2015 Ascend National Convention

MONDAY, AUGUST 31

LESSONS LEARNED FROM EAST TO WEST

11:00AM – 12:00PM Vivek Sharma, Senior Vice President, Digital Guest Experience
Grand Ballroom West Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

CPE: Personal Development Learn how the theme of this year’s Ascend Convention – What Success Looks Like
- Agile, Innovative, Bold – has been brought to life in stories shared by Vivek Sharma.
Born in India, with work experience in sales, strategy consulting, digital products,
and general management, Vivek will share lessons he has learned (including some
challenging ones) from a career spanning from East to West. He will also share how his
varied background, as well as the diverse perspectives of his fellow Cast Members help
connect Walt Disney Parks and Resorts’ guests with the stories, places and people they
love – in more innovative and magical ways than ever before.

DOCTORS’ OFFICES (separate registration required)
Ascend’s wildly popular ‘Doctors’ Offices’ clinics are back at our 8th Annual National
11:00AM – 12:00PM Convention. Take part in the intimate private sessions with our ‘Doctors of Leadership’

– leaders who have been through the same workplace challenges that you are facing.

They will share their own experiences and advice on how they overcame those AGENDA & SESSIONS

challenges and situations as well as give actionable everyday tips for the workplace.

Harlem TAKING CHANCES – Jay Chopra, Vice President, IT Procurement, Johnson & Johnson;
President, Ascend New Jersey Chapter

East NO TIME FOR TRAINING – Amy Tsang, Tax Director, PwC

Hudson STAND UP AND SEEK RECOGNITION – Warren Kashiwagi, Partner, Crowe Horwath

Midtown ASK YOUR BOSS – Marie Terezakis, Human Resources Executive,
Holland Global Human Resources, Bank of America
CONDUCTING A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION – Michael Wheeler, Director,
Global Diversity & Inclusion Strategy & Business Insights, Merck

LEADERSHIP & AWARDS LUNCHEON: DARING GREATLY

12:15PM – 1:30PM Lunch Speaker Melody E. Lee, Director, Brand Strategy & Planning, Cadillac
Grand Ballroom East
During this session, Melody will share her professional journey, including the
CPE: Personal Development challenges she faced and how she overcame them to get to her current position. Her
personal experience parallels Cadillac’s “Daring Greatly” campaign and the on-going
transformation of the Cadillac brand - a journey of being bold, being creative, and being
innovative in one’s thinking and willingness to take on risks.

Following Melody’s remarks, Ascend will present the Inspiring Across Generations
(IAG) - Rising Star Awards to Esther Jeong, Global Diversity & Inclusion Manager,
Moody’s and to Danny Wang, Senior Manager, Deloitte & Touche. This award
recognizes individuals who have had meaningful impact in his/her profession,
demonstrated leadership in the marketplace, shown commitment to community service
and is an inspiration and role model to Asian Americans and others in business.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 51

MONDAY, AUGUST 31

BREAKOUT SESSIONS Moderator Ashvin P. Vibhakar, Senior Advisor; formerly Managing Director of Asia
Pacific Region, CFA Institute
Strong Financial Health - Panelist Jackson Chin, Senior Vice President, Head of Business Architecture Services,
A Key to Being a Holistic Leader Wells Fargo Wealth Management
Panelist Victor Pa, Vice President, Multifamily Investments & Advisory, Freddie Mac
1:45PM – 2:45PM
Grand Ballroom West Oftentimes in leadership discussions, we hear about what makes an individual a strong,
efficient leader – the ability to build charismatic, personal brand, or the ability to
CPE: Personal Development forge and sustain solid relationships, or perhaps the ability to be bold and innovative
in business ventures. While great leaders do possess and exhibit these traits, one
very important factor which is rarely discussed is one’s own financial health and its
implications on his/her leadership ability or style. Effective leaders must possess the
often-discussed traits while also maintaining strong financial health of their own. Join
us as a panel of speakers discuss why strong financial health is a key to being a holistic,
well-rounded leader.

AGENDA & SESSIONS Juggling It All Moderator Christine del Rosario, Partner, PwC
1:45PM – 2:45PM Panelist Betty Ng, Senior Vice President, Moody’s
Beekman/Sutton North Panelist Michael Leong, Senior Vice President and Group Manager - Large Corporate
CPE: Personal Development Banking, PNC Bank
Panelist Mohammad (Mo) Azam, Vice President, Corporate Internal Audit and
Compliance & Ethics, UPS
Panelist Kshama Jobanputra, Vice President; Human Resources Manager,
Bank of America

As the pace of life grows faster and individuals find it harder to devote time to each
task, how can you make the best of the outside resources available to you – your
support networks, various apps, external professional services help – and keep it all
together? How do you delegate, manage stress, and excel at work, at home and as a
member of the community? Join us in what is bound to be a very enlightening session.

Be a Leader! Express Your Viewpoint Larry Chang, Executive Advisor, Ascend
1:45PM – 2:45PM Wade Loo, Executive Advisor, Ascend

Sutton Center/Sutton South/Regent Leaders are often perceived as Decisive … Influential … Courageous … Inspirational.
CPE: Personal Development Ambitious people aspire to be leaders, and want to channel their confidence and views
to reach the next level. What can you do? An important first step is to confidently
express your viewpoints. Are you reluctant to express your views because you risk
losing face in front of others? Has your Asian culture taught you to be quiet, respect
your elders, and don’t make waves? Ironically, success requires taking risks with
confidence, developing a viewpoint, and boldly standing up for what you believe. In
this session, you will discover the why’s and how’s of taking that necessary first step to
becoming a leader.

CHIEF DIVERSITY OFFICER (CDO) FORUM (by invitation only)
Hosted by Jeff Chin, President, Ascend & Anna Mok, National Executive Vice President, Ascend

1:45PM – 2:45PM CDOs are the face of a company’s Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) efforts.
New York Collaborative, results-oriented thought leaders, they serve as stewards of diversity
tasked with ensuring that business practices and objectives align with overall
D&I efforts and vice versa. Join us as we gather at the Ascend Convention for
this inaugural installment of the CDO Forum with the objective to provide an
opportunity to connect and engage on topics of importance to you and Ascend,
and discuss how we can leverage our partnership to achieve exceptional results in
the D&I space.

52

MONDAY, AUGUST 31

DOCTORS’ OFFICES (separate registration required)

1:45PM – 2:45PM Ascend’s wildly popular ‘Doctors’ Offices’ clinics are back at our 8th Annual National

Convention. Take part in the intimate private sessions with our ‘Doctors of Leadership’
– leaders who have been through the same workplace challenges that you are facing.
They will share their own experiences and advice on how they overcame those
challenges and situations as well as give actionable everyday tips for the workplace.
Harlem CONDUCTING A DIFFICULT CONVERSATION – Wes Hom, Former Vice President &
Managing Director, IBM; Vice President of External Affairs, Ascend
Midtown ASK YOUR BOSS – Yogesh Bahl, Managing Director, AlixPartners

East FACING FAILURE – Hussain T. Hasan, Board Member, Regional Risk Advisory

Services Leader, McGladrey

Holland TECHNICAL VS. MANAGEMENT – Jim Tietjen, Executive Vice President and

Chief Auditor, Capital One

Hudson NAVIGATING AN UNCIVIL WORKPLACE – Robert Chen, Consultant, Exec|Comm

TEAMWORK AT THE EDGE

3:00PM – 4:30PM Dennis N. T. Perkins, CEO, The Syncretics Group AGENDA & SESSIONS
Grand Ballroom West
Teamwork at the Edge recounts the contemporary story of the AFR Midnight Rambler,
CPE: Communications winners of the treacherous 1998 Sydney to Hobart Race. The Rambler’s decision to head

into the eye of the storm, along with their extraordinary tenacity, courage and teamwork,

enabled the crew to survive and triumph at The Edge. What were the factors beneath this

stunning victory? Dennis’ captivating presentation answers this question and shares Ten

Critical Strategies for Teamwork at the Edge. We will use the lens of distributed leadership

to explore how team members can work together to survive and triumph against tough

obstacles and fierce competition.

CONVENTION WRAP UP & CLOSING REMARKS

4:45PM – 5:45PM Sandeep Gupta, Partner, Deloitte; Vice President of Chapter Affairs, Ascend
Grand Ballroom West Join Sandeep and your fellow attendees in celebrating our successful Convention.

Hear his take and those of fellow convention guests, on the key lessons learned on
being Agile, Innovative, Bold and what the future holds for Ascend and our Pan-Asian
community. As Ascend celebrates its 10-Year Anniversary, join in on the conversation
as we look at our biggest milestones throughout the years, highlights from the past
three days, and paint a vision for the future. Happy Birthday Ascend!

NETWORKING RECEPTION

6:00PM – 7:00PM Come join us and unwind after three days of career and leadership development.
Sutton Complex

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 53

AGENDA & SESSIONS MONDAY, AUGUST 31

PRESIDENT’S RECEPTION (by invitation only)

6:00PM – 7:00PM

ASCEND 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY BENEFIT & AWARDS DINNER

7:00PM – 9:30PM Keynote Speaker Mike Fucci, Chairman of the Board, Deloitte
Grand Ballroom East Master of Ceremonies Kevin Negandhi, SportsCenter Anchor, ESPN

Master of Ceremonies Amna Nawaz, Managing Editor, NBC News Asian America
Join us as our guest in celebrating our 10-Year Anniversary! We are proud to announce
Mike Fucci, Deloitte Chairman of the Board, as the Benefit & Awards Dinner keynote
speaker. We will continue the tradition of honoring leaders who have made significant
contributions to the Pan-Asian community and who share Ascend’s vision to enhance the
presence and influence of current and future Pan-Asian business leaders. The celebration
will include inspirational speeches, recognition of exceptional leaders, entertainment by
rising Pan-Asian artists, and much more!
At this year’s Benefit & Awards Dinner, we will recognize Nelson J. Chai, President,
CIT Group Inc. with the Deloitte/Ascend Leadership Award; Seong Ohm, Senior Vice
President, Sam’s Club with the Ascend Inspiring Across Generations (IAG): Inspirational
Leader Award; Sara Kumiko Abiusi, Managing Director, Accenture and Yogesh Bahl,
Managing Director, AlixPartners with the Ascend Inspiring Across Generations (IAG):
High Impact Leader Awards; and Sodexo with the Ascend Excellence in Diversity &
Inclusion Award, the Award will be received by Rohini Anand, Senior Vice President &
Global Chief Diversity Officer, Sodexo.

Joe Kanjamala and the Partners and Principals at
Marks Paneth LLP are honored to support the

8th Annual Ascend National Convention & Career Fair

Best wishes for a successful event!

NEW YORK CITY l WASHINGTON, DC l NEW JERSEY l LONG ISLAND l WESTCHESTER l CAYMAN ISLANDS

markspaneth.com

54

Succeeding
through Values

At HSBC, our success is driven by the highest
standards of behavior. Living our values of
dependability, openness and connectedness
helps ensure that our work consistently
exceeds the expectations of everyone we
serve. In turn, we’re able to continuously
advance as one of the largest financial services
organizations in the world.

