AAPI Voices — Educate to Elevate

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. A conversation with AAPI advocacy Ann Kono, Cathay Bank Board Member; Founder and CEO of Leda Advisory Group.

Can you tell us a bit about your professional trajectory leading up to you joining the Cathay Bank Board of Directors last year? 

Early in my career, I was able to integrate my tech experience with my finance degrees to become a transformational leader. From there, I evolved to managing operations, data, risk and cyber functions. Today, I contribute at a strategic level on several boards along with Cathay Bank, leveraging my 28 years of experience in Finance.

What drives your passion toward youth development and education? 

I’m very focused on the future of our country. All of us can play a role in where it goes, and working with youth has the biggest ripple effect.

As the co-founder of TeachAAPI, how did this organization come to be? 

I experienced microaggression growing up in Boston and was so disappointed when my son started experiencing the same thing. Rather than complain, I decided to create a solution that focuses on ensuring future generations don’t have to endure it. We brought in educators and created a program that tells uplifting AAPI stories since they are part of the American story. Our intent is to break stereotypes through exposure and appreciation. We have 35 partner schools and have reached 125,000 kids in our first four years; our goal is to impact one million by 2028. Information about accessing the program — which is free to public schools — is available on our website at teachaapi.org.

What do you think the future development focus should be for the Asian Pacific Islander community in the United States? 

The focus must be on creating cohesion and appreciating ethnic differences — coming together as Americans. We need to coalesce — and we are seeing that happen through TeachAAPI. We started with one school and found out quickly people want this education. There’s hope, because shaping the future is up to us.

Do you have anything additional you would like to share for AAPI Month? 

I recommend finding an event to attend and experiencing a culture that’s new to you. When people think about AAPI, they think of the most prevalent populations: Chinese, Korean, and Indian, but there are so many more. One of our signature events at TeachAAPI will take place on May 18 at Smorgasburg LA in the Arts District. Join us and learn something new!