YE AR I N RE V IE W

2019

Y E A R I N R E V I E W: 2 0 1 92019 has been a year for us to celebrate across the Asia Society‘s global network. The year
brought a new center in Melbourne, Australia, a 40th anniversary for Asia Society Texas, and thefirst full year of operations for Asia Society Japan.
It was a year in which we celebrated trailblazing women in a phenomenal edition of our Asia
Game Changer Awards and welcomed a remarkable new group of Asia 21 Young Leaders; when
we celebrated spectacular art and culture in our galleries in New York, Hong Kong, and Houston;and a year in which the Asia Society Policy Institute celebrated a range of impactful work and ajump to #42 in the index of U.S.-based think tanks.
At year’s end, we also marked a great leap in terms of our reach and impact. If you watched avideo of an Asia Society program this year, you had a lot of company: more than 12 million viewson the Asia Society YouTube channel alone. Millions more joined us via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or listened to our podcasts, in addition to those who participated, in person, at programs
across our global network.
Of course there is much happening across Asia that is cause for anything but celebration, including
a growing and potentially dangerous rift between the United States and China, continued badnews in the areas of climate and sustainability, and profound unrest and tensions in so many
areas across the continent. We believe our work is more important than ever. We are hopeful thatour programs, exhibitions, and various forms of dialogue continue to bring greater understanding
and awareness to bear on society’s greatest challenges.
As we reflect on the past year we are extremely grateful to our friends and members. We arehumbled and excited by the unparalleled generosity of our supporters. With your help, we reached
the $100 million mark in our Capital Campaign, raised over $4.3 million in our Annual Fund andexceeded our fundraising goal for the Asia Game Changer Awards Dinner. It is this transformational philanthropy that allows us to sustain and fortify our work.
There is much to look forward to in 2020. For now, we take a moment to reflect on the year goneby, and to express our gratitude to our friends and supporters.

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ASIA SOCIETY POLICY INSTITUTE
The Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) continued to climb the global think-tank rankings (to#42 among nearly 2,000 U.S. think tanks; top 2% worldwide), and to deliver global impact – inparticular, working to prevent the U.S. and China from marching toward what ASPI President Kevin
Rudd calls “an avoidable war.”
In 2019, ASPI developed nine policy action roadmaps including:• Promoting a constructive, realistic narrative for the U.S.-China relationship—including trade war
challenges—and building trust by catalyzing collaboration on issues of mutual interest acrossbilateral, regional, and global spheres.

• Creating recommendations for China to ensure beneficial and sustainable outcomes for Belt andRoad Initiative projects. Our report, Navigating the Belt & Road, had a significant policy impact
in Beijing and regional capitals.

• Strengthening Trade and Investment Across the Asia Pacific with two studies focused on developing collaborative approaches with third countries to address concerns about China’s state-led
economic model; and forwarding ways the Asia-Pacific can lead on reform of the international
trade system.

• In What To Expect From A Nuclear North Korea, we looked beyond recent Trump-Kim Summits
to examine behavior and challenges to be anticipated from a North Korea that is winning agreater degree of international tolerance for its de facto status as a nuclear weapons state.

• Piloting an impactful exchange and training program for emerging women leaders in businessand trade with a delegation from South Korea, which will expand in coming years to ASEAN,
Japan, and beyond.

ASPI provided insight to senior policymakers in over 30 countries with briefings, analyses, andpathways forward on myriad challenges.
The ASPI leadership of Kevin Rudd, Wendy Cutler, Danny Russel, along with other members of
the team, were seen, heard, and read by millions of people via interviews in major media outlets
around the world, as well as speaking and convening roles at more than 100 events worldwide.
These appearances covered a range of topics in which ASPI holds expertise, from China, Japan,
and the Koreas, to India and Pakistan, to trade and security challenges, to climate change, andbeyond.

opposite page , from top : Kevin Rudd joins Senator Mitt Romney in a discussion on China moderated by Hoover Institution Fellow

Dr. Lanhee Chen at the E2 Summit in Utah; Daniel Russel at the World Peace Forum in Beijing; Wendy Cutler discusses China trade talks
on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in October.

A R T S & C U LT U R E
2019 brought groundbreaking exhibitions to our New York, Houston, and Hong Kong galleries(more on those shows in our Global Network section) along with inspiring performances andcultural programs across our network.
Asia Society Museum’s New York exhibitions examined art through a political lens, from a muralsized painting by M.F. Husain created for a public rally for Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s Congress
Party, to a show of works by artist Xiaoze Xie exploring the history of banned books in China.
Similarly, a small but exquisite show took Ma Junliang’s Complete Map of the World as a starting
point to consider interactions between China and Europe during the eighteenth century.
A number of projects built on our leadership role in the presentation and curation of South Asianand Indian art, seeded by the 2018 exhibition The Progressive Revolution: Modern Art for a New
India. These included the biannual Arts and Museum Summit in New Delhi, bringing together
leading arts professionals to share insights into current collection practices and philosophies at
arts institutions.
Cultural programming included a two-day durational performance art piece by Indonesian artist
Melati Suryodarmo, a series of programs exploring the Asian American experience, and the returnof the Lahore Literary Festival to New York and the Jaipur Literature Festival to New York andHouston – all of which featured internationally acclaimed authors and thinkers in a range of
provocative panels and debates.
We also announced plans for our inaugural Asia Society Triennial in New York, in spring/summer 2020. This unprecedented initiative will bring together some forty artists with scientists,
historians, policy analysts, and thought leaders from around the world. The centerpiece of the
Triennial will be a multi-venue exhibition titled We Do Not Dream Alone, on view to the public from
June 5-August 9, 2020.
Installation
view of M.F. Husain: Art and the Nation at Asia Society Museum in New York.
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clockwise from top : Playwright David Henry Hwang and Tony Award-winning theater director Bartlett Sher participate in a discussion

moderated by Karen Shimakawa, NYU Tisch Associate Professor of Performance Studies; Mahal Kita from Bubble_T performs during
the Asia in America: Next Generation celebration (Ellen Wallop); Indonesian performance artist Melati Suryodarmo premiers a newcommissioned work, the durational performance piece ‘IF WE WERE XYZ’ (Ellen Wallop); Percussionist Susie Ibarra and the DreamTime
Ensemble perform “Fragility: A Game of Polyrhythms” on Governors Island. Commissioned by Asia Society as part of the Creative Common
Ground Initiative (Ellen Wallop).

E D U C AT I O N & L E A D E R S H I P
Our Center for Global Education’s (CGE)
thought leadership paved the way in 2019
for the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD) to define “global
competence” in a way that essentially mirrors
our framework. As part of the Programme forInternational Student Assessment (PISA),OECD used that framework to launch the firstever worldwide assessment of global competence among youth in OECD countries, withinitial results coming this year and full results
due in 2020. Meanwhile, in partnership with Asia Society Trustee Ido Leffler at the Global Cities Education summit
Arizona State University, the CGE created 10 in Melbourne, Australia
online courses on teaching for global competence. There have been more than a thousand course
enrollments of educators in 86 countries, the vast majority of whom plan to use what they learnedin their teaching. Our online teacher training modules have now been viewed by nearly 30,000
educators, with 4,500 enrollments to date.
Meanwhile, our National Chinese Language Conference continued to thrive as the largest annual
professional development meeting of Chinese language teachers in the world outside China,
drawing more than 1,300 to this year’s conference in San Diego, and thousands more thougha new online platform. At a moment when communications between the U.S. and China areso fraught with tension, our Chinese Language Programs Network of 100 exemplary Chinese
language programs engages over a third of all Chinese language teachers teaching in the UnitedStates today, and through them, 40% of all Chinese language learners in U.S. schools. As Asia
Society Vice President Tony Jackson put it, “It’s a labor of love. When we engage students to theextent they want to take leadership and make the world a better place — that’s what makes ourwork meaningful.”
The 12th National Chinese Language Conference in San DiegoC E N T E R O N U.S.- C H I N A R E L AT I O N S
With the U.S. and China at a difficult crossroads, our Center on U.S.-China Relations,led by Arthur Ross Director Orville Schell,
was particularly active in 2019. Its special
Task Force on U.S.-China Policy, comprisedof 17 of America’s top China experts, issued
a report, Course Correction: Toward an Effective and Sustainable China Policy, advocating for a U.S. policy of “smart competition”
in dealing with Chinese policies in five criticalareas: Trade and Economics; Security; Global
Governance; Human Rights; and China’s
Overseas Influence Activities.

