As the new decade is just around the corner, we are excited to invite you to our "20/20 Vision" Inspiring Across Generations Conference held by the Ascend Greater Washington Chapter! This year, Ascend is in partnership with World Bank Y2Y Community to host the event in World Bank HQ. Join us to meet 200+ peer professionals and students from the Greater Washington area for a day of collaboration, professional development, mentoring, and relationship building!
Ascend is the largest, nonprofit Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. Established in 2005, Ascend’s network includes over 60,000 senior executives, professionals, and students across our 18 professional chapters and 40+ student chapters in major business hubs and educational institutions in the United States and Canada.
The Ascend Greater Washington Chapter (Ascend GW) is one of the 18 professional chapters serving as the chapter hub for the surrounding areas of our nation’s capital. We provide professional development and career enhancement programs across multiple industries to our 300+ members.
Our Mission is to Enhance the visibility and influence of current and future Pan-Asian business leaders; Develop the full potential of members by leveraging the Ascend network and providing necessary resources to help them advance in their careers; Collaborate with our corporate partners to achieve their business, talent, and diversity goals.
In order to achieve our mission, we provide career support to our members at every stage of career life cycle – from entry level professionals and mid-level managers to senior executives. In this effort, we provide over 30 programs and events throughout out the year.
Some of our programs and events include: Inspiring Across Generations (IAG) conference, Corporate Executive Leadership Program (CELP), ERG Summit, Executive Insight Series (EIS), Women of Ascend, Lunar New Year Banquet and more.
Priya Basu is currently an advisor to Mahmoud Mohieldin, the Senior Vice President for the 2030 Development Agenda, United Nations Relations, and Partnerships. Prior to that, Priya was the head of the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) Secretariat in the Global Themes Vice-Presidency at the World Bank Group.
Since joining the Bank Group in 1998 through the Young Professionals program, Priya has held various positions, most recently, Manager in the Development Finance Vice-Presidency, where she designed and managed a US$21 billion portfolio of innovative, multi-donor partnership funds to address global priorities such as food security, climate change, refugees and pandemic threats.
Prior to that, as Lead Economist in the Bank’s South Asia Region, Priya and her team reshaped the Bank’s finance and private sector engagement strategy for India and built up a multi-billion-dollar lending and advisory program, with a focus on SMEs and financial inclusion for the underserved.
Priya has also served as economist in the Bank’s Europe and Central Asia Region, where she worked on bank restructuring in Russia in the aftermath of the GKO crisis, and in the Finance and Private Sector Vice-Presidency, where she worked on Indonesia’s banking and financial sector restructuring program in the aftermath of the 1997 East Asian crisis.
Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding is a public health scientist, health economist, and public advocate for health justice in government. He is an adjunct faculty at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health, Senior Advisor for Health Economics to General Dynamics IT, and advisor to the WHO, and to Denmark Ministry of Health’s CDC. He was also founder of the 6 million person Campaign for Cancer Prevention, and continues to nationally advocate for health justice, founding Health Justice For All, and reaching over 30 million people in 2019 alone. He resigned his Harvard faculty position in 2018 to run for Congress, as a Democratic candidate for the US House of Representative from Pennsylvania 10th District, and was directly supported by multiple members of Congress, and endorsed by the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. A childhood survivor and cancer prevention advocate, he was called one of the 'Facebook philanthropists', founding the 6 million member online Campaign for Cancer Prevention, featured in Newsweek.
He also founded Toxin Alert, the first geo-social network and public alert system for drinking water toxic contamination, and featured in WIRED. He is founder and director of several nutrition and health diet programs in the U.S. and abroad.
He graduated from The Johns Hopkins University with Honors in Public Health and Phi Beta Kappa. He completed his dual PhD in epidemiology and in nutrition as the youngest to complete a double-PhD from Harvard University at age 23. Teaching at Harvard for over 13 years, he has advised and mentored 3 dozen students, and lectured in more than a dozen graduate and undergraduate courses, for which he received the Derek Bok Distinction in Teaching Award from Harvard College.
“More than 3 billion people—42 percent of the world’s population—are under the age of 25, and these youth have the most at stake in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. It is important that they are engaged and prepared to implement this global agenda, contributing their unique solutions and creating a more sustainable development path for themselves and for future generations.”
