May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. Fair360’s Top Companies for Asian American Executives specialty list measures the hiring, promotion and retention of Asian Americans within companies. This includes employees in Management Levels 1-4 and the Highest-Paid 10%. In 2023, 19 companies made the list:
- Mastercard
- Toyota North America
- Blue Shield of California
- Medtronic
- The Hershey Company
- Eli Lilly and Company
- TIAA
- Hilton
- EY
- ADP
- Accenture
- The Boeing Company
- Dow
- Comcast NBCUniversal
- Abbott
- Kaiser Permanente
- KPMG
- Humana
- The Cigna Group
The Top Companies for Asian American Executives list also measures mentoring, sponsorship and high-potential programs. We examine the board of directors, executive fairness council, leadership’s commitment to achieving proportional race representation and the company’s dedicated recruiting practices that target Asian American employees.
Here’s a look at the programs, policies and practices that set the five Top Companies for Asian American Executives apart.
Mastercard
No. 1 on the Top Companies for Asian American Executives and the Top 50 Companies list.
Workforce demographics data from Mastercard shows that Asian employees make up 26% of the company’s total workforce in the U.S. They also comprise 17% of U.S. senior management positions. The company’s 2022 Environmental, Social and Governance Report reveals that 36% of undergraduate interns are Asian, an increase from 31% in 2021.
Mastercard has an ASIA business resource group (BRG) that focuses on Asian society and trends. In 2022, the BRG held forums to discuss the rise in anti-Asian hate and hosted a global bystander intervention training. The ASIA BRG is one of nine business resource groups.
As part of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, Mastercard partners with several organizations to support employees from underrepresented groups. It partners with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) to support Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) employees. TAAF was founded in 2021 in response to the rise in anti-Asian hate and violence in the U.S.
Toyota North America
No. 2 on the Top Companies for Asian American Executives and No. 4 on the Top 50 Companies list.
Toyota North America is committed to elevating AAPI talent. The automotive manufacturer supports its Asian employees through its Toyota Asian American Society in Alliance (TAASiA) business partnering group (BPG).
In 2022, TAASiA’s inaugural symposium drew 150 in-person participants at its Plano, TX, headquarters and over 100 online attendees. The symposium featured keynote speaker Anne Chow, retired CEO of AT&T Business, and various breakout sessions designed to help Asian American employees cultivate a supportive community at Toyota.
Toyota celebrated AAPI Heritage Month in 2023 by highlighting three members of its TAASiA BPG. One member, Rachel Jiang, Enterprise Strategy Senior Analyst, shared how Toyota and TAASiA have made her feel welcomed and valued at the company.
“Ever since I joined Toyota, I’ve felt challenged and empowered every single day, which is a work environment I think will be very hard to find anywhere else. Additionally, BPGs like TAASiA have aided in creating a culture where employees feel a sense of belonging and of being valued and understood,” she said.
Blue Shield of California
No. 3 on the Top Companies for Asian American Executives list.
Over 55% of employees at Blue Shield of California are people of color. Among its leadership team, more than 45% is ethnically diverse.
In 2023, the company recognized employees and members of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent by speaking with members of its Asian Pacific Alliance employee resource group. Members of the group said the company has a significant impact on its employees, and the ERG provides a sense of community for Asian Americans and their allies.
Blue Shield of California said the Asian Pacific Alliance “has a mission of recruiting, developing and advancing our people of Asian or Pacific Islander background to fulfill our commitment to providing quality, affordable, healthcare to all Californians while increasing cultural awareness, supporting our communities and making Blue Shield a great place to do meaningful work.”
Medtronic
No. 4 on the Top Companies for Asian American Executives and No. 2 on the Top 50 Companies list.
Employees of Asian descent comprise 19% of Medtronic’s U.S. workforce. They make up 15% of managers and 13% of vice presidents. Additionally, 13% of directors at Medtronic are of U.S. Asian descent, according to the company’s Global Inclusion, Diversity & Equity 2023 Annual Report.
The Asian Impact at Medtronic Network is one of five Diversity Networks at the company. In addition to these networks, the company has eight employee resource groups (ERGs).
According to Medtronic, “Joining Diversity Networks and ERGs is an opportunity to network with peers, managers, and other divisions of the company. From VPs to new hires, manufacturing to HR, members are given a unique (and influential) audience to build and execute cross-functional teams and projects.”
The Hershey Company
No. 5 on the Top Companies for Asian American Executives and No. 3 on the Top 50 Companies list.
Hershey’s 2022 ESG Report reveals that Asian employees make up 5.6% of managers at the company’s U.S. locations. Asian employees comprise 8.3% of U.S. senior leadership, an increase from 7.5% in 2021.
Hershey has eight employee-led BRGs that nearly 70% of corporate employees participate in, one of which is its Asian & Pacific Islander group. In 2022, members of this BRG organized and executed Lunar New Year festivities at Hershey’s Chocolate World, engaging over 27,000 attendees across four retail locations. They also played a role in shaping Lunar New Year gift wrapping and merchandise offerings at Hershey’s Chocolate World.
In addition to its internal efforts to support Asian employees, the company partnered with Asian American Advancing Justice in 2022 to invest in educational opportunities and community programming for Asian American communities surrounding Hershey’s operational locations.
