Ascend is the largest, nonprofit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend’s network includes over 60,000 senior executives, professionals, and students across our 18 professional chapters and 40+ student chapters in major business hubs and educational institutions in the United States and Canada.
Among her various contributions, Jeanie is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, bestselling author, and an accomplished international speaker.
She founded the national Cultural Confidence program, which provides psycho-education in all sectors from corporations to schools. Additionally, Jeanie is a CMHIMP, CCTP, and MBSR, certified and specializing in caring for grief and trauma.
fFor her self-care, Jeanie watches K-dramas and kayaks with her husband of 12 years, as well as spending time with her four kids, ages 14-21.
Taka is the first Chief Data Scientist appointed by the Comptroller General of the United States for the Government Accountability Office. He also leads GAO’s newly established Innovation Lab in driving problem-centric experiments across audit and operational teams through novel use of advanced analytics and emerging technologies. As a member of the Senior Executive Service, Taka is also responsible for working with GAO stakeholders to adopt prospective views on oversight impacts of emerging capabilities such as AI, cloud services, blockchains, RPA, 5G, and IoT.
Taka is natively fluent in both Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. In his spare time, he is also a serious classical chamber musician and a competitive tennis player.
Peggy Tsai spent her career in increasing responsibilities centered around data governance programs in the financial services industry. She recently pivoted to working in a startup company and building her brand as a data influencer with her own podcast, speaking engagements and serving as an adjunct faculty at Carnegie Mellon University. Peggy learned to harness social media to build her network and develop her brand identity. She can share her experience in changing careers to follow your passion.
Chef Ashish Alfred has created award-winning restaurants in the Baltimore and DC-metro area. Grounded by his classical French discipline and inspired by seasonal, fine ingredients, Chef Alfred delivers contemporary dining concepts rooted in soulful cooking.
Earning acclaim from Duck Duck Goose Baltimore and Duck Duck Goose Bethesda, Chef Alfred was named Maryland Chef of the Year 2019 by the Maryland Restaurant Association. The prestigious award recognizes overall excellence in the foodservice industry and dedication to the community.
Baltimore Business Journal recognized Chef Alfred as a 40 Under 40 recipient in 2020 as a product of his personal success, business growth and philanthropic efforts that better the community. He is one of the faces of the Visit Baltimore 2020 rebrand, where he is celebrated for representing Baltimore’s unapologetic pride and diversity.
Chef Alfred is opening two new restaurants in Fall 2021 - Duck Duck Goose DC, located in Dupont Circle, and No Way Rosé, located in Baltimore.
Senior Vice President, Multicultural Affairs, Social Impact and Business Councils
Marriott International, Inc.
As Senior Vice President for Multicultural Affairs, Social Impact and Business Councils for Marriott International, Apoorva Gandhi is responsible for creating and executing an externally-focused global strategy that builds reputation, preference and loyalty from diverse customer segments and communities for the Marriott portfolio of brands. He helps ensure the company’s communications, marketing, sales, and operations consider and reflect diversity, equity and inclusion as Marriott continues its aggressive growth throughout the world. In addition, Mr. Gandhi supports and leads Marriott's 106 Worldwide Business Councils focused on delivering our four pillars of Culture, Government Affairs, Market Driven Initiatives and Social Impact. Mr. Gandhi also has assumed responsibility for Marriott’s Social Impact program, ‘Serve360’, which works to help Marriott International be a force for good.
Mr. Gandhi is an honors graduate of the University of Maryland, School of Business and Management. He is a member of the J.W. Marriott, Jr., Diversity Award committee, Delta Sigma Pi Business Fraternity and Omicron Delta Kappa Leadership Society. Apoorva lives in Bethesda, Md. with his wife and three children. In his free time, he enjoys travel, playing ice hockey and listening to music (loudly).
With over 20 years of experience in the professional services industry, as Greater Washington DC’s Tax Operations Coordinator, Shareem drives organizational success by managing daily operations and special projects for our Corporate Tax Services and Private Client Tax Services groups.
Additionally, Shareem serves as BDO’s Multicultural Alliance National Coordinator, supporting corporate professionals who are racially and ethnically diverse to reach their full potential through networking, mentoring, and professional development. Within this role, Shareem fosters relationships with members of the National Association of Black Accountants, Association of Latino Professionals for America, and Ascend and represents the Firm in national, regional, and local job fairs and events.
Outside of her roles at BDO, Shareem is part of various community organizations, including a position on the Board of Directors of Arts on the Block.
Chris is an executive coach and retired EY partner/principal. She was a tax partner in the Washington, DC office, and in her last roles at EY, she was the Talent (HR) Leader for the Americas Tax Practice and for the Americas Core Business Services (Infrastructure) Groups. In those roles, she sponsored leadership development programs for senior members of the tax and CBS teams. She is passionate about helping professionals develop their talents and has been coaching executives through most of her career. She lives and works in the greater Washington, DC area.
