Largest Asian Corporate Directors Summit Scheduled in San Francisco, CA

SAN FRANCISCO, April 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascend Pinnacle's second Asian Corporate Directors Summit will be held April 6-8, 2018 at the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco, CA. The by-invitation event is the largest gathering of Asian American experienced corporate directors with 100+ experienced directors and senior corporate executives expected to attend. Deloitte is the Summit founding sponsoring organization, and alliance sponsors include National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Nasdaq, and Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance. We are delighted to have Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments and Board Director, JPMorgan Chase & Co., The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. and Starbucks Corporation, as the keynote speaker. Gary Locke, Washington State Governor; U.S. Secretary of Commerce; and most recently U.S. Ambassador to China will be in attendance along with Directors from JP Morgan Chase & Co., Dunkin' Brands, Vonage, E*Trade, Lyft, Genpact, The Estee Lauder Companies, Campbell Soup Company, and Freddie Mac among many others.

Ascend is the only non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization focused on the advancement and contributions of business professionals in North America throughout their career lifecycle. Ascend Pinnacle, the only network of its kind, focuses on Asian American directors on US public company and large private company boards and was launched with a simple goal: increase the number of Asian Americans on public company boards. Currently, Asians occupy only 3.1% of the 5,440 Fortune 500 board director seats. Although Asian Americans are the largest group of minority professionals, about 80% of the Fortune 500 corporations have no Asian Americans on their boards and they are least likely to be promoted to managerial or executive positions.

"Leading organizations now see diversity and inclusion as a comprehensive strategy and have internalized the vast body of data that companies with more diverse boards perform better. With increasing conversation and attention around board diversity, this is an encouraging yet critical time to take action," said Anna W. Mok, Co-Founder, Ascend Pinnacle; Executive Vice President, Ascend and Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP. "To make the systemic changes that positively impact and advance results, corporate boards, CEOs, and executive management must continue to actively lead change to diversify."

"Following a very successful inaugural Pinnacle Summit in 2017, we are thrilled to be hosting the second Ascend Pinnacle Asian Corporate Directors Summit. The gaps in board and executive representation you see today demonstrate the significant opportunities for companies to better leverage the business experiences and insights Pan-Asian leaders can bring to their organizations. Together we can shape the future of Pan-Asians and their positive impacts in corporations, " said S. K. Gupta, Managing Director & Co-Founder, Ascend Pinnacle.

This year's Ascend Pinnacle Excellence in Leadership Award recipients are: The Starbucks Corporation and Sara Mathew, Retired Chair & CEO, Dun & Bradstreet; Board Director, State Street Corporation, Campbell Soup Company, Freddie Mac, Shire and International Advisory Council of Zurich.

Ascend Pinnacle is hosting an Aspiring Directors Workshop on April 6 in partnership with Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance to help prepare and coach future board candidates for board service.

About Ascend

Ascend is the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend, a career lifecycle organization, reaches 60,000+ senior executives, professionals, and MBA/undergraduate students involved in its 50+ chapters in the United States and Canada. Visit http://www.ascendleadership.org/ for more information.

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SOURCE Ascend