AAPI Heritage Month: Rising Above Through the Lens of Asian Senior Executives

Career Level: Basic-, intermediate-, and advanced-level career services, university relations and recruiting, and business affiliate professionals
Competency: Working with diverse populations
Fee: FREE (member); $89 (nonmember);

Summary
Presented by the 2023-2024 NACE’s AANAPISI Affinity Group.

According to a 2023 survey by the Boston Consulting Group, only 3% of executives are Asian American, and a 2021 study by the Office of Personnel Management shows that Asian Americans hold only 4.7% of executive positions in the federal government. Yet, the population of Asian Americans continues to rise in the United States, and many Asian American college-goers are entering the higher education system. Are we doing a good job preparing future generations of Asian/Asian American leaders? How do we support the leadership development of Asian/Asian American professionals? Join us as we hear from Asian/Asian American leaders who have risen to the top on how they navigated their career journey and cultural upbringing to gain insight into ways they shattered the bamboo ceiling.

Following this program, you will be able to:
- Prepare career services and industry professionals on how to best support Asians/Asian Americans on their career journey, both in college and in the workplace;
- Learn about how Asian/Asian American leaders shatter the bamboo ceiling and navigate their cultural upbringing throughout their career journey; and
- Identify resources available to support Asian/Asian Americans’ leadership and career development.
Presenters

Linda Akutagawa, President & CEO, LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics)
Linda Akutagawa is President and CEO of LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics), an organization she has led for the last 11 years. A passionate social entrepreneur for nearly 30 years, she is committed to LEAP’s vision of diverse leaders driving change for the benefit of all. Active in the community, Linda is a Board member of the AAPI Equity Alliance (a co-founding organization of #StopAAPIHate) and a Board member of Japanese American Community Services (JACS). Civically, Linda is an appointed Commissioner on the 2020 California Citizens Redistricting Commission and an appointed member of the California Department of Insurance’s Diversity Task Force. Linda is a nationally recognized speaker on topics such as leadership; Asian and Pacific Islander history and community; diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB); and corporate board diversity. She received her B.S. in International Business with a minor in Economics from CSULA.

Bob Athwal, Director of Culture & Belonging, Skyscanner
Bob Athwal has a unique background and perspective as he has been an employer, a vendor, and a university senior leader. Currently, Bob is the Global Lead for Racial Diversity & Early Careers at Skyscanner. He is also the co-founder of three nonprofit organizations.

Irene Kao, General Counsel, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency
Irene Kao is the General Counsel at the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, which finances housing that low- and moderate-income Minnesotans can afford. Committed to contributing to the community, examples of Irene’s leadership include serving as pro bono Deputy General Counsel for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, adjunct faculty for the Mitchell Hamline School of Law, President of the Infinity Project (committed to increasing gender diversity of the state and federal judiciary in the Eighth Circuit), Board Chair of the Minnesota Continuing Legal Education (dedicated to creating high-quality continuing legal education for attorneys), President of the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Board Association, Board member of Habitat for Humanity Minnesota, and Board member of the Minnesota State Bar Association. Irene's growing list of accolades currently includes being named an Attorney of the Year and a Diversity & Inclusion Advocate by Minnesota Lawyer, Best Under 40 by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and Member of the Year by the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Irene earned her Juris Doctor degree at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, her Master of Arts degree from the University of Maryland-College Park, and her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Minnesota.

$Gene Rhee$

Gene Rhee, Executive Director, Mohr Career Services, University of Oregon - Charles H. Lundquist College of Business
Gene Rhee is the Executive Director of Mohr Career Services at the University of Oregon’s Lundquist College of Business. In this role, he helps the college positively impact current and future generations by producing well-educated, career-ready graduates. During his first professional decade, he was a teacher, a healthcare account manager, and a consultant in Asia, Africa, and North America. Switching careers, Gene has dedicated the past 15 years to student career success at Georgetown University (his alma mater), Pomona College, Chapman University (another alma mater), and now at the University of Oregon. During this time, he also spent two years at VMock, an ed tech company, as its sales director. While there, he worked with career center leaders around the world to invest in innovative technology to help improve equitable access and scale.

Gerald Tang, Executive Director, Bridgewater State University
Gerald Tang, Ed.D., serves as the inaugural Executive Director for the Career Services and Internship Program Office as he continues to amplify the BSU Works effort. With extensive experience in higher education, Dr. Tang brings together rich experiences working at various institutions, including St. Francis College, Baruch College/CUNY, Columbia University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, La Roche University, and Susquehanna University. Most recently, Dr. Tang was the inaugural Assistant Dean for Career Integration at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, NY. During his tenure, he helped reimagine career services operations and provide a strategic vision to develop forward-thinking career development practices. Dr. Tang received his doctoral degree from Maryville University of St. Louis, his master’s degree from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and his bachelor’s degree from Binghamton University/SUNY. His research interests include Asian American college presidency, international students’ career development, transfer student career success, DEIB issues, and technology integration in career services.

Thanh Tran, CTO, MaineHealth
Thanh Tran is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at MaineHealth. He is responsible for the Infrastructure Services, which includes end-user computing, configuration management, network, telecom, firewall security, server and cloud computing, storage, data center operations, and backup/recovery services. MaineHealth is a not-for-profit integrated health system whose vision is, “Working together so our communities are the healthiest in America.” It consists of nine local health systems, a comprehensive behavioral health care network, diagnostic services, home health agencies, and 1,700 employed providers working together through the MaineHealth Medical Group. With approximately 22,000 employees, MaineHealth provides preventive care, diagnosis, and treatment to 1.1 million residents in Maine and New Hampshire. Thanh has approximately 29 years of experience in information technology, cyber security, clinical engineering, and the consulting space. He served as Chief Technology Officer at South Shore Health prior to his current role, with oversight for the infrastructure, cyber security, clinical engineering, customer contact center, IT service desk, and field service functions, and spent time in the consulting practice at Ernst & Young focused on IT Risk Management and Cornerstone Advisors in Healthcare IT consulting. Thanh has a Bachelor of Science in MIS and Accounting from Babson College