The AWE Salon Series consists of intimate dinners that connect AAPI women in leadership roles (or future leaders) with the shared goal of learning from each other and forming lasting, authentic connections.

This first dinner is with an inspiring group of women from across industries, with a shared goal of increasing representation of AAPI women in board service. Conversations will be guided by the following group of accomplished board members:

Julia S. Gouw is the Chairwoman of Piermont Bank, a commercial bank in New York.  She was the former President and Chief Operating Officer of East West Bank. 

Gouw was ranked one of the “25 Most Powerful Women in Banking” five times by American Banker magazine and has received the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Women Making a Difference” award two times in recognition of her achievements and philanthropic contributions.  

Gouw was a board member of the Trusteeship, an International Women’s Forum affiliate organization that connects preeminent women in leadership positions across various professional fields.   

Gouw currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Pacific Life and VIZIO (NYSE: VZIO). She was appointed as a Commissioner of Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) in September 2016. The OIAA provides overall direction for the management, operations, development and marketing of Ontario International Airport in Southern California. 

Gouw is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. She was the founding chair of Executive Advisory Board of the UCLA Women’s Health to promote women’s health both in research and medical treatments. She also endowed the UCLA Chair of Mood Disorders Research especially in women in memory of Dr. Lori Altshuler. 

Born and raised in Indonesia, Gouw came to the United States in 1978 where she earned her B.S. degree in accounting from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.   

Julia Y. C. Huang, Taiwanese American-born and educated in Japan and Taiwan, is the Founder and CEO of Intertrend, a pioneering multicultural creative agency that crafts consumer experiences across diverse industries. After pursuing her graduate degree at the University of North Carolina, Huang gained experience in New York and Los Angeles, working in product planning and Mergers & Acquisitions. In 1991, she founded Intertrend and now adeptly oversees both the agency and its venture incubator, Imprint, headquartered in Long Beach, California.

Known for her unwavering belief that diversity fosters creativity, Huang has been honored as one of the 500 most influential Asian Americans by Avenue Magazine and as one of Fortune's Top Ten Entrepreneurs in the U.S. Under her insightful leadership, Intertrend consistently ranks among the Top Female-Owned Businesses by the Los Angeles Business Journal and has garnered numerous prestigious industry awards.

Huang's impact extends beyond her business achievements. A devoted Los Angeles/Long Beach community member, she actively serves on various boards and passionately supports local initiatives. Her commitment to community, civic engagement, and the arts has been celebrated with several accolades, underscoring her significant contributions to local and global culture.

Dr. Sabrina Kay is a veteran CEO, investor, experienced board member, and multiple award-winning philanthropist. As CEO of Fremont Private Investments and a strategic partner of VSS Capital, she invests flexible growth capital in middle-market education, healthcare, and technology companies. A multi-sector serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, she serves as a director of East West Bank (NASDAQ: EWBC), Hagerty (NYSE: HGTY), MannKind (NASDAQ: MNKD), Petersen Automotive Museum, LA Sports and Entertainment Commission, Portal Schools, and After School All-Stars Los Angeles. 

She started as an immigrant and single mom from South Korea and established the first computer-aided fashion design college, Art Institute of Hollywood, out of a garage space in Koreatown in Los Angeles, in her 20s. She sold the company to a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: EDMC) and retired in her 30s as a philanthropist. 

As a self-proclaimed recovering nonprofit junkie, Dr. Kay founded the Sabrina Kay Charitable Foundation and has served on more than thirty corporate, civic, and charitable boards, to give back to the country that provided her with opportunities beyond her imagination. 

She continued her entrepreneurial endeavors and founded four other ventures: Premier Business Bank (sold to NASDAQ: FFWM), Fashion Umbrella LLC, LADesigns.org, and Fremont University and Dale Carnegie of Southern LA, which she started as a laboratory for her doctoral dissertation. She served as the Chancellor and CEO of Fremont University for 14 years to revolutionize talent management and diversity matters through innovative and collaborative learning models. 

Dr. Kay received her joint doctorate degree in work-based learning leadership at the Wharton School and Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She holds double master's degrees: an MBA from USC and a Master of Science in talent management from GSE at the University of Pennsylvania, all with the highest honors. She is an active member of the Young Presidents' Organization (YPO), and Tiger21, among many other organizations. 

Dr. Kay has received over 25 notable awards for her achievements, including Woman of the Year by the California Senate and the United Nations Global Goals Award in Education. She is a sought-after board member and keynote speaker on innovation, growth, and leadership and has served on several corporate boards as an independent director to share her expertise in growth strategies, talent management, and governance. 

Fiona Ma is California’s 34th State Treasurer. She was first elected on November 6, 2018, with more votes (7,825,587) than any other candidate for treasurer in the state's history and reelected on November 8, 2022. She is the first woman of color and the first woman Certified Public Accountant (CPA) elected to the position.

The State Treasurer’s Office was created in the California Constitution in 1849. It provides financing for schools, roads, housing, recycling and waste management, hospitals, public facilities, and other crucial infrastructure projects that better the lives of residents. California is poised to become the world’s fourth-largest economy and Treasurer Ma is the state’s primary banker.

Presently, her office processes more than $3 trillion in banking transactions. She provides transparency and oversight for the government’s investment portfolio and accounts, as well as for the state’s surplus funds. Treasurer Ma oversees an investment portfolio that currently averages over $200 billion—a significant portion of which is beneficially owned by more than 2,200 local governments in California. She serves as agent of sale for all State bonds and is trustee of billions of dollars of state indebtedness.

Lisa K. Pai was appointed to the board of directors of Hope Bancorp, Inc. and Bank of Hope effective December 8, 2021. She brings 26 years of experience serving in general counsel and corporate secretary capacities at various Korean American banks in the Los Angeles area, including Bank of Hope and its root banks. Most recently, Ms. Pai served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Hope Bancorp, Inc. and Bank of Hope from the time of the merger of equals in July 2016 until her planned retirement effective year-end 2020. Prior to the merger, Ms. Pai served as Executive Vice President, Chief Legal & Human Resources Officer and Corporate Secretary of Wilshire Bancorp, Inc. and Wilshire Bank from 2012 to 2016.

Previously, she served in similar capacities at BBCN Bancorp, Inc. and BBCN Bank and its predecessors Center Financial Corporation and Center Bank and Nara Bancorp, Inc. and Nara Bank, amongst other banks. Before joining the banking industry, Ms. Pai practiced law at the law firm of Thelen, Marrin, Johnson and Bridges from 1990 to 1994. Following her retirement from Bank of Hope, Ms. Pai served on the Board of Directors of First Choice Bank from April 2021 through July 2021 when the bank was acquired by Enterprise Financial Services Corp and Enterprise Bank & Trust.

She has been an active member of the community throughout her professional career, having served in board and advisory roles for the Hope Scholarship Foundation, a charitable subsidiary of Bank of Hope, the Center for the Pacific Asian Family, a non-profit organization, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Korean American Bar Association of Southern California and UCLA Asian Pacific Alumni Association. Ms. Pai earned her B.A. in Economics from University of Chicago and her J.D. from University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. 

Presented by: Mannatt Phelps & Phillips 
Hosts: Veronica Lah, Naeun Rim, Sophia Yen

Special Thanks to: Majordomo Media 

Made Possible By: Asian Women Leadership in Philanthropy Fund (AWLPF) housed at the Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF)