Growing Good CEO Cathryn Dhanatya Joins Speakers Collective, Amplifying Asian-American Voices Across Various Industries

Despite playing a huge role in the past and present of the United States, the Asian-American community, like other people of color, has not received the attention in mainstream society that it deserves. This is evident not just in media and popular culture, but also in business and other professional sectors.

To help make Asian-American voices more heard, Cathryn L. Dhanatya, Ph.D., Co-Founder and CEO of Growing Good Inc., has joined the World Class Speakers Collective, a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) focused organization founded by Jerry Won, a prominent Asian-American storyteller, coach, and keynote speaker. Won has moderated a panel at the White House, featuring Vice President Kamala Harris, on Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) issues.

The two have previously worked together on Won’s Masterminds speaking series, where Dhanatya spoke about the top takeaways business leaders can learn from the nonprofit sector.

By joining the World Class Speakers Collective, Dhanatya is helping advance Growing Good’s mission, amplifying the organization’s important work of maximizing positive social impact, outside its usual realm of helping nonprofits become more successful in their business. In its day-to-day operations, Growing Good provides consulting, strategy, and other professional services to help build sustainable organizations that accelerate positive and transformational change for social good.

As part of the Collective, Dhanatya will be able to speak to a wider audience and build more bridges between the nonprofit and business worlds, including how businesses can execute more effective corporate social responsibility efforts. She has extensive multidisciplinary experience across several fields, including academia, donor organizations, and recipient organizations. Across her career, she has engaged with entities in both developed and developing nations across a wide variety of topics, including cancer research, education, climate change, HIV/AIDS, women’s rights, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Joining Dhanatya and Won at the World Class Speakers Collective are Laura Huang, business school professor, and author, Tiffany Yu, diversity advocate and creator, Misasha Suzuki Graham, former attorney and activist, Jin-Ya Huang, social enterprise founder and employee resource group leader, and Nora Ali, former TV anchor and founder of production house Mason Media.

Dhanatya adds that traditionally most keynote speakers have been predominantly White and male and that the power of the collective is that it is bringing more diverse voices, perspectives, and experiences to the space, with its Asian-American and mostly female membership. Furthermore, each member’s unique personal and professional backgrounds allow the collective to reach a wider variety of communities and industries.

“When Jerry approached me to join the speakers collective, I was impressed by his mission to bring together Asian-American thought leaders from various areas and industries,” she says. “All of us are at a point in our careers where we’ve individually achieved success and we all bring our expensive expertise to the table. Unlike most traditional speaker groups that focus on individual engagements or specific speakers that are highlighted for a specific month on the calendar, we aim to build a strong network of Asian-American voices and amplify them throughout the AAPI community and in the wider public discourse. We speak on a wide range of topics and issues at events all year round, not just during AAPI Heritage Month in May.”

Media Contact
Name: Megumi Calver
Email: hello@worldclassspeakers.com
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