2010 Outstanding 50 Award Brochure
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Dinner Program Introduction by Mistress• of Ceremonies Sapna Parikh, Medical Correspondent WNYW-TV/Fox 5 Welcome John Wang, President Asian American Business Development Center Keynote Speaker David Hinson, National Director Minority Business Development Agency U.S. Department of Commerce Presentation of Pinnacle Award to Tony Hsieh, CEO Zappos.com Presentation of the Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business Award Closing Entertainment: Bill Saxton & The Harlem All-Stars 1 2 Message from AABDC I extend my congratulations to the recipients of the 2010 Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business award and the Pinnacle Award for their accomplishments and contributions to help power the engine of the economy. Since the inception of this awards dinner in 2001, AABDC has dedicated its efforts to promote and strengthen the voice and role of Asian Americans in the mainstream marketplace, and to highlight their achievements and contributions to the general economy. Tonight’s honorees represent a microcosm of the best of Asian American entrepreneurship and professionalism, with a pool of diverse and multi- talented individuals engaged in a wide range of business interests. John Wang The depth and breadth of their business undertakings clearly demon- President strate that Asian Americans are an integral part of the larger economy. Asian American Business Asian Americans entrepreneurs have multilingual and multicultural Development Center backgrounds that make them ideally suited to helping the U.S. stay competitive in the global economy. Corporations can leverage their Asian American professionals within their ranks to enhance business in Asia and broaden its own appeal as a global leader. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that AABDC has partnered with the Duran Group on a research project (see p.46) which focuses on studying the compe- tencies needed by Asian American women and men to advance to senior leadership or C-Suite positions within organizations. I am grateful for your participation tonight. I also want to express my gratitude to our corporate sponsors and many individuals for their unfailing support to make this event possible. Sincerely yours, John Wang President, AABDC 3 4 Keynote Speaker As National Director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), Mr. Hinson oversees five regional offices and a network of 48 minority business centers providing services to promote the growth and competitiveness of minority businesses. The overall mission of MBDA is to achieve economic parity for the minority business community. In order to achieve this goal, MBDA is focused on building the foundation for the next generation of $100 million dollar minority-owned companies. Mr. Hinson is uniquely qualified to lead MBDA. Prior to joining David Hinson MBDA, Mr. Hinson was President and CEO of Wealth Management National Director Network, Inc., a multi-million dollar independent, financial advisory Minority Business boutique. Before his own path into entrepreneurship, Mr. Hinson Development Agency managed a 10-state sales region as Director of Advisory Services for Envestnet Asset Management, a $70 billion financial advisory firm. U.S. Department of Commerce In his capacity, Mr. Hinson provided advice in asset allocation, portfolio construction, technology and product implementation. He also served as Managing Director of Business Development for the company. In addition, Mr. Hinson previously held a variety of senior-level and mid-management positions at Bank of America, Morgan Stanley & Company, First Chicago (now JP Morgan Chase) and the Village Foundation. Mr. Hinson received an MBA in finance from The University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, and a bachelor’s degree in insurance and finance with honors from Howard University in Washington, DC. In addition, he completed a fellowship in international finance with honors from the Stockholm School of Economics and graduate-level studies in French with honors at the University of Abidjan, in Ivory Coast, West Africa. Mr. Hinson is a native of St. Louis, Mo., and currently resides in Washington, DC. 5 6 Mistress of Ceremonies Sapna Parikh, M.D., is WNYW-TV/Fox 5’s medical correspondent. She contributes feature and informational stories on the latest medical advances and the health care industry to Good Day New York, and the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. Before joining Fox 5, Dr. Parikh was a medical reporter for “CBS 2 News This Morning” on WCBS in New York City. Before broadcasting, Dr. Parikh completed her internship in general surgery at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. She earned her medical degree from Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Dr. Sapna Parikh Medical Correspondent Akron with a bachelor’s of science degree. Dr. Parikh is currently pursuing a master’s of public health in urban health policy and WNYW-TV/Fox 5 health promotion at Hunter College in New York City. Dr. Parikh is licensed to practice