Northeast Wisconsin Asian American professionals group set to launch with Green Bay event
ASHWAUBENON - A national group founded to mentor and develop current and future generations of Asian American and Pacific Islander professionals will launch its eighth chapter in northeastern Wisconsin this week.
Asian Corporate Leaders & Entrepreneurs Northeast Wisconsin (ACEL) will introduce its plans, programs and mission during a launch party from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at Hinterland Brewery, 1001 Lombardi Ave., near Lambeau Field in Ashwaubenon.
The event, like the group, is open to residents of the New North region, which stretches from Fond du Lac north to Marinette and from Manitowoc to the western edges of the Appleton and Oshkosh metro areas.
Registration online at Eventbrite is required.
Increase belonging, visibility
The Northeast Wisconsin chapter of ACEL’s roots go back to 2020 when AAPI professionals in the region wanted to better support each other, increase their sense of belonging and impact the community.
Northeastern Wisconsin’s core counties saw a 35.3% increase in residents who identify as Asian American and Pacific Islander between 2010 and 2020. In the Green Bay School District, the fourth largest in the state, 9% of students identify as Asian American or Pacific Islander.
Barbara Koldos, the ACEL chapter’s president, pointed to a 2021 Wello well-being survey that showed the region’s non-white residents’ sense of belonging in the Green Bay area lagged behind white residents' sense of belonging.
Visibility and professional support will help young adults and students of all backgrounds feel they belong, help current AAPI professionals develop and play a part in broader efforts to retain and attract more working-age professionals to Northeast Wisconsin, Koldos said.
“It’s important for us: They need to belong, to be here,” Koldos said. “We need to do something to make sure the Asian population does feel like they belong, whether it’s in the United States or in northeast Wisconsin.”
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2023 goals: Build membership, InspirASIAN speakers in Appleton, Green Bay
ACEL NE WI is offering memberships for $100 that will help the group cover event costs for initial programming plans. As the group grows, members-only events may be created.
The group’s main focus this year will be to launch an InspirASIAN speaker series that brings five AAPI speakers to the Appleton and Green Bay areas.
Members also will get access to newsletters, mentorship programs, national ACEL programming, and connections to ACEL’s network of chapters. For example, Koldos said, if a member from Oshkosh is in Denver on business, now “they have a connection before they even go there.”
The group estimates its target audience, northeastern Wisconsin-based professional Asian American and Pacific Islanders ages 20 to 64, is about 22,000 people. U.S. Census Bureau data from 2021 showed 55.1% of the nation’s AAPI residents have at least a bachelor’s degree.
Membership is not limited to people who identify as AAPI. About 20% of ACEL members nationally do not identify as part of the AAPI community, said Jason Wong, founder and president of Asian Corporate & Entrepreneur Leaders.
Establishing connections among northeastern Wisconsin’s future leaders
Mai Nu Vang has been a teacher in Green Bay for six years, but only began to connect with other Asian American and Pacific Islander teachers in the last two years. She expects other AAPI professionals may want those same connections she did. and joined ACEL NE WI to help offer them.
“I wonder how many more Asians are out there and don’t know or don’t have the opportunities to get together, to have a professional setting to learn, inspire and grow together,” Vang said.
Vang is the group's vice president of events and now considers Koldos, New North Inc.’s vice president of business development, as a mentor who has helped her begin her own leadership journey.
“I get to join the board with Barbara, she’s awesome,” Vang said. “To have all these connections and mentors is really nice to have in the community, to grow that and be a part of it. No matter what culture, having that representation is such an inspiration.”
Koldos said it’s ACEL Northeast Wisconsin’s mission in action.
“I am a seasoned professional who has had the opportunity to work on boards and committees,” Koldos said. “I’m pulling others with me. I’m giving back to my community and having someone like Mai Nu who is just joining the board world.”
Looking for mentorship, finding none
Wong founded ACEL 17 years ago in Phoenix,. He said the northeastern Wisconsin chapter leaders' experiences echo his own search for a group about more than just socializing. Wong, who works in the finance industry, said most professional and AAPI groups he joined before founding ACEL didn't offer what he needed.
“I was the first Asian American manager (at my first) and the only minority manager in Arizona,” Wong said. “I was looking for mentorship and wasn’t getting it.”
ACEL now offers mentorship connections, professional development workshops and an AAPI speaker series. It's also added a couple of chapters at universities. Wong said one thing that sets ACEL apart from other, similar groups is that it is not only for young professionals or those working in specific industries.
“No need to be a lawyer or CEO. Anyone who’s a working professional and wants to develop their soft skills and leadership skills, can join,” Wong said.
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Northeast Wisconsin AAPI professionals launch new mentorship group