We’re excited to see how far we can go
together. And if you share our values, we invite
you to join us and help build on our success.

HSBC is a proud sponsor of the 8th Annual
Ascend National Convention & Career Fair.

hsbcusa.com/careers

HSBC is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer offering a competitive salary
and the comprehensive benefits package that you would expect from a worldwide leader.

2 0 1 5 A S C E N D N AT I O N A L CO N V E N T I O N 55Issued by HSBC Bank USA, N.A. 2015 © HSBC Bank USA, N.A. 2015, Member of FDIC

56

SPEAKER & MENTOR
BIOGRAPHIES

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 57

SARA KUMIKO ABIUSI and the North American Maternity Leave
champion. Sara leads Accenture’s relationship
Managing Director, Accenture with Ascend and serves as the VP of Professional
Development of the Greater Washington
Sara Kumiko Abiusi is a Managing Director Chapter of Ascend. She graduated in 1996
with Accenture Federal Services where she is from Johns Hopkins with a B.S. in Mechanical
the Technology Lead for a Diamond Federal Engineering. In her personal life, Sara is married
Government account and the Technology Lead with two children: an eight-year-old daughter
for the Civilian agency portfolio. She also holds and a 3.5-year-old son.
various roles in Inclusion & Diversity: Executive
Sponsor of the DC Asian Pacific American
Employee Resource Group, Inclusion and
Diversity lead for the US Postal Service account,

KAPILA KAPUR ANAND

Senior Partner, Public Policy Business Initiatives, KPMG

Kapila Kapur Anand is KPMG’s leader for the Women Corporate Directors Advisory Board,
Travel, Leisure and Hospitality industry with the Board of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF; and
more than 30 years of experience serving KPMG’s Diversity Advisory Board. Her previous
financial services, real estate, private equity, board experience includes serving on the boards
gaming and hospitality clients. She also served of the Franciscan Ministries, KPMG LLP US/
as Partner in charge of KPMG’s Public Policy Americas and Chair of the KPMG Foundation.
Business Initiatives responsible for assessing the Kapila was awarded the “Women to Watch”
impact of regulatory changes on the Firm and award by the Illinois CPA Society. She was also
its clients. She has authored numerous honored as an “Inspirational Leader” by Ascend.
articles and is a frequent speaker at industry and She was profiled as a “Voice of Experience” by
governance forums. Kapila is currently Chair of the Glass Hammer, an online community created
The Chicago Network, serves on the for women executives.

MOHAMMAD (MO) AZAM

Vice President, Corporate Internal Audit and Compliance & Ethics, UPS

Mohammad (Mo) Azam is the Vice President Prior to joining UPS, Mo was the Vice President
of Corporate Internal Audit and Compliance of Finance and Accounting for Mellon Bank’s
& Ethics for UPS. Prior to his current role, Mo leasing group. Mo has held senior finance
was the Global Financial Process Controller positions with several large multi-national
with responsibilities to develop and manage organizations including Ford Motor Company,
global shared services for financial processes at Dole Packaged Foods, SegaSoft, and KPMG. Mo
UPS. He started his career with UPS as Global received his Bachelor’s in Accounting and MBA
Controller for Supply Chain Solutions. in Finance from Golden Gate University. He is a
CPA from the State of California.

YOGESH BAHL high impact situations. Yogesh is a business and
personal advisor to executives implementing
Managing Director, AlixPartners significant change in their organizations; he has
provided finance, operations, litigation, and
Yogesh Bahl dedicates much of his personal investigation services. He serves as a guest
time to helping women and children survivors of lecturer at a number of universities and has
domestic violence. He is on the Board of New written articles involving industry practice, fraud,
York Asian Women’s Center, an organization supply chain risks, and intellectual property.
that empowers women and their children Yogesh holds an MBA in finance and statistics
overcome domestic violence and other forms of and a B.S. in Accounting and International
abuse by empowering them to govern their own Business from New York University’s Stern
lives. Yogesh has supported Ascend over several School of Business.
years by volunteering his time and counsel. He
is also a Managing Director at AlixPartners, a
leading global business advisory firm specializing
in creating value and optimizing performance in

58

MICHAEL BALAOING Northrop Grumman to MTV, Time, Inc., TD
Bank, and MIT Media Lab. He coaches clients
Founder & CEO, Candlelion LLC for high stakes presentations, pitches, panels,
and interviews (World Economic Forum,
Michael Balaoing, Esq. helps people lead by Clinton Global Initiative, The Today Show, The
communicating – whether you’re a start-up New York Times, TED, and Senate hearings).
entrepreneur in Tokyo, a sales manager in A graduate of Princeton University and UCLA
Madrid, a TV news anchor in Manhattan, or Law, Michael teaches as adjunct faculty at NYU’s
a high school student in Nairobi. As Senior Wagner School of Public Service and George
Coach (and former President) at Blue Planet Washington University School of Business.
Training/Own The Room, he trains thousands
of professionals around the world, including property casualty insurer. He has previously
CEO’s, investors, engineers, and leading figures served as a Founding Member, Vice President and
in business, finance, media, entertainment, and National Board member of Ascend, and currently
technology – ranging from Siemens, VISA, and is its Deloitte partner sponsor. On a more
personal note, Rajiv is proud to be the career
RAJIV BASU sponsor for several women and minority senior
managers who he hopes will eventually join him
Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP and earlier protégés as partners and directors in
the firm. Rajiv has an M.A. (Honors) in Economics
Rajiv Basu has been with the firm for from the Birla Institute of Technology and
approximately 34 years and has served in the Sciences, Pilani, India.
London, Baltimore, Mumbai and New York
offices of Deloitte member firms. Rajiv is a
firm designated life insurance specialist, and
has extensive experience serving large financial
institutions and SEC registrants, and in insurance
M&A transactions. He currently serves as the
Global Lead Client Services Partner for one of
Deloitte’s largest audit clients, and previously
served as the Lead Partner of a large non-attest
client and the Advisory partner for a large global

IRENE CHANG BRITT a Director to the Board of Sunoco, Inc., where
she was a member of both Audit and Corporate
Board Director, Dunkin’ Brands Group Social Responsibility Committees. Her not-for-
profit service has included the Catalyst Board
Irene Chang Britt is a 29-year veteran of the of Advisors and the Catalyst Corporate Board
Consumer Packaged Goods industry, having Services Advisory Council as well as the Board
worked at such iconic companies as Campbell of the American Bakers Association. She has
Soup, Kraft Foods, Nabisco, and Kimberly- been honored with many awards for her business
Clark, and is the immediate past President of and community accomplishments, including Top
Pepperidge Farm. She has led many businesses Women in Grocery and NJ Business Hall of Fame
to transformational success over those years, Laureate. Irene earned her B.A. degree from the
in both the consumer space and business- University of Toronto and her MBA with honors,
to-business. She has also held key positions from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the
in strategy, including Chief Strategy Officer University of Western Ontario.
for Campbell Soup, globally. Irene currently
serves as a Director to the Board of Dunkin’
Brands Group, Inc., where she is also an Audit
Committee Member. Formerly, she served as

CHRISTINE CADENA

Vice President, Multicultural Initiatives, The Walt Disney Company

Christine Cadena is responsible for developing Marketing and Franchise Development, and most
and promoting a company-wide, multi-year recently, leading Multicultural Initiatives for The
strategic initiatives, targeting growth amongst Walt Disney Studios. Prior to coming to Disney,
the U.S. Hispanic segment. Over the past 24 she began her career as a Buyer and Product
years, Christine has held progressive roles Development Executive for Nordstrom. A native
within The Walt Disney Company, including of Los Angeles, Christine is a graduate of UCLA
Merchandising and Product Development, and resides in Silverlake with her three children.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 59

CARL S. CARANDE Prior to being named Vice Chair of Advisory,
Carl served as the National Managing Partner
Vice Chair – Advisory, KPMG of KPMG for four years. He serves as a Board
Member for BCC Rally, which helps raise breast
Carl Carande is the Vice Chair of the Advisory cancer awareness and offer financial support to
practice at KPMG, LLP. He joined KPMG in Rally for the Cure which benefits Susan G. Komen
2000 and became a Partner in 2002. Carl for the Cure. Carl holds an MBA from Golden
has over 30 years of Commercial and Retail Gate University and a B.S. in Organizational
Banking experience with major U.S. global Systems Management from California State
and regional banks in the areas of post-deal University, Northridge.
merger integration, strategic development,
profit improvement, commercial product pricing
and analysis, productivity modeling, process
reengineering, and internal control best practices.
He was named to his current role in July 2015.

LARRY CHANG From 2007 to 2009, Larry advised the CFO and
COO of Haier as an independent consultant.
Executive Advisor, Ascend During his early years, Larry worked as a cardiac
catheterization lab technician at the Children’s
Larry Chang is on the Board of the Ascend Hospital Medical Center in Boston. He also
Northern California Chapter. He is the former conducted medical analysis and research at the
Vice President of Finance and Administration Harvard School of Public Health. Larry received
at Hewlett-Packard (HP). After 32 years of a B.S. in Engineering from the University of
service at HP, he took early retirement in June of Michigan and an MBA from the University of
2007. He has been the Executive Sponsor for a California, Berkeley.
number of Asian–American employee network
organizations both inside HP and among other
California corporations.

PAUL CHEUNG national tax consulting firm specializing in
providing employment tax services to clients in a
Director, Employment Tax Services, Grant Thornton variety of industries. He is a CPA and a member
of the American Institute of Certified Public
Paul Cheung is the National Leader of Accountants, American Payroll Association
the Employment Tax Services within the and the Illinois CPA Society. Paul lectures on
Compensation & Benefits Practice at Grant employment tax topics for clients and internal
Thornton. He has over 20 years of experience professional development programs. He has
in employment tax and payroll management appeared as a speaker for the Taxpayers’
consulting services. He has a network of Federation of Illinois. He holds a B.S. in
contacts at various state agencies and the Accounting from the University of Illinois
Internal Revenue Service. Paul has extensive at Chicago.
experience in audit defense, penalty resolution,
mergers & acquisitions, tax planning and
employment tax compliance. Prior to joining
Grant Thornton, Paul was a Director at a

AI-LYNN CHEE and private securities markets. She has deep
credentials in IPOs, divestitures and acquisitions,
Director, Transaction Services, PwC and advises on multiple areas of U.S. GAAP and
SEC reporting. Ai-Lynn received her Bachelor of
Ai-Lynn Chee is a Director in PwC’s Transaction Commerce degree in Corporate Administration
Services group, based in Dallas, Texas where & Management and a Masters in Accounting from
she supports the Capital Markets & Accounting Curtin University, Western Australia. Ai-Lynn is a
Advisory Services (CMAAS) practice. Ai-Lynn CPA in Texas and Australia.
has over eleven years of public accounting
experience, including five years in the audit
practice. She specializes in advising on capital
market transactions used to access the U.S. public

60

CONNIE CHEN

Manager, Global Marketing Strategy and Planning, The Walt Disney Company

Connie Chen is a 10-year Disney marketing Connie’s current focus is developing the global
veteran and has led significant new product strategy to launch the first Disney theme park in
launches, as well as broader branding campaigns Mainland China – Shanghai Disney Resort. Prior
such as “Where Dreams Come True” and the to Disney, Connie was a Consultant at Deloitte
relaunch of Disney California Adventure park. Consulting and also spent time serving in the
She has also managed multicultural marketing Americorps, teaching and mentoring inner-city
efforts, developing the first in-language marketing students. Connie has an MBA from The Wharton
plan of its kind to reach underpenetrated Asian School and a B.S. in Business Administration from
segments in the Southern California market. the University of Southern California.

