THE 14TH ANNUAL GALA

James designs and funds systems that give us permission to be human. His national bestselling book, red helicopter, offers a polyphonic operating system that bridges math with emotions in the business of life and the life of business. James is an acclaimed CEO, TED Speaker, and private equity investor, and a former high school teacher who currently holds appointments at MIT Sloan and Howard University, where he serves as the Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship. He is working on music, art, and curricula that convey the wisdom of the classics in a modern, multi-sensory way.

Ruthie Ann Miles is an award winning actress whose Broadway credits include Sweeney Todd (Tony nom), The King and I (Tony award, Grammy and Olivier noms), and Sunday in the Park with George. She won the Lucille Lortel and Theatre World Awards in the premiere production of Here Lies Love at The Public Theater. TV credits include starring in “All Rise” and “The Americans.” In 2023, Ruthie received a Lilly Award for “Representing In a Big Way.” She was raised by her Korean mom in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Simon Kim is the CEO and Founder of Gracious Hospitality Management, the brand behind the Michelin-starred COTE Korean Steakhouse with locations in NYC, Miami, Singapore (forthcoming in Vegas), COQODAQ, Undercote, and an upcoming project at 550 Madison Avenue. He started his career at MGM Grand Las Vegas and opened his first NYC concept, Piora in 2013. He has received multiple accolades, from Crain’s 40 Under 40 to the Inspiration Award from Apex for Youth. In 2021 he founded Taste of Asia, supporting local Asian American communities in NYC.

Vivian Lee is a freelance writer, director, producer and moderator after a 25 year career as a TV journalist in the US and Canada.

She was most recently an Emmy-winning TV anchor, reporter and host for NY1, working at the 24/7 local news outlet from 2008 to 2020. During that time she anchored NY1’s weekend news hours, covering issues of vital local and national interest, including the coronavirus pandemic throughout 2020, and President Joe Biden’s election win in November 2020. She began at NY1 as the weekend anchor and breaking news reporter.

She was part of the anchor line-up for Pope Francis’ historic visit to the US, and reported on Hurricane Sandy in from Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens in 2012. She was also the first local NYC reporter to break news of Francis’ election as pope from Vatican City in March 2013.

Vivian also hosted an arts and culture show, Spotlight New York, focusing on the arts and culture landscape of the five boroughs of NYC.

Vivian’s career in New York started at WNBC in 2002, where she was a general assignment reporter. Before that she was CityTV Toronto’s Parliamentary Correspondent in Canada’s capital, Ottawa and a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor on CityTV and its sister cable channel, CP24.

Her stints as a reporter ranged from CJOH TV in Ottawa, ATV-ASN News in Halifax, and A Channel in Calgary, where she also anchored the award-winning weeknight evening news show “A Channel News@Night.”

Vivian has received numerous awards recognizing her industry and community contributions, including the 2021 “Pillars of Courage” award with four of her former NY1 colleagues from the New York Women’s Foundation; a 2020 Emmy for her work on Spotlight New York in New York; and the 2019 Lifetime Engagement Award from the Korean American Family Service Center in New York. She serves as a board member of KoreanAmericanStory.org.

She lives in New York with her husband and two daughters.

Kathleen Kim is a Sesame Street puppeteer and an Emmy-nominated producer for her work on “See Us Coming Together,” a Sesame special on HBO Max addressing anti-Asian hate and celebrating AAPI diversity. She performs Ji-Young, the show’s first Asian American Muppet character in its 50+ seasons as well as Elena, the mother of Julia, a Muppet character with autism. Other performance credits include Helpsters on Apple TV+, SNL, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood with Tom Hanks and as ToeKnee on Awkwafina is Nora from Queens. And recently Kim’s narration of Jimin Han’s The Apology won the audiobook an Earphones Award.

NoSo is a Korean-American transgender artist based in Los Angeles. Their stage name is shorthand for “North or South?”, a question they were frequently asked throughout childhood when they said they were Korean. Their debut album “Stay Proud of Me” (released in 2022) centers around themes of identity, fluctuating gender expression and formative experiences in predominately white environments. Their music has been featured on NPR Tiny Desk, KEXP, the Guardian and more.