100 Most Influential Asian Americans picked

A few of the 100 most influential Asian/Americans.

A WIDE-RANGING LIST including entertainers, politicians and tech innovators are included in the list of the 100 most influential Asian/Americans released in time for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

The list has been put out by a new nonprofit, Gold House, which describes itself as an “exclusive collective of pioneering Asian founders, creative voices, and leaders dedicated to elevating our professional and cultural legacy.”

Those included on the list range from CEOs to Celebrities and everything in between.

Included on the list is Peter Wang, the young Parkland student who was fatally shot as he  helped fellow students escape the shooter on the Marjorie Douglas High School campus. His death, along witih 16 others killed that day, inspired a national movement to place more restrictions on guns.

A group of 16 judges made up the selection committee. Among them are Olympian Michelle Kwan; celebrity chef Martin Yang and Jerry Yang, founder of Yahoo. You can see the full list of the selection committee and their choices for the top 100 here.

As with any list, there will be debate about who was excluded and who among the honorees perhaps shouldn’t have been included.

Anne Dugal, founder of the Female Founders Fund, told Tech Crunch it’s “inspiring to see so many Asian Americans who are building incredible tech companies from across the country.”

Dugal, along with Female Founders Fund co-founder Sutian Dong, were among those named.

“For me personally, the Asian network has been extremely valuable as a tech founder and VC. This network has opened up doors and allowed me to access so many mentors who have been a very important part of my career story,” she said.

Hollywood celebrities on the list include comedians Ali Wong and Aziz Ansari, along with filmmaker Jon Chu, director of the upcoming film, Crazy Rich Asians and Justin Lin, director of Star Trek, Beyond.
Journalists include Richard Lui of MSNBC/NBC and Lisa Ling of CNN.

“All too often, the impact of Asians in the worlds of media, fashion, the arts, activism and sometimes even technology is unseen or understated,” selection committee member Tham Khai Meng, co-chair and chief creative officer at Ogilvy & Mather, said to The Hollywood Reporter. “The A100 uniquely cuts across genders, pan-Asian ethnicities, beliefs, industries and generations. I’m so proud of them and of Gold House for this incredible initiative.”

Who would you like to see on the list?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Edited May 3 for clarity.

_________________________________________________________________________________