Zach Heng is a DC-native with over 12 years of technology and management experience serving Fortune 500 and Federal Government clients. A graduate of Florida State University (FSU) with a BS in Information Technology, Zach began his career in health informatics for the Florida Department of Health, then moved to management consulting working on commercial, federal technology and digital projects for various firms. Zach is currently a Client Engagement Lead and Project Manager with Booz Allen Hamilton.
Passionate about diversity and inclusion, in addition to serving as the current President of Ascend’s Greater Washington Chapter, he is also a Board Member of Booz Allen’s Asian Pacific American Network (APAN), the Co-Founder of FSU’s Asian American Alumni Network, and serves on the National Board of Directors for the FSU Alumni Association.
Holti Banka is a Financial Sector Specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC. He is part of the Payment Systems Development Group and his work is on policy and infrastructure aspects of financial inclusion and retail payment systems. Holti is also the Chair of the Youth-to-Youth group, the largest volunteer community of the World Bank.
He received his PhD in International Development/Economic Policy from the University of Maryland and his BA in Economics and Mathematics from Williams College. Holti is originally from Albania but grew up in Greece and has been living in the U.S. for the past 13 years.
As a Managing Principal in Grant Thornton's Public Sector Advisory practice, Tony leads a CXO Transformation Services group that leverages the experience and expertise of the firm’s cadre of former government executives to help agencies work across the C-suite to improve mission outcomes, provide excellent service, and effectively steward taxpayer dollars.
Tony has 29 years of experience working in public sector management. During that time, he has helped federal agencies and grantees achieve financial and operational excellence by creating efficiencies and maximizing results.
As the CFO for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Tony served as principal advisor to the USPTO Director in leading and improving the financial management, accounting, budgeting, fee setting, revenue forecasting, financial systems, and organizational performance of the agency. In this role, Tony oversaw an annual budget that exceeded $3 billion, supporting almost 13,000 USPTO employees. Tony also spent much of 2017 and 2018 as the agency’s Acting Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer. His prior experience includes various financial leadership positions throughout the Federal Government and with consulting firms supporting federal finance challenges.
David is the Advisory Market Leader for the greater Washington DC area. In his role, David serves as the Advisory leader and leads the execution of the Advisory National Markets go-to-market strategy and execution of Advisory community initiatives across five offices within the Washington DC area.
David is a Partner in the Securitization Group at KPMG. David has over twenty-two years of securitization experience from issuance, investor reporting to system development. Over his time with KPMG he has built a securitization tax practice from the ground up. He enjoys interacting with hedge fund principals, front office and traders advising them of tax matters important for their transactions, working through the intricacies of debt instruments and equity instrument’s tax matters related to their investment and its impact on their corporate taxes, determining the taxable income for CLOs, mortgage REITs and other debt instruments held by mutual funds, asset managers, private equity and hedge funds as well as advising on bad debt and income accruals on distressed debt portfolios.
David has served in leadership roles as a people leader for a 130 person group, Chesapeake Staff Council Partner Champion, KPMG’s Asian Pacific Islander (API) Business Resource Group National Board, Ascend National Board, and developed the national API Leadership Development Series to elevate Asian managers. David is passionate about developing people, unlocking their potential and elevating Asian managers to leadership roles.
Debbie Hughes is Senior Advisor at Walmart where she focused on corporate philanthropy for talent and workforce development. She was previously Senior Strategist and Head of Talent and Workforce Solutions at Entangled Solutions. Prior to Entangled, she served as Vice President of Higher Education and Workforce where she worked with Fortune 500 companies and universities around issues relating to workforce preparation. She has also held positions at Project Lead the Way and the U.S. Department of Energy. She earned her Bachlor's and Master's degree from George Washington University.