Orville Schell, Zha Jianying & Nicholas Kristof – on the 30th
Anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests.

The Center produced strong programming as well. Highlights: a terrific Oxford-style debate inpartnership with the Financial Times on a key question of the moment - is “a great decoupling”
really underway between the United States and China? The Center’s online publication ChinaFile
explored questions of history and memory surrounding the 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen
Square Protests, events in Hong Kong, and other facets of the U.S.- China relationship. Meanwhile,
the Center’s Young Green Tech initiative held a global competition in Guangzhou, focused on identifying and supporting young environmental entrepreneurs. Winners from Spain, Germany, China,
and San Francisco gathered in New York to participate in activities held during UN Climate Week.

U N G E N E R A L A S S E M B LY:
THE WORLD COMES TO ASIA SOCIETY
Each September, global leaders descend on
Asia Society New York during the UN General
Assembly meetings for a series of well-attended,news making discussions that attract full houses
to our building, as well as millions of views on
YouTube and other social media. This year Asia
Society hosted the Prime Ministers of Thailand
and Pakistan; Foreign Ministers of India, Iran and
the Philippines; the National Security Adviser ofAfghanistan; the U.S. Special Representative for
Iran; and the First Lady of Japan.
Imran Khan (right) in discussion with Asia Society President and
CEO Josette Sheeran.

S I G N AT U R E E V E N T S

clockwise from top left : The Asia Game Changers of 2019 included Pakistan cricket champion Sana Mir; Indian police detective Chhaya

Sharma, with Indra Nooyi, Chairman and former CEO of PepsiCo; Curator Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi with Asia Society Trustees Charles
Rockefeller and Agnes Hsu-Tang; Faiza Saeed, Presiding Partner of Cravath, Swaine & Moore; Ctrip CEO Jane Jie Sun, flanked by Asia
Society Policy Institute President Kevin Rudd and Asia Society Trustee Zhang Xin; Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa Lineage (Ellen Wallop).

Remarkable Women, Changing the Game
The sixth annual Asia Game Changer Awards recognized an extraordinary group of women,smashers of the proverbial “glass ceiling” from the worlds of politics, business, sports, and culture
from across Asia.
The 2019 Game Changers: Pakistan’s pioneering cricket champion Sana Mir, whose achievements on the field have been matched by extraordinary work on behalf of girls and young womenacross South Asia; Sheikha Hoor Al Qasimi, the first woman to head the United Arab Emirates’
Sharjah Biennial, and who transformed it into a world-class art exhibition; Police detective Chhaya
Sharma, honored for changing the nature of policing in India after solving a particularly horrificand high-profile rape case in Delhi; CEO of the Chinese online travel giant Ctrip the “Expedia ofChina” Jane Jie Sun, who has made a point of promoting gender parity at her company; Faiza
Saeed, the first woman and first Asian American to lead the prestigious law firm of Cravath, Swaine& Moore; and Yuriko Koike, Tokyo’s first female governor, who said of the award and the honorees:“It just goes to show, us women, when we put our minds to something, we just go for it and get it
done.” Lastly there were the Kung Fu Nuns of the Drukpa Lineage, who have devoted their lives
to helping others: advocating for girls, protecting the environment, and serving as first responders
during disasters, in particular following the 2015 Nepal earthquake. Said their leader: “We believe
in awakening the power every woman has in them....May more women and girls around the world
realize that power is ours and it’s not something given by others. It is ours to own.”

