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2024 ATX Inspiring Across Generations (IAG) Conference

We Ascend Together: Leadership, Connection & Community
Speaker Bios

Speaker Bios:

Keynote Speaker

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Lily Trieu

Executive Director

Asian Texans for Justice

Lily Trieu is the daughter of Vietnamese refugees and the Executive Director of Asian Texans for Justice, a statewide nonprofit with a mission to connect Asian Texans of all identities to meaningful civic action to build personal and political power for future generations. Lily was formerly a public affairs and government relations professional in the non-profit sector and has worked as a staffer in the Texas Legislature. Prior to her political and advocacy work, Lily spent over ten years in the private sector with a focus on strategy, relationship management, and project management. She has a BBA in Marketing and BA in Asian Studies from The University of Texas Austin as well as an MBA with a concentration in Public and Governmental Affairs from the McCombs School of Business, completing a Portfolio Studies in Nonprofit Management.

Myths of Asian Leadership

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Vic Kumar

Director of Strategy and Innovation

Oracle

Meet Vic Kumar, a seasoned leader with 17+ years of experience driving digital transformation in the CRM space. Specializing in generative AI and LLM architecture, Vic has led projects for top global clients across industries. With expertise in CX and strategy execution, Vic excels in multi-phase projects and partner integrations. An MBA graduate from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, and Stanford-certified entrepreneur, Vic is innovative, collaborative, and driven to deliver results.

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Jess Lin

Managing Director, North America Marketing Practice Gen AI Lead

Accenture

Jess is a dynamic leader at Accenture, spearheading Generative AI for Marketing in North America and leading the global Marketing Transformation offering. She's passionate about the role of Gen AI in reshaping marketing and partners with clients to redefine customer engagement strategies and drive organizational growth. As a strategic and creative leader at Accenture Song, she brings a wealth of front-office experience working with brands across a wide range of industries.

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Laurie Winfield

Program/Project Management Leader in Digital and

SaaS Product Development and Delivery

Laurie Winfield was born in Texas but lived overseas with her family in Libya and Singapore while growing up. After receiving her M.A. at the University of Texas, Laurie taught ESL and business communication to adult students in Japan, Korea, and the San Francisco Bay Area. When she moved back to Austin in the 1990s, she transitioned to managing a technical writing team and creating content at companies such as Vignette, Bazaarvoice and the Dell Foundation. She then transitioned to driving large strategic cyber, financial and identity product releases to market as senior manager of the Program Management Office at Experian Partner Solutions. She has served on leadership teams for several nonprofits including the Japan American Society, English at Work (now part of the literacy coalition) and Ascend Austin. She lives in Austin with her 3 pets and enjoys cooking, traveling the world, spending time with friends and family and improving her Pickleball game.

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Yihong Zeng

Managing Director

Deloitte

Yihong is a technologist and cross-industry SME for large-scale Application Modernization and Migration projects. She helped multiple commercial organizations and public sector agencies migrate their legacy system, including mainframe, to Cloud and transform their business processes and IT solutions to better serve their customers and constituents. She has over 17 years of complex system integration experience and a Master’s degree in Computer Science. She is also certified in PMP, AWS Cloud, ITIL, Scrum Master, and SAFe Agilist.

Pursuit of Passion in your Career

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Gopalakrishnan Anand

Senior Cybersecurity Leader

General Motors

Gopalakrishnan Anand (Anand) is a Senior Cyber Security Leader with over 20 years of global leadership experience in Software Development, Cloud Computing & Product Cyber Security. In his most recent leadership role in the Cybersecurity space, he was pivotal in establishing security controls for in-vehicle electronic control units’ communication and cryptography architecture. Prior to joining General Motors, Anand has worked for Chrysler where he held various leadership positions. Anand earned his Electrical Engineering degree from India. Also, he holds a Master's degree in Information Technology from University of Canberra, Australia and an MBA from Michigan State University. Anand lives in Austin with his wife, and enjoys spending time with his teenage children. He also serves on professional and non-profit boards.

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Jessica Chen

CFO

Achieve Integrative Health

Jessica is a graduate of West Texas A&M University with a master's degree in professional accounting. She specialized in affordable housing and multifamily real estate as Vice President and Shareholder of Brown, Graham & Company, P.C. (BGC), a Texas-based Certified Public Accounting and consulting firm. Jessica retired from BGC in January 2022 after 21 years and joined Achieve Integrative Health as CFO. Founded by her husband, Jimmy Yen, it is Austin's largest acupuncture and wellness clinic. Jessica is passionate about integrating faith with work and is committed to helping small business leaders develop healthy teams, achieve profitability, and create impactful communities. She serves as an advisor for the Foundry, led by Christ-centered leaders guiding business owners from survival to success to significance. Jessica is also a member of the Austin Ridge Bible Church at Bee Cave. Jessica served as the first Chairwoman of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce in 2023 and has been involved with the Casoro Group Education Foundation as Treasurer and committee chair. She is a long-time member of the Cedar Park Rotary Club and a past treasurer.