MICHAEL CHEN Michael started as a financial analyst for IBM.
He joined GE in 1994 as Vice President for
General Partner & CEO, Chen & Associates GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). He
Former President & CEO, GE Capital Media was named Senior Vice President and General
Manager, North America in 1999. Michael
Michael Chen is currently the General Partner and received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from
CEO of Chen & Associates, a firm he co-founded the University of Rochester and an MBA from
over 15 years ago, providing advisory services to Cornell University. He currently serves on the
the media, aviation, financial services, and food Advisory Board for the Johnson School at Cornell.
industry. Earlier, he was the President of NBC
News’ Strategic Initiatives Group & Education
Nation. In addition, he sat on the Board of
Directors for The Weather Channel. Prior to
joining NBC News, Michael was President & CEO
of GE Capital’s Media, Communications, and
Entertainment (MCE) business.

ROBERT CHEN Robert began his career as an equities trader
and then sharpened his skills in business
Consultant, Exec|Comm management when he moved to China to work
for a multinational manufacturing company. After
Robert Chen leverages his business, science returning to the U.S., Robert pursued his passion
and cross-cultural background to help for coaching and training as a corporate trainer
global executives clarify their message and for a health insurance company before joining
communicate with gravitas and presence, Exec|Comm. Robert graduated from Cornell
client-facing professionals grow their business University with a double major in Chemistry
by building authentic relationships, and technical and Economics.
leaders present their data in more compelling
ways to engage a broader audience. He works
with top firms in management consulting,
accounting, banking and financial services, wealth
management, insurance and academia.

JACKSON CHIN

Senior Vice President, Head of Business Architecture Services, Wells Fargo Wealth Management

Jackson Chin serves as Leader of Business business systems consulting planning. In his 20
Architecture Services in Wealth Management years with Wells Fargo, he has held leadership
Services. In this role, he is responsible for roles in technology, strategic planning, finance,
multiple business technology functions including business process re-engineering, operations,
wealth management help desk & application and project management. He has a B.A. from
entitlements, imaging, information services, University of California, Berkeley and an MBA
business process consulting, and from San Francisco State University.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 61

JEFF CHIN Jeff graduated from Pennsylvania State University
with a B.S. and from St. John’s University with
President, Ascend a Master’s degree. He is a CPA, a Member of
the American Institute of CPAs and currently
Jeff Chin is one of the Founders and the Inaugural serves on the AICPA’s Commission on Diversity
President of Ascend. He is a retired Partner of EY, & Inclusion.
having spent almost 30 years with the firm.
At EY, Jeff was involved in diversity, and started
EY’s Asian American affinity network, EY/ASIA.

YOON CHONG and valuation analysis of complex derivative
transactions and in mergers and acquisitions
Director, PwC including due diligence, structuring, and financial
accounting within the financial services industry.
Yoon Chong is a Director in PwC’s Internal He also serves on the Board of Roads to
Audit Services practice specializing in the Success. Yoon holds B.A and M.A. degrees from
banking and capital markets sector. He has Cambridge University, an MBA from the Simon
over 15 years of extensive experience within Business School, and is a Chartered Accountant
internal audit, governance, compliance, and with the Institute of Chartered Accountants In
broader risk and controls services. He has England and Wales.
seven years of experience leading teams within
Goldman Sachs’ Internal Audit Department,
managing various lines of business audit teams.
Yoon’s prior experiences also included advising
senior management in executing, structuring,

JAY CHOPRA Prior to joining J&J, he worked for Chevron
Corporation and Rockwell International. Jay
Vice President, IT Procurement, Johnson & Johnson currently serves as President of Ascend’s New
President, Ascend New Jersey Chapter Jersey chapter. Jay received a B.S. degree in
Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, an
Jay Chopra is Johnson & Johnson’s Vice President M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the
of IT Procurement. He has management University of Southern California, and his MBA
responsibility for developing and implementing from the Anderson School at UCLA.
J&J’s global IT sourcing and supplier management
strategy and provides leadership to ensure that
value is achieved on all dimensions. Prior to
assuming his current role, Jay spent 15 years
in finance leadership roles at J&J. He was most
recently CFO for IT Shared Services. Jay also
held leadership positions in J&J’s Medical Devices
& Diagnostics Group.

KELLY CHOW

Former Corporate Vice President, New York Life Insurance Company

In her 20 plus years with New York Life, Kelly also Co-Chaired the Asian Employee
Kelly Chow held key strategic positions Resource Group in New York Life to promote
in seven major departments of New York Diversity & Inclusion and represented the group
Life to serve as a Subject Matter Expert in as a Leader and Speaker at key company and
developing and implementing internal controls, sponsor events. Prior to joining New York Life,
business re-engineering, and operational and she started her professional career at Deloitte
technology improvements. Her deep expertise & Touche and PwC as a CPA. Kelly graduated
and consulting skills are leveraged with key from the City University of New York - Queens
stakeholders across major functions of insurance College with a B.A. degree in Accounting and
operations, including international operations Economics. She and her husband, David Ng,
in Asia. reside in Edison, New Jersey, with their
three children.

62

CHRISTINA DEARTH advising organizations ranging from closely held
corporations to complex partnerships and
Tax Manager, Grant Thornton publicly held corporations. In addition to her
breadth of general experience, Christina has also
Christina Dearth is an Experienced Manager in assisted numerous clients in the health care sector
the Tax Services Practice of the Dallas office of with corporate and partnership restructurings,
Grant Thornton. In this role, she is responsible I.R.S audits defense, acquisition tax due diligence,
for consulting with and delivering value to her and ASC 740 tax provision projects.
clients on all tax compliance issues. Christina
has more than eight years of experience in
U.S. federal and state income tax compliance
and planning, including extensive experience

CHRISTINE DEL ROSARIO serving large-and-medium sized multinational
clients through various complex accounting and
Partner, PwC reporting issues, as well as financing transactions.
She has had a wide array of client experiences
Christine del Rosario is an Assurance Partner across service lines and industries in three of the
in PwC’s Banking and Capital Markets practice world’s largest global financial markets - London,
in New York. She started her career in PwC’s Tokyo, and New York. Christine also serves as
Irvine, California office after graduating from Co-VP of Events for Ascend’s New York
University of California - Los Angeles with a Metro Chapter.
B.A. in Business Economics and a Minor in
Accounting. Christine has worked in four offices
in three countries throughout her nearly 17
years with PwC and has extensive experience

AJAY DHAUL and supply chain organizations within Johnson &
Johnson’s North America consumer businesses
Vice President, Johnson & Johnson Consumer over 15 years. Prior to J&J, Ajay worked at Dow
Corning in the U.S. and the U.K. in various
Ajay Dhaul is Johnson & Johnson’s North technology and business management roles.
America Vice President of Marketing Operations Ajay currently is the Co-Chair for J&J’s South
for the Consumer Companies. Ajay has Asian Professional Employee Network group
responsibility for establishing the newly-formed (SAPNA). Ajay has an MBA from The University
Marketing Operations organization with the of Chicago Booth School of Business, a Master’s
primary purpose of accelerating the adoption degree in Chemical Engineering from the
of marketing capabilities and driving scale and University of Kentucky, and a Bachelor’s degree in
leveraging efficiencies across the region. He also Chemical Engineering from BITS, Pilani (India).
has responsibility for the successful deployment
of the New Way of Marketing operating model
for North America Consumer Companies.
Prior to assuming his current role, Ajay has held
various leadership positions across commercial

EMMET C. ECKMAN He has experience designing, building, and
maintaining systems across the entire Tasking,
Director, Cyber Engineering, Northrop Grumman Collection, Processing, Exploitation and
Dissemination lifecycle. Rusty obtained his B.S.
Emmet C. Eckman III (“Rusty”) is currently in Computer Science and Political Science from
the Northrop Grumman Corporation’s the Millersville University of Pennsylvania and
Cyber Division Director of Engineering. He an M.S. in Computer Science from the Johns
is responsible for the technical health of the Hopkins University. He is a PMI certified PMP,
engineering workforce, as well as the application an INCOSE ESEP, a certified SCRUM Master and
of the engineering processes across the division. eXtreme Programming practioner.
Rusty has almost 30 years of engineering
expertise in the Intelligence Community, in and
out of the government, as a civilian, contractor,
and US Army reservist.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 63

MIKE FUCCI LLP Board of Directors since 2012 and is Chairman
of the Deloitte Foundation. He also is a member
Chairman of the Board, Deloitte of the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL)
Board of Directors and its Global Governance
Mike Fucci is Chairman of the Board, Deloitte LLP. Committee. In addition, Mike has served Deloitte
As Chairman, Mike leads the Board in providing Consulting LLP as National Managing Director for
governance and oversight, as well as guidance Advisory and Services, National Managing Director
on priority matters for Deloitte, such as firm for Partner Matters, Chief Operating Officer, and
strategy, brand positioning, risk mitigation, talent Member of Consulting’s Executive Committee.
development, and leadership succession. For
the past 34 years, he has been a Practitioner and
Principal at Deloitte, with specialties in human
resource transformation, talent strategies, and
total rewards. Mike serves in several leadership
positions. He has been a member of the Deloitte

BUCK GEE He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Asia
Society/Northern California, and the Advisory
Executive Advisor, Ascend Board of APALI. He retired in 2008 from Cisco
Systems, where he was Vice President and
Buck Gee is a Member of the Board of Ascend General Manager of the Data Center Business
Northern California. In 2010, he co-founded Unit. He joined Cisco with its 2004 acquisition
the Advanced Leadership Program for Asian of Andiamo Systems where he was President
American Executives, an executive education and CEO. He holds BSEE and MSEE degrees
program at the Stanford Graduate School of from Stanford University and an MBA from the
Business. He is Board President of the Angel Harvard Business School.
Island Immigration Station Foundation, Founding
Board Member of the Chinese Community
Foundation, and Co-Chair of the Donor Advisory
Board of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

