The Pollack Group Partners with Ascend to Bring More Visibility to Underrepresented Research and Initiatives for Pan-Asian Business Leaders

The Pollack Group is proud to announce its partnership with Ascend, the largest Pan-Asian membership organization for business professionals in North America. The organization is powered by a network of accomplished professionals and executives from Fortune 500 companies who generously volunteer their time to advance the state of AAPI equity at work.

Ascend’s ecosystem of corporations that support its mission includes 15 of the top U.S. and Canadian banks, 75% of top asset management companies, and two-thirds of the companies on the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).

Ascend’s mission is to develop, support, and empower Pan-Asians throughout their careers with a network for growth and advancement that enables its members to serve its vibrant communities. It uniquely serves members through the entire span of their career lifecycle, from students to Fortune 1000 corporate board members.

Notably, Ascend also focuses on raising awareness of the unique socio-cultural issues that impact API identity in professional settings. In November 2024, it released the third report in its landmark series on API mental health and well-being in the workplace and beyond. The series examines this cohort’s most pressing mental health challenge, including work-life balance, invisibility at work, and acculturative stress as immigrants.

“Ascend helps elevate Pan-Asians to become holistic leaders, role models, and catalysts for positive impact workplace and in society. Workplace issues affect every cohort differently, and our focus is to raise awareness of how they affect Asian Americans specifically. That requires a more thoughtful approach to marketing, public relations, and communications, especially in today’s media landscape. We selected The Pollack Group for its notable experience developing communications and thought leadership platforms for a diverse roster of clients, and we look forward to a fruitful relationship,” said Allie Graham, Head of Marketing at Ascend.

“For already-successful business professionals and executives, the onus is on them to create more opportunities for cross-industry networking, mentorship, development, and leadership, especially to advance the state of AAPI equity at work. Gatekeeping and pulling the ladder up so people below you can’t advance is petty and hurts everyone. There are still numerous obstacles and barriers that limit this cohort’s growth potential as business and community leaders. Ascend wants to change that and bring much-needed visibility and awareness to these issues. We are delighted to partner with them,” said Jackie Liu, senior vice president at The Pollack Group.

Liu is also a co-founder and board member of VOICES for AAPI, a nonprofit organization with a mission to advocate for and support AAPI professionals in communications, marketing, and creative industries.