Celebration of The AAPI Community in Public Relations

Members of the AAPI community have worked in the public relations and communication profession for the past half century, yet their names are barely known, their stories yet to be told. As we strive to attract more young people of the AAPI community into the field, we are shining a light on these extraordinary pioneers. By getting to know the rich heritage of AAPI history in PR and communication, more young professionals will be compelled to join—making their own contributions to business and society.

Tuesday, May 3, 2022, 7pm ET
Watch the video now (approx. 2 hours).

Panelists

After-discussion
A team of students from leading universities will engage in an after-discussion following the panel:

• Ms. Vrinda Agrawal, Penn State University

• Ms. Mia Cadle, Kent State University (Ohio)

• Mx. Xinni Chen, University of Florida

• Ms. Aria Palaganas, University of Guam; and

• Mr. Ian Solano, University of Southern California.

Thanks to our Sponsors

Sponsored in part by Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia; Jon Iwata, TV One; Renew PR; Page; Pat Ford; IW Group; iQ 360; Kit Stinson & Richard Muldoon; Diversity Action Alliance (DAA); Davis+Gilbert, Muck Rack; and CommPRO.

CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP
All corporate sponsors will be thanked at the start of the program, listed in the program, recognized on social media, and featured on the home page of the Museum's website.
BRONZE: $1,000 — recognition at the opening and close of the show; your logo or name on all event materials up to and including day of show
SILVER: $2,500 — all the above, plus access to our registration list
GOLD: $5,000 — all the above, plus opportunity to have a 15-second “commercial” at the start of the show
PLATINUM $10,000 — all the above, plus opportunity to have two 15-second “commercials” at the start of the show.

OTHER SUPPORT
Your contribution enables free admission to students and professionals around the world, and make the program available to all after the event.
EDUCATOR $50 | FRIEND $100 | ADVOCATE $250 | CHAMPION $500

STUDENTS & RECENT GRADS
$5  |   $10  |   $20  |   OTHER

1. Grace Lee Boggs (1915–2015)
   Grace Lee Boggs was an American author, social activist, philosopher, and feminist. She is known for her years of political collaboration with C. L. R. James and Raya Dunayevskaya in the 1940s and 1950s. In the 1960s she and James Boggs, her husband of some forty years, took their own political direction.

2. Renato E. Nieva (1943–2018)
   Rene Nieva started Perceptions, a startup in 1987 that went on to leading and pioneering PR and corporate communications firms in the Philippines. He served four terms as National Chairman of the Philippine Chapter of the International PR Association (IPRA), was a member of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP) and of the Philippine Association of PR Counselors.

3. Maximino J. Edralin Jr. (1931–2022)
   Edralin was a leading public relations figure for more than 50 years. As a Citibank vice president he was responsible for raising the profile of the bank as a source of banking talents. He served as a public relations consultant of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas for 22 yeas. He also served as chairman of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Philippine Chapter and was also president of the Public Relations Society of the Philippines (PRSP), the Bank Marketing Association of the Philippines, the Boy Scouts of the Philippines, and Operation Smile Philippines and Kannawidan Foundation.

4. Teodoro "Teddy" Benigno, Jr. (1923–2005)
   Teddy Benigno was the first Filipino to head a foreign news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP). He became the AFP bureau chief in 1950, and as its head in 1962, and held the post until 1987. As head of a foreign news agency, he became known for his writings against the excesses of people in power, during the time of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled from 1965 until his ouster by a people-backed military mutiny in 1986. He helped launch the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) during the time of the Marcoses.

5. Nestor Mata (1926–2018)
   Nestor Mata was a Filipino journalist whose writing career spanned six decades. He was also known as the only survivor of the 1957 plane crash that killed the President of the Philippines, Ramon Magsaysay, and 24 others. After surviving the crash, Mata continued writing for the Philippine Herald until it was closed down in 1972 following the declaration of martial law by then-President Ferdinand Marcos. He then served with The Daily Express until Marcos' ouster during the People Power Revolution of 1986. From 1986 to 1999, Mata penned as a regular newspaper column for the Manila Standard, and from 1999 until his death wrote for the Malaya. He also acted as a co-executive editor for the magazine Lifestyle Asia from 1986 to 1999.

6. CT Hew (1951–2020)

   CT Hew began his career as a public affairs consultant after graduating from the University of Malaya. He started his agency life at Burson-Marsteller in Malaysia in 1975, eventually serving as MD for Malaysia, regional director for Southeast Asia and Asia president — a pioneering role at the time for an Asian. He was subsequently managing partner of Scotchbrook-BSMG Worldwide for five years, before becoming vice chairman of GolinHarris in Hong Kong. Hew later joined APCO's Hong Kong office before striking out with his own consultancy. Hew was the first chairman of PRHK, when it formed in 2003 as the Council of PR Firms, reflecting the esteem in which he was held by the industry's leaders. He also served as a part-time member of Hong Kong's Central Policy Unit, and was a board governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

7. David Ibata (1955–2021)

   David Ibata was a longtime Chicago Tribune reporter and editor who was a pioneer in the area of online journalism. He was a strong advocate for the Tribune’s move to publishing on the internet in the 1990s, and he brought technological knowledge and versatility to everything he did. He left the Herald to join the Taylor Johnson public relations firm, representing homebuilders. After about three years at Taylor Johnson, Ibata returned to the Tribune as a real estate reporter. Over a 26-year career at the paper, Ibata reported on real estate and transportation issues, and more broadly on suburban issues at a time when the suburbs were dealing with the aftereffects of significant growth.

8. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee (1896–1966)

   Mabel Ping-Hua Lee was a Chinese-American women's rights activist and minister who campaigned for women's suffrage in the United States. Later in life, Lee became a Baptist minister, working with the First Chinese Baptist Church in Chinatown. Lee received a bachelor's degree and master's degree from Barnard College of Columbia University, and later a doctorate in economics from Columbia University in 1921, becoming the first Chinese woman in the United States to earn a doctorate in economics. She became a Baptist minister in 1924, and went on to run the First Chinese Baptist Church for forty years, while also becoming a leader within the American Baptist Home Mission Society.

9. Yuri Kochiyama (1921–2014)

   Yuri Kochiyama was was a tireless political activist who dedicated her life to contributing to social change through her participation in social justice and human rights movements. In 1943, Kochiyama and her family were sent to a concentration camp in Jerome, Arkansas, for two years. This experience made Kochiyama highly aware of governmental abuses and would forever bond her to those engaged in political struggles. In the early 1960s, she participated in the Asian American, Black, and Third World movements for civil and human rights, ethnic studies, and against the war in Vietnam. She was a fixture in support movements involving organizations such as the Young Lords and the Harlem Community for Self Defense. As founder of Asian Americans for Action, she also sought to build a more political Asian American movement that would link itself to the struggle for Black liberation. As friend and political ally of Malcom X, she joined his group, the Organization for Afro-American Unity, to work for racial justice and human rights. Yuri was present on the day Malcolm X was tragically shot and killed in 1965. In the Life magazine article “Death of Malcolm X,” she can be seen crouched in the background, cradling Malcolm X’s head.