Ascend Pinnacle Hosts Highly Successful Second Asian Corporate Directors Summit

NEW YORK, April 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On April 6-8, Ascend Pinnacle hosted its second Asian Corporate Directors Summit at the Four Seasons Hotel in 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. The attendees represented Boards with a combined market cap of about 1.5 trillion dollars. Deloitte, founding sponsor of the Ascend Pinnacle Summit, with other sponsors support Ascend Pinnacle's goal to increase the number of Asian Americans on public company boards.

The Summit panels covered a broad range of topics from corporate governance, diversity, emerging markets, asking questions in the board room to current issues. Highlights included a Fireside Chat with Mellody Hobson, President, Ariel Investments and Board Director, JPMorgan Chase & Co., The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. and Starbucks Corporation where she discussed the importance of diversity, shared personal stories, and how she got to where she is today; Emily Chang, Author, BROTOPIA and Host, Bloomberg-TV Technology analyzed the current state of diversity in Silicon Valley; Gary Locke, U.S. Ambassador to China, Governor of Washington and Secretary of Commerce spoke about current affairs and his esteemed career in public service. Other speakers included Krishnan Rajagopalan, President & CEO, Heidrick & Struggles; Peter R. Gleason, President & CEO of NACD, and Tiger Tyagarajan, President & CEO of Genpact. The venture capitalist panel discussing the interplay between VCs and boards featured Ira Ehrenpreis (Tesla Board), Glenn Solomon (4 times Forbes Midas list) and Venky Ganesan (Singapore Telecom Board). Ascend Pinnacle's Aspiring Directors Workshop, held in partnership with Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance and sponsored by EY, was sold out with over 20 senior executives attending.

Sara Mathew and Starbucks received the Ascend Pinnacle Excellence in Leadership Individual and Board Awards, the first national corporate board and individual recognition for diversity and leadership. The awards recognized an individual and a corporation that have shown long-term, sustained commitment to diversity and the Pan-Asian community, and exceptional leadership and initiative in promoting minority advancement and visibility.

Ascend launched Pinnacle four years ago with a focus on Asian American directors on US public company and large private company boards. The four Ascend Pinnacle focus areas are the Asian Corporate Directors Summit, the regional roundtables, professional development and thought leadership. 

The 2018 Ascend National Convention & Career Fair with expected 3,000+ attendees will be held on August 20?22, 2018 at the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

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