One of the primary goals of the NAAAP Boston’s Women in NAAAP (WIN) Committee is to create a sisterhood of Asian American professional women through innovative events and programs. On Tuesday, March 4, 2014, the WIN Committee hosted a wine tasting class and networking mixer at the Boston Wine School in Allston. About 25 WIN members and prospective members gathered for a fun and informative evening of wine education and networking.

The evening started with sparkling wine and canapés in the warmly lit and wood paneled Boston Wine School. As attendees mixed and mingled, Jonathan Alsop, founder of the Boston Wine School, was on hand to welcome people and answer questions. Tiffany Hu, WIN Associate Director, introduced NAAAP and the mission of WIN before handing the floor to instructor, Erika Frey, who proudly declared that the Boston Wine School was a “snob-free” zone where everyone could come to learn about wine. She led attendees through a tour of the wine spectrum from Sauvignon Blanc to Rosé wine to Pinot Noir and beyond. All attendees were encouraged to participate in the class, sharing with one other her experience of each wine, while mastering the 7S system for tasting wine – See, Sniff, Swirl, Smell, Sip, Swish and Spit. As the evening continued, attendees savored the pairing of wine with fine cheeses. Towards the end, there were certainly a few attendees with a happy and healthy Asian glow! To conclude the class, Joanna Chua, the Director of the NAAAP Boston Professional Development Committee, made announcements about NAAAP’s upcoming events.

The wine tasting class made all attendees more confident about the world of wine. The WIN Committee would like to thank the Boston Wine School and all the ladies who came out to Allston. We look forward to seeing you at future events!

For more information about the WIN committee, please contact win@naaapboston.org.

NAAAP Boston’s Women In NAAAP (WIN) Initiative hosted a well-attended open house on Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at the Cambridge Innovation Center (50 Milk Street, Boston).  There were over 60 attendees including many new faces, WIN POD program alumnae, WIN Lean In Circle pilot program participants, and NAAAP Boston leaders/board of directors.

During the first part of the evening, WIN Associate Director, Tiffany Hu, POD program graduates, Kim Wong and Anna Ing, and Lean In Circle pilot program coordinator, Mandy Xu, shared their experiences with the WIN Initiative through powerful personal stories.   As she provided an overview of the WIN Initiative, Tiffany Hu emphasized WIN’s strong sisterhood while sharing an inspirational story about Xiaoqing Zhang, now a partner at Ernst & Young, who negotiated her own financial aid package in order to pursue her Master’s degree.   This was followed by Kim Wong who told attendees that through the POD program she learned how to better balance her role as a full-time working mother of three with her needs for professional development.   For Anna Ing, the POD program allowed her to be a mentor to another POD participant, who started a new chapter of her life in Dubai with the support and encouragement she received from Anna and other POD participants.  Finally, Mandy Xu shared how the WIN Initiative has helped her become a more confident Asian-American female professional in corporate America and motivated her to put together the Lean In Circle pilot program to provide a forum for Asian-American women seeking career guidance and support.

Afterwards, two-time Pod program facilitator, Yee Szeto,  led a fun and engaging icebreaker.  Attendees were asked a series of multiple-choice questions that broke them into smaller groups based on their answers.   This icebreaker allowed attendees to quickly connect with those who had similar interests and passions.

The last part of the evening was focused on the WIN Lean In Circle pilot program, which draws its inspiration from the book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg.  Over the last 6 months, the pilot program has brought together a small group of WIN members, who meet regularly to learn and grow together as they discuss topics centered on personal and professional development.   These pilot program participants took part in a dynamic Q & A that touched upon all aspects of a Lean In Circle from the structure of a Circle to lessons learned.  Many current and prospective WIN members expressed a strong interest in joining the WIN Lean In Circle program, which will launch in 2015 – please stay tuned!

WIN Core Team members, Pod program graduates, WIN Lean In Circle pilot program participants, and NAAAP Boston leaders/directors, thank you for your tremendous efforts and continuous support for WIN’s mission: To build competent and confident Asian-American female leaders.

NAAAP Boston Women in NAAAP (WIN) hosted its inaugural brunch series on Sunday May 31 at the Eastern Standard. 11 Asian American women gathered to network, get to know each other, and simply enjoy each other’s company. WIN started this monthly brunch series to better connect Asian American women and help expand their network. Each brunch will center on a social, economic or workforce trend impacting Asian American women. For our first brunch we chose “Fresh Off the Boat” – good or bad news for the Asian American community? Though the attended women started chatting about Fresh off the Boat, the conversation took multiple turns into how Asian Americans are portrayed in the media – all over some delicious eggs / pork n beans / quiche / etc.

The monthly brunch is limited to ONLY 12 participants to ensure an intimate conversation among your fellow WIN ladies.  In addition to engaging in intellectual and fun conversations, you will have opportunity to learn more about NAAAP Boston and the WIN Initiative. Curious to attend our next brunch? Make sure to check back on the NAAAP website and hope to see you at future WIN events.

