Ascend 10x25 Initiative

Background

RECENT PUSH FOR BOARD RACIAL DIVERSITYOn September 30, 2020, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 979 into law, which requires that California-based public companies diversify their boards by December 31, 2022.
Institutional investors are pushing for increased board racial diversity. One example is the Diversity Disclosure Initiative announced on October 28, 2020.
On December 1, 2020, Nasdaq put forth a proposal for consideration by the SEC to adopt new listing rules requiring disclosure of diversity statistics for all companies listed on Nasdaq and, if a company does not meet certain diversity criteria, to explain why.

AAPIs: THE FASTEST GROWING RACIAL GROUP90%Population Growth since 2000.Source: “Engaging Asian American consumers at the dawn of a new decade,” Nielsen, 2020
35.8
MILLIONAsian American Population by 2060.Source: "Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S." Pew Research Center, 2021

ECONOMIC IMPACT$1.3
TRILLIONBuying Power
2022 Projection 
(2019 Projection: $1 Trillion)Source: “Engaging Asian American consumers at
the dawn of a new decade,” Nielsen, 2020

INVISIBILITY OF AAPIs AND THE MODEL MINORITY MYTHDuring this past year, AAPIs have been the target of increased hate actions and crimes, which many attribute, in part, to the "invisibility" of AAPIs in American society and the perpetuation of the Model Minority Myth. Because of these unfortunate events, there is growing awareness of and conversations about the societal and workplace challenges that AAPIs face in America and the lack of AAPI representation in leadership roles.Source: “Model Minority Myth & the Double Edged Sword,” Ascend, 2021

AAPIs EXPERIENCENearly 80% of Asian Americans say they do not feel respected and are discriminated against in the U.S.
90%of Black Americans say they are discriminated against in the U.S.
80%
of Asian Americans say they are discriminated against in the U.S.Source: "STAATUS Index Report 2021," LAAUNCH, 2021