Spreading the Game Changer Brand
Our Game Changer brand continued to spread across ourglobal network. Held in tandem with Art Basel Hong Kong,
our special Asia Arts Game Changer Awards were both aninspiring celebration of artists and a fundraising successfor Asia Society Global and Asia Society Hong Kong. This
year, Asia Society honored the artistic achievements andpioneering visions of Christine Ay Tjoe, Fang Lijun, Imran
Qureshi, and Natee Utarit.
Earlier in the year, the third annual Asia Arts Game
Changer Awards India were held in New Delhi. Honorees
included Asia Arts Future awardees Vibha Galhotra andYang Yongliang and Asia Arts Vanguard honoree Gulammohammed Sheikh. Akbar Padamsee, who was also appointed
an Asia Arts Vanguard honoree, was celebrated at a separate
ceremony in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Asia Society Northern California debuted theAsia Game Changer West Awards, honoring Game Changers
with a Bay Area focus on technology and innovation.
Honorees for this “West” iteration were: Dr. Samuel So,
Director of Stanford’s Asian Liver Center and a worldwide
leader in combating Hepatitis B; Marita Cheng, founder of
Robogals, a champion for women and girls in STEM, andCEO of Aubot; the Afghan Girls Robotics Team and Roya
Mahboob, Afghanistan’s first female tech CEO and founderof the team; and the “father of fiberoptics”, Narinder Kapany(who was represented by daughter Kiki Capany).
And in Southern California, we honored “Game Changers”
from the entertainment world. The U.S.- Asia Entertainment
Summit (formerly the U.S.- China Film Summit) expanded
its focus from U.S.- China film collaboration to encompass
trends and forces transforming entertainment more broadly
and across Asia. An evening gala honored Game Changers
Bob Weis, President of Walt Disney Imagineering; The Rain
(Jung Ji-Hoon), Actor and K-Pop Singer-Songwriter; Wang
Leehom, Singer-Songwriter, Producer, Actor, Film Director;
and Wei Zhang, President of Alibaba Pictures.
top to bottom : 2019 Asia Arts Game Changers: Imran Qureshi, Natee Utarit, Christine

Ay Tjoe and Fang Lijun; At the Asia Arts Game Changers awards in India: Bunty Chand,
Radhika Chopra, Vibha Galhotra, Gulammohammed Sheikh, Yang Yongliang, Pheroza
Godrej and Boon Hui Tan; Game Changer West awardee Roya Mahboob is interviewed
ahead of the award ceremonies. (Vivian Sachs/Asia Society); Diana Lin, Wang Leehorn,
Tzi Ma, Wei Zhang, Janet Yang and Bob Weis at the U.S.-Asia Entertainment Summit
and Game Changer Awards Dinner (Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging).

Asia Society Texas: 2016 Asia Game Changer Aasif Mandvi (right)
with Melanie Lawson of ABC 13.

Asia Society Texas: 2018 Game Changer and Asia Society Trustee
Indra Nooyi (right) with Laura Arnold, co-chair of Arnold Ventures.

Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in California
Nearly 100 members of Asia Society’s prestigious Asia 21 Young Leaders network gathered in the
San Francisco Bay Area for a three-day summit held under the heading, “Technology in the Serviceof Humanity”. The Class of 2019—40 men and women from 30 countries and territories acrossthe Asia Pacific—included tech entrepreneurs, human rights advocates, journalists, venture capitalists, artists, and business leaders from a truly diverse range of backgrounds. Joining the newclass were 55 alumni dating to 2006, the year Asia 21 was born, along with special guests James
Higa, a member of the original team at Apple; UC Berkeley Dean of Engineering Tsu-Jae King Liu;
Asia Society Northern California Honorary Chairman Jack Wadsworth and Chairman Ken Wilcox;
and Asia Society trustees Fritz Demopoulos, Susan S. Hakkarainen, and Omar Ishrak. Ishrak andDemopoulos have made generous gifts in support of Asia 21, which recognizes remarkable men
and women aged 40 or younger at the time of induction. Of this network, which now consists ofclose to 1,000 members across 40 countries, one alum said, after the California summit: “Thereis nothing like it anywhere. Asia 21 really is changing the world.”

New members of Asia 21 at the 2019 Summit in California.

The 2019 Osborn Elliott Prize…and a Special Guest
A team from the Associated Press was awarded
the 2019 Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in
Journalism on Asia, in the annual ceremony
at Asia Society New York. The AP produced aseries of reports on Xinjiang, and their teamjoined a program moderated by New York Times
correspondent Edward Wong. Special guest
Maria Ressa, co-founder of the Filipino online
publication Rappler, gave powerful opening
remarks on the need to champion strong journalism, in Asia and around the world.

Maria Ressa

Diversity and Marketing Summit
Asia Society held the 11th Annual Diversity Leadership Forum, hosted this year at
Bloomberg LP, where results and key findings
from Asia Society’s Asian Corporate Survey
were revealed. We are now more than adecade into Asia Society’s Global Talent Initiatives program, comprising work and researchthat leverages Asia Society’s ability to convene
global voices and leaders in the corporate,
civic, and government sectors.