medicine in the State of New York. As a fourth-year medical student, Dr. Parikh traveled to the Amazon region of Brazil as part of the University of Cincinnati International Health Program. The medical team lived on a boat and provided medical care to remote villages along the shores of the Amazon River. Her additional accomplishments include the National Xerox Award for the Humanities, the National Harvard Book Award for Outstanding Achievement in Academics and the Arts, and National Merit Scholar. Her most notable reports include an exclusive inside look at NASA’s underwater astronaut training laboratory and access to U.S. funded HIV /AIDS clinics in Haiti during the Bush administration. Dr. Parikh is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the Asian American Journalists Association, and the South Asian Journalists Association. 7 • AWARD RECIPIENTS • Pinnacle Award Tony Hsieh, author of “Delivering Happiness” and CEO of Zappos.com, is one of the most widely respected and successful business innovators in the new economy. In 1999, at the age of 24, Mr. Hsieh sold LinkEx- change, a company he co-founded, to Microsoft for $265 million. He then joined Zappos.com as an advisor and investor, and eventually became CEO, where he helped Zappos grow from almost no sales to over $1 billion in gross merchandise sales annually, while simultane- ously making Fortune’s annual list of Best Companies to Work For. In November 2009, Zappos was acquired by Amazon.com in a deal valued at $1.2 billion on the day of closing - the biggest acquisition in Tony Hsieh its history. CEO Mr. Hsieh (pronounced “shay”) joined Zappos because it was the most Zappos.com exciting and promising company his venture capital firm Venture Frogs was investing in. Other Venture Frog investments include Ask Jeeves, MongoMusic, MyAble, and Tellme Networks. What makes Zappos unique is that for marketing, the company relies on return business and word of mouth, pouring the money that would pay for marketing and advertising into customer service instead. Extraordinary customer service drives success at Zappos: free, unlimited returns, surprise shipping upgrades, unlimited time on the phone, and more. But the number one priority is company culture. Get the culture right and success happens on its own. Mr. Hsieh has a BA in computer science from Harvard University and was a software engineer at Oracle. His first book, “Delivering Happiness”, was published on June 7. You can request a free signed copy by sending an e-mail to Holly McNamara at [email protected]. 9 Iftikhar Ahmad had been in the business of developing biometrics/face recognition systems for 14 years, when he started his own company ConvergeOne-ID, LLC in 2009 to provide consulting in ID, biometrics and security. He currently is working with the Pakistani government and law enforcement agencies in using advanced technologies in face recognition and forensics capabilities for its security and to fight and prevent terrorism. Prior to establishing ConvergeOne-ID, Mr. Ahmad was with L-1 Identity Solutions, Inc. which bought out and renamed Viisage Technology, where Mr. Ahmad had worked since 1995, and where he assisted Pakistani and Pakistani-American companies obtain substantial business and built a very strong team of professionals which included key senior managers and developers hired from Pakistan and the U.S. Iftikhar Ahmad Mr. Ahmad is one of the seven original founders of OPEN (Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of Pakistan) which was established in 1998 President to assist budding Pakistani entrepreneurs. ConvergeOne-ID, LLC ______________________________________________________ After graduation, Mahmood Alam was hired by the Libyan Government as the second Pakistani pharmacist in the nation. Over the decade he worked in Tripoli, Mr. Alam helped the Libyan Government recruit Pharmacists and other medical professionals from Pakistan. In 1981, Mr. Alam moved to the U.S. and a year later he obtained his license to practice pharmacy and by 1983 had begun his business. Currently, Mr. Alam owns three pharmacies in New York State and has diversified into real estate and electronics. Mr. Alam worked as a representative for the Asian American Pharmaceutical Association in The Department of Health on the Audit and Quality Control Commit- tee and the Pharmacy Advisory Committee. In 2002 Mr. Alam helped institute the Dr Zoha Gold Medal at the Faculty of Pharmacy at Karachi University. In New York, Mr. Alam supports multiple relief organizations and Islamic Centers such as the Islamic Circle of North Mahmood Alam America (ICNA) and the Islamic Center of Long Island (ICLI). Pharmacist Mr. Alam received his Bachelor of Science from DJ Science College Family Pharmacy, and a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from Karachi University. Square Deal Pharmacy, Hina Drug, Hina Electronic 10 Nitin Bhargava, Senior Vice President of Aetna Medicare for Mid- America region is responsible for Aetna’s senior market business in 17 southwestern and midwestern states. Mr. Bhargava joined Aetna in 1997 and assumed this role in January, 2010.