Gold House continues to be one of the most important entertainment organizations in the industry, constantly fighting for better representation and opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Today, in honor of Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Gold House took another important step, unveiling its A100 list of the 100 most impactful Asians, as well as a suite of ventures focused on three distinct areas: representation, economic relief and individual empowerment.
First, the non-profit organization responsible for spearheading the critical “Gold Open” movement, which seeks to celebrate and highlight Asian and Pacific Islander projects, revealed the A100 list of most impactful Asians by category. The categories included (1) Activism, Advocacy, & Politics; (2) Business & Finance; (3) Entertainment; (4) Lifestyle; (5) Media & Journalism; (6) Sports & Health; and, (6) Technology & Innovation.
Some of the honorees include Vice-President Kamala Harris, Academy Award winning director Chloé Zhao, and tennis star Naomi Osaka.
Below are additional details on Gold House’s A100:
Representation – On the heels of its history-making Gold Open movement, Gold House continues reshaping public opinion through affirming media portrayals by unveiling its 2021 A100 List, the definitive API honor for the 100 most impactful leaders of the past year. A100 Honorees are voted on through a rigorous process with a panel of multicultural icons (including actress-singer Lea Salonga, Mastercard Executive Chairman Ajay Banga, Panda Express Co-CEOs Andrew and Peggy Cherng, multi-hyphenate Michael B. Jordan, Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger, and GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis, among others), 21 top API nonprofit groups, and hundreds of Gold House members. The A100 List launches in tandem to support We Can Do This that provides accessible knowledge about COVID-19 vaccines as communities reopen.
“Recognizing the achievements of the AAPI community couldn’t be more timely than right now. The tragic events of the recent past only serve to underscore the need to celebrate the many ways Asian Americans contribute to our country and the world,” says Daniel Dae Kim, A100 Icon Judge.
The A100 List also highlights A1 Honorees, the most impactful API(s) per category:
- Activism, Advocacy & Politics: Kamala Harris (Vice President of the United States)
- Business & Finance: Amrita Ahuja (Chief Financial Officer, Square)
- Entertainment: Chloé Zhao (Writer and Director)
- Lifestyle: Padma Lakshmi (Author, Host, and Executive Producer)
- Media & Journalism: #StopAsianHate-focused journalists including Benny Luo (Founder & CEO, NextShark), CeFaan Kim (Reporter, ABC7NY), Dion Lim (Anchor & Reporter, ABC7 KGO-TV), Kimmy Yam (Reporter, NBC Asian America), Weijia Jiang (Senior White House Correspondent, CBS News)
- Sports & Health: Naomi Osaka (Professional Tennis Player)
- Technology & Innovation: Eric S. Yuan (Founder & CEO, Zoom)
This year, for the first time ever, those who have been an A100 Honoree more than twice (including Awkwafina, BTS, Dwayne Johnson, Grace Meng, Michelle Lee, Prabal Gurung, Priyanka Chopra, and Steven Yeun) will be inducted into the Hall of Fame—a continual tribute to their indelible contributions. To further fete honorees, Gold House will host several Future Town Halls with Facebook mid-May that explore women-led businesses, representation, and cross-cultural solidarity.
Additionally, to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Amazon Music and IMDb are coming together with Gold House, Pacific Bridge Arts Foundation (PBA) and Transparent Arts to present the 2021 installment of Identity Festival. Streaming live on Saturday, May 15th at 5PM PST on Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel (Twitch.tv/AmazonMusic), this year’s festival will feature performances and segments from transformational figures across the AANHPI community, including Dumbfoundead, Karen Fukuhara, James Reid, Yuna, Steve Aoki, and many more to be announced. The event will also raise money to help aspiring API talent break into the music industry through PBA’s scholarship programs and the AAPI Community Fund, Gold House’s GoFundMe collaboration.
The full list of this year’s Honorees and Selection Committee can be found at goldhouse.org/a100.
Although Gold House is typically focused on entertainment and media, in recognition of the dramatic increase in anti-Asian attacks in recent months, the non-profit collective has expanded its initiatives to focus on areas of socioeconomic impact and personal empowerment.
Two economic initiatives from Gold House are the Gold Rush and the Future Network. The Gold Rush, affectionately referred to as “Asian Prime Day” is a partnership with Facebook where consumers can support API small businesses. Be sure to head over to GoldRush.Market from May 17-31 to support!
