Secretary Elaine L. Chao
U.S. Secretary of Labor
Friday Lunch Keynote Speaker
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Elaine L. Chao arrived in America as an immigrant from Asia when she was only eight years old, speaking no English. Today, she is the first Asian American woman in U.S. history to be appointed to a President’s Cabinet. Secretary Chao is the longest serving U.S. Secretary of Labor since the Eisenhower Administration. Secretary Chao cares deeply about the Asian Pacific American community and has demonstrated her commitment by launching many programs to help Asian Pacific Americans access opportunity in mainstream America. |
She has held leadership positions in the public, private, and non-profit sectors, including President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of America, and Director of the Peace Corps. She served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission. She has also worked in the private sector as Vice President of Syndications at BankAmerica Capital Markets Group and a banker with Citicorp.
Secretary Chao received her M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School and her undergraduate degree in economics from Mount Holyoke College. She also studied at M.I.T., Dartmouth College, and Columbia University. She is the recipient of 29 honorary doctoral degrees.
Esther Lee
CEO, Euro RSCG North America & President, Global Brands
Friday Breakfast Keynote Speaker sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company
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Esther Lee joined the agency in Summer 2007 as Chief Executive Officer, Euro RSCG North America and President of Global Brands. She oversees the 23 Euro RSCG agencies and 3,000 staff in North America and leads our 42 global clients. Esther came to Euro from Coca-Cola, where she spent five years as SVP, Chief Creative Officer. In that role, she drove the development of several fully integrated global campaigns, most notably the “Coke Side of Life”—the brand’s most acclaimed and successful campaign in years. |
Before joining Coca-Cola, Esther and her creative partner from Deutsch founded DiNoto Lee and grew it into a $114 million agency in just four years. At Deutsch, she was EVP, Director of Client Services, launching two new Deutsch business units in interactive and direct marketing. Earlier in her career Lee held Client Service positions at the New York offices of J. Walter Thompson and DMB&B. She has worked with many of the world’s top marketers, including Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Citibank, CNN, and IKEA.
Ken Lee
Vice President of Security, UPS
Friday NAAAP National Excellence Awards Gala Keynote Speaker
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Ken Lee is Vice President of Security for UPS. He is the first Asian American to attain such a title and is one of the highest ranking Asians at UPS. Ken began his career in 1971 as a part-time loader in San Francisco while attending San Francisco State University. Prior to his current role, he served in several management positions in Security and Information Systems in the Pacific and Northwest regions.Ken is a leading activist for Asian community affairs at UPS, and serves as a mentor and role model for other Asian employees. He has also been instrumental in advocating and educating his peers and superiors about the benefits of hiring and promoting more APAs (Asian Pacific Americans) at all levels and in all areas throughout the company. |
In 1997, UPS selected Ken to be the recipient of the OCA National Asian American Corporate Achievement Award.
Born and raised in San Francisco, Ken’s grandparents emigrated from the suburbs of Guangzhou, China in the early 1900s.
Sonya Gong
Vice President of Operations, State Farm Insurance
Saturday Lunch Keynote Speaker
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Sonya Gong is a Vice President of Operations at State Farm with responsibilities for Human Resources, Learning and Development, Public Affairs, Marketing and the Developmental Agency Field Offices for the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina. She has worked in the insurance industry for 20 years and started her career as an auto claim representative before she rapidly progressed through the ranks. Sonya is an active participant in the Asian Community and avid volunteer, especially with the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA). She has served as President of the Columbus Chapter, has been instrumental in the founding of the Central IL Chapter and participated on the Executive Panel at the 2006 OCA National Convention. |
Sonya is also a past recipient of the OCA Corporate Achievement Award and the OCA National Community Service Award as well as been highlighted as a Top Asian American Professional by GOLDSEA and featured in Jade Magazine.
Jayaraman (Raghu) Raghuraman
Director of IT Global Manufacturing & Fulfilment Systems, Dell, Inc.
Saturday Breakfast Keynote Speaker
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As Director of IT for Dell’s Global Manufacturing and Fulfilment Systems group, Jayaraman Raghuraman (known as Raghu) leads the global outbound logistics, shipping and service logistics application teams for Dell. Raghu also has direct responsibility for the international development centers in India and Brazil that are functionally responsible for developing manufacturing and fulfilment applications for Dell.Raghu joined Dell in 2005. Prior to Dell, Raghu worked for over 20 years leading various product development teams at Citicorp Software, i2 Technologies and E2open. Raghu spent 8 years at i2 leading Supply chain management (SCM) teams, including the creation and development of a widely used Demand Management product suite. |
Raghu holds a Bachelor degree in Science specializing in Physics, Math and Statistics, as well as a post graduate diploma in Management Studies from the University of Mumbai, India. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, Prabha and their two children.