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Rene Helit Jr

Chef/ Founder

Cultured Chefs

Chef Rene Helit is from the beautiful island known as Guam. He started his culinary career in 2012 in the pastry industry and moved on towards the hot lines and catering. Rene graduated with an Associate of Arts in Culinary Arts, and went to work for Norwegian Cruise Line from 2016 - 2018 where he advanced most of his traditional cooking skills. His passion for cooking goes deep into his native roots in Guam. He cherishes those who have taught him and have pushed him to get out into the world.

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Tanushri Jain

EH&S Expertise Director

Dow Chemical

Tanushri leads Dow’s Environmental Reporting team, where she is responsible for driving consistency and accuracy in Dow’s environmental reporting processes, crucial for achieving Dow’s ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals. With a diverse background spanning Engineering, Operations, EH&S (Environment, Health, and Safety), and Supply Chain within the Chemical Industry, Tanushri brings extensive cross-functional expertise to her role. She started her career with Dow in Freeport, TX as a production engineer, later transitioning to various roles in EH&S. Her experience also includes supply chain planning in Dow’s Hydrocarbons business. Tanushri’s leadership journey led her to Engineering, where she served as the Engineering Leader for site-executed projects at Freeport, TX, overseeing Process Engineering and Design Disciplines. Beyond her primary responsibilities, Tanushri is passionate about mentoring others to unlock their full potential. She actively engages in Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and leads recruiting efforts for the company. Tanushri serves on Dow’s Asian Diversity Network’s North America steering team, leads Dow’s UT Recruiting Team for Operations, and is actively involved in recruitment at diversity conferences such as Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers (SASE), National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), and Society of Women Engineers (SWE). Tanushri is a certified Six Sigma Green Belt Project Leader and holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

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Nilesh Kunvarji

Principal Enterprise Architect 

Oracle 

Nilesh Kunvarji, a Principal Enterprise Architect at Oracle, boasts 30+ years of IT expertise. From programming to leading technical pre-sales teams, Nilesh shapes technology's forefront. In his Oracle role, Nilesh supports Cloud Infrastructure Sales in North America. Beyond work, Nilesh co-leads OPAL's Austin Chapter, empowering Asian American communities. With roots in Indian heritage, born in East Africa, and educated in the UK, Nilesh now calls Georgetown home with his family.

Welcome/Opening/Closing Remarks

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Anu Mandapati

Ascend Austin President; Global Head of Culture, DEI & Employee Experience

Anu Mandapati is an award-winning global Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), culture, and talent development executive. She was named one of the top 100 DEI Leaders of 2021 and 2022, is the Global Head of Culture, DEI & Employee Experience at Magic Leap, and serves as Faculty for the People & Culture Strategy Institute. Anu has previously served as Faculty for the Forum on Workplace Inclusion, VP, Head of DEI and Leadership Development at Talking Talent, and U.S. Diversity & Inclusion Coaching Leader at PwC. Leveraging her experience as an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Certified Team Performance Coach (CTPC), and National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), Anu works at the intersection of leadership, relationships, well-being, and inclusion to coach executives and teams to navigate change, work across differences, amplify their impact, and shape a better future. She has also partnered with various global Fortune 500 organizations to create their enterprise-wide talent development and DEI strategy. Anu also has a passion for writing about leadership development and is a contributing author of two books, The Female CEO and A View from the Top: Exceptional Leadership Strategies for Women. Her leadership tips, tools, and strategies have been featured in various publications, including Forbes, Fortune, HR Daily Advisor, Inc., Money, and Yahoo.

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Stephanie Yokoyama

Ascend EVP Brand & Programming; Data Engineering, Management, & Governance Manager

Accenture Federal Services

Stephanie is an emerging leader within Accenture Federal Services who manages intricate IT software implementations throughout the Department of Commerce. Stephanie has led numerous teams with experience across various domains, including data analytics, cloud modernizations, and most recently, the implementation of an ERP system with 47,000 end users across 86 countries globally. Through her consistent efforts, she has delivered tangible benefits to both colleagues and clients. Beyond her client contributions at Accenture, Stephanie is passionate about fostering the next generation of AAPI leaders. She joined Ascend in 2023 and has recently accepted a role as Executive VP of Brand & Programming of Ascend Austin, an active and growing community of over 160 professionals.

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