A panel on human capital and harnessing innovation: Akash Shah,BNY Melon; Angela Koch, Synchrony; Raj Kohli, Colgate-Palmolive;
Shery Ahn, Bloomberg L.P.; Leland T. Jourdan, Chevron (Shara Azran).

BY THE NUMBERS
More people engaged with Asia Society online in 2019 than ever before. Our website,
AsiaSociety.org, welcomed 3.6 million users, a 19 percent increase over 2018. On YouTube
our videos were viewed 12.3 million times — a 77 percent jump over the 2018 numbers.

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

405K views Kevin Rudd
inconversation with India’s
Minister of External Affairs
Subrahmanyam Jaishankar

359K views “Untangling
the U.S.- China Narrative:
Technology, Trade, andTensions” in Northern California

339K views Josette
Sheeran in conversation with
Iranian Minister of Foreign
Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif

Over the course of 2019, our YouTube subscriber base more than doubled to 140K, and weare adding approximately 5,000 new subscribers every month. Our other social media platforms
also enjoyed successful growth. Overall in 2019, Asia Society’s posts — from our global Twitterand Facebook accounts alone — were delivered to feeds more than 5 million times. We
also officially re-launched the Asia In-Depth podcast, drawn from Asia Society global programs andthought leaders, adding to our family of institution podcasts among them Asia Inside Out from theAsia Society Policy Institute.

THE GLOBAL NETWORKMILESTONES & GALASIn Australia, Hawker Ball Celebrates New Melbourne Location
Asia Society Australia ushered in a new era with the opening of a new location in Melbourne.
Victorian Premier the Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, along with over 400 special guests, attended a
black-tie gala event at the National Gallery of Victoria, marking the formal opening. Bloomberg
anchor Haidi Stroud-Watts hosted the event. Attendees spanned the breadth of the Australiancommunity, representing business, higher education, government, art and culture, media, sports,
and youth dialogues. Guests included diplomatic representatives from China, Indonesia, Japan,
Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, United States and New Zealand, as well as Australia’s incoming
Ambassador to the United Nations the Hon. Mitch Fifield, Victorian opposition leader the Hon.
Michael O’Brien MP, and members of Commonwealth and State Parliament.

In Texas, Two Special Celebrations
Asia Society Texas celebrated its 40th year in Houston at its annual “Tiger Ball,” paying homage
to the memory of Founding Member and former First Lady Barbara Bush. The Tiger Ball also
honored Phoebe and Bobby Tudor. Princess Zahra Aga Khan was honored with the annual Roy M.
Huffington Award for her commitment to advancing healthcare and education around the world.

At Los Angeles Gala, Asian American Star Power
Asia Society Southern California honored an extraordinary set of individuals and groups at its
annual gala, in Los Angeles. Honorees included NCAA champion gymnast Katelyn Ohashi,
Olympic ice-dancing medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani, artist and restaurateur Michael Chow,
investor and urban visionary Goodwin Gaw, the Los Angeles Dodgers (represented by President
and Chief Executive Officer Stan Kasten), and Christie’s (represented by Marc Porter, chairman ofChristie’s America.) Katherine Ho sang a Chinese-language rendition of Coldplay’s “Yellow” fromthe blockbuster hit Crazy Rich Asians.

clockwise from top left : Premier of Victoria, the Hon. Daniel Andrews MP, officially opens Asia Society Melbourne at the Hawker Ball;guests at the Asia Society Texas Tiger Ball, celebrate our 40 years in Houston; L-FRESH The Lion at the Hawker Ball.
opposite page from left : The Roy M. Huffington Award was given to Princess Zahra Aga Khan (center), pictured with Asia Society Texas

President Bonna Kol, Board Member Nancy C. Allen, program moderator David W. Leebron, and Board Vice Chair Y. Ping Sun; Guests at the
Hawker Ball, held at the National Gallery of Victoria, celebrate the opening of Asia Society Melbourne.

