Inaugural Ascend Pinnacle Asian Corporate Directors Summit Sets the Stage for the Asian Pacific Heritage Month Celebration

Raj L. Gupta and U.S. Bank recognized with the Ascend Pinnacle/Deloitte Excellence in Leadership Individual and Board Awards, the first national corporate board and individual recognition for diversity and leadership

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Ascend

May 16, 2017, 08:45 ET

NEW YORK, May 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ascend Pinnacle Asian Corporate Directors Summit, the largest, first-of-its-kind gathering of Asian American Corporate Directors in the world, held at Four Seasons Hotel, Palo Alto on 21-23 April, 2017, successfully featured Asian Corporate Board members and corporations for their leadership and commitment, setting the stage for a month long celebration of achievements and contributions of Asians during the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.

The Ascend Pinnacle Summit had over 80 experienced Asian corporate board directors attending and over 40 speakers and non-Asian corporate directors present. The attendees represented Boards with a combined market cap of over a trillion dollars. Deloitte was the Ascend Pinnacle Summit founding sponsoring organization, along with other sponsors.

The Summit featured sessions with diverse corporate board directors and senior executives from some of the largest companies in the world. Highlights included keynote speaker Meg Whitman's, President & CEO, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Chairman of the Board HP Inc., fireside chat and panel discussions about what makes a high performance board, the effects of diversity in the boardrooms, board evaluations, the relationship between boards and investment funds and the role of activist investors. Ascend Pinnacle's first Aspiring Directors Workshop, held in partnership with Stanford Rock Center, was sold out with 18 senior executives attending.

Raj Gupta, Chairman, Delphi; Board Director, Arconic, The Vanguard Group, IRI; Executive Chairman, Avantor Inc. and U.S. Bank received the Ascend Pinnacle/Deloitte Excellence in Leadership Individual and Board Awards, the first national corporate board and individual recognition for diversity and leadership. The awards recognized an individual and a corporation that have shown long-term, sustained commitment to diversity and the Pan-Asian community, exceptional leadership and initiative in promoting Pan-Asian advancement and visibility, and continue to be an inspiration and role model to Pan-Asians and others in business.

Ascend launched Pinnacle three years ago with a primary focus on Asian American directors on US public company and large private company boards.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (APAHM), celebrates the impact, accomplishments, and significance of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The month of May honors the immigration of the first Japanese to the United States in 1843 and commemorates the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad, primarily by Chinese immigrants, in 1869.

About Ascend
Ascend is the largest, non-profit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend, a career lifecycle organization, reaches 60,000+ senior executives, professionals, and MBA/undergraduate students involved in its 50+ chapters in the United States and Canada. Visit http://www.ascendleadership.org for more information.

Contact: Sofia Poyhonen
Tel. 212-248-4888
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SOURCE Ascend