Ascend Reinforces Its Lifecycle Mission Through Groundbreaking Initiatives in the Board and Executive Space: Ascend Pinnacle and Corporate Executive Initiative

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ascend, with Deloitte, is hosting the largest, first-of-its-kind gathering of Asian American Corporate Directors in the world, the Ascend Pinnacle Corporate Directors Summit at Four Seasons Hotel, Palo Alto from 21-23 April, 2017. Deloitte is the Summit founding sponsoring organization, and alliance sponsors include National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD), Nasdaq, and Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance. Meg Whitman, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the Chair of HP Inc., will deliver the keynote and the speaker lineup includes senior executives and corporate directors from Deloitte, J.P. Morgan, Nasdaq, HP, Tesla, Kaiser Permanente, Dunkin' Brands, McDonald's, Wells Fargo, Costco, Campbell Soup Company, Freddie Mac, Levi Strauss & Co, U.S. Bank, ConAgra Brands, E*TRADE, Mutual of Omaha and The Vanguard Group. The by-invitation attendees include public company Asian corporate directors from across the country and senior corporate executives.

Ascend is the only non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization focused on the advancement and contributions of business professionals in North America. Ascend launched Pinnacle three years ago with a primary focus on Asian American directors on US public company and large private company boards. Currently, Asians occupy only 3.1% of the 5,440 Fortune 500 board director seats. Nearly 80% of the Fortune 500 corporations have no Asian Americans on their boards. Pinnacle, along with other initiatives and programs in Ascend's portfolio of world-class leadership offerings draw upon the dedication, leadership and commitment from Ascend volunteer executive leaders and advisors and members with an eye on developing, engaging, and mentoring Asian professional talent and executive pipeline. To further this objective, Ascend Pinnacle is hosting an Aspiring Directors Workshop on 21st April in partnership with Stanford Rock Center for Corporate Governance.

"Ascend continues to focus on advancing the impact and contributions of the Pan-Asian community. In spite of high academic achievements and early career opportunities, there continues to be greater opportunities for Asians to contribute to corporate executive ranks and corporate boardrooms. Pinnacle is an important part of achieving Ascend's vision. Ascend is enabling the business impact of our most senior members while at the same time building the pipeline of the next generation of corporate directors by helping nurture, develop and educate those looking for future board opportunities," said Anna Mok, Co-Founder, Ascend Pinnacle; Executive Vice President, Ascend and Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP.

"We started Ascend Pinnacle with a simple goal: increase the number of Asian Americans on public company Boards. Ascend is delighted that in three short years, we now have over 150 experienced public company directors in our network. Leadership starts at the top, and there is a vast body of evidence that corporations with Boards of diverse demographic and experiential backgrounds deliver better results," said S. K. Gupta, Managing Director and Co-Founder, Ascend Pinnacle.

In addition to Pinnacle, Ascend continues to further expand and commit to executive offerings such as the Ascend Corporate Executive Initiative (CEI), which enlists and engages Pan-Asian executives from Fortune 1000 companies to advocate for the professional development of Pan-Asian business leaders. Ascend CEI members have achieved positions of leadership in large global corporations and are committed to the development of senior talent within the Pan-Asian corporate community. Both Pinnacle and CEI are part of Ascend's unique leadership and professional development programs for all stages of our members' professional life – from student to executive.

About Ascend

Ascend is the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend's reach includes 60,000+ senior executives, professionals, and MBA/undergraduate students involved in its 50+ chapters in the United States and Canada. As a career lifecycle organization, it offers robust leadership and professional development programs designed to cultivate Pan-Asian talent by supporting its members in reaching their career potential and by supporting its corporate partners to develop a strong, diverse, and inclusive workforce to achieve business growth. Visit http://www.ascendleadership.org for more information.

Contact: Sofia Poyhonen  
Tel. 212-248-4888, ext. 111
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Ascend