
The Pan-Asian Experience during COVID-19
How our self-identity as Pan-Asians is influenced

Event Details:
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Date: Thursday, May 14, 2020
Time: 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Webinar will be conducted via Zoom. Detail information will be emailed to you upon registration
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Description:
The outbreak of COVID-19 has taken the world by surprise and impacted all of us in a multitude of ways. There are stay-at-home orders, social distancing, closure of “non-essential” businesses, work from home, and much more. How this impacts us, influences our daily lived experience, and changes our perspective differs between all individuals. Our identity as Pan-Asians plays both conscious and subconscious roles in our experiences during this challenging time. We will be hosting a panel of thought leaders to share stories, create space for individuals, and listen to each other as a community about how COVID-19 has impacted our lives.
Speakers:
Paul Bi
Director, New Product Innovation - Global Innovation & Insights, Liberty Mutual Insurance
Paul Bi is a product director, innovation strategist and diversity & inclusion (D&I) champion actively serving as a disruption agent for change. A highly motivated, D&I driven influencer, Paul seeks to create impactful cultural change by ardently challenging the status quo. As the Director of New Product Innovation for Liberty Mutual’s Global Innovation & Insights group, Paul leads global commercial new product & service innovation strategy focusing on emerging and disruptive trends. Recently, Paul also served as the National Co-Chair for Liberty’s Pan-Asian ERG – LEAAP@Liberty (Leading & Empowering Asian American Professionals + Allies employee resource group) leading an organization of 1,000+ members with chapters across the country including Boston, Seattle, Plano (TX), Portland, Chicago and NYC. Prior to joining Liberty Mutual, Paul started his career in an entirely different industry spending time at CBS Radio and interning at Radio Disney. He is a Chartered Property & Casualty Underwriter (CPCU), holds a B.S in Business Administration from Bryant University and an M.B.A from Boston College.
Giles Li
Senior Program Officer, Arts & Creativity, Barr Foundation
Giles Li joined Barr in 2020 as senior program officer for Arts & Creativity, with a particular focus on implementing two strategies within the portfolio: advancing the field’s capacity to adapt, take risks, and engage changing communities in new ways; and fostering opportunities to connect the arts to other disciplines and sectors.
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Giles came to Barr following nearly fourteen years with the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC). Hired as BCNC’s first arts program coordinator in 2006, Giles was named CEO in 2013. Under his leadership, BCNC led a community visioning process to develop and open the Pao Arts Center in 2017, a unique community-based arts and cultural facility leveraging the strengths of a diverse group of partners. Giles also led BCNC’s first-ever expansion outside of Boston, by opening an office in Quincy, MA in 2014. In addition, he oversaw a successful capital campaign that raised more than $3.5M in three years to fund expansion and innovation.
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During his time leading BCNC, he was named the winner of the statewide 2017 Excellence in Leadership award from the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network, and was also a member of the Barr Foundation Fellows Class of 2017. A current board member with Philanthropy Massachusetts, Giles has previously served on advisory committees for Massachusetts’ Attorney General, State Treasurer, and Boston’s Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, among others. He holds a graduate degree in Public Affairs from UMass-Boston and is an alumnus of the Institute for Nonprofit Practice.
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Giles is a published poet, spoken-word performance artist, and former cultural organizer. Together with his wife, Giles seeks to impart his love of arts and community to their three children.
Yon Na, Ph.D.
Self-Employed, Yon Na Consulting LLC.
Yon Na, Ph.D. is a researcher, consultant, and professor. As an organizational effectiveness consultant, she helps companies enhance performance and employee engagement by applying a scholar-practitioner approach. She specializes in incorporating research, theory, and decades of experience in Corporate America to develop solutions.
Yon's 20-year corporate career spans leadership development and organization effectiveness in high-growth companies, including Warner Bros., The New York Times, Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, and Nordstrom.
In 2019, Yon founded Radiance HQ, an organization dedicated to the advancement of Asian women in the workplace. Yon developed the Radiance Leadership Development Program, which combines her research on Asian identity, organizational psychology, and her experience working in Fortune 100 companies.
Yon earned a Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant International University. Her dissertation study focused on the experiences of Asian immigrant women and their journeys into corporate leadership.
Moderator:
Bartholomew Jae
Director of Education and Development, National Fire Protection Association
Bartholomew Jae is the Director of Education and Development at the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). He leads NFPA’s efforts to help institutions and individuals learn to contribute to the Fire and Life Safety Ecosystem as skilled engineers, workers, first responders, and authorities with jurisdiction.
Bartholomew has over 25 years of experience helping companies develop their leaders, talent, and organization:
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Learning & Development Leader, Strategy and Management Consultant, Diversity & Inclusion champion
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Worked with global Fortune 500 companies across many industries including Financial Services, Health and Life Sciences, Energy, Retail and Products, and Public Sector.
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Previous employers include: Accenture Strategy, PwC, Acadient, Inc., and Scudder Kemper Investments
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Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science degrees from Bentley University.