Recently, LA Times ran an article on the Return of the Glass Ceiling or as they put it, the female free management zone of corporate business. This article calls attention to a subject many have been lulled into thinking is on the way to be solved: the common belief is that women are assuming more corporate management positions and directorships and that women have free choice in how and where they advance in their careers.

Recently, LA Times ran an article on the Return of the Glass Ceiling or as they put it, the female free management zone of corporate business. This article calls attention to a subject many have been lulled into thinking is on the way to be solved: the common belief is that women are assuming more corporate management positions and directorships and that women have free choice in how and where they advance in their careers.

Statistics show that this is definitely not the case; in fact the situation is at best status quo or getting worse for women in corporations in spite the occasional standout exception like Indra Nooyi, the new CEO of Pepsi. There is a glaring dearth of women in the top executive suites of major corporations in the US in spite the fact that women have been getting over a third of the MBAs since the 1980s and that women comprise of over fifty percent of the managerial and professional workforce. For women of color the glass ceiling is even so much harder to break.

In 64 of the Fortune 500 companies, there are no women at all in the...

One of General Electrics four Affinity Networks, Asian-Pacific American Forum volunteers, contributed close to 900 hours of volunteer time at APAF CARES An Evening of Giving, a collaborative national community service event. The event was held at Universal Studios Hollywood as part of the 8th Annual GE APAF National Meeting.

Universal City, Calif., May 2, 2007 GE announced today a record community effort hosted by its Asian-Pacific American Forum (APAF). One of General Electrics four Affinity Networks, APAF volunteers, contributed close to 900 hours of volunteer time at APAF CARES An Evening of Giving, a collaborative national community service event. The event was held at Universal Studios Hollywood as part of the 8th Annual GE APAF National Meeting.

APAF CARES is an excellent example of our commitment in helping the communities in which we serve, said Bob Corcoran, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship at GE Corporation. In particular, one of the events, a bone marrow match drive, was driven by a local news story of an Asian-American boy suffering from a rare form of leukemia. This effort exemplifies how employee diversity can be a catalyst for significant community outreach efforts across the Company.

APAF CARES An Evening of Giving successfully completed three community service events. During the course of the one-night only event, hundreds of GE employees representing all six GE business units participated in various events. These events included a bone marrow...

Candlelight vigils were held in 9 cities June 3 as American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee are in court in North Korea facing charges of "illegal entry" and "hostile acts."
Read tonight's message from Laura Ling's sister, Lisa.

After more than two months of silence hoping that their daughters would be released through diplomatic channels, the Ling and Lee families have now gone public to plead for their daughter' safe return home.

UPDATE June 3, 2009 11pm PST

Message read at all 9 vigils, June 3rd - Trial Day for Laura and Euna:

Statement by Lisa Ling

On behalf of the families of Laura and Euna, I thank you. Words cannot express how moved we are that you have all come out here to support the girls. To the organizers and volunteers of this unbelievable grassroots movementat last count there were 9 vigils happening in cities across the U.S.--we are awed and deeply humbled by your efforts. Some of you we know, many of you we dont, most of you dont even know Laura and Euna. But tonight, we are forever linked.

It is the morning of June 4, in Pyongyang, North Korea. As we stand here tonight, it is entirely possible that my sister Laura and Euna Lee are standing trial in a North Korean courtroom. I know they are scared.

They are being charged with illegal entry and hostile acts. My sister is strong, but there is nothing hostile about her. Euna is the mother of the most angelic 4-year-old daughter, hardly a threatening character.

As many of you may have heard from some of...

Members of the Asian American business, accounting and finance community gathered in Los Angeles to rethink how they will do business in the future.

This is their second annual event since the founding last year of the LA Chapter of ASCEND, a non-profit organization which has ten professional chapters, 16 student chapters and more than 4,500 members nationally.

On May 20, 2008, the Los Angeles Metro Chapter of Ascend, whose aim is to be the premier professional association for enhancing the presence and influence of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the finance, accounting and business related professions, celebrated their 2nd annual event commemorating the launch of this local chapter last year.

Renowned actor and producer Ming Lo, appearing in Hollywood hits like Million Dollar Baby and Jarhead, emceed the event for the more than 200 guests and VIP's of the Asian American business community.

Co-Keynote speaker, the honorable Carol Liu, California State Senator, gave an insightful interpretation of the recent election results where Californians voted against all but one of the proposed propositions on the ballot noting that "Californians have spoken. Yesterday's election was a wake up call to government. It needs to revamp the ways of doing things in the state. The taxpayers have said [California's government] needs to make due with what [they] currently have, just like Californians have to do everyday." She also noted that going forward, governments need to "return to...

It was a noteworthy opening to any conference: a former supermodel/small business Bangladeshi entrepreneur, a former child laborer/Fortune 500 executive/author/consultant/philanthropist, the former Chairman & CEO of Unilever Spain & France/President of International Organization of Employers and the Director General of the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004.

It was a noteworthy opening to any conference: a former supermodel/small business Bangladeshi entrepreneur, a former child laborer/Fortune 500 executive/author/consultant/philanthropist, the former Chairman & CEO of Unilever Spain & France/President of International Organization of Employers and the Director General of the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona 2004.

The conference? The Role of the Corporation in the 21st Century in the Barcelona Forums sparkling new 67,000 square metre convention center in front of over 800 global business and non-profit leaders and some of the worlds brightest MBA students. This unusual group gathered to share, discuss and create socially and environmentally sustainable business practices, July 19-22, 2004 in Barcelona Spain. It was an exciting and sometimes contentious four days of dialogue and intense discussions, ranging from optimism to bordering on despair, on the state of business and the world.

I was that child laborer who grew up to return as a business executive to my native Hong Kong to improve the working conditions and environmental standards that...