As for its Future Network, Gold House looks to connect rising filmmakers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, and founders with top industry leaders to open doors and provide more opportunities. Applications are now open at goldhouse.org/me. Check out additional details below:
Economic Investments – While the New York Times reports that AAPIs are the fastest growing population in the nation, Asian-owned businesses were the hardest hit out of all demographic groups nationwide during the pandemic. Economic investment remains a vital sister to authentic and prominent representation as commerce often sustains influence.
To that end, Gold House’s nation-leading founder accelerator, Gold Rush, will debut its fourth signature sale (dubbed “Asian Prime Day”) from May 17-31 at GoldRush.Market and in partnership with Facebook where consumers can support promising API-led small businesses via exclusive products and discounts. The newest accelerator class will also engage in a new women’s programming track, courtesy of Endowed Chair, Julia Gouw (Chairwoman of Piermont Bank), to address Asian women being the least likely to be promoted to management, as well as an intimate founder-investor matchmaking showcase powered by BMW.
Further, Gold House is unveiling its Future Network, the premier next generation API collective, to create pathways for representation and success that allow top filmmakers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, and founders to rise: through career-making and company-defining job opportunities with major industry partners as well as world-class mentoring and skill-building. The collective will also collaborate with other multicultural communities for mutual co-elevation. Applications are open now at goldhouse.org/members with the first class and major partners announced later this year.
“There’s a discrepancy between how APIs are regarded publicly and the power the community has always wielded. We’ve always been here–leading, artifying, investing, and speaking up. And as we continue forging allyship with other communities, we must also remember that we’re only as strong for others as we are, ourselves. On the shoulders of established leaders and activists who we celebrate today, it’s time to send the elevator down to invest in even more socioeconomic opportunities for our communities: from investing in the next generation of cultural leaders to We Can Do This’ vaccination education to local community investments via our GoFundMe collaboration and the Gold Futures Grant Challenge. When things get tough, we get tougher; we’re here–and we’re here to last.” said Bing Chen, President of Gold House.
Finally, in an effort to raise awareness within the community on COVID-19 vaccines and raise funds for grassroots organizations, Gold House is supporting We Can Do this, an educational campaign, and continuing with its hugely important GoFundMe collaboration, which has raised more than $5.5 million for community organizations.
Individual Empowerment – Community empowerment begins with individuals. The Journal of General Internal Medicine recently found that Asians, Latinx, and Black Americans had the highest COVID-19 attributable deaths, with frequencies at least twice that of White Americans. To help ensure community health that will lead to accelerated returns of normalcy, Gold House is supporting We Can Do This to raise awareness on COVID-19 vaccines through educational campaigns with API communities that have been historically omitted due to language barriers or lack of healthcare access.
In addition to its GoFundMe collaboration that’s raised more than $5.5 million for local grassroots organizations devoted to restorative justice and millions more directly to attack victims alongside more than 100 cultural leaders, Gold House is continuing its on-the-ground empowerment through a new annual Gold Futures Grants Challenge in collaboration with Asian American Futures, a nonprofit led by philanthropists and community leaders. The challenge will increase and democratize philanthropy by engaging the public in funding projects that help AAPIs be Seen, Heard, and Empowered. Organizations can apply now at www.goldfutureschallenge.org.
“Our hope in launching the Gold Futures Grants Challenge is to inspire philanthropic giving, volunteerism, and social innovation among younger generations of AAPI,” says Joanna Kong, AAF Board Co-Chair. “Through our website, the public will be able to learn about and get involved with local and national projects that will help create a better and brighter future for AAPIs.”
About Gold House
Gold House is the premier nonprofit collective of Asian founders, creative voices, and leaders dedicated to unifying the world’s largest populace–Asians and Pacific Islanders–to fight for authentic multicultural representation and societal equity. Our ventures include membership systems and benefits to fortify relationships among Asians and with other marginalized communities (#StopAsianHate, All of Us Movement); championing authentic Asian representation through media to reshape public opinion (Gold Open, Gold Records, A100 List); and accelerating economic success and commercial representation through Asian founders (Gold Rush, Founder Network, Angel Network). To learn more, visit www.goldhouse.org or follow @GoldHouseCo on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Ron is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of POC Culture. He is a big believer in the power and impact of pop culture and the importance of representation in media.