Leading the Change: Strengthening our community during Asian Heritage Month

May is Asian Heritage Month, and I’m especially proud to celebrate it this year. Our Asian and Pacific Islander colleagues in Canada have come together to start a new employee interest group, highlighting the value of community in promoting both individual and collective wellbeing. This move follows the momentum created from a powerful open forum held earlier this year, which brought together hundreds of our people vocal and passionate about standing against anti-Asian racism in Canada.

The Canadian Asian Pacific Interest Group is already making a significant impact amongst our people coast to coast, creating a permanent, defined community and space where those of Asian Pacific Islander heritage, alongside allies, can safely share their experiences, find support and encouragement, and develop resources to help inform and inspire others within and outside of Accenture.

Championing the cause as a co-executive sponsor of the group is Richard Wang, a senior executive in our Technology practice. Below, read our conversation about what this group means to our people and what motivates him to support future leaders.

JR: Why was this Asian Heritage Month the perfect time to formally connect members of the Asian and Pacific Islander community at Accenture from coast to coast?

RW: This timing is an opportunity that perfectly speaks to our group’s mission to increase the visibility and safety of the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community. Asian Canadian is a term that encompasses a very diverse set of cultures and identities from many different countries and journeys to being in Canada. Asians are not a monolith, and we want to ensure all our colleagues across Canada feel represented. The Interest Group itself is really driven by the energy of the Leaders, Kristen Shi and Melody Cao. With the support of Naomi Manley-Casimir and myself, we’re privileged to witness and be a part of getting this group started. We’re hopeful that we can provide a positive presence of support like the many other great Accenture Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) here in Canada.

So far, with just word of mouth in advance of formal communications and campaigns for membership, we already have 66 members. What’s great is the initial membership also includes allies and a broad diversity of Asian representation. This is very encouraging as we look to amplify our announcements in the coming weeks across Accenture Canada.

JR: What are some of the top priorities for this new Canadian Asian Pacific Interest Group? What sorts of events do you plan to hold to engage and educate our people?

RW: Our starting point is to create a safe space for the community to engage in conversations, share our diverse stories, and provide resources amongst one another. We hope to empower our members by advancing diversity through celebrations of unique cultural elements, as well as networking, community outreach, and promotion of dialogue in our community. We will amplify and play an active role in Canadian inclusion and diversity initiatives. We also want to function as a space for allies to come and learn about the diverse Canadian-Asian experience, to participate in cultural events, and to find effective ways to support their Asian and Pacific Islander colleagues in the workplace.

JR: You are also already involved with our Black Outreach Learning and Development (BOLD) ERG and the Race and Ethnicity Leadership Roundtable. What made you want to get involved as a co-executive sponsor with this interest group?

RW: The greatest thing about Accenture is our people and how we are able to work together to achieve even greater things. This group is intended to help our employees be the most that they can be at Accenture and as positive and authentic human beings in general. I saw the passion of people like Kristen and Melody as well as the flood of positive responses and reactions to our large open forum call in March, and it made very simple sense as a leader to be involved. I’ve been with Accenture for almost 23 years and it continues to evolve and improve. These initiatives and groups didn’t exist when I was young, so I’m very happy to support our future leaders with shaping the Accenture of tomorrow.

JR: Are there any plans to collaborate with our counterparts south of the border in the Asian Pacific America (APA) ERG?

RW: We definitely are learning from our colleagues in the U.S. With their experience and willingness to share, we are the direct beneficiaries of having access to their leaders, events and organization. As a new interest group, we love having other groups help us accelerate. There are a lot of common experiences at the North American level and during this pandemic, virtual attendance for events makes it very easy for Canadians to participate in the U.S.-led meetings and calls. We have had offers from other ERGs like BOLD and we absolutely love the support.

JR: It’s great to hear that there’s already a lot of positive response and uptake on this call to action. What message would you want the momentum to send to people seeking to support their Asian and Pacific Islander colleagues and foster a greater sense of community?

RW: As we are still getting mobilized, we would love to have more members, allies and especially volunteers to be part of the core committee with good representation across the broad Asian diversity. This interest group isn’t just about how people can contribute at Accenture but also within the community. Canada has its share of challenges; at the most basic is the immediate issue of safety with Vancouver recently being noted for having the most per capita Asian hate incidents across North America, many of these targeting the elderly and women. Let’s be aware, get involved and recognize the opportunity to support each other. We want to enable people to be their most genuine and authentic selves and bring that together to help our clients and each other for a greater Accenture.