Join us as we celebrate this year’s NAAAP100 lifetime achievement, NAAAP Pride (LGBTQ+), and NAAAP Inspire up-and-comer honorees at the 2021 Leadership Convention sponsored by United Airlines.
“As we move forward from the upheaval of the last year and a half, it’s imperative that we pause and honor the leaders who have made an impact on our communities. We thank United Airlines for sponsoring this year’s awards, and invite you to get to know our NAAAP100, Inspire, and Pride honorees,” says Audrey Salick, NAAAP Awards Director.
NAAAP is honored to be able to recognize five amazing API leaders at the annual NAAAP Awards Ceremony at the closing of the 2021 Leadership Convention on Friday of August, the 27th from 3 p.m.- 4 p.m. EDT/12 noon – 1 p.m. PDT.
The NAAAP100 award is granted annually to luminaries in their respective field who, in addition to their considerable professional achievements, have made powerful contributions to elevating the AAPI cause. The awards are NAAAP’s highest honors granted to those who, through their life’s work or a recent endeavor, have elevated the AAPI cause and amplified voices of the community in their respective fields.
The 2021 NAAAP100 lifetime achievement award is awarded to Padmasree Warrior. Named by Forbes as one of “The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women” for three years running, Warrior serves on multiple corporate and nonprofit boards for companies such as Microsoft and Spotify. Warrior currently serves as President and CEO of Fable, which she founded in 2019 to “deliver the world’s best social experience with exceptional stories in service of mental wellness.”
The NAAAP Inspire award was created to recognize our most promising up-and-coming leaders in the Asian community and has grown to recognize leaders who have made a notable departure from their usual work to utilize their platform in affecting positive change in an unexpected way in business, government, or nonprofits. We will be recognizing three NAAAP Inspire awardees in 2021: Alpa Amin, Francesca Hong, and Tony DelaRosa.
Alpa Amin (she/her) serves as the Executive Director of Georgia Asylum and Immigration Network (GAIN), which provides pro bono services to protect and empower immigrant survivors of crime and persecution. Amin is a graduate of the FBI Citizens Academy, Leadership Buckhead, and the Anti-Defamation League’s Glass Leadership Institute, and a past chair of the Georgia Immigration Collaborative and the Georgia Statewide Human Trafficking Task Force. She has also been recognized by Georgia Trend Magazine as one of Georgia’s Top 40 Under 40.
Francesca Hong is a first generation Korean American mother, chef, community organizer, and the first Asian American elected as a Wisconsin State Representative (76th Assembly District). Hong established the Culinary Ladies collective (CLC), an organization empowering women and non-binary food and beverage professionals through shared resources, networking, and fundraising for nonprofit organizations, where she serves as the current board president. She also co-founded Cook It Forward Madison, an initiative bringing healthy meals to underrepresented communities, and is an outspoken advocate for AAPI representation, sponsoring and co-sponsoring legislation condemning anti-Asian hate, recognizing APIDA Heritage Month, and expanding Veteran benefits for Lao Veterans of the Vietnam War. She is an active member of the AAPI Coalition of WI and was named to the 2020 list of the Most Influential Asian Americans in Wisconsin.
Tony DelaRosa (he/him/siya), is an aspiring Anti-Bias & Anti-Racist Educator, DEI Consultant, spoken word poet, and coalition builder. NAAAP is excited to honor DelaRosa for his work in DEI coaching, consulting, and motivational speaking at his name sake business Tony Rosa Speaks LLC. His company has worked with the NYC Department of Education, Volunteer Florida, The Smithsonian APA, Harvard Usable Knowledge, Bain & Co, and the Philippine Embassy. He is an official DEI service provider of the CatalystEd Network which works with companies like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the New Schools Venture Fund. He also co-founded Pulse Poetry, a school program that uses spoken word, pedagogy, and public speaking to empower youth voices in Boston, Indianapolis, Miami, The Philippines, and Mexico. DelaRosa works as a Director of Teacher Leadership Development at Teach for America Florida, and is a proud father, husband, anime-lover, and gamer.
The NAAAP Pride Award was established to honor an influential leader in the Asian American LGBTQ+ community who has made significant contributions in advancing LGBTQ+ leadership, equality, and visibility. NAAAP is happy to honor Urooj Arshad, the current Sr. Program Manager at Dignity for All, LGBTQI+ Assistance Program at Freedom House, a consortium of eight leading human rights and LGBTQI+ organizations that provides financial assistance, project funding, and holistic security support to human rights defenders and civil society organizations. She is the recipient of the Latino GLBT History Project’s annual Mujeres en el Movimiento award, National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance’s Community Catalyst Award, and the Young Women of Color HIV/AIDS Coalition’s We Speak award. Urooj served on the U.S. delegation to the 59th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in 2015.
Please join us in thanking and honoring these amazing individuals for their work for and within our community at the 2021 Leadership Convention on August 27th!
The 2021 Leadership Convention by NAAAP is currently running each Friday throughout the month of August. Get full access to all keynotes and sessions by purchasing a General Admission ticket. Some promo codes may still be available for NAAAP members, partners, and sponsors for a limited time please inquire with your NAAAP connection. College students can register to attend the entire convention for FREE. For more information about the convention please visit: https://www.leadershipconvention.org. To inquire about getting involved with NAAAP, to sponsor, to donate, or to find your local NAAAP chapter, please visit www.naaap.org.
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Writer and Public Relations Contact:
Noelle D. Blanco- noelle.blanco@naaap.org