TAUSEEF GHAZI infrastructure risk assessments, penetration
testing and diagnostics. In addition, Tauseef
Director, Security and Privacy, McGladrey serves as the National Leader for Industrial
Control System (ICS) security at McGladrey.
Tauseef Ghazi currently serves as Director in He also has extensive experience in leading and
McGladrey’s Security and Privacy Practice. He delivering security assessments and serves as the
is a technical lead with more than 14 years of lead Engagement Director on both strategic and
infrastructure security, system implementation, tactical security engagements for McGladrey’s
and application security review experience. Central Region. Tauseef’s current focus and past
He has served as the Lead Director with clients include leading entities in the power and
responsibility for planning, budgeting, execution, utility, oil and gas, and financial industries.
and delivery of information technology
(IT) security assessments, cyber maturity
evaluations, process control assessments, data
privacy, business continuity, disaster recovery, IT
governance, IT performance, IT risk assessment,

EVE GUILLERGAN State Bar Association’s Innovation in Bar Leaders
Award in 2012. Eve has been a Board Member
Immigration Lawyer, Eve Guillergan PLLC of the Korean American Lawyers Association
of Greater New York since 2013. She serves as
Eve Guillergan has a boutique immigration law New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-
practice in New York City. She has been working Viverito’s Representative to the Queens Borough
in the immigration law field since 1993 and has Public Library. Eve is the recipient of the Queens
represented clients in all areas of immigration law Courier “Top Women in Business Award.” She
– from managing work for corporate clients to is also named by Super Lawyers in their Top
family based immigration, complex naturalization Women Attorneys and New York Metro lists. Eve
cases, and removal matters. Eve is active in the received her J.D. from Rutgers School of Law -
American Immigration Lawyers Association Newark, and B.A. from New York University.
(AILA) and is Co-Chair of the New York
chapter’s Practice Management Committee. She
is also a long-standing member of AILA NY’s Pro
Bono Committee, which was given the New York

64

SANDEEP GUPTA Prior to his move to New York in 1998, Sandeep
worked in Deloitte’s offices in Toronto, Canada
Partner, Deloitte and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and at
Vice President of Chapter Affairs, Ascend an accounting firm in India. Sandeep is a CPA
and is certified by the Chartered Institute of
Sandeep Gupta is an Audit Partner in the New Management Accountants, UK, and the Institute
York office of Deloitte. Sandeep has over 20 of Chartered Accountants, India. He serves on
years of experience serving companies in the the National Board of Ascend and lives in New
financial services industry including broker York with his wife and two children.
dealers, banks and asset management firms.
He specializes in performing reviews of risk
management, trading, regulatory, and
operations areas.

S.K. GUPTA Space Systems, which manufactures satellites
and strategic missiles. He is a recognized expert
Managing Director, Ascend Pinnacle on leading change and developing minority
leadership, and has been quoted in various
S.K. Gupta currently leads Ascend’s Corporate national media. In 2010, he was presented the
Board Initiative, Pinnacle, with the goal to Ellis Island Medal of Honor. A graduate of the
increase the number of Pan-Asians on Public Marine Engineering College in India and the
Company Boards. He also serves on the Board University of Michigan, he also holds an MBA
of Asian & Pacific Islander American Scholarship from Seattle University. He has published papers
Fund (APIASF) and has served on a wide range on leadership, business, and technical subjects.
of other Boards, including the Sandia National
Laboratories, Bay Area Council and San Jose
Museum of Art. S.K. retired from Lockheed
Martin, as the Vice President of Operations for

HUSSAIN T. HASAN

Board Member, Regional Risk Advisory Services Leader, McGladrey

Hussain T. Hasan currently serves as the Risk He is a National Association of Corporate
Advisory Services leader for the Great Lakes Directors (NACD) Governance Fellow, and a
Region and sits on McGladrey’s Consulting member of McGladrey’s Employee Network
Leadership team. He was elected to the Executive Council. Hussain is also a Subject
McGladrey Board of Directors in 2012 and in Matter Expert in Enterprise Risk Management
that capacity has served on various committees, (ERM), global strategy, strategic planning and
including the Governance Committee, Risk information technology (IT) security and brings
Oversight Committee, Partner Matters that perspective to the boardroom for a deeper
Committee, and Acquisitions Committee. and healthier discussion. Hussain has been
While serving on the Board and especially as a quoted extensively on risk management and
member of the Governance Committee he led technology issues in leading business publications
discussions around best practices with board such as CFO magazine, WebCPA, Compliance
governance issues. Week, and American Executive.

APRIL HOLMES 200 and 400m dash, and first woman of Jordan
Brands. She received a gold medal during the
2004 and 2008 Paralympic Medalist, Track & Field 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games in the 100m dash
and a bronze medal in the long jump during the
In 2001, April Holmes was involved in a train 2004 Athens Paralympic Games. April also runs
accident that resulted in the loss of her left leg the April Holmes Foundation that assists people
below the knee. It was while April was recovering with physical and developmental disabilities.
in the hospital that she was introduced to the
life-changing idea of training for the Paralympic
games. Today, April Holmes is known as one
of the world’s fastest amputees, currently the
world record holder in her class (T44) in the 100,

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 65

WES HOM President of the Capital Venture Group. Wes was
also the Executive Assistant in IBM’s corporate
Former Vice President & Managing Director, IBM office serving the Chairman, Vice Chairman,
Vice President of External Affairs, Ascend CEO, CFO and Senior Vice President of Human
Wes was formerly a Vice President in IBM’s Resources. He also chaired IBM’s Asian Diversity
Systems and Technology Group with global group. Wes is a graduate of NYU’s Stern School
responsibilities for overall execution of IBM’s of Business. He was a member of IBM’s Certified
mainframe investments, strategies, sales and Client Director Profession through Advance
emerging markets initiatives. Today, Wes is an Management Program at Harvard Business
Ascend National Board member. He advises on School. He is the co-developer of Stanford
business development, diversity, and leadership University’s Graduate School of Business
development for Ascend’s global sponsors and Advanced Leadership Program.
respective organizations. Previously, Wes was
based in Europe as Managing Director and IBM
Vice President. He held a variety of challenging
positions at IBM, including Vice President
of Global Communications Sector and Vice

JOYCE HSU During her six-year tenure at the investment
bank, she was responsible for the global
Former Partner, EY corporate tax strategy, restructuring, transfer
Joyce Hsu began her career with EY in 1986 pricing, and repatriation planning for the firm.
and joined the Partnership as an International Since her retirement from taxation, Joyce has
Tax Partner in 1996. She has served numerous served as a Mentor for the Executive on Campus
multinational clients in planning their cross- Program at Baruch College and as a Guest
border expansions, mergers and acquisitions, Lecturer for Fordham University. Joyce is a CPA
operations, and dispositions. As an international with a M.S. in Taxation and a B.S in Accounting
tax advisor, Joyce has consulted on various from Baruch College. As an outdoor enthusiast,
tax issues including effective tax rate planning, Joyce is an avid hiker and a certified scuba diver.
transfer pricing, as well as repatriation and
treasury related strategies. Joyce joined
Goldman Sachs in 2005 to lead the international
tax team for the firm.

MARK HUG

Executive Vice President, Product & Marketing, Individual Life Insurance, Prudential

Mark Hug is the Executive Vice President, Product Sponsor of the Multicultural Committee. In
and Marketing, for the Individual Life Insurance 2014, Hug was ranked #37 on Forbes 50 Most
business at Prudential. In this role, he leads Influential CMOs in The World. Mark earned a
the product and marketing areas, focusing on B.A. degree in Mathematics from the University
innovative and comprehensive product solutions of Notre Dame in 1979. He is a Fellow of the
to meet the life insurance needs of clients, Society of Actuaries, a Member of the American
broad marketing research analytics, creative Academy of Actuaries, and a Registered Principal
marketing programs and materials, and in-force of FINRA. Mark is also an active participant in
client management. Mark is active in Prudential’s industry events, including the American College,
Relationship Council and serves as the Executive AALU, LIMRA, and the ACLI.

THAD A. HUSTON

Group Chief Financial Officer, Medical Devices, Johnson & Johnson

Thad A. Huston is the Group Chief Financial in 2003 was appointed Marketing Controller
Officer for Medical Devices responsible for all for the U.S. Janssen business. In 2004, Thad
financial aspects of the businesses worldwide. was promoted to Vice President, Finance for
Thad began his career at Johnson & Johnson Ortho McNeil Pharmaceuticals and in 2006 was
in 1991 as a Finance Co-Op and has held promoted to Chief Financial and Operations
positions of increasing responsibility in the Officer for Pharmaceuticals R&D. From 2010
Pharmaceuticals, Consumer, and Medical to 2013, Thad served as the President of Xian-
Devices businesses. In 1996, he joined the Janssen Pharmaceuticals in China. In this role,
International Development Program in he led the integration of the Johnson & Johnson
Budapest, Hungary. In 1998, he was promoted China OTC business across the Pharmaceuticals
to Finance Director, Janssen Russia and in and Consumer businesses. Thad holds a
2000, relocated to Janssen Belgium to support Bachelor’s degree in Finance from Pennsylvania
R&D and international Business Development. State University and is a Certified
In 2001, Thad was promoted to Regional Master Accountant.
Controller, Asia-Pacific Pharmaceuticals and,

66

BILL IMADA Walt Disney Imagineering, and Warner Bros.
Pictures Entertainment. He is active in the
Chairman & Chief Collaboration Officer, IW Group community and serves on a number of national
boards, including the Advertising Educational
Bill Imada is the Chairman and Chief Foundation, Asian/Pacific Islander American
Collaboration Officer of IW Group, a Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship,
multi-faceted advertising, marketing, and Center for Asian American Media, and many
communications firm specializing in the others. Recently, Bill was appointed by President
multicultural consumer and business markets. Barack Obama to serve on the President’s
For more than two decades, Bill and his firm Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and
have represented some of the top domestic Pacific Islanders.
and global brands, including American Airlines,
Coca-Cola, Godiva Chocolatier, McDonald’s,
Pacific Gas & Electric Company, Southern
California Edison, Verizon, Walmart Stores,

KSHAMA JOBANPUTRA

Vice President; Human Resources Manager, Bank of America

Kshama Jobanputra is Vice President and Human Bank of America Asian Leadership Network
Resources Manager for Bank of America. In Co-Chair from 2010 to June 2014. She now
this role, she is responsible for providing HR serves as Vice Co-Chair of the Bank of America
Generalist support to the Consumer Marketing LEAD for Women Charlotte Leadership
organization and Enterprise, Consumer, and Council and as the Executive Vice President
GWIM Operations team within the Global of Ascend Charlotte. Kshama has been with
Marketing & Corporate Affairs organization. Bank of America since 2005. Prior to this role,
In this role, Kshama acts as the main point of she served as a Human Resources Consultant
contact for all HR processes and strategies supporting Bank of America’s Global Risk
for over 1000 employees. Kshama is based in Management Organization.
Charlotte, where she served as the

JOSEPH JORDAN

Inspirational Speaker, Author of “Living a Life of Significance”

Joseph Jordan, inspirational speaker and Joe is also a founder of the Insured Retirement
behavioral finance expert, is the Author of Institute (formally known as the National
the award-winning book “Living a Life of Association of Variable Annuities or NAVA) and
Significance” (Acanthus Publishing, 2013). It has has been featured on the cover of Life Insurance
sold over 60,000 copies and is translated in four Selling magazine. For three consecutive years,
languages. Formerly, Joe ran insurance sales at he has been honored by Irish America magazine
Paine Webber and more recently, was a Senior as one of the “Top 50 Irish Americans on Wall
Vice President at MetLife. He was responsible Street.” He was inducted into the Fordham
for retail product development and started Football Hall of Fame and has played rugby for
their fee-based financial planning program and the New York Athletic Club for 30 years.
behavioral finance department.

