Asia Society Recognizes 2017 Best Employers for Asian Pacific Americans

NEW YORK, May 25, 2017 — Asia Society recognized 14 companies as part of the 2017 Best Asian Pacific American Employer Awards at the Diversity Leadership Forum in New York. Now in their eighth year, the awards honor employers at the forefront of promoting and developing Asian Pacific American (APA) talent.

Awardees are selected based on the quality of their APA workforce initiatives and the results from Asia Society’s 2017 Asian Pacific Americans Corporate Survey, the only published initiative to exclusively measure the leadership success of APAs at Fortune 500-level companies. More than 2,800 APA employees participated in the 2017 survey.

KPMG took home top honors this year as “Overall Best Employer for Asian Pacific Americans.” The professional services firm was also recognized for its APA Employee Resource Groups and for promoting APAs into senior leadership positions. “KPMG’s inclusive culture ensures that every one of our people has the opportunity to succeed and achieve their full potential, and we’re honored to be recognized by the Asia Society as the best place for Asian Americans to work and build a career,” said Sue Townsen, KPMG’s Chief Diversity Officer. “We believe we are the best firm when we utilize the collective talents, perspectives and insights of all our people as we work together and develop innovative solutions for our clients.”

Medtronic won “Best Employer for Promoting APA Women,” for supporting women's access to leadership positions. “Workforce inclusion and diversity is a priority at Medtronic and we’re honored to be recognized by the Asia Society as the Best Employer for promoting Asian Pacific American women,” said Anu Codaty, vice president, Business Development and Strategy, Pain Therapies Business, Medtronic. “Our global workforce is one that reflects the diversity of our marketplace, customers, and patients. We need fresh ideas and inclusive insights to fulfill the Medtronic Mission and continue to be an innovative industry leader – that’s why we seek out and welcome people from all parts of the world, and then thoughtfully engage and develop talent through programs like the Asian and Women's networks to accelerate leadership advancement.”

BNY Mellon was recognized for its support for Asian LGBT employees. “BNY Mellon is honored to be recognized by Asia Society as the ‘Global Best Employer for LGBT Asian Employees,’” said Mitchell Harris, Chief Executive Officer of BNY Mellon Investment Management and executive sponsor of PRISM, BNY Mellon’s LGBTQA employee resource group. “We believe our diversity brings us the dimension we need to improve lives through investing and shape the future of finance. As an investments company, we make investments to unlock potential, and one of the best investments we’re making is in talent – to create the conditions for all of our people to thrive and grow, to be proud of who they are and where they work, and to feel empowered to achieve their full potential.”

Other Best Employer winners include Credit Suisse for “Sponsorship,” Freddie Mac for “APA Employee Resource Groups,” General Electric for “Marketing & Support to the APA Community,” MasterCard for “Promoting APAs into Senior Leadership Positions,” and Goldman Sachs for “Developing Workforce Skills.”

“Some companies are trailblazers in advancing Asian Pacific American leaders with practices, programs and initiatives that work," said David Whitelaw Reid, Executive Director of Global Talent Initiatives at Asia Society. “We encourage others in the corporate world to learn from these best practice companies."

Finalists and winners are chosen based on a combination of employee survey results (80 percent) and scores from a blind panel of expert judges (20 percent). Employees of Asia Society are not involved in the awards decisions. Below is the full list of 2017 award winners and best practice citations.

Best Companies Awards

Overall Best Employer for APAs: KPMG
Distinguished Performance: Goldman Sachs
Noteworthy Performance: Freddie Mac

Best Employer for APAs to Develop Workforce Skills: Goldman Sachs
Distinguished Performance: Chevron
Noteworthy Performance: Colgate-Palmolive

Best Employer for APA Employee Resource Groups: Freddie Mac
Distinguished Performance: KPMG
Noteworthy Performance: Goldman Sachs

Best Employer for LGBT Asian Employees (Global): BNY Mellon
Distinguished Performance: Telstra
Noteworthy Performance: General Electric

Best Employer for Marketing & Support to APA Community: General Electric
Distinguished Performance: Medtronic
Noteworthy Performance: Prudential

Best Employer for Promoting APAs into Senior Leadership Positions: MasterCard
Distinguished Performance: Freddie Mac
Noteworthy Performance: KPMG

Best Employer for Promoting APA Women: Medtronic
Distinguished Performance: Marriott
Noteworthy Performance: BNY Mellon

Best Employer for Sponsorship of APAs: Credit Suisse
Distinguished Performance: General Electric
Noteworthy Performance: Chevron

Best Practice Citations

Asian Pacific American Employee Resource Groups: BNY Mellon; Chevron; Goldman Sachs; KPMG; Medtronic

Community Commitment: Chevron; General Electric; Medtronic

Employee Growth & Advancement: Freddie Mac; General Electric; Goldman Sachs; KPMG; Medtronic

Market Opportunities: General Electric; KPMG; Marriott; Medtronic

LGBT Asian Employees: BNY Mellon; Chevron; General Electric; KPMG

Profit & Loss Leadership Development: Chevron; Goldman Sachs; KPMG; Medtronic

Promoting Asian Pacific American Women: General Electric; KPMG; Marriott; Medtronic

Recruitment and Selection: Credit Suisse; General Electric; Goldman Sachs; KPMG

Retention: IBM; KPMG; Medtronic

Sponsorship: General Electric; KPMG; Marriott

About Asia Society

Asia Society is the leading educational organization dedicated to promoting mutual understanding of Asia in a global context and strengthening partnerships among peoples, leaders and institutions across the fields of arts, business, culture, education, and policy. Founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Asia Society is a nonpartisan, nonprofit institution with offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Manila, Mumbai, New York, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Washington, DC, and Zurich. 

Contact Information

Asia Society Press Office
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