Zoomie has over a decade of experience leading large-scale business transformations that have propelled her clients forward. She brings her expertise in business process engineering, supply chain management, technology, and operations strategy to solve complex challenges critical to enterprises’ operational success. She is a collaborative leader, focused on growth and innovation, who constantly challenges one to venture out of their comfort zone.
As VP of Programs for Ascend GW Chapter, she is passionate about helping develop and launch I&D programs across the Washington DC area. In this role, she works with ERG groups in fostering career advancement of Pan Asian professionals across various industry verticals.
During her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her husband and sons trying new dishes, visiting different beaches, and dominating the latest Call of Duty, Minecraft or Anime video games. These experiences have shaped the person she is today and has allowed her to grow into a versatile and multi-dimensional leader.
Director, New Product Innovation – Global Innovation & Insights
Global Risk Solutions, Liberty Mutual Insurance
Paul Bi is a product director, innovation strategist and diversity, equity & inclusion (DE&I) champion actively serving as a disruption agent for change. A highly motivated, DE&I driven influencer, Paul seeks to create impactful cultural change by ardently challenging the status quo. As the Director of New Product Innovation for Liberty Mutual’s Global Innovation & Insights group, Paul leads global commercial new product & service innovation strategy focusing on emerging and disruptive trends. Paul also served as the National Co-Chair for Liberty’s Pan-Asian ERG – LEAAP@Liberty (Leading & Empowering Asian and Ally Professionals employee resource group) leading an organization of 1,000+ members with over a dozen chapters across the country including Boston, Seattle, Plano (TX), Portland, Chicago and NYC. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual, Paul started his career in an entirely different industry spending time at CBS Radio and interning at Radio Disney. He is a Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), holds a B.S in Business Administration from Bryant University and an M.B.A from Boston College. In his spare time, Paul is a community activist supporting causes surrounding race and equality sitting on the Board of Directors for the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center and supporting the Ascend organization. He’s an avid traveler, huge Boston sports fans, enjoys taking walks with his wife and dog Tofu and is always working on tackling the never-ending home project list.
Annie Le is the managing partner at home.stead bakery and cafe. Prior to that, she worked at Build.org as the Boston Entrepreneurship Program Manager and in Boston Public Schools for 10 years as a teacher and family outreach coordinator. She currently serves as the President of the Networking Organization of Vietnamese-Americans and Board president of Boston Little Saigon, the organization managing the Boston Little Saigon Cultural District. She has been involved with the Vietnamese community since her days at Boston College and has been instrumental in planning the hallmark Tet in Boston celebration in various capacities, including as the Tet in Boston Co-Chair. She is passionate in preserving and promoting the Vietnamese culture, helping people navigate the City, and working with youth to help them learn and grow.
Based in the Boston office, Junaid is a Managing Director in EY’s Consulting practice focusing on leading, coaching and developing multi-disciplinary teams, developing and maintaining client relationships, driving new business and sustaining growth, and various aspects of managing business operations. His technical skillset focuses on IT Risk Management, Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), Cybersecurity risk management, Business Process Intelligence, IT Audit , System pre and post implementation reviews, Vendor Risk Management and Intelligent Automation. He brings 25 years of experience serving multinational companies in the consumer products and retail, technology, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, and a variety of other industries. His knowledge and experience within various industries allows him to effectively lead multinational engagement teams in addressing issues of varying complexity and translating these into business opportunities and risks.
Junaid currently serves as the Advanced Manufacturing and Mobility sector leader as well as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness Leader for New England. In his DE&I role he coordinates efforts across our professional networks, is the executive sponsor of our Pan Asian Professional Network, architected and leads our local anti-racism action plan, and also lead a team that launched our Boston Neurodiversity Center of Excellence (NCoE). Junaid currently serves on the board of advisors of Ascend New England, an organization focused on the development and career success of Pan Asian professionals.
Katherine Thompson is a manager in the Operational and Organizational Transformation practice at Grant Thornton Public Sector LLC. She has 20 years of experience delivering organizational change management, strategic communications, and culture transformation services. She co-leads the Public Sector Diversity, Equity and Inclusion solution team and leads the practice’s Business Change Enablement Facilitation solution team. She contributes online content to Fortune Magazine on leadership, employee engagement, diversity and business transformation.
Ivana Lee is a manager in the Operational and Organizational Transformation practice at Grant Thornton Public Sector LLC. She has over 10 years of experience delivering organizational change management, strategic communications, training, and human capital services to federal clients. She is the solution, marketing and research lead for the Public Sector Diversity, Equity and Inclusion solution team and an active contributor to the Project, Program, and Portfolio solution team. Throughout her life, Ivana sought to help others by volunteering for various non-profits and leading volunteer projects in her community. She is the Women’s Initiatives Lead Coordinator for Grant Thornton’s United Committee and is also co-founder of Me and You, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit making a difference in the lives of kids and families in need and those without a home.