NCTR Celebrates Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May 8, 2025

In 1992, Congress passed legislation permanently designating May as Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, when the nation recognizes and celebrates the rich historical and cultural contributions of people of Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander descent. (Its name was officially changed to Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month from Asian American Pacific Islander Month in 2021.)

[According to EDSITEment — which is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Trust for the Humanities, offering free resources for teachers, students, and parents — the month of May was chosen because it marks the arrival of the first Japanese immigrant to the United States on May 7, 1843, as well as the anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, the construction of which was successful through the labor of thousands of Chinese immigrants.]

This year’s theme, “A Legacy of Leadership and Resilience,” was announced by the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC), which said in a statement that the theme was chosen to honor “the hard work of AANHPI leaders who established a foundation for future generations to thrive and adapt to change and adversity.” The 2025 AANHPI Heritage Month poster features bamboo, which FAPAC explained as “a symbol of strength, endurance, and resilience for its ability to withstand the harshest conditions.” It can “bend with the wind and stand tall after the storm passes,” FAPAC said. It also “acknowledges the colloquial ‘bamboo ceiling’ and the cultural, organizational, and individual barriers that hinder advancement for AANHPIs in the workplace,” the organization explained.

When announcing this year’s theme, the FAPAC also paid tribute to several AANHPI trailblazers and leaders “whose resilience and courage have paved the way for future generations.” These include:

Lieutenant Susan Ahn Cuddy, who “prevailed against anti-Asian sentiments during World War II” to become the first Korean American woman in the U.S. military and the first female Navy gunnery officer.
Former Congressman Dalip Singh Saund, the first person of Asian descent to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1956, “who successfully lobbied to end restrictions to citizenship for Indian and Filipino immigrants and gave Asian Americans a voice at the national level.”
The late Secretary of Transportation Norman Mineta (D-CA), “who overcame racial injustice as a child of Japanese immigrants in a World War II internment camp to serve in the U.S. Army, Congress, and the Cabinet of Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.”

“These pioneers, often facing insurmountable barriers, have not only demonstrated exceptional leadership, but have also risked much to usher in change,” the FAPAC stressed. “Their stories of perseverance—of overcoming doubt, discrimination, and the weight of societal expectations—serve as inspiring reminders that resilience is a cornerstone of our community,” FAPAC went on, pointing out that each breakthrough they achieved “has laid the groundwork for those who follow, encouraging the next to dream boldly.”

So there is certainly much to celebrate regarding the many contributions of the AANHPI community to America, but the Association of Asian American Investment Managers (AAAIM) — a national non-profit organization dedicated to increasing diversity and inclusion in the investment management industry and serving as a powerful voice for the AANHPI community – also reminds us not to forget “the remarkable impact” of AANHPI leaders in finance and investment.

In fact, AANHPI entrepreneurs are behind some of the most successful startups in the U.S. For example, LinkedIn, Yahoo!, YouTube, and Zoom all have AAPI founders or co-founders. So do the well-known food purveyors Panda Express and DoorDash; the fitness companies Peloton and Fitbit; and the fashion brands Vera Wang, Old Navy, and Zappos, according to a 2023 article by Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In fact, BCG points out that “[m]ore than 26 percent of all billion-dollar-valued startups in the last two decades had at least one AAPI cofounder, per research by Stanford’s Ilya Strebulaev.”

However, AAAIM has shown through a number of studies and surveys that AANHPI s face structural barriers in career advancement and are often excluded when decisions are made regarding leadership positions – similar to members of other diverse communities. In addition, they must cope with what AAIM refers to as the “model minority myth” — which stereotypes AANHPI s as analytically-gifted hard-working employees who do not need support because they are perceived as thriving in the industry.

This is due to the fact that AANHPI s are relatively well-represented in junior-level positions in the financial industry, when compared to other minority groups. But in the most senior-level roles, including partners and managing directors, the representation of AAHIPIs falls to 9.9 percent. That is an attrition rate from entry level to senior level positions of about 50 percent. By comparison, for whites — classified as “non-diverse” in the report — their overall representation climbs from 71.4 percent in the lower ranks to 85.1 percent of the senior positions. This AAHIPI “unconscious bias” often leads the industry to group AANHPI s with Caucasians rather than with other minority communities, thus compounding the situation.

In 2024, AAAIM also released a study documenting a significant lack of Asian American and Pacific Islander representation in funding opportunities and career advancement within the venture capital (VC) investment community. The study also pointed out that governmental plans’ emerging manager programs “are not immune to bias against AAPI inclusion.” (For more information on these reports. see the NCTR FYI for May 19, 2023, entitled “New Study Documents AAPI Barriers to Progression in Asset Management,” as well as the April 18, 2024 FYI , “New Study Finds Serious AAPI Underrepresentation in Venture Capital.”)

So, while NCTR joins in honoring our Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander heritage this month, there is also more work that can be done in finance and investments to truly benefit from this community’s many contributions to our nation.

NCTR also wants to take this opportunity to honor Karen Yamamoto, the board Vice Chair and retiree representative with the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) — the largest educator-only public pension fund in the world – as well as the current President of NCTR for 2024-2025!

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher from Sacramento who taught kindergarten, first and second grades for 15 years before retiring in 2007. She is currently active in the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Program and the Japanese American Citizens League, Florin Chapter.

“Thank you, Karen, for your many years of service to children and to the field of education; for all your hard work supporting NCTR and advancing our shared mission of retirement security for educators; and for your continued efforts supporting California’s and the nation’s AANHPI community!”