CESASC LEAP Forum

LEAP Career Development Forum

LEAP (Leadership, Excellence, Aspiration, and Platform) is a career development forum that was launched in 2012-2013 as part of CESASC’s new initiative to strengthen its members’ communication and to help develop the members’ professional growth. LEAP is committed to provide career-related guidance, education, mentorship and opportunities to Chinese American professionals working in America throughout their career. LEAP plans to hold regular events including conferences and professional seminars. Additionally, LEAP provides the mentor program to help attendees develop strong leadership skills and achieve professional excellence.

LEAP strives to develop a platform to foster great aspiration and leverage professional networking. LEAP’s vision is to become a trustworthy and sustained platform for career development and professional growth of Chinese Americans.

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We are proud to announce that the second LEAP (Leadership, Excellence, Aspiration, and Platform) Career Development Conference (LEAP 2.0) will take place on Saturday November 2, 2013 at Caltech and is now open for registration.
 
Co-organized by CESASC, SWCSSA, SABPA, and CaltechC, the theme of LEAP 2.0 is Lead Your Career Forward in Science and Engineering. The full-day program (9:00am – 5:30pm) will feature a full-range of career-related activities:


•    Keynote speeches by world-renowned researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs Drs. Alice Huang and Diane Tang-Liu on leadership development and pursuit in excellence in science and technology disciplines

•    Presentations and panel discussion by distinguished speakers on how to build up a successful career with a science and engineering background

•    Panel discussion by postdoctoral fellows from Caltech and City of Hope and a group of promising undergraduate/graduate students who have interned in top-notch companies such as Apple, Google, JPL, Broadcom, Amgen, DuPont, McKinsey, etc.

•    Presentation and hands-on workshop on job hunting skills by HR experts and experienced recruiters

•    Career fair with over 30 job openings in a wide range of disciplines including science, engineering, business, and education, and various locations including US, China, Hong Kong, and Japan.
 
LEAP 2.0 will provide attendees with a common forum to develop excellent leadership skills, mentor optimal career planning, open up wide employment opportunities, improve much-needed job hunting skills, enrich professional knowledge, network with successful role models, and mingle with peers.

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On Feb 23rd, 2013, in conjunction with SWCSSA (Southwestern Chinese Students and Scholars Association), UCLA-CSSA (Chinese Students and Scholars Association), and UCLA ADCC (Advanced Degree Consulting Club), CESASC organized its kickoff conference at UCLA.

Ten distinguished Chinese Americans of diversified backgrounds shared their own stories about career planning and professional growth and offered their insights into and advice on ways of success. They are: Dr. Charlie Sie, Former VP of Xerox, Member of Committee-100; Dr. Dankai Liu, Project Manager, NASA/JPL; Dr. Yue Rong, Program Manager, Cal/EPA; Mr. Gene Chang, President, JC Research & Consulting, Inc.; Dr. Dean Ho, Professor of UCLA School of Dentistry; Dr. Longxia Li, President of Yinnel Tech, Inc.; Dr. Wensheng Zhou, Co-Founder of Sensor On Inc. and Agiyo Inc; Ms. Helen Liu, Partner of Third Wave Ventures; Mr. Andrew Pan, Senior Vice President of East West Bank; and Mr. Jenova Xinghan Chen, Founder of ThatGameCompany.

The full-day program was organized around seven categories: business, academia, start-up, entrepreneurship, government, industry research and career planning. Over a hundred students and young professionals attended the meeting. All tickets were sold out within 6 days after they were released.

Guest speakers covered those topics that Chinese American students are most concerned with, such as whether or not to go back to China, the “glass ceiling”, how to acquire VC, and pains and gains during the start-up journey etc. Most people stayed engaged till the last session. Some participants spoke very highly of the meeting, and commented that more career-oriented workshops and meetings should be organized. The exit survey after the event shows that over 97% of the audiences are willing to attend the future LEAP events. The satisfaction is 100%.

The organization committee includes Yutao He, Jun Deng, Haowang Wang, Guanhua Huang, Peng Zeng, Shang Wu, Haodong Chen, Jun Wang, Hu Ye, and Dai Amy. For more information, please visit the LEAP website at: www.leapcareer.org.