Event Recap: September IAG and AEN Conference
On September 18, Ascend NorCal welcomed AAPI professionals, allies, students, and executives to Santa Clara University for our Inspiring Across Generations (IAG) and Ascend Executive Network (AEN) Conference, Forward with Purpose.
In the opening plenary, bestselling author Jia Jiang invited participants to reconsider how fear of rejection can shape the opportunities they pursue and how they approach ambitious goals. Participant interviews reflected themes of trying something new, questioning familiar expectations, and finding greater purpose in work and life.
Interactive Career Labs moved from insight to practice through courageous asks, navigating rejection, building sponsor relationships, and designing small career experiments. Dedicated AEN programming extended the conference theme through executive-level dialogue. The day also launched the 2026 - 2027 Ascend NorCal LevelUp mentoring cohort and created opportunities to connect across companies and career stages.
What Participants Took Away (excerpts lightly edited for clarity):
“I made some meaningful connections at the event. I connected with 20+ people—professionals from other public accounting firms and industry leaders.” — Freya Fan, IT Risk Senior, EY
“I’ve been working in the industry for 25 years, and I keep asking: what exactly is the purpose? Am I giving back to society? Am I doing the right thing? The topics I heard today connected with that thought process.”
— Piyush Garg, Senior Director, SAP
Thank you to Santa Clara University, our speakers and facilitators, corporate partners, chapter leaders, volunteers, and student interns. And thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to the conversations.
Save the date for our next IAG and AEN Conference on Thursday, November 19 in Palo Alto at J.P. Morgan.
