Stanford Graduate School of Business.

In 1986, Gerald Tsai, a Chinese American, became the CEO of American Can, and the first CEO of AAPI descent to join the Fortune 500 list. Today, 2.4 % of the Fortune 500 CEOs are AAPI.

While each CEO brings their unique perspective to their roles, two stand out as having their personal stories contribute to their leadership points of view:

Indra Nooyi served as CEO of Pepsico for 12 years, before stepping down in 2018. Later this year she is publishing her memoir, My Life in Full, which starts with her childhood in India and shares her challenges balancing motherhood with work.

Satya Nadella led a transformation at Microsoft, increasing the value of the software behemoth to an all-time high, using a growth-mindset approach. “It’s the language, routines and mindset of my parents back in India and my family in Seattle that helped form me and still guide me today,” explained Nadella in a business case study.

Submitted by Lori Nishiura Mackenzie; Illustration partially based on a photo by Satya Nadella / CC BY-SA 4.0

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About this AAPI Learning Journey Project

This journey of learning and exploration was crowdsourced by members of the Stanford Graduate School of Business community and members of the larger Stanford community. Relying on the wisdom of a diverse set of networks, we have asked for and received multiple contributions that reflect the importance of this topic to our community members. Included in this calendar are links to biographies, opinion pieces, and resources on history, art, poetry, music, and research. This is a product of our active allyship at the GSB. It isn’t perfect, and it is not an answer to the problems of discrimination faced by the AAPI community. It is simply a way to learn about, and celebrate, our complex and multifaceted AAPI community so that together we can craft a more just society.

We have designed this calendar to be self-paced, and to take ~15 minutes each day to acknowledge and engage with the contributions and challenges of the AAPI community. We think you will agree that the totality of these thirty-one activities is awe inspiring and humbling, and only the beginning of our learning. Join us for this journey of learning and cultural humility. It has the potential to open up your heart and mind to a new understanding of what it means to be AAPI in America.

Read more about the process of creating this site in our article “Want to Promote Allyship in Your Company? Crowdsource It” on Inc.com

With gratitude

This resource was produced as a collective effort by the staff of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and invited colleagues from across the campus. Our aim was to share the insights, interests, resources, and history of our colleagues. We are grateful for your contributions to this month of learning.

Melissa Abad
Bonnie Cegielski
Helen Chang
Allison Felt
James Han
James Fong
Judy Heng
Kiefer Hickman
Mike Hochleutner
Joshuamorris Hurwitz
Mason Jiang
Eunice Jung
Kathleen Lehman
Eric Alan Li
Lori Nishiura Mackenzie
Virginia Mak
Stacey Mason
Barbara McCarthy
Marissa Mendoza
Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu
Margaret Neale
Mary Oleksy
Courtney Payne
Matt Perry
Tricia Seibold
Singari Seshadri
Sheila Singh
Elaine Smith
Sarah A. Soule
Alex Storer
Sravya Vishnubhatla
Liz Walker
Yukako Yamazaki
Hannah Yanow
Monica Yoder
GSB Asian Alumni Chapter
Asian American Studies
The Clayman Institute for Gender Research
VMware Women’s Leadership Lab

Illustrations & Web Design

Shawn Dunbar
Steven McEuen
Vi Nguyen
Galina Simchurina
Cristina Strombotne
Justin Willow