We are pleased to invite you to the 60th event organized by the Committee of 100 Asian American Career Ceilings Initiative. This virtual event will enable Asian Americans who are in the early to mid-stages of their careers to get valuable advice from experienced and successful Asian Americans in the technology industry. We have been holding this event for different professions in the past and will continue to do so in the future.
We will start with welcoming comments and introduction to the advisors, followed by virtual breakout rooms where the experienced Asian American advisors will host individual breakout rooms that attendees can join. The attendees will have a list of the experienced advisors in advance and will be able to choose which breakout rooms they want to visit to get career advice and to ask questions. The attendees will be able to move from room to room as they wish.
This will be a unique opportunity to explore career paths in the technology profession with experienced industry executives. Discussions will be frank and informative as each breakout room host will answer your questions and share personal insights and their stories about successful careers in technology.
We hope this event will help those of you who are getting ready to start your careers or who are at junior or mid-level levels of your organization. We hope that this event will help you overcome obstacles and accelerate your careers.
List of Advisors as of August 24, 2026:
Ramki Desiraju
COO, TTEC Digitial
Ramki is a seasoned strategist and digital transformation leader with over 25 years of global experience in IT, consulting, and enterprise strategy. He has a proven track record of driving client value through AI, cloud, and modernization initiatives, leading large-scale portfolios to profitable growth.
Before joining TTEC Digital as COO, Ramki held senior leadership roles at DXC and IBM, where he led strategy, transformation, and operations across global organizations. He earned a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering, has received recognition for his leadership and innovation, holds multiple patents, and serves on the board of White Plains Hospital.
Buck Gee
Executive Advisor, Ascend
Buck Gee is an Executive Advisor to Ascend, a nonprofit Pan-Asian organization of business professionals. In 2010, he co-founded the Advanced Leadership Program for Asian American Executives, an executive education program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
He has co-authored numerous Ascend research papers on the topic of the Asian glass ceiling, including “Hidden in Plain Sight” (2015), “The Illusion of Asian Success” (2017), “The Diversity-Equity Gap in the Fortune 500” (2023), and “What About the Women” (2024). He has written opinion pieces on Asian American issues published in the Harvard Business Review, the New York Times, USA Today, the San Jose Mercury-News, KQED, and salon.com.
He is a member of Committee of 100 and serves on its board of directors as NorCal regional chair. He also serves on the boards of the Chinatown Media and Art Collective (CMAC), the Asia Society/Northern California, and APIAVote.
Mr. Gee retired in 2008 from Cisco Systems, where he was Vice President and General Manager of the Data Center Business Unit. He joined Cisco with its 2004 acquisition of startup Andiamo Systems where Mr. Gee was President and CEO. A Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, he was an executive at Crescendo Communications (acquired by Cisco ‘93) and Com21 (IPO ’98). He has also taught computer and engineering courses at Stanford University and Howard University.
This year, he has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF) and the Leadership Award from the International Leadership Foundation (ILF). He has also received the received the Distinguished Leader award from the Chinese Historical & Cultural Project (CHCP) in 2022, the Distinguished Community Leadership Award from Ascend in 2019, the Executive Excellence Award from the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA) in 2015 and the Civic Entrepreneurship Award from the Asian Pacific Islander Leadership Institute (APALI) in 2012.
He holds BSEE and MSEE degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.
J. J. Jiang
Founder & Builder, M8ven
His current company is focused on trust infrastructure for social and agentic commerce. Formerly senior executive AWS, StockX, Clarifai. Education: Rochester Institute of Technology, MS Computer Engineering; Harvard Business School, MBA.
Bolong Li
Vice President, Head of Global Acquisition, Retention, and Growth at Amazon’s Audible
As the Vice President, Head of Global Acquisition, Retention, and Growth at Amazon’s Audible, Bolong Li spearheads cross-functional teams dedicated to fostering sustained growth and enhancing customer experiences across diverse platforms.
Before his tenure at Audible, Bolong accrued two years of experience at Apple, where he concentrated on Business Development and Retail Management. His career trajectory began in the financial industry, leveraging his educational background in finance from both undergraduate and graduate studies.
He also contributes in the academic world by serving as adjunct prof at Columbia business school and NYU. He is a sought-after public speaker at digital marketing and leadership summits, earning recognition from esteemed platforms such as Forbes and others.
Bolong earned his master’s degree from New York University and currently resides in New York City with his family.
Shaun Pan
Chief Commercial Officer, Nazdar Company
VP Membership and Board Member, Société de Chimie Industrielle
Shaun is the Chief Commercial Officer of Nazdar Company, responsible for all aspects of commercial operations, including sales, marketing, and business development. His responsibilities include technology areas such as the implementation of AI at Nazdar. He also leads 4 business unit VPs.
He has also had senior executive positions at BASF and PPG as well as serving in the Corporate Strategy arm of IBM. Education: Princeton University, Ph.D, Chemical Engineering;
NYU Stern School of Business, Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Strategy and Marketing; Cornell University, Bachelor’s Degree, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Denise Peck
Executive Advisor, Ascend
Former Cisco VP
Denise is currently an Executive Advisor to Ascend, the largest nonprofit Pan-Asian organization for business professionals in North America. Denise co-developed and teaches various leadership skills development programs targeted at helping Pan-Asian professionals and managers to succeed in their careers. She continues to provide mentoring and executive coaching services to people at all career stages.
Denise is a former executive of Cisco Systems and held a number of VP positions in marketing, operations, engineering services, and IT in San Jose, California and Shanghai, China. Denise was a long time executive sponsor and advocate of Cisco’s diversity initiatives, particularly on behalf of women and Asian employee networks. Prior to Cisco, Denise held senior marketing management positions at Sun Microsystems. Denise has a BA degree in Economics from U.C. Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford University.
Jay Shek
Founder, Formula
Founder of Formula an AI-native growth agency for rapidly scaling D2C health and e-commerce brands. They automate the entire funnel optimization process—from strategy and design to testing and measurement. The result: seamless, high-converting funnels that drive massive lift.
Hone Health, VP, Consumer Product, for people who care about proactively improving their health, Hone recommends and provides the most effective, personalized range of therapies to maximize healthspan and undo the effects of aging on quality of life.
Noom Inc., Director of Product Management. Helping people everywhere lead healthier lives through behavior change. Product teams built/managed: Coaching, Community, Core + Growth Experimentation, Data/AI Platform, and Product Operations.
Facebook Product Manager, buiding AI systems to power location-based advertising and consumer products.
Locality, Co-founder & CEO. Built Locality from concept to 2M monthly users, owning vision/roadmap, product development, marketing, hiring, and fundraising.
Betable, CFO. First non-engineer at a VC-funded gaming startup, doing product, marketing, finance, and BD.