ALEX KANDYBIN Business School. He holds a Ph.D. and a M.S.
degree with honors in applied chemistry from
Principal, Strategy & Innovation, PwC Moscow Mendeleev University of Chemical
Technology and an MBA degree with High
Alex Kandybin, Ph.D., is a principal from PwC’s Distinction from The University of Michigan
Strategy & Innovation, based in New York, with Business School.
over 20 years of professional experience in
innovation and strategy consulting, industry and
academia. Alex also teaches innovation strategy
as an adjunct professor at Columbia University

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 67

WARREN KASHIWAGI consulting regarding establishment of non-profit
entities. He is a CPA and his tax experience
Partner, Crowe Horwath includes healthcare/long-term care organizations,
colleges and universities, as well as arts and
Warren Kashiwagi has more than 36 years of other non-profit organizations. He is a Member
tax experience concentrating in services to of the American Institute of Certified Public
the non-profit and healthcare sector. He has Accountants, California Society of Certified
served healthcare systems, medical groups, Public Accountants and Healthcare Financial
trade associations, educational entities, and Management Association. Warren has a B.S.
other non-profit organizations. Warren’s Emphasis in Accounting from UC Berkeley.
significant responsibilities include: tax compliance,
representation before Internal Revenue Services
and Franchise Tax Board, consulting regarding
restructuring of ventures and entities, and

TARIQ KHAN

CEO, Global Diversity Marketing & Adjunct Professor, Marketing, New York University
Vice President of MBA Programs, Ascend

Tariq Khan is a recognized Business Leader, He serves on the Board of Directors for three
Founder, and CEO of Global Diversity Marketing. leading organizations, including Asian and Pacific
His client list includes AXA, Dish TV, Penn Islander American Scholarship Fund (APIASF),
Mutual, Prudential, MoneyGram International, Asian Pacific Institute for Congressional Studies
Pacific Life, and United HealthCare. Tariq has had (APAICS), and National Association of Asian
a distinguished 20-year career, mostly working MBAs (NAAMBA)/Ascend. Tariq is also an
at global Fortune companies including MetLife, Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Public
Nationwide, and ING. He has held several senior Relations at New York University. He is a
management roles with the major Fortune frequent speaker at many industry conferences
companies. Prior to starting his own firm, Tariq and his work, interviews, and articles have
was Senior Vice President and head of Market been published in several trade and industry
Development for ING. publications.

KIMO KIPPEN Development) in 2007 and served as a Member
of the ATD Public Policy Council. He currently
Chief Learning Officer, Hilton Worldwide serves on the Board of Directors of The Council
for Adult & Experiential Learning and the Asian
Kimo Kippen is the Chief Learning Officer and Pacific Islander American Scholarship
at Hilton Worldwide. In this role, Kimo is Fund. Kimo is an Adjunct Professor at Catholic
responsible for strategic oversight of learning University, facilitating the HR Learning and
and development at Hilton Worldwide, based in Development class for the University’s Master’s
McLean, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in Career and program in Human Resources.
Human Resource Development from Rochester
Institute of Technology, and a B.S. from the
University of Hawaii. Kimo served as the Chair
of the Board of ATD (Association of Talent

RON LAI developed his business acumen by consulting
international federal agencies such as the National
Senior Product Manager, Invoice2go Science Foundation. Ron earned his B.S. degree
in Mathematics from the University of Michigan
Ron Lai is a technology executive that spends time and completed the CFA examinations. He has
in Sydney, Jarkata and Palo Alto. He is the first served as a fellow at Harvard, UC Berkeley and is
product hire for Accel backed Invoice2go ($35m currently on leave from his Ph.D. at UChicago.
Series in Funding). Prior to joining Invoice2go,
Ron served as the VP Product at Storefront,
where he raised $7.3m Series A and managed
the development of all new product lines. He

68

MELODY E. LEE Prior to joining Cadillac, Melody was Executive
Vice President at Hill+Knowlton Strategies, a
Director, Brand Strategy & Planning, Cadillac leading global communications agency. At H+K,
she provided strategic communications and
Melody E. Lee is Director, Brand Strategy & public affairs counsel to corporate clients. Her
Planning at Cadillac. In this position, she is specialties included brand communications,
responsible for building Cadillac’s global brand financial transactions, crisis, litigation and public
identity and driving a clear and consistent strategy affairs support for clients. Melody holds a
across all of its channels, products, and markets. Bachelor’s degree and an M.S. in International
As part of her portfolio, she oversees brand Affairs from Georgia Institute of Technology.
marketing and product launch communications
strategy, as well as the partnerships and
experiences that drive Cadillac’s reputation and
brand image.

MICHAEL LEONG

Senior Vice President and Group Manager - Large Corporate Banking, PNC Bank

Michael Leong is a Senior Vice President and Michael is a Member of Executives’ Club of
Group Manager for PNC’s Large Corporate Chicago. He is also the Diversity & Inclusion
Banking Group covering Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Liaison for PNC’s Chicagoland region. Michael
and Minnesota. Michael has been with PNC since holds a B.S. in Accountancy from Northern Illinois
2006 and has over 18 years of financial services University and an MBA Finance with Distinction
experience. His previous experience includes from DePaul University’s Kellstadt School of
banking, M&A consulting, and auditing. business. He is a CPA and holds Series 7, 63, and
79 licenses.

DUSTIN LING

Director, Global Public Sector Group, Corporate & Investment Banking, Citi

Dustin Ling is Global Head of Business while positioning Citi as the international bank of
Management for Citi’s Public Sector Group choice for its clients and employer of choice for
within the Corporate and Investment staff – using a culture-change-based initiative. He
Banking division. In this role, he has business is passionate about diversity and is active in Citi’s
management, strategy, and marketing Asian Heritage Network and externally, Ascend,
responsibility for the global coverage, serving an organization for Asian American Business
central governments, central banks, regional Professionals. He is also a Steering Committee
and local governments, sovereign wealth funds, Member of Citi’s Pride Network and also
NGO’s, and development sector. Previously, serves as the Co-Chair for the Speaker Series
Dustin served as Director of Strategy & Planning Committee of OPEN Finance, a network of LGBT
for Citi Canada, where he served a critical role in Leaders within the Financial Services industry.
driving country operations to a one-bank model,

BETTY LIU covered a wide variety of topics from business
to civil rights. Earlier in her career, Betty
Anchor/Editor-at-Large, Bloomberg Market Day was the Taiwan Bureau Chief for Dow Jones
Newswires and a Hong Kong-based Regional
Betty Liu is Anchor and Editor-at-Large of Correspondent for the Newswire. In 1997, she
“Bloomberg Markets” appearing each day from received a Dow Jones Newswires Award for
12:00pm to 1:30pm ET. An award-winning her coverage of the Asian financial crisis. Betty
business journalist, she regularly interviews was born in Hong Kong and graduated from
influential business, political, and media leaders, the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in
including Warren Buffett, Bill Clinton, Carlos English. She currently lives in New Jersey with
Slim, Jamie Dimon, Elon Musk, and many her twin sons.
others. Before joining Bloomberg Television,
Betty was an anchor for CNBC Asia based in
Hong Kong. Prior to that, she was the Atlanta
Bureau Chief for the Financial Times, where she

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 69

WADE LOO He was the Senior Partner-in-Charge of Audit
for KPMG’s Northern California Business Unit
Executive Advisor, Ascend prior to his retirement. For eight years, Wade
was based in KPMG offices located in Tokyo,
Wade Loo is on the Board of the Ascend Singapore, and Beijing, where he coordinated
Northern California Chapter. He is actively and delivered KPMG’s services to multinational
involved in the community and is currently the companies. During his tenure in China, Wade
Chairman of JobTrain, an organization helping served as Treasurer of the American Chamber
people in the East Palo Alto and surrounding of Commerce in Beijing.
communities to find meaningful jobs. He also
serves on the University of Denver - School
of Accountancy’s Advisory Board. Wade is
a retired KPMG Audit Partner. He was with
KPMG for 30 years, working with major public
companies in an international environment.

RICHARD LUI poor, Food Bank for New York City. Richard’s
work and reporting on humanitarian issues spans
Journalist and News Anchor, MSNBC and NBC News 30 years and six continents. He has received
civil rights awards from organizations including
Richard Lui is a Journalist and News Anchor for AAJA, WWAAC, and OCA. Richard anchors
MSNBC and NBC News. He was formerly at Early Today on NBC and is Dayside Anchor
CNN Worldwide. Richard’s enterprise reporting for MSNBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. At CNN
has focused on humanitarian issues including Worldwide, he became the first Asian-American
gender equality, human trafficking, and affordable male to anchor a daily, national cable news show
housing. His charity work in the same spaces when he solo anchored the 10am hour on CNN
has led him to work with Plan International Headline News from 2007 to 2010.
USA as a global ambassador (alongside Freida
Pinto and Marcia Cross) for its “Because I am a
Girl” campaign. He also is Ambassador for the
Epilepsy Foundation, and sits on the President’s
Council for America’s largest food source to the

TESS MARTILLANO

Managing Director, Information Risk Management Enterprise Services & Chief Information Risk Officer
(CIRO) for Latin America and Caribbean, BNY Mellon

Tess Martillano is the Global Head of and deployment of the IRM program in new and
Information Risk Management (IRM) Enterprise emerging markets. Tess has also served as the
Services and the Chief Information Risk Officer Global Head of Identity and Access Management
(CIRO) for Latin America and the Caribbean at BNY Mellon. Previously, Tess was the IT
region at BNY Mellon. She is responsible for Risk Manager for Credit Suisse Americas and
BNY Mellon’s Global Vendor Risk Management held technology and operations roles at Citi’s
program, IRM’s Client Advisory Services, Investment Banking Division, concluding as COO
Corporate Senior Information Risk Officer of Capital Markets and Banking Technology.
(C-SIRO) governance program, and IRM’s She is a Charter Member of ISACA and has a
Training, Communications, and Awareness Certified Risk and Information Systems Control
program, among others. As a CIRO, Tess (CRISC) certification.
oversees the strategy development, governance,