Shalin Jyotishi is the Assistant Director for Economic Development and Community Engagement at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), North America's oldest presidents-led higher education association with 242 members located in all U.S. states and territories, Canada, and Mexico. Shalin's mission is to help maximize the positive economic and societal impact of North America's public universities. He directs APLU’s Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities designation program, leads APLU’s funded projects portfolio focused on workforce development and manufacturing competitiveness, and supports APLU's Commission on Economic and Community Engagement. Outside of APLU, he serves as a University Innovation Fellow of Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design, as a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, a member of the United Nation's Major Group for Children and Youth, and as a member of the International Economic Development Council's Higher Education Advisory Committee. He fulfills his entrepreneurial calling as CEO of the Journal of Science Policy and Governance, a non-profit organization focused on student policy engagement. Prior to joining APLU, Shalin held science and technology policy positions at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the University of Michigan, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is a proud graduate of the University of Georgia.
As part of our conference, come join this awesome session held by the OECD for a discussion on how technology will affect the workforce and what should be done to ensure individuals are adequately skilled to succeed in the ever-changing labor market. The event will be hosted in OECD Washington Center. Please RSVP here to reserve your spot!
Location: OECD Washington Center, 1776 Eye Street N.W., Suite 450, Washington, DC 20006
Please plan according to head to World Bank HQ (a block away) after this event and lunch for IAG conference registration.
Security and Conference Check-in at the World Bank HQ
We will recommend lunch options around the World Bank HQ soon! Stay tuned!
Please allow reasonable time for security and conference registration at the World Bank HQ and adhere to World Bank protocols at the main entrance.
Location: World Bank Headquarter, 1818 H Street N.W., Washington, DC 20433
Bigger Picture of 20/20 Vision*
Moderator: Urga Azat Founder, Oddariya Foundation
Panelists:
Tony Scardino Managing Principal from Grant Thornton and Former CFO at USPTO
David Pang Partner and AML from KPMG
Debbie Hughes Senior Advisor of Walmart
Shalin Jyotishi Assistant Director of Economic Development & Community Engagement Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU)
*Eligible for 1-hour CPE or PDU credit. You must be in the full session to be eligible for CPE-eligible sessions. Check-in codes are provided at conclusion of the session. You will have 24 hours from the session end time to enter the check in codes in GT Attend. Your certificate will be emailed to you no later than 60 days after the event.
We are excited to provide six breakout sessions discussing some of the most popular topics nowadays!
– Future of Work: The Most Anticipated Skills*
– How to Tackle Climate Reality in Individual Level*
– Skills in the Emerging Economy and Gig Work*
– Toward Trade Realignment*
– Understanding Brain Function as EQ Tool at Workplace*
– Mentorship by World Bank Y2Y
Please see more details about each session below.
*Eligible for 1-hour CPE or PDU credit. You must be in the full session to be eligible for CPE-eligible sessions. Check-in codes are provided at conclusion of the session. You will have 24 hours from the session end time to enter the check in codes in GT Attend. Your certificate will be emailed to you no later than 60 days after the event.
As organizations drive their digital transformation, automate their processes, and adopt new technologies, change management will play a critical role in facilitating a successful workforce transition. The goal of this session is to explore what the most anticipate soft skills that people will need to specialize in order to adapt to the future of work.
Jill Leaness, Director of The Climate Speakers Network
The private sector plays an essential role in the transition to a more sustainable future, and building adaptive capacity through resilience and low-carbon technology will benefit companies’ bottom line as well as the environment. Effectively engaging the business community about climate change requires not just communicating the material risks facing companies but also the opportunities arising from plummeting clean energy costs, economic growth decoupled from emissions, and increasing use of solar and wind across a diverse set of industries.
Brent Orrell, American Enterprise Institute
Jonathan Rothwell, Principal Economist of Gallup
Technology and other major changes have reshaped the relationship between workers and employers. The first part of the session focuses on the emerging economy, including the expansion of digital services, and how these changes have influenced the returns to different skills in the labor market. The second part of the session focuses on the expansion of alternative work arrangements, like gig work, and the implications for worker welfare.
Christos Makridis, MIT Sloan and Arizona State University
Frank Gaffney, Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
This session is to explore current events in international trade and evaluate them holistically, focusing on China and the current approach to realigning the terms of trade. Each panelist will examine a different component of this realignment and the session will conclude with Q&A
World Bank Youth-to-Youth Group
Have you ever wished you could have a few minutes for advice or conversation with an experienced professional, outside your immediate circle of mentors? Join this session to learn about the Y2Y Mentorship Program that has been running for 9 years. The session also includes a speed mentoring session where each participants will have the opportunity to have short conversations with each experienced mentor from Y2Y!
