During the live online meeting, Ms. Allen discussed her experiences growing up in Hong Kong, moving to the USA, and the founding of USPAACC in 1984. Since that time, the USPAACC has reached over 10,000 Asian Americans – a truly remarkable achievement. Today, the organization covers activities from East to West, North to South and in the Midwest.
Since 1989, USPAACC has hosted the largest gathering of Asian Americans in business. The annual national CelebrAsian Procurement Conference brings thought leadership, results -oriented ideas, real stories of success, lessons learned and best practices directly to the community. In one picture, Ms. Allen is standing next to PepsiCo Chairman & CEO, Indra Nooyi and 50 of the Fastest Growing Asian American Businesses that had combined revenue of $4.2 Billion!
The online meeting concluded with a discussion of the three key challenges for Asian Americans in the United States today. Ms. Allen talked about (1) the lack of resources – including access to capital, talent acquisition and information exchange barriers; (2) the tendency of Asian Americans to shy away from business networking events due to cultural reasons (goes against what was learned as a child); and (3) a different business culture – Asian Americans vs. Other Americans. For example, Asian Americans are perceived to be to be quiet, to seek low profile, and to have resistance to problem sharing. Ms. Allen talked about how culture affects this approach.
Georgette Dixon, Senior Vice President & Director of Strategic Partnerships for Wells Fargo, ended the call with a message of support from the corporate sponsor of the BLS series. Together, Wells Fargo and USPAACC play an active role in support Asian American businesses.
