Our day one agenda focuses on self-improvement.

Opening remarks from AIA cofounders Bernice Chao & Jessalin Lam.

Cindy Gallop is half Chinese, grew up in Brunei, and has spent 37 years working in brand building, marketing, and advertising. She’s the founder and CEO of MakeLoveNotPorn, launched at TED 2009 – ‘Pro-sex. Pro-porn. Pro-knowing the difference’. In 2013 she turned MakeLoveNotPorn into the world’s first user-generated, human-curated social sex video-sharing platform socializing and normalizing sex in order to make it easier to talk about, to promote consent, communication, good sexual values, and good sexual behavior. MakeLoveNotPorn’s mission is to end rape culture by spearheading the Social Sex Revolution. Cindy speaks at conferences globally, coaches, and consults, describing her approach as ‘I like to blow shit up. I am the Michael Bay of business.’ Follow her on Twitter @cindygallop.

How to Own Your Own Story - The stories we tell about ourselves can shape our identities, experiences, and set the limit for what we can achieve. Learn how to disrupt your narrative with Nicole Cruz (Life Coach), and moderated by Prachi Priya (Chief Data Officer at Team One and Board Member of Asians In Advertising).

How to improve your brand’s footprint. Learn what it takes to make the brand you work on thrive in today’s market by Rohit Thawani (Creative Director: Digital Experiences at TBWA\Media Arts Lab), Grace Teng (Chief Media Director at Zambezi), Jerry Lee (Co-Founder at Wonsulting), Trisha Sakhuja-Walia (CEO and Co-Founder of Brown Girl Magazine) and moderated by Liz Kim (Art Director at MBooth).

Bring your lunch to our break-out networking session.

Know Your Worth - Learn tips on being financially valued in the workplace. Clara Luo (Group Director at VML&R and a Board member of Asians In Advertising) and Maryan Samson (Senior Researcher on the Consumer Insights Original Studio Films team at Netflix), are here to offer advice for determining your value and asking for what's fair—moderated by Tina Yip (Founder of STRTGST).

Make the Leap Within and Outside the Industry - Starting over in a new industry isn’t easy. Hear from Krystie Yen (Co-founder of Slant’d and Content & Community Lead at Tia), Christine Behrens (Production Associate Director at Publicis Group), Mamthaz Sinha (Director of Program Management at Razorfish, and Raghu Alla (Founder of PopShift Media), on how they successfully made the switch. Moderated by Paul Choi (Chief Product Officer at Tecovas, Board Member at Goods Ventures, Goods & Services, Inc and a Board Member at Asians In Advertising).

Navigating Microaggressions and Gaslighting in Life and in the Workplace - Microaggressions and gaslighting take on infinite forms and can appear anywhere. Learn how to navigate it with Phuong-Thao Nguyen (Relationship Boundary Coach & Founder of the Uncaged Path) and Jennifer Kohl (Executive Director Head of U.S. Media @ VMLY&R). Moderated by Suzie Bao (Group Account Director, Quigley, and a Board Member at Asians In Advertising).

Collective Rest - is a 1-hour guided relaxation practice by Cassandra Lam of The Cosmos that will support you in de-stressing through gentle breathwork, visualization, and meditation. In this virtual healing space, we will lay down, separately but together, for a relaxing journey towards rest, surrounded by our beloved AAPI community. This practice is accessible to folks of all abilities. There is no requirement to speak, and you'll be encouraged to show up with video off. Come as you are. Bring your blankets, pillows, and anything that makes you feel cozy! We'll slow down to care for our mental health.

Our day two agenda focuses on working with others.

Remarks Bernice & Jessalin

Cynthia Choi & Manjusha Kulkarni, Stop AAPI Hate co-founders, have been featured in TIME’s Top 100 Most Influential people of 2020. Stop AAPI Hate is a nonprofit organization that runs the Stop AAPI Hate Reporting Center, which tracks incidents of hate and discrimination against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. The organization was formed in 2020 in response to racist attacks on the Asian community as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Stop AAPI Hate’s approach is to focus on working to end all forms of structural racism leveled at the communities of color to truly be able to effectively address anti-Asian racism.

Gain the Most as a Mentee and as a Mentor - Hear from the Executive Director of Asian American Advertising Federation Genny Hom-Franzen and Melanie Salamat (Founding Video Producer at Balanced). Hosted by Dan Matthews (Managing Partner & Creative Producer at International Secret Agents), on tips and tricks on how to build a mutually beneficial mentor/mentee relationship.

Make your Network Work - Hands-on Workshop to improve Your Career Contacts". Learn tangible skills and resources that you can apply instantly to improve your network, whether that’s having more relevant industry people, applying quality over quantity, and how to find people to add to your network. Speaker Eric Hu (Principal, Group Strategy Lead at Walmart) and moderated by Ariba Jahan (VP, Design & Innovation Strategy at the Ad Council).

Bring your lunch to our break-out networking session.

Learn What it Takes to Be A Boss - Hear from API leaders Josh Paialii (Group Creative Director at The Many), Zeena Koda (Senior Director Global Brand Marketing @The North Face and Co-Founder @ Asian American Collective), and Charles Hsu (Media & Partnerships Lead, Co-Founder of Anti Agency Group), about what makes a good boss, and the types of leadership qualities that will take you from a good to a great boss. Moderated by Senna Bayasgalan (Director of Marketing at Cordia and a Board Member at Asians In Advertising).

How to Create and Facilitate a Useful and Long Term Space Within Your Company - At a time when many companies are introducing or revamping their Employee Resource Groups, particularly for specific racial identities, it’s vital to ensure that these groups are actually resourceful for their members. Hear from Jerry Won (Founder, Host, and Producer, Dear Asian Americans), Van Tran (Principal, Credera and Co-Chair, Omnicom Asian Leaders Circle), and Sean Choi (Senior Strategist at Martin Agency) on how to create an effective and helpful space within your company to support each ERG as well as promote allyship across them. Moderated by Edison Lee, a Board Member at Asians In Advertising.

Learn from these professionals about how they’ve created their own circles on their platforms Eric Tu (Co-CEO / EST Media & OP3N), Joesephine Kim (Art Director at co:collective, and Podcast Host and Co-founder, Asian Glow Up Podcast), Tim Joo (co-founder of Haerfest) and Mara Lecocq (Head of Brand & Creative at Fishbowl) got you! Come with your questions and walk away with a plan! Moderated by Liz Kim (Art Director at M Booth and a Board Member at Asians In Advertising).

Let’s Move the Industry Forward - What does the future of advertising look like as it relates to diversity and representation? Hear from Nikki Lamba (Global Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer at DDB Worldwide), Sandhya Jain-Patel (DEI and Culture Specialist, Founder of SRC Partners), and Pam Yang (Co-Founder of Agency DEI). Moderated by Larry Lac (Creative Agency Partnership Lead at Meta and Board Member at Asians In Advertising).

Closing Remarks - AIA co-founders Bernice Chao and Jessalin Lam.