Urgamal Azat, Founder of Oddariya Foundation
This session is about the brain science behind emotional intelligence and fostering emotional intelligence at the workplace.
Sophie Ding is a Manager with Boston Consulting Group’s Platinion Cybersecurity Practice. She has years of experience advising companies across the globe to develop their cybersecurity strategy, implement leading practices and improve their digital resilience with people, process and technology. She is recognized for her expertise in data security and privacy, data integrity in pharmaceutical manufacturing, cybersecurity policy, risk management and compliance.
Outside of her role at BCG, Sophie enjoys volunteering. She has been volunteering within Ascend Greater Washing Chapter for over 3 years. Sophie is the current Ascend GW Chapter Deputy VP of Corporate Sponsorship. She is also a regular volunteer at the J. F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. When Sophie is not helping her clients or volunteering, she likes to spend time watching Si-Fi shows, traveling and taking photos.
Jill Leaness is the Director of the Climate Speakers Network, a program of The Climate Reality Project. In this role, Jill has created workshops and led trainings on climate communications throughout the United States and internationally. She holds both a BS in Environmental Science from Stockton University and an MS in Environmental Science from the University of Idaho as well as a certificate in Sustainability and Behavior Change from UC San Diego. Prior to her time at The Climate Reality Project, Jill served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama, interned with the National Park Service at Glacier National Park in Montana, and has interned and worked with multiple environmental nonprofit organizations.
Bill English is an Assistant Professor in Strategy, Economics, Ethics, & Public Policy at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business. Bill previously served as the research director of the Harvard University Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and a research associate at the Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching focusing on new educational technologies and digital skills, civic education, the public role of universities, and ethics and institutional change. Bill earned his doctorate in political science from Duke University.
Jonathan Rothwell is Gallup’s Principal Economist, a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, and a visiting scholar at George Washington University. He researches and publishes on a broad range of topics and advises Gallup clients and associates on research questions and economic analysis, particularly in the areas of higher education, macroeconomics, entrepreneurship, and labor economics. He is also the host of the Gallup-Knight Foundation podcast Out of the Echo Chamber, about the relationship between the news media and democracy. Findings from Jonathan's research have frequently been covered by leading news organizations, and he often speaks at conferences and scholarly events. While at Gallup, his publications have included an analysis of who supported various presidential candidates during the 2016 election, the effect of trade competition on regional economic outcomes, the validity of using consumer ratings to assess colleges, and several publications for the New York Times Upshot on political economy and trust in media. He is the author of A Republic of Equals: A Manifesto for a Just Society, which was published by Princeton University Press.
Jonathan received a doctorate from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.
Christos Makridis is a visiting assistant professor at Arizona State University, a non-resident fellow at the MIT Sloan Institute on the Digital Economy, the Harvard Cybersecurity Project, the Baylor Institute of Religious Studies, as well as a senior adviser at Gallup.
Christos formerly served as an economist on the White House Council of Economic Advisers focusing on managing their cybersecurity, technology, and space activities. Christos earned his doctorates in economics and management science & engineering at Stanford University.
Frank Gaffney is the Founder and President of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, D.C.
Mr. Gaffney formerly acted as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy during the Reagan Administration, following four years of service as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy. Previously, he was a professional staff member on the Senate Armed Services Committee under the chairmanship of the late Senator John Tower, and a national security legislative aide to the late Senator Henry M. Jackson.
Urgamal Azat is a diplomatic officer turned social entrepreneur with an enthusiasm in behavior and brain science. As the founder of Oddariya Foundation, she strives to close the technical, informational, and communication gaps of the Mongolian healthcare system. Along with her team, she developed the "Understanding Your Child's Brain Development as Positive Parenting Tool" handbook, which is recognized and adopted by UNICEF and is currently being translated into 7 different languages. She is certified EQ Coach, committed Goalkeeper and Unleash Talent for Sustainable Development Goals and determined to make grass-root change for healthy lives and well-being for all at all ages. As a Global Dignity Washington DC Chair and Vice Curator of Washington DC Global Shapers Community, she leads various youth and other stake holder collaborations for human centered digitalization, future of work, inclusion, and healthy and agile progress.