KUNJAN MEHTA Co-Vice President of Membership for Ascend
for a number of years. He is also an Officer and
Partner, Grant Thornton Member of Management Committee for the
New York Hedge Fund Roundtable. Kunjan is a
Kunjan Mehta is a Partner at Grant Thornton licensed CPA in the US as well as a Chartered
LLP, a global audit, tax and advisory organiza- Accountant from the Institute of Chartered
tion, where he primarily focuses on assurance Accountants of India. He has been with Grant
and auditing services for hedge funds, private Thornton since July 2006.
equity funds, and broker dealers. He has written
thought leadership pieces for the firm and is
actively involved in technical trainings within
his firm. Kunjan is also a Member of the New
York State Society of CPA’s and served as the

70

ANNA MOK to partnership. Anna has received numerous
awards and recognitions including “The Most
Partner, Deloitte Influential Women & Minority Business Leader”
National Executive Vice President, Ascend award, and is an active community leader that
focuses on education, economic access, gender
Anna Mok is currently responsible for and race equality and international business. She
Deloitte’s China Advisory business and also recently finished her term as the chairman of
the Managing Partner for the US-Southeast the Commonwealth Club and is on the boards
Asia program for Deloitte & Touche LLP. She and executive committees of the United Way,
was previously the National Managing Partner, Committee of 100, Ascend (National) and Asian
Clients & Client Excellence and the National Pacific Islander Scholarship Fund. She graduated
Regions Leader. During her 25+ year career at from the University of California, Berkeley, Haas
Deloitte, she has served some of its largest and School of Business and resides with her family in
most prestigious clients in various industries. the San Francisco area.
Her global business experiences include risk,
governance, finance, business strategy and
transformations, and market expansion services.
She was a member of Deloitte’s Board Council
and the CEO Advisory Partner Council and was
the first Chinese American woman admitted

MICHAEL J. MONAHAN

Principal-in-Charge, Compensation and Benefits Consulting, Northeast Region, Grant Thornton

Michael Monahan, J.D. is an Assistant Managing clients, whether individuals, estates, foundations,
Principal for People & Culture in the New for-profit (public or private) companies, or
York/New England Market Territory at Grant not-for-profit (higher education, health care and
Thornton and serves as the Principal-in-Charge many others) varying in size and value and across
for the New York/New England Market the United States. Mike is an attorney duly
Territory Compensation and Benefits and admitted to practice in the Courts of the State
Private Wealth Services Consulting Practices. In of New York and to the United States Supreme
addition to his technical expertise and leadership Court. Mike has more than 25 years’ experience
role in the Market Territory as an Assistant as a strategic business adviser, trusts and estates
Managing Principal, Mike has experience attorney, general counsel, labor counsel, human
providing advice, guidance, and support to resources executive, and business leader.

BO MOON

Technology Strategy Team Lead, Strategy & Operations, Samsung Electronics America

Bo Moon leads Technology Strategy in the consumers in sports. Bloomberg Sports was
Strategy and Operations Group at Samsung successfully acquired by Vista Equity Partners
Electronics America, where he is focused on and merged into Stats Inc, the world’s leading
disruptive technologies in mobile, home, and sports technology, data, and content company.
consumer electronics. Prior to Samsung, Bo Before founding Bloomberg Sports, Bo led
Co-Founded Bloomberg Sports, formerly Bloomberg L.P.’s flagship Launchpad, Instant
a division of Bloomberg L.P., which applied Bloomberg and Monitor products, used by
financial analysis to sports data to create cutting 300,000+ financial professionals globally. Bo holds
edge solutions for both professionals and a B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University.

ARUN NAYAR

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Tyco;
Board Director, Bemis

Arun Nayar is the Executive Vice President From 2010 until September 2012, he was Senior
and Chief Financial Officer of Tyco, responsible Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis,
for managing the company’s financial risks and Investor Relations, and Treasurer. Before
overseeing its Global Finance functions, including joining Tyco, Arun spent six years at PepsiCo,
Tax, Treasury, Mergers and Acquisitions, Audit, most recently as CFO of Global Operations,
and Investor Relations teams. Arun has a career and before that as Vice President and Assistant
in finance that spans more than 35 years. He Treasurer of Capital Markets. He is a Fellow
joined Tyco in 2008 as the company’s Senior Vice of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
President and Treasurer, and was also the CFO England and Wales, and holds a Bachelor’s
of ADT Worldwide. degree in Economics from the University of
Delhi, India.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 71

AMNA NAWAZ Chief in Islamabad, reporting from Pakistan,
Afghanistan, and the region for all NBC News
Managing Editor, NBC News Asian America and MSNBC platforms. Amna has been
recognized with an Emmy award, multiple Emmy
Amna Nawaz is the Managing Editor of NBC nominations, a National Headliner Award, a
News’ Asian America vertical, reporting, and Society for Features Journalism award, and an
editing stories on current events, culture, and International Reporting Fellowship from the
community, both domestic and foreign. She Johns Hopkins University. She is a Graduate of
oversaw the creation and launch of the vertical - the University of Pennsylvania and the London
the first of its kind by any American network - in School of Economics.
2014, and has grown it into the largest English-
language Asian-American news source in the
country. Amna also reports for all NBC News’
broadcast shows and MSNBC. She previously
served as NBC News’ Correspondent/Bureau

KEVIN NEGANDHI While working in Florida, he won three
Associated Press awards – “Best Sports Cast”
SportsCenter Anchor, ESPN in 2004 and 2005 and “Best Breaking Sports
News” in 2005. Prior to that, he was a sports
Kevin Negandhi, who joined ESPN in September director for KTVO-TV in Kirksville, Missouri.
2006 as an Anchor for ESPNEWS, currently Kevin began his career as a college sports
appears on the 9-11 a.m. ET SportsCenter. At stringer at USA Today in 1995. A native of
ESPN, he has hosted NFL Live, Baseball Tonight, Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, Kevin graduated from
Outside the Lines, College Football Live, NBA Temple University in 1997 with a Bachelor’s
Tonight, and the Women’s NCAA Basketball degree in Communications. He is the first Indian-
Final Four. Prior to ESPN, Kevin worked as a American to serve on a national sports network.
Sports Director at WWSB-TV in Sarasota,
Florida, from 2004-06. He also served as the
station’s sports anchor/reporter for three years.

DR. ANTHONY JAMES NEWKIRK A National Certified Counselor, Licensed
Professional Counselor, Master Addictions
Senior Manager, Diversity & Inclusion, AICPA Counselor and Licensed Clinical Addictions
Specialist, he has a career of 15 years as a
Dr. Anthony James Newkirk currently serves professional counselor. Additionally, he has
as the Senior Manager of Diversity & Inclusion completed a certificate program in Diversity
for the American Institute of Certified Public Management at the International Institute for
Accountants (AICPA) where he advances Diversity & Cross-Cultural Management at the
diversity and inclusion strategy at the Institute University of Houston.
and throughout the accounting profession.
Anthony is a graduate of North Carolina A&T
State University with a Bachelor’s degree in
Public Relations (1991), a M.S. in Counseling
(1995), and a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies.

BETTY NG in Corporate Strategy and M&A for Citigroup.
Betty started her career at Arthur Andersen in
Senior Vice President, Moody’s San Francisco and Beijing, China. In addition to
helping grow Arthur Andersen’s then nascent
Betty Ng is a Senior Vice President in Moody’s China business, she led the development of new
Corporate Development Group and is initiatives at American Express and the Chinese
responsible for the origination, evaluation, and American Planning Council. Betty holds an MBA
execution of investment, merger, and acquisition from Harvard Business School and a B.A. in
opportunities. Since joining the company in Economics from Stanford University. She enjoys
March 2011, she has completed five transactions traveling the world and outdoor activities with
and has managed various strategic initiatives. her husband and two young children.
Betty is also the Co-Chair of Moody’s Women’s
Employee Resource Group in New York. Prior
to joining Moody’s, she was a Director of
Citibank NA Finance/M&A and Vice President

72

LISA ONG

National Talent Management Director, Office of Diversity, PwC

Lisa Ong is a National Talent Management from The University of Texas at Dallas and
Director in the Office of Diversity at PwC. her B.B.A. in Accounting from The University
Based in Dallas, she leads the U.S. Asian talent of Texas at Austin. She has her CPA, Senior
development strategy. With over 25 years Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and
work experience as a Diversity Director, Audit Associate Certified Coach (ACC) certifications.
Senior Manager and a Senior Human Resources As a Member of many diverse organizations and
Professional, she enjoys helping her coaching community volunteer, she also enjoys serving on
clients “Dream Big” and “Wish Out Loud” the Boards of the AICPA National Commission
to reach their goals. Lisa earned her M.S. in on Diversity & Inclusion, Texas Society of CPAs,
Management with a focus on Organizational Community Council of Greater Dallas
Behavior and Professional Executive Coaching and her church.

KEVIN O’SULLIVAN He speaks regularly and has spoken at several
national and local events for the IIA and ISACA.
Partner, Risk Consulting Group, Crowe Horwath He holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an
M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from
Kevin O’Sullivan leads the IT Audit and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA.
Cybersecurity Practice on the East Coast. Kevin
has over 20 years of experience in general
management, IT Audit, and Consulting for
several middle to large companies in his career.
Kevin is a Qualified Security Assessor and runs
engagements to assess clients in their compliance
with PCI-DSS requirements.

VICTOR PA

Vice President, Multifamily Investments & Advisory, Freddie Mac

Victor Pa manages Freddie Mac’s more than $100 He joined the Multifamily Division in 2004 and
Billion Multifamily and CMBS portfolio, including started his tenure at Freddie Mac in 1991 in the
the securities trading function. He brings 25 Financial Research Division. Victor holds an MBA
years of experience to this position and has a in Finance and a Bachelor’s in Engineering with a
strong background in portfolio management, Minor in Mathematics, both from Virginia Tech,
structuring of mortgage cash flows, analysis of and the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.
credit and market risks, and structured pricing.

STEVEN PAE

Chief Information Officer & Senior Vice President, CIT Group
Board Member, Ascend

Steven Pae is a Technology Executive in financial He has held senior global technology positions
services. As CIO of Business Technology, he with Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and Bank
leads all technology related services to CIT of America. Steven graduated from Cornell
Business groups, including technology strategy, University with an undergraduate engineering
product execution, service delivery and support. degree in 1992. In 1997 he received his MBA from
Steven joined CIT in April 2013. New York University’s Stern Business School.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 73

DENISE PECK

Executive Advisor, Ascend
Advisor to several startups and company founders in Silicon Valley

Denise Peck is currently an Executive Advisor number of Vice President positions in marketing,
to Ascend and an Advisor to startups and operations, engineering services, and IT, in San
company founders in Silicon Valley. Denise Jose, California and in Shanghai, China. Denise
co-developed and teaches a two-day course was a long time Executive Sponsor and Advocate
for Ascend, “Executive Insight for Women” of Cisco’s diversity initiatives, particularly
(EIW), which is targeted at helping Pan-Asian on behalf of women and Asian employee
women professionals to succeed in their career networks. Prior to Cisco, Denise held senior
journeys. She is a Co-Author of “Hidden in marketing management positions over 13 years
Plain Sight: Asian American Leaders in Silicon at Sun Microsystems. She continues to mentor
Valley,” the Ascend research report released in professionals at all stages of their careers. Denise
May 2015. Denise is a former Executive of Cisco has a B.A. in Economics from U.C. Berkeley and
Systems. During her 14 years at Cisco, she held a an MBA from Stanford University.

