The Asian-American community is the fastest-growing demographic in the U.S. today. Vivian Young, Global Head of the Office of Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs at JPMorgan Chase, joins ChedHER to discuss how the firm is advancing racial and social equity for Asian-Americans.

chedHER

Advancing Racial and Social Equity for Asian-Americans

our next guest is making it her mission to advance racial and social equity for these individuals by improving financial literacy and fueling business growth joining us now, Vivian young global head of the Office of Asian and pacific islander affairs at Jpmorgan Chase. So good to have you on the show. Vivian last year Jpmorgan Chase established its office of asian and pacific islander affairs. What is the goal of this team and what kind of success have you seen over the past year? Well, thank you Asia for having me. I'll start by saying that Jpmorgan Chase is committed to advancing equity and inclusion for all underrepresented groups and establishing an office specific to understanding the needs of the asian and pacific islander community is unique and that I'm not aware of any other organization that has this level of focus. So as you said, the Asian American community is the fastest-growing demographic and represents 7.4% of the population, or 22.7 million people And we represent over 30 different ethnicities and speak over 100 languages, our education, employment and economic stability varies across the community And almost 70% of Asian Americans are foreign-born. So understanding culture is really critical to our success over the past year. We've we've gathered research on this diverse community and we're using this information to prioritize our efforts to improve financial literacy, business growth and employee development. Yeah, sorry to cut you off. It's just that that is a really tall order because we know the Api community is not a monolith there a melting pot of so many different cultures and nuances. So what are some of the biggest challenges that the api community is facing right now? Well, as you said, we're we are not a monolith and I would say the challenges our communities are dealing with are as diverse as the community itself. But I would say since the beginning of the pandemic there are two dominant issues that have been impacting our community. One of them is the rise in anti asian hate and then the other one is economic loss. So according to stop aapi I hate There have been over 11,000 hate related incidents that have been reported against Asian Americans since 2020. And on the economic front, 63% of small businesses have been negatively impacted. But there's this perception that all asians are doing well and that we don't need help. So what's critical is having current disaggregated data to understand the needs of this diverse community because without the disaggregated data, communities on the margin will continue to be overlooked and underserved by our local state and federal governments. So for me, desegregated data is a huge priority. So we can really understand the diverse needs of the community, identify unique barriers to accessing the financial system and prioritizing solutions that will have the most impact. So how is jpmorgan chase supporting this issue, fighting against it from the inside out regarding its asian american employees. Well, I'm proud to say. We recently released our workforce composition report earlier this month And 17% of our us workforce self identifies as Asian or Pacific Islander. We have a very strong business resource group called Aspire where we focus on professional development, cultural awareness and discuss issues impacting our community. And over the past few years we've really emphasized the importance of well being, especially mental health in this time crisis. We've hosted a series of events that we call courageous conversations that brings employees together where they can share their experiences and discuss strategies to cope with stress. And these sessions have been really powerful and have helped employees feel less isolated and connected, especially at the height of the pandemic when we were all working remotely. Yeah. In addition to that, I think a lot of viewers out there are also wondering how Jpmorgan Chase is supporting api entrepreneurs and also engaging with local communities. Yes, so I was just in Seattle last week and met with local businessmen in the chinatown international district and through my conversations with many people, it's clear that many of them have not recovered from the pandemic and continue to need assistance. So what we're doing is collaborating with our local nonprofit partners and we have Jpmorgan community managers on the ground who are able to deliver business coaching, financial assistance and other services. You know, to your point there are over 500,000 Asian owned businesses in the United States and they truly are the heartbeat of our communities, providing essential services, jobs and income to working families. Yeah, just about 30 seconds left with you, I want to know in this role, what type of goals do you hope to reach a year from now or even five years down the line? Let's say, having this platform, I have the opportunity to educate and represent the api community and as a proud Filipino american who immigrated to this country when I was three years old, Michael is to drive opportunity and progress for all through cultural, understanding, collaboration and raising awareness about the issues we face. And I'm really hopeful that through collective action we will forge new paths for growth and create transformational change that will enable all of our communities to thrive. Yes, Vivian, love to see two Filipinas on chat her. Thank you so much for joining us and congratulations on everything you've built thus far. That's Vivian young global Head of the Office of Asian and pacific islander affairs over at Jpmorgan Chase