Awards Dinner
Awards Dinner
Keynote: Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman
Remarks: Ambassador Katherine Tai, U.S. Trade Representative
Awardees: Congresswoman Judy Chu (CA-27); Susi Feltch Malohifo'ou, CEO, Pik2ar; Chieh Huang, CEO/Co-Founder, Boxed; Emilio Gonzalez, Executive Director, Public Policy & Strategic Initiatives, Verizon; Allen Jung and Queen Katsuta, Co-Owners, Barbe-Queen; Yu-Ling Wong and Jade Wong, Co-Owners, Facing East; Krizzia Yang, Owner, Bonifacio
National ACE was honored to be joined by Small Business Administrator Isabella Casillas Guzman for the Awards Dinner. Administrator Guzman discussed many of the legislative accomplishments of the Biden-Harris Administration, such as passage of the CHIPS & Science bill, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, and what they mean for the AAPI community. These laws translate into more contracting opportunities, job growth and economic development for AAPI businesses.
During the Awards Dinner on Tuesday evening, National ACE recognized Congresswoman Judy Chu for the Public Servant of the Year Award for her leadership of the Congressional Asian Pacific Islander Caucus and for her efforts to provide more resources for AAPI small businesses and entrepreneurs. She was instrumental to the Small Business Administration's decision to include language translation in several Asian languages in their programming and resources, a crucial step to make SBA resources more accessible to AAPI small businesses.
National ACE honored Susi Feltch Malohifo’ou, CEO of Pacific Island Knowledge 2 Action Resources (Pik2ar) with the Advocate of the Year award to recognize her advocacy efforts on behalf of the Pacific Islander community. In spite of health challenges, Susi tiressley showed up to meetings and events, and led efforts to support Pacific Islanders, who too often go unrecognized. National ACE is honored to have Susi as a member of our network, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with Susi.
The Corporate Champion of the Year Award was awarded to Emilio Gonzalez, Executive Director, Public Policy & Strategic Initiatives at Verizon. Verizon has for many years been a valued partner to National ACE and resource to the National ACE network. Emilio is a strong ally to the AAPI small business community, he is always quick to ensure that AAPIs are included in digital broadband discussions. We’re honored to be partnered with Verizon and to have Emilio be a leader and an advocate for AAPIs.
Last, but certainly not least, the Executive of the Year Award was presented to Chieh Huang, the CEO of Boxed - a New York City based online retailer dubbed as “The Costco millennials”. Boxed successfully went public in December 2021, 8 years after he launched from his parent’s basement in Edison, New Jersey. Cheih understands the hard work, grit and self-discipline that it takes to launch and operate a successful company and is just one success story within the AAPI small business community.