Eva Noblezada and Vivek J Tiwary Included on Gold House's A100 List

Gold House, the largest nonprofit collective of Asian cultural leaders that accelerates the inclusive representation and empowerment of Asians, announced its third annual A100 List to celebrate Asians and Asian American & Pacific Islanders (AAPI) and their transformative contributions to society. The seminal 2020 A100 launches in partnership with the 2020 Census, a critical count of everyone who lives in America. The online destination was developed with creative agency Barrel.

Each year, the A100 commences Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by spotlighting the 100 most esteemed and impactful Asians in entertainment and media, fashion and lifestyle, technology, business, and social activism. The List, determined by 20 Asian nonprofit groups, a panel of multicultural icons, and hundreds of Gold House members, unites the Asian diaspora with other communities in celebrating excellence and championing a path towards a more inclusive future for everyone. This year, for the first time, voters selected the single most impactful Asians per category as well as the Legend Honor for lifetime achievement including:

· Business: Betty Liu (Executive Vice Chairman, New York Stock Exchange)

· Fashion and Lifestyle: Prabal Gurung (Designer)

· Media & Entertainment: Awkwafina (Actress, Producer, Musician)

· Social Activism: Andrew Yang (Humanity Forward and former Presidential Candidate)

· Technology: Satya Nadella (CEO, Microsoft)

· Legend Honor: Miky Lee (Vice Chairman, CJ Entertainment)

· The full A100 list may be viewed at a100list.com.

Championing the A100 and AAPI community is more important now than ever, as anti-Asian sentiment has surged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stop AAPI Hate, a project tracking hate incidents against Asian Americans, received more than 1,135 reports in just two weeks. Crisis Text Line reported that AAPIs, which represent about 6% of the US population, accounted for 16% of all crisis texts related to coronavirus. These are just a few of the reported numbers the AAPI community has faced in recent weeks -- a community that continues to have the greatest wealth disparity of any racial group and is the least likely to be promoted to management, seek mental health services or be counted in the Census.

According to the 2020 Census Barriers Attitudes and Motivators Study, Asian Americans have the lowest awareness about the 2020 Census and are therefore least likely to complete their Census questionnaire. As the fastest growing population in America, it is critical that Asian Americans be counted once, only once, and in the right place for accurate statistical representation that affects so much of our everyday lives.

Despite these challenges, AAPIs remain critical to American society. According to a Nielsen report in 2019, AAPIs not only experienced the most rapid population and spending power growth (214% since 2000 vs. 19% for the rest of the country) of any U.S. ethnicity, but also exhibit the highest rates of internet connectivity and are voicing their influential opinions at a "market-changing pace." In the streaming war, AAPIs are the highest media streamers with 82% subscribed to at least one service. Research by Gold House indicates that nearly 30% of "unicorn" and "unicorn-emerging" companies--startups with at least $500 million in valuation--have at least one Asian founder, suggesting that a growing number of Asians are disrupting industries rather than only working to be promoted. Gold House serves as a culmination of these facts to showcase and spread further awareness of AAPI's broadening impact on consumerism, culture, and business.

"The AAPI community is facing a pivotal juncture in our history. Unprecedented hope and progress--seen in IPOs and other major company exits to the Democratic Presidential Primaries to the Oscars and Golden Globes--quickly turned into hateful harassment and violence," said a Gold House spokesperson. "The A100 spotlights significant contributions made by the Asian diaspora that transcend ethnicities, generations, industries, and continents--a powerful reminder that we have always been and will continue to be an integral part of the fabric of American society."

The A100 will be celebrated throughout the month of May through several forums:

· Identifying new avenues for empowerment through a live virtual discussion featuring several Honorees later this month to discuss the current and future State of Asian America and its next steps to grow as a community in partnership with the 2020 Census.

· Bolstering representation through live #GoldOpen Live Watch Parties for major Asian films with their cast and crew.

· Several other to-be-announced events

The full list of this year's Honorees and Selection Committee can be found at a100list.com and on social media via #A100. Nominations for Gold House's 2021 A100 are open now at goldhouse.org/nominate. Discover more about Gold House and additional initiatives at www.goldhouse.org.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski