The Heritage Heroes Awards Dinner: a celebration of diversity and community

Sheila Lirio Marcelo co-founder and CEO of Proof of Learn, founder of Care.com, and a founding TAAF Board Member, presented the Heritage Hero Corporate Award to Manny Maceda, a Filipino-American advocate of TAAF since its inception. Maceda has served as the global CEO and chairman of the board of Bain & Company since 2018 and is also a founding partner of TAAF.

In his acceptance speech, Maceda returned to his Filipino roots, acknowledging them as a critical asset to his work. “My knowledge of and experiences in global markets and cultures created a tremendous opportunity for me to support our clients, working seamlessly with colleagues worldwide. My heritage has been an important part of my career and family,” Maceda said.

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For her part, Marcelo said, “When I think of the early days of this organisation, I think about Manny Maceda and his passionate belief in what TAAF could become—and what TAAF could do to transform the lives of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.”

To remind the audience of TAAF’s core mission, Marcelo shared her own experiences with racism. One time, a passerby told her to “pack up and go home”, while another time, she was stereotyped as an analyst when she was, in fact, the CEO. “We all belong here... We are all Americans. Many of us have experienced hate and bias, but we have the power and collective voice to do something about it,” Marcelo shared.

With AAPI employee resource groups being the most significant resource group in the US today, Maceda shared his insights: “CEOs and leaders must create environments to allow more people of all diverse backgrounds to succeed and celebrate when they do.”

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Jose Antonio Vargas, Filipino-American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and founder of Define American, introduced Filipino theatre legend, Lea Salonga. She stunned the audience with her performance of The Story of My Life, The Human Heart and Somewhere.

Guests enjoyed an elevated culinary experience from New York City’s top AAPI chefs led by chefs Helen Nguyen and Winston Chiu. The meal commenced with a light cilantro salad and grilled chicken, followed by a shrimp and prosciutto wonton, topped off by a Vietnamese Surf and Turf.

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On top of Yeoh and the other honourees, luminary voices in attendance were: actor Simu Liu, ABC anchor Juju Chang, NYC Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer, and NBC anchor Richard Lui.

Yeoh captured the essence of the group’s mission when she said: “My friends, our time is now. We are ready for our closeup, and we are not going back to the background. Never. The challenges are over, but we will face them together. And we will rise together.”

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