Free Virtual Event

Watch the program here.  (Estimated duration: 2 hours)

Asian Americans, Fastest Growing Minority in U.S. Becomes More Visible…(and a More Visible Target, Too)

On May 27, the Museum of Public Relations held its first-ever “Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month” program to explore the many issues impacting the fastest growing population in the U.S. today: the changing Asian American and Pacific Islander (APIs) demographic. During this discussion, we  explored identity; stereotypes; intersectionality; the Asian Model Minority Myth; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI); and changing API demographics in the U.S. Senior and younger API professionals—representing public relations, advertising, media, journalism and entertainment—shared their personal stories and discussed why DEI is critical for organizations who want to survive and thrive beyond the COVID-19 crisis.

Event Organizers

• Angela Chitkara, World in 2020, researcher and consultant

• Shelley Spector, Founder, Museum of Public Relations; president, Spector & Associates

• Patrice Tanaka, Founder, Joyful Planet LLC; co-founder, Padilla, CRT/tanaka, and PT&Co.

Keynote

• May Lee, Host and Executive Producer, “The May Lee Show” at Lotus Media House and NextShark

Topics

• Changing Asian-American identity (historical perspective, composition of AA ethnicities, changing migration patterns)

• Stereotypes (past and present, including the Covid-19 crisis)

• Identity (Pan-Asian, global identity, intersectionality, changing demographics)

Panel 1

Moderator: Angela Chitkara, World in 2020, researcher and consultant

Panelists

• Curtis Chin, Senior Fellow, Asia, Milken Institute; former Managing Director, Burson-Marsteller

• Fred Katayama, Content Producer and Anchor with Reuter News

• Soon Mee Kim, EVP, Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Leader, Porter Novelli

• Pallavi Damani Kumar, Assistant Professor, School of Communications, Director for Public Communications Division, American University

• John Onoda, Senior Advisor, Gagen MacDonald

• Patrice Tanaka, Founder, Joyful Planet LLC; co-founder, Padilla, CRT/tanaka, and PT&Co.

Panel 2

Moderator: Bill Imada, CEO, Chairman and Chief Connectivity Officer, IW Group

Panelists

• Valerie Lopez, Vice President, Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Cision

• Elliot Lum, Senior Vice President, Talent Strategy and Program Development, Association of National Advertisers

• Doua Moua, Actor in Disney’s Mulan, Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino, etc.

• Ted Nguyen, Department Manager, Public Communications & Media Relations at Orange County Transportation Authority

• Palak Patel, Founder & President, Asian Public Relations Students Association, University of Florida

• Azka Pirzada, Associate Media Planner, MediaCom (WPP)

Wrap-up: Kipp Jarecke-Cheng, Chief Communications Officer, Publicis Health

Thanks to our sponsors

Asian Pacific American Heritage Month 2020” is sponsored in part by Bill Imada; Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication Department of Advertising and Public Relations at University of Georgia; Commpro.biz; Joyful Planet; World in 2020; Renee Edelman, Brown Leaf Promotions; Black Public Relations Society–New York; and Hispanic Public Relations Association (HPRA).

The Museum relies entirely on the generosity of your sponsorship to produce events like this. We hope you will consider supporting this and future Museum events.