With an impressive career spanning four decades in the international museum scene, Dr. Jay Xu stands as an esteemed scholar, accomplished curator, and successful museum director. A pioneer in his field, Dr. Xu is the first Chinese American director at a major U.S. art museum, having served as Director and CEO of the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco from 2008 through 2025. In 2015, Dr. Xu became the first museum director of Asian descent elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, our nation’s oldest learned society founded in 1780 by John Adams and other founding fathers, in recognition of his professional achievements. 

Dr. Xu is committed to deepening understanding of Asian and Asian American art and culture in the local, national and global contexts, and to advocating art and culture as an essential platform for cross-cultural understanding. Under his leadership, the Asian Art Museum launched the Transformation Project completed in the fall of 2021, which involved launch of contemporary art, expansion of exhibition and public spaces, renovation of collection galleries and education classroom, and investment in digital tools for deeper and richer audience engagement, all underwritten by a $100 million campaign that he successfully led. 

In 2022, Dr. Xu was appointed to serve on the Congressional Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. In 2024, Dr. Xu was elected to the governing board of the American Alliance of Museums. 

Chiling Tong is the President and CEO of the National Asian & Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (National ACE), representing 3 million Asian American & Pacific Islander small business owners and collaborating with over 130 affiliate chambers to advocate for small businesses and foster the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Tong is also the Founding President of the International Leadership Foundation (ILF), a nonprofit promoting civic awareness and public service for college students since 2000. She served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the International Trade Administration and the Chief of Staff for the Minority Business Development Agency in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Additionally, she was a member of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Previously, Tong worked to promote California's economic development and trade. She was the Director of California's Office of Trade and Investment in Taipei, Taiwan, and served as Assistant Secretary for International Trade in the California Trade and Commerce Agency. Tong was awarded a Coro Public Affairs Fellowship and was the Los Angeles County Community Action Board Chairperson. She was also an Ash Center Research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School.

Joanne Kwong is the president of Pearl River Mart, the iconic NYC Asian emporium established in 1971.

After the 2016 closing of the historic store, she joined her in-laws and reinvented the brand, establishing new locations in SoHo, Chelsea, Chinatown, and Flushing.

Today, under Joanne’s leadership, Pearl River remains the joyful shopping experience beloved by generations. It now also serves as a hub for the AAPI community and a springboard for entrepreneurs and artists. Pearl River Mart’s community-based approach has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal as “the future of retail” and by New York Magazine as one of its “Reasons to Love NY.”

Before leading Pearl River, Joanne was an attorney, law professor, and non-profit communications executive. She serves on the boards of New York Public Radio, Light Up Chinatown, the Meatpacking Business Improvement District, and the Columbia College Alumni Association. In recent years, Joanne has been named one of Crain’s NY Business’ Notable Asian Leaders, Gold House’s A100 Most Impactful Asians, and Time Out NY’s “9 Amazing Women Who Changed New York for the Better.”

Joanne is a proud graduate of Stuyvesant High School, Columbia University, Duke Law School, and Duke Graduate School. She lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband and two sons. 

Tina Wei Smith has spent the last two decades advancing public service, youth development, and nonprofit leadership. From 2019 to 2021, she served as the eighth Executive Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, where she prioritized workforce and economic development at the U.S. Department of Commerce, with a focus on supporting AAPI small businesses during the pandemic.

Following her federal service, Tina continued to mentor rising AAPI leaders through the International Leadership Foundation’s Civic Fellowship Program. She was nominated in 2023 by U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to serve on an eight-person Congressional Commission conducting a feasibility study for a national Asian Pacific American history and culture museum within the Smithsonian Institution.

Now based in Kentucky, Tina leads state and federal-level policy efforts focused on improving opportunities for all rural students across the U.S. through Partners for Rural Impact. She founded a nonprofit startup, Rural Up, dedicated to youth development, college and career readiness, and STEM education in rural Eastern Kentucky. Her earlier work includes roles in the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Department of Labor, and at national think tanks in Washington, D.C.

She is currently a Central Appalachia Leadership Lab fellow with Teach For America Appalachia. A 2015 Fulbright recipient, Tina holds a B.A. from the University of Illinois, a dual MPP/MA in Higher Education from the University of Michigan, and an Executive Education certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School.

Dennis brings two decades of leadership and management experience across business, government, philanthropy, and politics. Most recently, he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and White House Deputy Political Director, where he led political strategy and stakeholder outreach for the Biden-Harris Administration.

