Ascend A-List Awards

2025 A-List Awards

April 29, 2025
The Plaza | New York City

The A-List Awards is our annual gala that recognizes highly accomplished and impactful Pan-Asian business leaders representing a wide spectrum of industries. We celebrate leaders for their professional achievements and advancement of others in their industries or for igniting change in the workplace and society.

Nominations

Ascend seeks to recognize leaders who have demonstrated Professional Achievement & Community Advancement and meet several of the following criteria:

Made a significant impact to his/her industry and demonstrated a record of service to the Pan-Asian community
Demonstrated commitment to the development and advancement of Pan-Asians in the workplace
A senior level Pan-Asian executive who is the CEO or within three levels from the Enterprise-wide CEO of a Fortune 1000/Global 500 corporation or equivalent
A Pan-Asian executive currently serving on the Board of Directors of a Fortune 1000/Global 500 corporation or equivalent
Is a notable Pan-Asian who is either an entrepreneur; a partner at a top-tier professional services firm; a thought leader; an academic leader; an innovator; an investor or a philanthropist

Nominate Now

Highlights

2024 A-List Honorees

Abeer Bhatia

Head of Enterprise Payments & Personal Lending
Wells Fargo
Tapaswee Chandele

SVP, Global Talent, Development & HR System Partnerships
The Coca-Cola Company
Jim Fitterling

Chair & CEO
Dow
Dipti Gulati

CEO, US Audit & Assurance
Deloitte & Touche LLP
Shiv Iyer

Midwest Market Unit Lead
Accenture
Mike Joo

Head of Global Corporate & Investment Banking (GCIB), North America | GCIB Chief Operating Officer
Bank of America
Gunjan Kedia

Vice Chair, Wealth, Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking
U.S. Bank
Swamy Kocherlakota

EVP & Chief Digital Solutions Officer
S&P Global
Priya Krishnan

Chief Digital & Transformation Officer
Bright Horizons
Shin-Wen Kuo

SVP, AI Strategy, M&A Integration
Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Edward Lee

Partner
Kirkland & Ellis
Hee Lee

Financial Services Assurance Cross Service Line Teaming Leader
EY US
Janet Liang

Group President & COO, Care Delivery
Kaiser Permanente
Ida Liu

Global Head
Citi Private Bank
Ketan Majmudar

SVP, Global Service Delivery & Chief Transformation Officer
Synchrony
Joe Marchese

Partner
Human Ventures
Vipin Mayar

EVP, Head of AI Innovation
Fidelity Investments
Susie Nam

CEO, Publicis Creative U.S.
Publicis
Anil Nanduru

Global Business Leader, High Tech & Manufacturing and Consumer & Healthcare
Genpact
Marissa Pagnani McGowan

Chief Sustainability Officer, North America
L’Oréal Groupe
Lopa Patel Zielinski

MD, Corporate Secretary, Americas & General Counsel, Corporate Governance
HSBC USA
Rajat Puri

COO, Carelon | President, Carelon Global Solutions
Elevance Health
Akila Raman

Chief Commercial & Strategy Officer, Transaction Banking
Goldman Sachs
Aradhana Sarin

Executive Director & Global CFO
AstraZeneca
Zeeshan Sheikh

SVP, Chief Information & Digital Officer
PSEG
Shamina Singh

Founder & President, Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth | EVP, Sustainability
Mastercard
Rita Thakkar

SVP, Global Business Operations & Capabilities
Bristol Myers Squibb
Dylan Tyson

President, Retirement Strategies
Prudential
Jing Wang

Principal, Head of Center for Analytics & Insights
The Vanguard Group
Eddie Wen

Global Head of Digital Markets
J.P. Morgan
Valerie Wong Fountain

Managing Director, Head of Family Office Resources Platform & Partner Management
Morgan Stanley
Hannah Yang

Chief Growth & Customer Officer
The New York Times
Dr. Chen Yu

Founder & Managing Partner
TCGX

Past Honorees

The past honorees list is a prestigious recognition given to individuals who have achieved significant accomplishments in their respective fields. This list celebrates the achievements of inspiring individuals who have made a positive impact on society through their work. Each year, new honorees are added to this list, highlighting the diversity and excellence of the human spirit.

