Gold House — the leading Asian and Pacific Islander changemaker community that unites, invests in, and promotes API creative and companies — has announced its annual A100 List. The list recognizes the 100 APIs that have impacted American culture and society during the last year. Gold House has also revealed that for the first time ever, these honorees will be honored and celebrated in person!
According to the official press release, “the event will bring together a historic cross-industry gathering of API leaders and luminaries and continue a long-standing partnership with Meta to honor and support the API community through innovative programming and opportunities, as well as launch a new campaign with Procter & Gamble to embrace the preferred pronunciation of API names.”
The Gold Gala will take place on May 21, 2022, and be hosted by Gold House, in collaboration with Meta. The night’s theme is “The New Gold Age,” which is meant to reflect the current era of unparalleled API brilliance, even in the face of continued violence and racism against the community. Honorees and presenters currently include Simu Liu, Payal Kadakiya, Prabal Gurung, Daniel Dae Kim, and more. Gold House is also set to present new innovative programs to continue to “advance and empower authentic representation and commercial success for APIs — and the broader multicultural landscape.”
Gold House will also add the proper pronunciation of the A100 Honorees’ names in their native API languages for the first time. In a partnership between Gold House and Procter & Gamble, there will be an upcoming campaign to change perceptions of belonging in America.
Some ways that the press release mentions Asians and Pacific Islanders are leading the way in terms of progress and pushing boundaries in new ways include:
- Four of the five largest IPOs in 2021 on the NASDAQ or NYSE were companies founded by APIs, and API investors hold six of the top 10 spots on Forbes’ Midas list.
- Asian-led projects are also topping box offices (four of the top 10 movies at the 2021 domestic box office were led by Asian writer-directors) and music charts (Olivia Rodrigo had the most global streams for song and album in 2021 and, more recently, APIs took home nearly two dozen Grammys).
- After Kamala Harris’ historic win in 2020, Asians continued to make history with political victories (three major U.S. cities elected their first mayors of Asian descent).
- From boardrooms to local government, movie screens to Spotify playlists, the Olympics to Web3, APIs are changing the rules of culture and ushering in an unparalleled era of excellence.
This year’s A1s and Legends are:
- Activism, Advocacy, and Politics: Michelle Wu (Mayor of Boston), Aftab Pureval (Mayor of Cincinnati), Bruce Harrell (Mayor of Seattle)
- Business, Technology, and Innovation: Tony Xu (Co-founder & CEO, Doordash)
- Entertainment: Simu Liu (Actor, Writer)
- Lifestyle: Payal Kadakia (ClassPass Founder, Artist, and Author of LifePass)
- Legends: Dwayne Johnson (Actor, Producer), Mindy Kaling (Actress, Writer, Producer), and Michelle Yeoh (Actress)
- Sports: Chloe Kim (Olympic Gold Medalist)
In addition, eight individuals, who have been on prior A100 lists at least twice, were selected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame — a tribute to their continued indelible contributions.
- Amrita Ahuja (CFO, Block)
- BLACKPINK (Musicians)
- Eva Chen (Director of Fashion Partnerships, Instagram)
- Gemma Chan (Actress)
- H.E.R. (Musician)
- Jensen Huang (Co-founder & CEO, NVIDIA)
- Kelly Marie Tran (Actress)
- Manny Maceda (Worldwide Managing Partner, Bain & Company)
See the full 2022 A100 List here.