Ascend November Inspiring Across Generations

With 25 years of experience helping companies drive top-line growth and improve bottom-line efficiency, I am a seasoned Senior Executive with a wealth of expertise. I have helped Fortune 100 companies build and transform their business operations throughout my career, leading large-scale business transformations, M&A integration initiatives, and enterprise-wide technology transformations. My strengths lie in synthesizing business strategy to identify drivers and opportunities for growth. As a change agent and passionate leader, I inspire and motivate teams while building consensus across organizations. As a seasoned Transformation Architect, I have honed my skills in keeping an eye on the big picture and taking a holistic approach to strategy development. I understand the importance of considering all aspects of a business. My approach is to work collaboratively with organizations, enabling them to achieve their goals and maintain a competitive edge in today's rapidly changing market landscape.

Jackie is a Director in KPMG’s Cybersecurity Consulting practice specializing in DevSecOps, Application Security, and Security Operations. His core mission is to help clients navigate the complex landscape of software security and protect their most valuable enterprise assets from cyber threats. He works with teams to assist with cyber security strategy and governance, operational optimization and performance improvement, and the assessment and mitigation of cyber risk. Beyond his professional achievements, Jackie is deeply committed to positively impacting his community through volunteer service and mentorship. At KPMG, Jackie has supported various Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts and is currently serving as the Treasurer of the San Francisco Asian Pacific Islander (API) Business Resource Group. As a leader in the field of cybersecurity, Jackie also spends his time mentoring and empowering talent in underrepresented communities.

Michelle K. Sugihara is the Executive Director & CEO of CAPE (Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment), the world's longest-running non-profit organization creating opportunities and driving change for Asian and Pacific Islander success in Hollywood. She is a fourth generation Japanese American born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii. Michelle is also an entertainment attorney, film producer, and adjunct professor for the Claremont Colleges’ Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies. An avid public speaker, Michelle speaks and teaches across the country on various topics including Representation in Media; Women in Entertainment; Inclusive Storytelling; Leadership; and Improv for Non-Actors. IG: @capeusa; @michsugi.

"With a knack for trying and succeeding at new things," according to Forbes, Abigail has been described by Pop Culturist as “one of the voices of her generation.” Abigail is a New York Times bestselling author, a filmmaker and a woman-in-tech leader specializing in artificial intelligence, as well as a wife and mother of two. Abigail is a frequent speaker on topics of leadership, equity, representation, ethics and creative careers, including Talks at Google, the California Commonwealth Club (with Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland and Deb Liu, CEO Ancestry), META, Facebook AI, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Target, Twitch, The League of California Cities, Munger Tolle, the Barnes & Noble podcast, a virtual talk with Lea Salonga, as well as Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth and Berkeley among other venues. Abigail penned the New York Times bestselling novel, Loveboat, Taipei and companion novels Loveboat Reunion and Loveboat Forever. She serves as executive producer for the film adaptation Love in Taipei, a top 10 comedy on Paramount+. She and her work have been profiled in print and tv, including Entertainment Weekly, Bloomberg TV, Forbes, Fortune, Cosmopolitan, The Hollywood Reporter, Seventeen, NBCNews, NBC Bay Area, ABC7, and the World Journal. Abigail holds a BA from Harvard, where she took coursework in film, ethnic studies, and government. She also holds a JD from Columbia and MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. In her career in tech, she has negotiated multibillion-dollar deals on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, worked in venture capital, and hosted Intel’s Artificial Intelligence podcast featuring leading industry experts including Andrew Ng, Facebook's Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun, and US Congresswoman Robin Kelly. She also served with the Partnership on AI. Forbes describes her as, “One of the most respected voices in fairness and AI.”

A board-certified herbalist and Licensed Acupuncturist, Angela’s journey to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) started with a class in Medical Ethnobotany at UC Berkeley. This ignited her love of plant biology and spearheaded her graduate studies in pursuit of understanding Chinese medicinal plants, its history and use case in modern living. TCM is one of the oldest forms of medicine, anchored by the concept of holistic healing, restoring our connection with nature. Angela co-founded, YINA with the mission to demystify traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and help more people reclaim their vitality through modern wellness rituals inspired by TCM. "YINA" means harmony and beauty. They create multifaceted products, tools, and education that help you cultivate a profound lasting impact on your wellbeing.