DENNIS N. T. PERKINS While a faculty member at the Yale University
School of Management, Dennis developed a
CEO, The Syncretics Group breakthrough leadership approach based on
Dennis Perkins is Chief Executive Officer of The the study of groups facing The Edge – the outer
Syncretics Group, a firm devoted to effective limits of human endurance. By studying The
leadership in demanding environments – Edge, he believes, “leaders can learn what it
especially those characterized by uncertainty, takes to help their organizations achieve their
ambiguity, and rapid change. He has worked greatest potential. And they can remember
for over 30 years as an Advisor to senior these principles when they are stretched,
leaders in organizations ranging from Fortune stressed, and challenged to the limit.” Dennis
100 corporations to non-profit associations. A has also written extensively on leadership and
graduate of the United States Naval Academy at organizational effectiveness.
Annapolis, Dennis served as a Marine Infantry
Officer in Vietnam. He subsequently received
his MBA from Harvard University, and a Ph.D. in
Psychology at The University of Michigan.

THOMAS PHELPS IV Thomas was previously in PwC’s Security,
Privacy, and Risk national practice where he led
CIO & Chief Corporate Strategist, Laserfiche multimillion dollar engagements at Fortune 500
President, Ascend Los Angeles Metro Chapter companies. He has co-authored books, written
Thomas Phelps IV is the CIO & Chief Corporate numerous white papers and speaks on diversity
Strategist for Laserfiche, the world’s largest and inclusion topics such as personal branding,
privately held enterprise content management negotiation skills, mentoring, strategic thinking,
software company. Along with providing and leadership development. He has instructed
governance for IT, Thomas is an Executive who the ISACA Certified Information Systems Auditor
leads the Marketing and Laserfiche Consulting (CISA) review course for over eight years.
organizations. This includes vertical and inbound
marketing, data analytics, analyst relations,
marketing communications, strategic sales,
presales, and professional services.

KALPANA RAMAKRISHNAN gain efficiency, and align the various people,
process, and technology components with the
Partner, KPMG organization’s strategic drivers. She has spoken
Kalpana has over 20 years of broad base on and written numerous articles including:
advisory experience in aligning information Finance Transformation, Trends in Shared
technology strategy with business strategy, and Services and Offshoring, Effective Governance
has assisted several large clients in the areas over Emerging Organization Models, Cost
of business process re-engineering, sourcing Optimization in Today’s Challenging Economic
advisory, IT strategy, market entry strategy, Times, IT Enabled Transformation and Emerging
security and controls integration for large ERP Global Destinations. She earned her Bachelor
implementations, project management, and of Commerce from Madras University, India
other advisory projects. She has managed and has the following Certifications: ACA, India;
several large transformation projects that ACA, New Zealand; and CISA.
involved organization design, process
improvement, and technology changes to achieve
strategic business objectives. The principal goals
of these projects were to streamline processes,

74

JESSICA ROBINO including retail, distribution, and professional
services and has worked in Dallas, Denver and
Manager, People & Culture, Grant Thornton Kansas City. She is a Board member for the
Kansas City SHRM chapter, a Member of the
Jessica Robino is a People & Culture Manager National SHRM chapter and holds the SPHR
based in the Kansas City office of Grant and SHRM-SCP Certifications. She holds a
Thornton LLP, with more than 15 years of Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Texas
experience in Human Resources and Recruiting. A&M University in College Station, Texas.
She has extensive experience in employee
relations, coaching, recruiting, training,
compensation and benefits administration,
employment law, and performance management.
Jessica has worked in several different industries

MILAN SHAH Administration. Milan continues to actively
develop talent by participating in PwC’s “Earn
Partner, PwC Your Future” program, leading the firm’s efforts
President, Ascend New York Metro Chapter with a middle school in the New York City
area. In 2014, he had the honor of being the
A passion for developing himself and others, commencement speaker at graduation. Outside
Milan Shah is driven to learn in all aspects of life. his client base, Milan brings his boundless energy
A PwC Audit Partner, he is recognized for his and vision to his current position as President of
straightforward, decisive leadership approach the NY Metro Chapter of Ascend.
while he focuses on the hedge fund industry for
many of the firm’s complex, prestigious asset
management clients. From 2004 to 2008, he
took the opportunity to be an adjunct professor
at Fordham University’s College of Business

AMY SHANG Bear Stearns, Bank of America, and MMG
Partners. Amy holds an MBA from Columbia
Former EVP, North America, HSBC Business School and a B.S. from Stanford
Board Member, Ascend University. At HSBC, Amy was an advocate
for enhancing workplace diversity. She was a
Amy Shang was responsible for coordinating member of HSBC US Diversity Council and
regulatory responses, including managing the served as Chairperson to APIC, the employee
implementation of the Dodd-Frank legislation at networking group for Asians and Pacific Islanders
HSBC. Previously, she was a Managing Director at HSBC. Amy is an Ascend Board member.
for the Global Banking and Markets business. She is married and lives in Connecticut with her
Amy brings a unique blend of business and husband and their son.
consulting experience. She has spent over 20
years in the financial services industry, with
significant time spent in front office, support, and
consulting roles. Prior to joining HSBC, she held
positions at Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley,

TAIMUR SHARIH Acknowledged as a strategic, strong, and
experienced business partner, Taimur’s
Director, Executive Staff, Praxair achievements include portfolio optimization
for under-performing assets, turning around
Taimur Sharih was named Director, Executive unprofitable businesses, streamlining operations,
Staff, in 2014 reporting to Chairman and CEO and partnering across functions to deliver
Steve Angel. He leads the global strategic strategic and operating plans. Prior to Praxair,
planning and capital investment processes, and he has worked at EY, ICI Chemicals and PwC.
manages critical matters on behalf of the CEO. Taimur holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from
Prior to this role he was the Vice President of Lafayette College and an MBA from Washington
Finance, Praxair Asia, where he was responsible University in St. Louis. He is also a Certified and
for financial operations including investment Chartered Accountant.
analysis, treasury, tax, financial reporting and
internal controls. Taimur has over 20 years of
management experience globally. He has worked
and lived in the U.S., China, England, and Bahrain.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 75

VIVEK SHARMA

Senior Vice President, Digital Guest Experience, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

As Senior Vice President, Digital Guest revenue across both consumer direct and travel
Experience for Walt Disney Parks and trade channels. Vivek joined Disney after four
Resorts, Vivek Sharma leads a global team to years of product leadership at Yahoo!, with stints
drive physical-digital convergence and grow including GM of Yahoo! Mail & Messenger and
eCommerce for Disney’s theme parks, resorts, VP of product management for Yahoo! Search &
cruise line, vacation club, and guided travel Commerce. Based in Glendale, California, Vivek
businesses. He and his team are responsible graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology,
for building end-to-end digital- plus-physical Delhi and holds an MBA from INSEAD, France.
guest experiences across all lines of business He has served on the Board of Indian American
– theme park attractions & entertainment, Council, is an International Leadership Fellow
food & beverage, resorts & transportation, and with Nippon Foundation, and is a Member of the
merchandise. In addition to growing eCommerce World Digital 50 community.

CAROLYN SLASKI the Global Talent Executive and Chairs the
Americas People Advisory Forum. She formerly
Americas Vice Chair – Talent, EY served as the Northeast Region Assurance
Managing Partner. Carolyn has served on the
Carolyn Slaski is Americas Vice Chair – Talent EY Americas Advisory Council (AAC) for the
at EY. She leads EY’s efforts to deliver Americas. She chaired the AAC Nominating
an exceptional experience to each of the Committee from 2009 to 2011. Carolyn was a
organization’s 62,000 people in the Americas. member of the EY Gender Equity Task Force
Carolyn leverages her understanding of the and a 2009 recipient of the EY Chairman’s Value
issues facing EY’s client-serving and professional Award. She serves as a Trustee for the Liberty
teams across every aspect of its business to Science Center in Jersey City, New Jersey.
develop strategies that support EY’s momentum
in the market, attract top talent, and increase
the engagement and retention of its people.
Carolyn is a member of the EY Americas
Executive Board, the US Executive Board, and

CHRIS SIMMONS

CEO, Moments LLC; Retired Managing Partner and U.S. Board Member, PwC

At PwC, Chris Simmons achieved numerous Currently, as CEO of Moments LLC, he coaches
career distinctions, including: only African- executives on getting promoted; speaks to
American elected to the firm’s Governing Board audiences on leadership, success, sales, and
since the merger creating PwC in 1998; Managing diversity strategies; and coaches leaders and
Partner in charge of the Washington DC/VA/ young executives on overcoming diversity
MD region; Partner-in-Charge, U.S. Corporate challenges. He is also a Board Member of the
Development (mergers & acquisitions); President, Executive Leadership Council, ALPFA, and
PwC Charitable Foundation; and Chief Diversity Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. Chris earned
Officer, reporting to CEO. As diversity leader, his undergraduate and MBA degrees from
Chris highlighted Asian and Asian-American issues Harvard University.
and was an early Ascend supporter.

DIANA CRUZ SOLASH

Director, Global and Americas Diversity & Inclusiveness, EY

Diana Cruz Solash is a Director on the EY Global Outside of EY, Diana serves as a Board Member
and Americas Diversity & Inclusiveness Team, and past President of the Metro NY Chapter
working across the organization so that EY values of Ascend, a member of the Committee for
are reflected across the organization. She helps Economic Development’s Women’s Economic
member firms leverage the diversity that each Contribution Subcommittee, and as a Member of
person brings to the table – e.g., generations, the New York Women’s Foundation Corporate
cultural background, ethnicity, gender, sexual Leadership Committee. Diana graduated Cum
orientation, abilities, experiences, and education. Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a
B.A. in Economics and Psychology.

76

NATHAN TAN

Associate Director, Brand Partnerships and Experiences, Global Cadillac

Nathan Tan is Associate Director, Brand He also founded “Forgetful Gentleman,” an
Partnerships and Experiences at Global award winning luxury lifestyle brand, authored
Cadillac. He is responsible for driving the vision “The Forgetful Gentleman: 30 Ways to Turn
and strategy for all experiential marketing, Good Intentions into Action,” published by
sponsorship, and partnership activities for Chronicle Books, and has been profiled by The
Cadillac, as well as branded entertainment, New York Times among others. Nathan holds an
brand experience centers, and branded MBA from the Darden School at the University
merchandise. Prior to joining Cadillac, Nathan of Virginia and a Bachelor’s degree in Business/
was at Mercedes-Benz where he led brand Economics from Wheaton College (Illinois).
strategy and advertising production for the
U.S. market.