Previously, Dennis was Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer of the Clinton Foundation, Senior Advisor for External Outreach on Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign, and National Finance Director for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. During the Obama Administration, he served as Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States at the State Department.

In the private and nonprofit sectors, Dennis has held roles including Head of Investor Relations at Betaworks Ventures and senior advisor to organizations such as The Asian American Foundation, Asia Society, and Girls Who Code.

Dennis is an Emmy-nominated producer of Recipe for Change: Stop Asian Hate and a founding board member of the American LGBTQ+ Museum. He is a graduate of Swarthmore College and the London School of Economics. 

Kevin is currently a partner at IPG, a NYC-based real estate development and management firm.

Previously, he served as the Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services (SBS), an agency with 300+ staff whose mission is to help start and grow businesses, invest in NYC’s neighborhoods, and connect New Yorkers to good jobs and training.

As SBS Commissioner, Kevin led the planning and implementation of some of the most successful post-pandemic economic initiatives, including the creation of the city’s largest-ever public-private partnership loan fund and the execution of a program that eased the burden of outdated fines on small businesses.

His other professional experiences include working as a Commissioner of the New York State Liquor Authority, co-founder of an education company, and corporate real estate attorney at Davis Polk & Wardwell.

For nearly two decades, Kevin has been a recognized local and national community leader serving on the boards of various non-profit organizations and national commissions, including the City University of New York (CUNY) Board of Trustees, President’s AANHPI Advisory Commission, International Students Conference (ISC-DC), Friends of Thirteen, and the American Red Cross (Queens chapter).

Kevin received his B.A. and M.A. from Stanford University and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and an editor of the Columbia Law Review.

Rodney Davis is Head of Government Affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The former congressman leads the Chamber’s engagement on Capitol Hill and with the administration, helping defend against the growing threats to the American free enterprise system and working to advance pro-growth policies.

As a five-term Republican U.S. Representative for Illinois’ 13th district, Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, and a Deputy Whip, Davis was considered one of the most effective legislators during his tenure, willing to work across the aisle to advance common-sense policy solutions.

Prior to being elected to the U.S. House in 2012, Davis served as projects director for Congressman John Shimkus for 16 years, helping Illinois residents and communities cut through government red tape and support local economic development. He joined the Chamber in August 2024.

In December of 2008, Anh “Joseph” Cao became the first Vietnamese-American to be elected to the U.S. Congress, representing the 2^nd Congressional District of Louisiana. His dual commitment to building a strong America and to defending the rights of millions of Vietnamese left behind under the Communist regime exemplifies the bridging roles of Vietnamese Americans.

As the Communist troops advanced towards Saigon in April of 1975, Joseph, age eight, his brother, age four, and his sister, age fourteen, were placed by their mother with his relatives onto a U.S-bound plane. She stayed behind with her five other daughters to be with her husband, a military officer for the South Vietnamese Army, who was imprisoned and tortured in the Communist “re-education” camps for almost seven years.

In the US, Joseph was separated from his siblings and was raised by an uncle.

After completing his B.S. in Physics from Baylor University in 1990, Joseph entered the Society of Jesus hoping to bring social justice to the poor.  During his time with the Jesuits he experienced the suffering of Vietnamese refugees in the camps of Hong Kong; he lived and worked with the poor in Mexico in the slums of Mexico where he learned the importance of social and political activism; he taught school to kids and young adults and learned the transformative power of Education.

In the summer of 1996 Joseph left the Society of Jesus and returned to secular life.  He left New Orleans and moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where he volunteered with BPSOS, working to protect the last boat people stranded in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong and to secure the resettlement of “re-education” camp survivors.  In the fall of 1997, Joseph returned to New Orleans to attend law school and joined the Board of Directors of BPSOS.  In New Orleans, he met and married Hieu Phuong Hoang, a doctor of pharmacy, with whom he had two daughters and a son.

After serving in Congress, he returned to New Orleans and resumed his practice of law while continuing to work in various capacities to improve education and healthcare in the State of Louisiana.  In January of 2026, Joseph was appointed by Jeff Landry, the Governor of Louisiana, to serve on the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.  He also serves on the Governor’s Children Cabinet to learn and address the many issues that children confront in our society.

His election to the U.S. Congress in 2008 continues to inspire many young Vietnamese Americans to seek public office.  Joseph continues to travel the country, encouraging Vietnamese refugees and immigrants to participate in the American mainstream politics and community activism.