEO of the WMF Group, a publicly traded, commercial mortgage financial services company. WMF was one of the largest such firms in the country before being acquired by Prudential in 2000. Shekar is currently serving on the boards of Broadstone Net Lease, Inc., Broadtree Homes, Inc. Enterprise Community Investment, Inc. and Indiaspora. Shekar was appointed by the President as Commissioner on the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and by the Governor of Virginia as Member of the Board for Housing and Community Development for the State of Virginia. He also serves as a Senior Industry Fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University and on the Economic Advisory Council of the Center for American Progress. Shekar has served several terms on the Mortgage Bankers Association of America (MBA) Board of Directors.

Jim Park Chair Emeritus, Asian Real Estate Association of America Jim Park was the 2013 Chair of the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) and previously served as the association’s President and CEO from 2005 to 2011. AREAA is a national nonprofit trade organization focused on expanding sustainable housing opportunities for Asian American and immigrant communities. With more than 15,000 members in the US and Canada today, AREAA is working to better serve the dynamic Asian community in North America and around the globe. Park is also the founder of several real estate as well as mortgage banking companies over the past ten years. Park has worked in private, government and nonprofit sectors in the past twenty-five years and his career has been focused on creating opportunities for diverse housing consumers. Mr. Park served as the Chair of the Federal Reserve’s Consumer Advisory Council which provides advice on federal regulatory issues to the Federal Reserve on regulatory matters that impact consumers and communities throughout the country. Park also was the Chair of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies – a nonpartisan organization focused on developing the future elected leadership within the Asian American community. In addition, Park has served on numerous nonprofit and housing related boards including the Low Income Investment Fund and Mercy Housing.

Lorna Randlett The Leaders Forum, Co-Chair Founder and Co-Chair of the Leader’s Forum, a C-suite Asian American Pacific Islander executive think tank engaged in public policy. Commissioner for the White House Initiative for Asian American Pacific Islanders. Former, strategic communications specialist and external relations manager for the global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company. Served the Advanced Industries, Knowledge, Strategy, Public Sector, Infrastructure, Higher Education & Social Sector practices. Also served the West Coast/Mid-Atlantic regions. Areas of concentration include global media, thought leadership/stake-holder cultivation and pro-bono & client engagements for nonprofit organizations. Experienced leader/advisor in presentation and media/strategic communications for directors and partners. Specialization in client relationships and management in high profile client events.

Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

Wade Randlett CEO, General Biofuels Wade Randlett is the CEO of the transportation fuels division of General Biofuels. For the previous decade, Mr. Randlett co-founded and served as a senior executive for a variety of bio-diesel enterprises which sourced, manufactured, and sold bio-diesel worldwide. Prior to his work in renewable fuels, Mr. Randlett co-founded Technology Network, Silicon Valley's bi-partisan political action committee. At TechNet, he was responsible for the strategy and execution of TechNet's federal and state agenda. Mr. Randlett negotiated with the White House and Congress over issues including securities litigation reform, H1-B Visa expansion, China MFN status, and FASB stock option treatment. Among his outside activities, Mr. Randlett served on the Obama-Biden transition team, focused on policy change in the Environmental Protection Agency. He was later appointed twice to four-year terms by President Obama to serve on the Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN) to the United States Trade Representative, from which he holds Top Secret security clearance. In addition, Mr. Randlett is a member of the College Promise Campaign National Advisory Board, tasked with working closely with seven key sector-based Leadership Committees to advocate for free community college, as well as degree and certificate completion. Mr. Randlett was the first outside Board of Directors member of E-Loan (Nasdaq: EELN), serving through its IPO, on its audit committee through the Sarbanes-Oxley transition, and until its $425 million all-cash acquisition by Banco Popular.

Albert K. Shen National Deputy Director, Minority Business Development Agency Albert K. Shen serves as the principal advisor to MBDA National Director, Alejandra Y. Castillo, overseeing the management of the day-to-day operations of the agency. His public policy and economic development advocacy focus has raised the agency’s profile in Congress and state houses and afforded MBDA the opportunity to make its business case around the country. His passion for community development put MBDA on the ground in cities like Baltimore and Ferguson facing the aftermath of civil unrest. Agency strategic partnerships with the US Department of Justice and local leadership are accelerating the restoration of minority businesses in these distressed areas. Shen has also challenged the agency to use available technology to document the work and streamline agency processes. He is most notably known around the country for his “selfies” which engage the audience and underscore the power of technology to tell MBDA’s story.

