Los Angeles, CA – CAUSE held the first 2017 Women in Power Networking Reception for guests to meet fellow Women in Power and hear CAUSE Influencers speak on the impact of female leadership in our community.
Kim Yamasaki, Executive Director of CAUSE, started off the evening by introducing the Women in Power program. Since 2008, the program has aimed to create opportunities for candid discussion regarding issues that women leaders face and to explore strategies for overcoming them.
This year, the signature program has expanded to an annual conference in place of luncheon programs. With this expanded format, CAUSE helps emerging women leaders to foster a community built on leadership, inspiration, and a network of support. She defined it as a valuable recruitment tool to identify women from diverse industries and personal experiences who could go through longer term leadership development programs with CAUSE.
This was followed by a series of women leaders in corporate, the law, and entertainment sharing their advice to the women in the room as well as their diverse perspectives on leadership and leadership styles. Kim encouraged the women in the room to listen carefully and curate their own unique leadership style as well.
Trisha Muse, Director of Community Relations at SoCalGas and also a member of the Women in Power Influencers (a steering committee for the program), opened with the importance of sharing, helping, and inspiring each other as women who face similar challenges. She asked the audience, “How are you helping other women succeed?”
Cyndie Chang, Los Angeles Managing Partner of Duane Morris LLP & President of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association as well as a past Women in Power speaker, continued the discussion by questioning the need for women to adapt to male dominated industries. She described her personal experience in becoming a role model for other women, and stressed the importance of current women leaders to do the same. She spoke to the importance of programs like the CAUSE Women in Power program.
She explained, “It was important for me to show that we women can continue to seek power and leadership even when we want to have things like a family.”
Next, Mariko Carpenter (also a member of the CAUSE Women in Power Influencers group), VP of Strategic Community Alliances at Nielsen, shared insightful statistics on the impact and influence Asian American women have on the economy. She highlighted achievements of Asian American individuals and popularized Asian trends that have become phenomenons in the west. These insights can be viewed at Nielsen’s website.
Lastly, renowned voice actress, actress, and model Kelly Hu, closed with a personal story about defying stereotypes. Always being told that she was “too loud for a girl”, she refused to let herself be defined by others and relentlessly pursued her career as an actress. Kelly relayed how her personal experiences led her to meet Charlie Woo, Board Chair of CAUSE, and work with him on filming a PSA that encouraged young APA individuals to vote. She stressed the importance of giving back to community and civic engagement.
Afterwards, guests were encouraged to spend time networking and connecting with each other.
We’d like to thank everyone who came out to this program! Please look forward to our upcoming Women in Power Leadership Conference in July!
Women in Power is supported by
