CHALLENGING LEADERS/ ADVANCING CAREERS

Forty years ago Leadership Education for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (LEAP) began with a simple yet powerful idea: if Asian and Pacific Islander (API) communities were to realize their full potential and foster robust participation in this increasingly globalized world, their communities would have to produce leaders who could advocate and speak on their behalf. "Now," reports Linda Akutagawa, LEAP president and CEO, "our partnerships with major corporations have produced a meaningful roster of leadership training programs and an ever-increasing cadre of leaders within corporations, who in turn inspire the next generation of leaders in the broader API community"

- JUDITH L. TURNOCK

Akutagawa continues: "Because of our deep roots in the very diverse API community, our strength has A been keeping pace with changing needs and realizations. We began with diversity-what I call being invited to the dance. Now we are focused on getting to belonging, where we are both welcomed and truly engaged. At the most successful companies, DEI is firmly planted in the business strategy, and belonging, the actual goal, is on the horizon. This journey, simple to state though decades long in implementation, is bringing better outcomes for every business organization." Equally important for the API community are visible role models as the inspiration to follow in their footsteps.

LEAP is standing on a rock-solid foundation, and not a moment too soon. Over the last 40 years, the US Census reports that the API population grew from 3.5 million to more than 23 million and, over the next few decades, predicts it will more than double, to almost 50 million. This is a workforce and customer pool that corporations need to engage.