Vicky Silvano Chairwoman, AREAA Vicky Silvano is the 2016 National Chairwoman for the Asian Real Estate Association of America, the largest Asian organization in the United States. She has been one of Chicago’s premier agents for a decade. Her production consistently places her in the very top echelon of all Century 21 agents worldwide. Her success has been based upon extreme client service and skills that extend over every facet of real estate. Many of her clients have proclaimed her a sibyl- due to her prophetic like abilities to place them in neighborhoods whose values have significantly outpaced the market. Vicky has been a manager, instructor, mentor, partner, and investor in brokerage and investment partnerships alike. She has mentored many of the city’s top agents instilling in them her categorical imperative about client service. With over 15 years of experience as Real Estate Broker, Vicky brings a high level professionalism, personal attention, and customer service to the home buying and selling experience. It’s no wonder that the majority of her business comes from referrals.

Jeff Stanger President, CDI Lab and Founding Director, Center for Digital Information Jeff Stanger is president of CDI Lab and founding director of the Center for Digital Information. At the Lab, Jeff works with foundations, research organizations, government agencies, academic institutions and others to re-imagine their products and data for modern, interactive digital-native publication. At the Center, Jeff develops trainings and events to keep organizations current on the rapidly changing media, information and digital landscapes. Prior to creating CDI Lab and CDI, Mr. Stanger founded NetCampaign, an award-winning digital production and consulting firm that helped pioneer the use of the internet in politics and public policy. Before that, he directed the Washington, DC office of the Annenberg Public Policy Center. He holds a bachelor's degree from UCLA and master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

         

Leaders Forum – Las Vegas Meeting 2016

Leaders Forum Team

Jessica Lam Summit Coordinator, Leaders Forum Jessica Lam is currently the Summit Coordinator of the Asian American Pacific Islanders Leaders Forum. In addition to her work with the Leaders Forum, she has served as the Events Coordinator for Bay Area Democrats, organizing events for elected officials on the local, state, and federal levels. Jessica has also worked in the Office of San Francisco Supervisor Katy Tang. There, she worked on legislation to combat human trafficking and wrote a unanimously passed resolution in support of effective and humane ways to save animals’ lives. In the interest of income inequality and civic engagement, she has also held the position of Chinese Language Regional Field Director for the campaign of a 2014 San Francisco ballot measure. Jessica graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a dual Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy/Law & Society and Political Science/Public Service. She hopes to further engage in issues concerning the Asian American and Pacific Islander community and women.

Frank Lee Approvals and Certification Engineer, Pentair Technical Solutions Frank Lee is an Approvals and Certification Engineer at Pentair Technical Solutions. He co-founded Friends of Roots, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization, and served on the Board of Directors as its first Vice President. Friends of Roots helps Chinese Americans explore their roots in the United States followed by a guided journey to search for their ancestral villages in China.

Benson Tran Summit Leader, Leaders Forum Benson Tran is the Executive Director of Bay Area Democrats, a Democratic political action committee focused on increasing policy and financial support by Bay Area residents for national Democrats. Prior, Benson worked on constituent issues at San Francisco City Hall, before serving as a Lead Policy Coordinator, and subsequently the Deputy Policy Director in several political campaigns. Benson’s focus has been on working closely with neighborhood leaders and policy experts to turn community-driven goals into workable initiatives and legislation. Benson has a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of California Davis.

Sarah Vo Summit Coordinator, Leaders Forum Sarah Vo serves as Summit Coordinator of The Leaders Forum, where she liaises and communicates internally and with outside organizations. She is also acting as the logistics lead for this conference. For the past four years, Sarah worked in the United States Navy as an aviation electronics technician in Lemoore, California. In the military, she manufactured electronics components for jets and operated as a program manager. Sarah is now pursuing a computer science degree at the City College of San Francisco while working part-time at a local Burmese restaurant. In her spare time, Sarah goes exploring with her toy poodle, Day-Z, and enjoys watching a variety of cooking shows.