Past Honorees List

Benefit Committee

A distinguished group of API community leaders, tasked with nominating deserving candidates for the upcoming award ceremony.

Benefit Committee List

"Organizations like Ascend are extremely important to create the platform, connectivity and allyship that is needed for Asian professionals to rise beyond great people to great management executives in the industry."

Raj Sharma
Americas Consulting Vice Chair, EY
"I grew up in a small town in Indiana and never in a million years would I have thought that I would come to an event like tonight where I see so many successful confident Asians being able to stand up and be recognized."

Nancy Quan
Senior Vice President & Chief Technical and Innovation Officer, The Coca-Cola Company
"Ascend is the largest non-profit serving Asian Americans in the country and you could see that, not just in the diversity of voices in the room but in the palpable energy and the joy. We really need an umbrella organization when the full diversity of the Asian American community can find its voice and we can come together on occasions like these."

Kenji Yoshino
Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law, NYU School of Law
"Ascend really empowers and enables Pan-Asian leadership to come together to learn and to really feel supported in a like-minded community. When I speak to team members, people I mentor, and early career professionals, they say what they need and what inspires them is to see representation in the executive ranks of the company."

Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh
Head of Global Customer Experience, Asana

FAQ

The Awards Gala will take place on April 29, 2025 at The Plaza Hotel in New York City.
The A-List Awards, builds on Ascend’s recognition of Pan-Asian business leadership. The Ascend A-List Awards give visibility to the contributions of accomplished and impactful business leaders, elevating their profiles within their companies, their industries and their communities while spotlighting the business case for the continuous pipeline of Pan-Asian talent across North America. Proceeds from the event benefit Ascend Foundation's programs and initiatives.
Ascend seeks to recognize leaders who have demonstrated Professional Achievement & Community Advancement and meet several of the following criteria:
• Pan-Asian leader who has contributed significant impact to his/her industry
• Leader with record of service to the Pan-Asian community
• Leader with demonstrated commitment to the development and advancement of Pan-Asians in the workplace
• Senior level Pan-Asian executive who is the CEO or within three levels from the Enterprise-wide CEO of a Fortune 1000/Global 500 corporation or equivalent
• Pan-Asian executive currently serving on the Board of Directors of a Fortune 1000/Global 500 corporation or equivalent
• Notable Pan-Asian who is either an entrepreneur; a partner at a top-tier professional services firm; a thought leader; an academic leader; an innovator; an investor or a philanthropist
Aligned with Ascend's mission of professional and leadership advancement, the award recipients are selected for their contributions for the advancement of others in their industries or communities as well as their professional achievements or philanthropic endeavors.
To learn more about the Ascend A-List Awards and for sponsorship opportunities, please email molly.engen@ascendleadership.org.

Ascend Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Pan-Asian organization that is related to Ascend Inc., the premier professional organization dedicated to enabling its members, corporate partners and the professional Pan-Asian community to leverage the leadership and global business potential of Pan-Asian professionals worldwide. The Foundation: supports initiatives, campaigns, and scholarships to support the Pan-Asian community; and conducts research and provides thought leadership to enable Pan-Asians to become better leaders, innovators, role models and catalysts for work place and societal change.
Ascend adopted a 5-Point Action Agenda to: Promote Inclusion, Raise Awareness, Denounce Bias, Support Communities and Give Donations. To accelerate the tenets of the agenda, the Foundation’s Impact Fund has funded advocacy, allyship, education and mobilization campaigns, programs and initiatives.
Guests are encouraged to dress in Black Tie or Asian Festive.
JFK | LGA | EWR | HPN
Delta Air Lines is pleased to offer special discounts for Ascend.
Please click here to book your flights.

Eligible Dates: 4/24/2025 - 5/552025
Eligible Airports: JFK, LGA, EWR, HPN

You may also call Conferences and Events® at 1.800.328.1111* Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 6:30 p.m. (EST) and refer to Meeting Event Code NM4B2.
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Information coming soon.
The safety of our guests is paramount to Ascend. Masks are optional, but please note that there will be over 400 guests at the event. Ascend will monitor the evolving nature of COVID and adjust the guidance accordingly.