The Serica Initiative is thrilled to announce the first-ever cohort of the AAPI Women’s Leadership Mentorship Program—a groundbreaking initiative designed to support mid-career AAPI women as they rise into senior leadership.

After a competitive selection process, eleven exceptional pairs of mentors and mentees have been chosen for the 12-month pilot program. These women represent a range of industries—from finance and nonprofit to entrepreneurship and education—and bring with them a shared commitment to elevating AAPI voices and building intergenerational leadership.

The Mentors and Mentees met for the first time at the Serica’s 2025 Trailblazers Conference! It was an inspiring and powerful experience being in a room full of changemakers. Shau Zhang, Partner at EY, who has served as a fiscal sponsor of the program, gave opening remarks and inspiring words from her own career. Farah Bala, Founder of Farsight, and partner in the development of the Mentorship Program, led the group in an exercise sharing strengths and superpowers. Heartfelt thanks to all the mentors for their generosity and service to the community.

Mentors and mentees meet for the first time at Serica’s 2025 Trailblazers Conference.

Over the next year, each pair will meet regularly to exchange insights, set leadership goals, and take part in cohort-wide events in New York City. This program will include a mid-year luncheon and will culminate with a graduation in May 2026.

👏 Meet the Inaugural Cohort

We’re proud to spotlight each mentee–mentor pair below.

1. Amy Granger, Co-founder at M2U NYC & Eden Cai, CEO at GardenStar Group

2. Anushree Sreedhar, Director, Innovation Programs at Partnership for NYC & Anita Bhatia, Founder at Impact Commons

3. Gina Chen, Founder & Managing Partner at One Ally & Jennifer Wu, Founding Partner at Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP

4. Joy Lau, Founder & CEO at Storyjoy & Victoria Pao, Managing Director at Golden Seeds

5. Juliana (Juju) Wong, Educator + Entrepreneur/Higher Education Consultant & Joan Kaufman, Senior Director for Academic Programs at Schwarzman Scholars

6. Michelle Ngo, Freelance Producer/Director at The Inquisitor LLC & Loida Lewis, Chair at TLC Beatrice, LLC

7. Rachel Huang, Senior Business Analyst at McKinsey & Company & Lisa Lim, Board Director at HF Foods Group Inc.

8. Ray Zeng, Nonprofit Changemaker & Jean Cook, Director at Ford Foundation

9. Robin Li, Vice President at Notable Capital & Clarence Kwan, Founding Partner at KCY Family Office LLC

10. Sheena Zhang, AECO Sustainability Strategy Manager at Autodesk & Yashih Wu, Founder & CEO at WunderLyon Labs

11. Trudy Lei, Senior Associate at McKinsey & Company & Sujuan Ba, President & CEO at National Foundation for Cancer Research

To the entire cohort: congratulations on this milestone. We can’t wait to follow your journeys, celebrate your growth, and continue building a stronger pipeline of

AAPI women leaders together. Serica is deeply honored to have partnered with Farah Bala and THE FARSIGHT AGENCY to create this program. Thank you to EY for serving as a fiscal sponsor. For more about the program, visit sericainitiative.org/aapi-mentorship-program.