The Committee of 100 Conversations – “Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes” program features interviews of Chinese Americans who have contributed to the success of America through their pioneering efforts, heroic achievements, or recollections of important events. Each interview will feature a live broadcast. The video and podcast recordings of the interview will be made available as part of a library of the interviews.

This Committee of 100 Conversations – “Recollections, Pioneers and Heroes” event—spotlighted Committee of 100 Chairman, Governor Gary Locke. A trailblazer in public service, Locke reflected on his groundbreaking journey and offered personal stories and perspectives from his distinguished career.

Governor Gary Locke has served as Governor of Washington State (the first Chinese American to be elected governor in United States history and the first Asian American governor on the mainland), U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and U.S. Ambassador to China. He is a leader in the areas of education, employment, trade, health care, human rights, privacy, and the environment.

Peter Young, Chair of the Conversations Initiative and Committee of 100 New York Regional Chair and Board Member, moderated this conversation.

Governor Gary Locke
Former Governor of Washington State, Secretary of Commerce and Ambassador to China;
Chairman of Committee of 100

American born Gary Locke is the son of a Chinese immigrant and an American politician, attorney, and former diplomat from the State of Washington. He has had a long and distinguish political career and record of defending human rights. Locke served as the 21st governor of Washington from 1997 to 2005, where he was the first Chinese American governor as well as the first Asian American governor in the continental U.S. During the Obama administration, Locke served as Secretary of Commerce from 2009 to 2011, and as Ambassador to China from 2011 to 2014, the first Chinese American to serve in the role. He is a graduate of Yale University and received a law degree from Boston University Law School.

When asked if there is place for Asian Americans in politics, Locke had this to say: “I think our native cultures have emphasized respect for and care of our elders, but also focusing on education. But my overall response is that Asian Americans are part and parcel of the great success of America. Our grandparents came over in the 1800s to work on the railroads, work the lumber camps, goldmines, worked in the canneries, farmland that most people thought could never raise a crop, worked as merchants in cities that were just emerging. They fought in world wars, died for our freedoms and our liberties. Asian Americans have given our blood, sweat, and tears to the communities and to this country. There’s a prosperity that we on the west coast enjoy. So much of the prosperity and progress of the western states is because of the blood, sweat and tears of Asian Americans. From doing the dirty work to fighting in our world wars and contributing to our society now as doctors, researchers, people in high tech, as innovators, in all different professions. We have every right, indeed a responsibility, to help set the policies that will move our communities and our nation forward.”

Peter Young
CEO and President of Young & Partners;
Committee of 100 New York Regional Chair and Board Member

Peter Young is CEO of Young & Partners, a boutique investment banking firm focused on the life science and chemical industries. He manages the firm and is actively involved in client transactions and financings. Under his leadership, Young & Partners has established and maintained its position as a highly regarded firm serving the corporate strategy, M&A, restructuring and financing needs of clients worldwide. He was previously head of industry groups at Salomon Brothers, Schroders and Lehman Brothers, a senior private equity executive with J.H. Whitney & Co. and a senior member of Bain & Co., the corporate strategy firm.

Young received a BA in Economics from Yale, an MS in Accounting from NYU, and MBA from Harvard Business School where he graduated with Distinction as a Baker Scholar. He is a CPA and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. He serves on a number of boards of directors, both corporate and non-profit and is a board member of Société de Chimie Industrielle, a leading life science and chemical industry non-profit organization and on the Editorial Advisory Board of Pharmaceutical Executive.