On November 3rd, Women in NAAAP (WIN) members gathered in Accenture’s downtown boardroom for the “The Art of WIN, a Negotiation Workshop” to sharpen and further their negotiation skills. The workshop, led by Paul Cramer, the Managing Director and Co-Leader at the Accenture Negotiation Center of Excellence, was an interactive learning experience. Attendees engaged in multiple play-acting exercises, demonstrations and active thought discussions throughout the night. Paul’s passion, energy and incredible sense of humor created a dynamic energy in the room. His years of built expertise and experience in the field, as well as his down-to-earth and sincere teaching style made him a captivating speaker. His resume in the area of negotiation stretches far and wide. A specialist in developing “interest based” negotiation strategy, he worked closely and extensively under his mentor Roger Fisher, founder of the Harvard Negotiation Project and author of the famous book considered as THE negotiation bible in business schools, “Getting to YES”. Throughout the night he also drew on his 20 years of experience and insights from advising corporate executives, government officials, NGO leaders, labor representatives and many others, across 45 countries, on the most appropriate strategy for complex, multi-party negotiations.

The workshop started with a networking event for WIN members to meet newcomers and old friends alike. After the networking session, Paul started the workshop right away with an interactive exercise to build familiarity and active participation in the form of arm wrestling matches. As WIN attendees battled each other, Paul creatively engaged the class through the continuing wrestling match metaphor to teach the core principles of effective interest-based collaboration of rapport, interest, options, legitimacy and BATNA (Best alternative to a negotiated agreement). The second part of the workshop was focused on teaching and tailoring negotiation approaches based on each attendee’s and the opposing party’s negotiation style. Before the workshop, attendees were assigned an assessment to discover each of their conflict-handling mode. Paul then guided them through different options of tactic selection depending on different conflict-handling styles of the parties involved. Overall, it was a successful workshop as WIN members left more confident and with effective tools in their skill toolbox to start successfully negotiating in their professional careers and in their personal lives.

NAAAP Boston’s WIN (Women in NAAAP) celebrated the holiday season together during its recent event on December 17th at the Capital One 360 Café in Downtown Crossing. Old and new members alike gathered to celebrate another successful year for WIN. WIN spearheaded a variety of new programming in 2015 including the Lean In Circle program, a brunch discussion series as well as a wellness workshop with Harvard Pilgrim and a negotiation workshop with Accenture.

During the event, WIN also recognized volunteers for their time, dedication and hard work. For 2016, the committee is planning another successful year filled with a variety of engaging events meant to educate and develop women leaders within NAAAP Boston and the Asian American community. To learn more about WIN, feel free to reach out to WIN Boston at win@naaapboston.org.

On Tuesday, September 22, 2015, the Women in NAAAP (WIN) Initiative hosted a Mindfulness and Wellness Workshop with Harvard Pilgrim with the goal of helping working professionals learn how to deal with stress from daily life that drains our physical, emotional and mental energy. About 20 working professionals gathered for a fun and informative evening of de-stress education and networking.

The evening started with healthy refreshments and drinks while attendees mingled in the Milky Way conference room at CIC Boston. After a brief introduction about NAAAP and WIN by Eileen Y. Lee Breger, Associate Director of WIN, Rose Hom, the Relationship Manager of the Eastern Harmony Program at Harvard Pilgrim, gave a systematic introduction of stress release techniques and then guided us through an informative evening.  Three Healthcare Professionals, Yi Luo, Anthony Guarino, and Dev Lingadevaru, came to talk and demonstrated how we can incorporate acupuncture, massage therapy, and Raja Yoga meditation into our daily lives.  Many attendees capitalized on the speakers’ knowledge and raised their hands to ask questions. After providing an overview of his or her therapy, the speakers gave interactive demonstration sessions that made everyone feel so much more relaxed in mind and body.

The Mindfulness and Wellness Workshop made all attendees more confident about dealing with energy draining influences that they might encounter and empowered them to respond more effectively in stressful situations.  WIN would like to thank the Eastern Harmony Program of Harvard Pilgrim and all attendees who joined us.  We look forward to seeing you at future events!

On Aug 7th, Women in NAAAP (WIN!) hosted another successful workshop/networking event, Sports 101, at the YWCA headquarter, 140 Clarendon Street Boston. More than 20 female professionals along a few NAAAP leaders attended. Two NAAAP Boston Board Members, Samson Lee and Jim Fong, who are super sports fans, introduced some basic rules and concepts for baseball and football. Their interactive introductions gave audience an overview of baseball and football, Boston’s rich sports history of both Red Sox and Patriots, as well as some local popular players. Afterwards, the attendees engaged in fun games and quizzes to help them remember what just learned. This event also provided a great opportunity for attendees to network with other WIN! Boston members and exploring more of the WIN! Community and WIN! programs.

Special thank you to YWCA for providing the venue space. Thank you to Samson and Jim for the fun, informative, and interactive speeches. Thank you to WIN! Boston leaders and core team members for volunteering at the event.

Stay tuned for more WIN! events!