This year's Asian American and Pacific Islander Sports and Culture Symposium was a showcase of progress for a program that has annually recognized and mobilized a growing community within the sports world for nearly the past decade.
Aptly titled "Change The Game," the two-panel convention featured several prominent Asian Americans who work both on and off the field, including NFL Network's Mike Yam, who moderated the symposium, which was a collaboration between AAPI resource groups across the NFL, NBA, MLB, MLS, NHL, U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee in addition to the agency TDW+Co.
The symposium, which generated 250 guests virtually and in person, was held at the NFL office in New York on May 23 before a room full of those seeking guidance and advice as they enter their respected field.
Kicking off the event were Janaki Cash, Jessica Park and Tammy Henault, a collection of successful businesswomen who've had to go beyond breaking the proverbial glass ceiling as Asian Americans working in sports. While the trio now exemplifies the tremendous strides being made, they all provided experiences which might have been helpful in the early going of their careers.
"I leaned heavily on some of the women," said Cash when asked by Yam who her role models were. "From a female perspective, I definitely had people, but someone who looked like me that even had the background that I do, no one."
Cash, an Indian American, has been the New York Mets' Vice President of ticketing and revenue strategy for more than a year, and she's been striving to be the influence she never had by showing up and supporting various AAPI employee resource group programs like the symposium.
"This panel is great because I feel like I get to talk to people that are me at that moment just from a representation standpoint," Cash said. "For me, the mentorship was found from a business perspective and people who I respected. I leaned on them from that end. And I will say over time, sharing my perspective, how I was feeling and how I was being treated, led to them also changing their mentalities in their workplaces about female representation, Asian woman representation. Now it's a little bit of a joke, but they'll hit me with, 'I'm in a room full of white guys -- where's the you?' I appreciate that, now go bring the 'me' through the door because commenting on it is just step one. Now go make the change."
Henault, too, shared a similar experience of diversity deficiency in the workplace, which became a major learning experience before working her way toward becoming the NBA's Chief Marketing Officer.
"As I grew in different roles in seniority and was at different tables and tables full of people that didn't look like me often -- full of white men, right," said Henault, who is Korean American. "So, I tried to model who I was and the way I act like the people in the room. Then it was like, 'Oh, but now you're too aggressive, you're too intense. Tone it down, be more nurturing.' And I'm like, really? You would never tell a guy to be more nurturing. I think it's one of those things that with time you become more confident, and you realize you don't have to put on a mask and try and be somebody else, but it definitely is an evolution, for sure."
Park, a Korean American who's now the Chief of Brand and Fan Engagement of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committees, was fortunate enough to have mentors in her career, but only by virtue of the diversity this symposium is promoting.
"I've been really lucky," said Park, who also spent time with the NBA as the VP in Global Fan marketing. "I feel like I've had incredible experiences in all the different organizations that I've worked in. But I have to say I credit the fact that I've been able to work for many Black female leaders. I have learned so much in the business and the day-to-day, but really in how to build community. How to find yourself rather build the rooms you want to walk into where you're able to let your shoulders down a little bit. The power of a peer mentor group also is something that I feel like I modeled off the Black female leaders that I had a chance to work with. The lesson for me is that I think rooms like this are so important because our experiences mirror each other, and to have somebody that understands what they've gone through is so important."
The professional athletes featured during the AAPI Sports & Culture Symposium also shared their stories in an effort to bring perspective and open a dialogue.
Luis Robles, who played soccer professionally for 15 seasons in Germany and in Major League Soccer for New York Red Bulls and Inter Miami CF, spoke of his struggles with insecurity as a son to a Korean mother and Puerto Rican father.
"I'm not even full Asian or full Hispanic. So, I would float around to different circles but always felt like I never belonged," Robles said. "And that was always something that I really struggled with because I could go somewhere, but I never really felt like I was fully accepted, and I never really belonged to that group. So, even worse, not only am I trying to figure out who I am and where I fit in, but even when I went to my Mom's Korean church, I wasn't fully Korean. Then, when I went to Puerto Rico and I was with my Korean family, I didn't speak Spanish and didn't look Hispanic. So, I think those experiences benefited me in a huge way as I progressed as a soccer player. I went through a lot of challenges, and yet the mentality within my household, the one that my parents instilled within me, it wasn't the path that was easily taken. If anything, they always would encourage me to lean into adversity, they were always encouraging throughout the process."
It's a situation that resonates with New York Jets linebacker Zaire Barnes.
"When people see me, they don't know where I come from," said Barnes, who's Black and Asian. "Like, I've gotten Indian, Mexican, Puerto Rican. Asian is probably the last one on the list, but I'm actually Asian. ... To have to live with that every single day, just knowing that I have to be confident in who I am enough to just take those comments and give my story to someone who's willing to listen. I feel like stereotypes happen all the time and every day."
Reagan Rust, a Filipino American, forged a successful career in hockey at Boston University and in the Premier Hockey Federation. But her struggles with identity along the way brought forth a period in which she contemplated taking her own life.
"Growing up in an Asian family, you don't really talk about your feelings much," said Rust, who is an advocate for mental health awareness. "When I was 14 years old, I was struggling so much that I started withdrawing but I always kept showing up to sports. At one point, I got to the point where I wanted to take my own life. I think at that time it was really hard for me to be able to take a step back because I didn't know what my resources were, and nobody was really talking about it at the time. I had a long journey with it and in the past 12 years I've struggled and gone up and gone down, and I think that's the beauty of life and sport -- you're always going to have peaks and valleys."
The sharing and receiving of these different experiences have been a huge benefit of the Sports and Culture Symposium, which celebrates Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month.
The impact is only growing stronger, too, with this year's event providing stellar examples of the tremendous strides made so far.
"I had this opportunity in 2012 to make it better and just keep making it better," said Robles, a former executive board member of the MLS Players Association. "And so, with the PA, every CBA, that was the idea: How do we make it better for the next generation? And now fast forward to 2024, the salary is unbelievable, the lifestyles that the players have is unbelievable, but I still feel like there is more that we can do. How do we make soccer more accessible for everyone? How do make soccer the No. 1 sport for kids in the inner city that may not get to play because the model is the way that it is. And that's exactly my mentality of 'Change the Game.'
For anyone interested in mental health issues or experiencing problems, visit the National Institute of Mental Health website. In the U.S., the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at *988lifeline.org*.
