Asian American women continue to break barriers across industries, yet their leadership representation remains disproportionately low. To address this gap, Asian American Business Development Center (AABD is hosting the Asian American Women Leadership Forum on March 28, 2025, creating a platform to uplift, empower, and celebrate the leadership journeys of Asian American women.

As part of this initiative, AABDC conducted a qualitative study to profile the successes, challenges, and opportunities faced by Asian American women business leaders. This initiative highlighted career trajectories, identified career strategies, and celebrated the resilience and achievements of individuals. The findings contributed to a greater understanding of Asian American women leaders’ impact on providing business value and informed efforts to support future leaders.

We invited Asian American women from leading corporations across industries to participate in this study, which helped shape conversations at the event and informed actionable strategies for fostering leadership development.

Idil Cakim, founder and CEO of Iris Flex, an independent, woman-owned research firm, was selected to partner with AABDC for this initiative and conducted the interviews.

Why This Matters:

• Identify key challenges and opportunities for Asian American women in leadership
• Gather data to support advocacy and workplace initiatives
• Inspire and empower the next generation of Asian American women leaders.
• Contribute to a body of knowledge aimed at further enhancing corporate talent development initiatives.