Diversity
How Gold House Honors Asian American Excellence
LA Rams CMO Kathryn Kai-ling Frederick joined other business leaders at the NASDAQ Marketsite Tuesday morning to ring in the trading day in honor of AAPI month.
The Opening Bell followed a celebration of this year’s A100, honoring 100 Asian Pacific leaders who have most significantly impacted American culture and society in the last year. Gold House, which champions Asian Pacific companies and creators, puts together the list.
Nasdaq chief digital officer Sehr Thadhani and Gold House CEO and co-founder Bing Chen hosted the event.
“We have a critical responsibility and opportunity to support the success of Asian American and Pacific Islander leaders,” said Thadhani, adding, “We all know how much representation matters and, as a first-generation Indian-American who has been a first and an only, I am personally invested in elevating our culture and community today and every day.”
Normalizing AAPI success
Honorees include YouTube CEO Neal Mohan, Academy Award-winning actor Ke Huy Quan and the Rams’ Frederick.
“Culturally, there is so much driving work ethic and it’s incredible to see it happen outside the traditional fields like medicine and business. It’s demonstrative for the next generation,” said Frederick, who was recognized for her innovation in sports marketing that includes an award winning 2022 Draft Film featuring Scott Eastwood, Josh Holloway and Tyrese, along with the first-of-its-kind AR programming.
The ceremony saw the likes of key industry leaders like Omelet CEO Thas Naseemuddeen, Dice CBO Katie Soo and eos CMO Soyoung Kang, who is also among this year’s Brand Genius honorees.
Reflecting on how far the A100 list has come since its inception in 2018, Chen shared: “The biggest question we got asked in the early days was, ‘Are there even 100 top Asians to honor?’ And of course, the answer is always yes. We go through [nominations] ourselves. We go through every nonprofit. There are thousands of people across every corner of the poll… I think what’s changed is mainstream caught up to the things that our community already knew.”
The celebrations continue
This year, the A100 will culminate in the first-ever A100 celebratory weekend. In addition to the Gold Gala on May 6th, Gold House will host exclusive receptions and interactive programming sponsored by brands like BMW of North America, Amazon, Citi and more.
The Gala itself will be followed by a powerful gathering of the most influential Asian Pacific women and non-binary leaders at the first-ever Gold Women Brunch. The brunch will kick off Gold House’s new program to build meaningful connections and sustaining spaces for this singular community.