MARIE TEREZAKIS

Human Resources Executive, Global Human Resources, Bank of America

Marie Terezakis is the HR Executive for Legal, She returned to the firm as the HR Executive
Compliance, and Regulatory Relations. She for the Chief Operating Officer of Merrill Lynch
is responsible for supporting over 4,000 Wealth Management in November 2009. Prior
professionals globally for the strategic planning to joining Bank of America, Marie worked at
and tactical execution of all HR related Accenture as a Management Consultant in
initiatives. Marie joined Bank of America in the Financial Services Human Performance
September 2005 as a Leadership Development Practice driving large-scale change and delivering
Consultant for the Global Markets group within strategically aligned talent and organizational
Bank of America Securities. She later served as development initiatives. Marie earned a B.S.
the US Trust Leadership Development Executive degree in both Finance and Marketing from
post transition. In April 2008, Marie left the firm Boston College. She is married with two children
to pursue an opportunity with MetLife to run and lives in Northern Westchester.
Enterprise Talent.

JIM TIETJEN

Executive Vice President and Chief Auditor, Capital One

Jim Tietjen has over 30 years of banking Prior to joining Capital One, Jim served as
experience and a successful record of integrating Principal at Deloitte & Touche. He received his
the discipline and practice of audit and risk B.A. and MBA at The University of Toledo. Jim
management into the corporate leadership attended the Wharton Executive Education
agenda and organizational culture. As Chief Program and holds professional designations as
Auditor at Capital One, he is responsible for a CBA, CISA, and CIA. He is a Member of the
establishing and developing Capital One’s Bank Administration Institute, ISACA, and the
audit and security strategies and ensuring that IIA, and serves as a Board Member of the Heart
the company maintains a sound control and of America Foundation.
compliance environment.

AMY TSANG Amy recently finished an international
assignment at PwC - Japan. She was brought
Tax Director, PwC in to develop the Personal Financial Services
department, providing cross border estate/
Amy Tsang is a Tax Director at PwC’s Private inheritance and gift tax solutions to U.S.
Services Company/Personal Financial Services citizens/residents living abroad. Amy is a CPA
Group in San Francisco. She has more than in California. She holds a B.S. degree from
15 years of public accounting experience, University of California, Los Angeles, and an
specializing in individual income tax for high-net- M.S.T. degree from Golden Gate University.
worth individuals and executives of privately-
owned companies. Her expertise also includes
individual income tax consulting, and estate and
gift tax planning.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 77

CAROLINE TSAY

Vice President and General Manager, Hewlett-Packard Company

Caroline Tsay is Vice President and General Supply Chain and Customer Relationship
Manager of the Online Business at HP Software. Management. She also serves on the Board of
Prior to joining HP in 2013, she was Senior Directors for Rosetta Stone. Caroline has been
Director of Product Management for Yahoo! recognized by The National Diversity Council as
Search & E-Commerce, where she launched a Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology
consumer internet innovations that drove 500 and Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 40 Under
Million daily visits and $3.5 Billion in revenue. 40. She holds a B.S. in Computer Science and
Caroline began her career at IBM Global M.S. in Management Science and Engineering,
Services as a Senior Consultant in both from Stanford University.

MAMMEN G. VERGHIS

Vice President, Multicultural Consumer Marketing, Prudential Financial

Mammen G. Verghis is currently VP, Multicultural product research, marketing, and promotional
Consumer Marketing. He is responsible for initiatives for the U.S. life insurance business.
helping the U.S. businesses drive profitable Mammen has a degree in Economics and a MBA
growth among key multicultural market with a concentration in Economics. He has
segments, including women, Hispanic, Asian and several professional designations and licenses,
African Americans, and LGBT adults. Mammen including CLU, ChFC, CFP, and FINRA Series
works closely with each of the businesses and 7 and 22. A frequent speaker at company and
the corporate areas to execute on strategy, industry events, Mammen has been quoted in
products, marketing communications, and several business and industry publications. He
sponsorship programs. He joined Prudential is also active in various non-profit community
in 2009 as Vice President of Product and organizations and serves on the board of Citizen
Solutions Marketing. In that role, he led all Schools of NJ.

ASHVIN P. VIBHAKAR

Senior Advisor; formerly Managing Director of Asia Pacific Region, CFA Institute

Dr. Ashvin P. Vibhakar, CFA, joined CFA Institute His distinguished career includes numerous
in 2007 as Managing Director, Asia-Pacific academic roles, including Dean of the College
Operations based in Hong Kong. He has been of Business Administration at UALR. Ashvin
in his current role of Senior Advisor of the received his Ph.D. in Finance from the University
Future of Finance initiative since September of Arkansas at Fayetteville, his MBA from
2012. Previously, Ashvin was Director of the Central Missouri State University, and his
Institute for Economic Advancement in the Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from M.S.
College of Business Administration at the University of Baroda, India.
University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR).

SANDEEP VIJ served as the Vice President of Worldwide
Marketing, Services and Support for Xilinx Inc.
Board Director, Coherent from 2007 to 2008 and he served as the Vice
President of World Wide Marketing of Xilinx
Sandeep Vij has been a Director at Coherent Inc. from 2001 to 2007. He was responsible
Inc. since 2004. He served as a Director of for all worldwide marketing activities across
MIPS Technologies Inc. from 2010 to 2013. all divisions, products, end markets, partners,
Sandeep has over 20 years of senior-level channels and geographies of Xilinx Inc. Sandeep
general management and marketing experience has an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from
in the semiconductor business. He served as the Stanford University and a B.S. in Electrical
Chief Executive Officer and President of MIPS Engineering from San Jose State University.
Technologies Inc. from 2010 to 2013. He served
as Vice President and General Manager of the
Broadband and Consumer Division of Cavium
Networks Inc. from 2008 to 2010. Sandeep

78

MICHAEL WHEELER

Director, Global Diversity & Inclusion Strategy & Business Insights, Merck

Called a “Pioneer of Diversity” by Diversity Group. As Program Director for the Conference
Journal, Michael Wheeler has been recognized Board he launched their first Executive Council
internationally for his leadership and roles on Workforce Diversity, their Annual Diversity
throughout his career. For over two decades Conference and Workshops, and their Diversity
Michael has worked extensively with Fortune Research Area of Expertise. He has written and
500 Companies, government and not-for-profits. published extensively on the topic of Diversity,
Prior to his current position at Merck, he was including the first special sections on Diversity for
Chief Diversity Officer at Omnicom Media Harvard Business Review and Business Week.

JANET S. WONG Louisiana Tech Foundation Board. She serves as
Chair of the Louisiana Tech College of Business
Executive Advisor, Ascend Advisory Board. Janet is a past recipient of the
Partner (Retired), KPMG Louisiana Tech College of Business “Alumni of
Janet S. Wong serves as a Non-Executive the Year Award,” Silicon Valley/San Jose Business
Director and the Audit Committee Chair for Times Women of Distinction Award, and the
Enviva Partners (NYSE: EVA). She is a CPA and Ascend Inspirational Leadership Award. She
a retired partner with KPMG where she spent earned a Master of Professional Accountancy
most of her career based in the Silicon Valley and from Louisiana Tech University and a Masters of
San Francisco offices. She serves as an Executive Taxation from Golden Gate University.
Advisor to Ascend and co-developed the
“Executive Insight for Women” (EIW) program.
Janet serves on the Board of Directors for The
Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Montgomery
County American Heart Association and the

S. SHARIQ YOSUFZAI the Chevron-led Supply & Infrastructure Task
Group and as Decision Executive on Downstream
Vice President, Global Diversity, Chevron Corporation Portfolio Projects worldwide. In 2012, “Upwardly
S. Shariq Yosufzai is Vice President, Global Global” named him the 2012 Outstanding
Offices of Diversity and Ombuds, Chevron Corporate Leader for his contributions to
Corporation. In his role, he is responsible for Diversity and Economic Development in
Chevron’s worldwide Diversity & Inclusion and California. He currently serves as immediate Past
Ombuds functions. He also provides oversight Chair of the Board of Directors of the California
for Chevron’s worldwide University Partnerships Chamber of Commerce and is an Executive
and Strategic relationships with professional Committee Member of the San Francisco Opera’s
societies and institutes. Prior to assuming this role Board of Directors.
in January 2013, Shariq served as Vice President,
Chevron Corporation, supporting Chevron’s
CEO & Chairman on the National Petroleum
Council (NPC) “Future Fuels” Study as Chair of

ALICE YOUNG

Board Director, AXIS Capital Holdings, Ltd. (NYSE – “AXS”)
Board Director, Mizuho Trust & Banking (USA), Inc.
Founder, Alice Young Advisory

Alice Young advises on Asia business strategies of 100, Women Corporate Directors and New
and potential business partners and resources. York Women’s Forum. Her numerous awards
She retired as Chair of the Asia Pacific Practice include Chambers Outstanding Achievement
at Kaye Scholer LLP after 40 years of active Award, Boy Scouts of America (NY Councils)
law practice. Alice worked in Hong Kong in the “Distinguished Woman of the Year” Award,
pioneering early 1970s, did her first China deal in Asian American Legal Defense and Educational
1979, and in 1981 was the first woman, minority Fund “Justice in Action” Award, Yale Asian
and the youngest partner to head a New York American Alumni Leadership Award, and
branch law office. In addition to her advisory Ascend’s Inspirational Leadership Award. Alice
work and directorships, she is a Lifetime Trustee was in the first class of women graduates of Yale
of the Aspen Institute and a Member of the College and was one of the first Asian American
Council on Foreign Relations, the Committee women to graduate from Harvard Law School.

2015 ASCEND NATIONAL CONVENTION 79

Diversity of People. SHAPING AN
Diversity of Thought. INVESTMENT
INDUSTRY
At Freddie Mac, our inclusive culture encourages THAT SERVES
and values diversity of thought. THE GREATER
GOOD
Different perspectives make us stronger and drive
our success in making home possible for millions.

Visit us at FreddieMac.com to learn more.

www.cfainstitute.org

Shape_the_Future8.5x5.375.indd 1 7/31/15

Johnson & CONSUMER
Johnson is a proud
sponsor of the MEDICAL DEVICES &
ASCEND National DIAGNOSTICS
Convention
PHARMACEUTICALS

80

DISNEY is proud to support ASCEND
See you at the Disneyland Resort for the

2016 National Convention

Learn more about our community outreach efforts.

publicaffairs.disneyland.com | fa2c0e1b5ooAkS.cCoEmN/DDisnNeyAlaTnIOdRNesAoLrtCCoOmNmVunEiNtyTION 81
©Disney