The months-long and first-ever virtual celebration of the founding of the US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation (USPAACC) culminated with the 35th Anniversary Jade Jubilee Tribute Dinner, held on December 8, 2020.
The marquee event was part of CelebrASIAN Business + Procurement Conference, which launched virtually in July this year. CelebrASIAN is the country’s largest and most established B2B event convened by Pan Asian Americans to connect with small, medium and large enterprises.
Wells Fargo CEO Charles Scharf, Former PepsiCo Chairman & CEO and current Amazon Board Member Indra Nooyi, and Vice President of Amazon AI, Amazon Web Services Swami Sivasubramanian were among the esteemed corporate guests who gave remarks.
“For more than three decades, USPAACC has been instrumental in fostering economic growth and opening doors to Pan Asian American business owners,” said Scharf. He added that USPAACC’s work has “educated a generation of Pan Asian Americans” and traced Wells Fargo’s longstanding involvement with USPAACC and the Pan Asian American community.
“I honestly believe that USPAACC is an amazing organization,” said Nooyi, who has served as CelebrASIAN Conference Chair a record four times. “You have provided an environment for Pan Asian American businesses to exchange ideas, share best practices” and have “brought supplier diversity to the forefront of national discussion.”
Sivasubramanian acknowledged the community’s resilience in these challenging times and thanked USPAACC for “raising the bar and supporting Pan Asian American businesses.”
“Thank you to the steadfast support of our friends in Corporate America, government agencies, national nonprofits, and the small and diverse business communities who have been with us through our arduous journey,” said USPAACC National President & CEO Susan Au Allen, who gave the welcome and closing remarks. “The metaphorical acorn we planted in 1984 has now grown into a sturdy oak tree.”
The milestone event also paid tribute to select “Stars” from Corporate America, government agencies, and the Asian American business community who have helped USPAACC achieve its mission of providing procurement opportunities for its members, and for creating a unified and amplified voice for inclusion, equality, and economic growth on behalf of the Pan Asian American business community.
The 35 Corporation Stars honored were: AARP; Aflac; AT&T; Avis; Bank of America; Caesars Entertainment; Charter Communications; Denny’s; The Hartford Group; Hilton; International Paper; JP Morgan Chase & Co.; Kaiser Permanente; Kellogg’s; Major League Baseball (MLB); MGM Resorts International; Morgan Stanley; Nationwide; Nissan; PepsiCo; Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA); PNC; Southern California Edison; State Farm; T-Mobile; Target; TIAA; Trane Technologies; SunTrust; United; UPS; USBank; The Walt Disney Company; Wells Fargo; and Wyndham Destinations.
The Federal Small Business Program Stars honored were: Darlene Bullock, Executive Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization (OSDBU), U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Donna Ragucci, Senior Executive Service, OSDBU, U.S. Department of Treasury; Marleitha Williams, Supplier Diversity Program Manager, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Jean Lin Pao, Director, OSDBU, Department of Housing & Urban Development; Charlie Smith, Director, OSDBU, U.S. Department of Energy; Velda Fludd, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; Michelle Warren, Deputy Director, OSDBU, U.S. Department of Agriculture; and Rupert Warner, Supply Management Supplier Diversity, U.S. Postal Service.
The Pan Asian American Business Stars honored were: Ampcus; MSL Express Inc.; TIG; RCI Technologies Inc.; Sugar Bowl Bakery; Qnexis; and Softpath.
Winners of the Fast 100 Asian American Businesses – with combined revenue of $3 billion and with companies recording up to 431% growth – together with the winners of the 7th Annual What’s Your Pitch Innovation Competition, and the 31st Annual College Scholarship Awards were also presented during the dinner.
The Conference Title Chair was Amazon and Chair for Financial Industry was Wells Fargo. Platinum Sponsors were Bank of America, Facebook, JPMorgan Chase, and T-Mobile.
Earlier in the day, the virtual Chief Technology/Information Officers Forum and Business Leadership & College Scholarship Brunch were held via Zoom.
For more information about CelebrASIAN and to watch the recorded events, click here.
ABOUT USPAACC: Founded in 1984, USPAACC promotes, nurtures and propels economic growth by opening doors to procurement, educational and professional opportunities for Pan Asian Americans and their business partners in corporate America, the federal, state and local governments, and the small and minority business communities in the United States, Asia-Pacific, and the Indian Subcontinent regions. National office in the Nation’s Capital | Regional Chapters: CA, TX, GA, NY, IL, DC-MD-VA.
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USPAACC CEO Susan Au Allen had meetings with the offices of House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Kay Granger (R-TX), Representative Lou Correa (D-CA), and Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) this week to discuss the importance and impact of the Community Navigator Pilot Program (CNPP).