HONG KONG
At Asia Society Hong Kong, the spring season brought two presentations featuring masters of light:
A Story of Light: Hon Chi-fun and Yukaloo by James Turrell. A Story of Light reintroduced thepioneering Hong Kong modern artist Hon Chi-fun (1922–2019) through a selection of paintings,
prints and photographs. Yukaloo marked the first institutional show in Hong Kong of famed artist
James Turrell (b. 1943), bringing a transcendental wide glass piece to the Chantal Miller Gallery
and new levels of audience engagement on social media.
In response to Hong Kong’s devastating loss of trees caused by the tropical cyclone Typhoon
Mangkhut in September 2018, Asia Society Hong Kong organized the exhibition To See the Forest
and the Trees, exploring the significance of trees within our environment, culture, and the urgencyof preserving a planet in dire geological decline. A well-received solo exhibition of Hong Kong artist
Irene Chou, an inventive artist at the forefront of Hong Kong’s New Ink Art Movement, was thethird installment in the “20th Century Chinese Female Artist Series.”

clockwise from top left : Installation view of A Story of Light: Hon Chi-fun; Soprano Stefanie Quintin sings the title role in ‘Mila,’a chamber opera commissioned by Asia Society Hong Kong and performed there, in New York, and in San Francisco (Ellen Wallop);
installation view of Yukaloo by James Turell at Asia Society Hong Kong, the artist’s first at a Hong Kong institution.

HOUSTON
Asia Society Texas presented a series of firsts with Super Sarap, its first food-focused exhibition,and Site Lines: Artists Working in Texas, its first presentation showcasing Texas-based Asianartists. New Cartographies presented contemporary artists incorporating cartography into theirart exploring urbanization, economic migration, environmental change and refugee movements.
Exhibitions at Asia Society Texas were complemented by dynamic and engaging cultural programming. More than 150 programs covering 48 countries— from the first Eid Family Day drawing
1,100 visitors, to the first Japanese Sports Day, to the annual AsiaFest and Night Market events—
served as a passport for local residents to experience the world afar and in their own diverse
neighborhoods. A series on Muslim Americans was launched and included performances of Ping
Chong + Co’s Beyond Sacred, spotlighting stories of five young Muslim Americans growing up
in post-9/11 NYC, as well as a discussion with Muslim American doctors from across the UnitedStates who have made substantial philanthropic investments in their communities.

clockwise from top left : Visitors to the exhibition Sight Lines: Artists Working in Texas; two performances of Beyond Sacred: Voices ofMuslim Identity, in partnership with Ping Chong + Company, highlight personal experiences growing up as Muslim Americans in a post9/11 society; visitors take in the Super Sarap exhibition; a panel of Muslim doctors and community builders was part of a new series thataims to elevate stories of Muslim Americans and their contributions to society.

INDIA
Asia Society India played host to dozens ofprograms across disciplines – from discussions with Nobel laureates Abhijit Banerjee
and Kailash Satyarth to newly-minted Reserve
Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das; toYo-Yo Ma, performing with Carnatic vocalist
T.M. Krishna. Meanwhile, the “Future ofAsia” series brought Ambassador Nirupama
Rao, former Foreign Secretary of India and
Yo-Yo Ma (right) performing with Carnatic vocalist T.M. Krishna.
former Ambassador to the U.S. and China;
Arun Kumar, Chairman and CEO, KPMG India; Taimur Baig, Managing Director and Chief Economist, DBS Bank; and Arijit Ghosh, South Asia Managing Editor, Bloomberg.

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Asia Society Northern California’s busy year
featured much more than the aforementioned “Game Changers West” and Asia 21
Summit. The Center also welcomed new
Board members from Silicon Valley, helping
to bring innovative topics and speakers to its
programming. Its conference, “The Futureof U.S.-China: Collaboration and Competition”, brought diverse perspectives to the At Sundance: Asia Society’s Janet Yang, writers/directors Lulu Wang,
Justin Chon and Richie Mehta, along with producer Anita Gou.
hottest topic of 2019, while a new initiative
exploring AI and other technologies will further enhance its offerings on that topic in the coming
year. ASNC also hosted a series of Executive Roundtables on key Asian business subjects, and as
well as programs connecting the San Francisco Bay Area community with a wide network of global
leaders and thinkers.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Beyond its galas and the media summit, Asia Society Southern California organized current affairs
programs on a range of topics that included unique perspectives on developments in the U.S.China relationship – including Asia Society Trustee Nicolas Berggruen and ASPI Vice Presidents
Danny Russel and Wendy Cutler, and book talks with Weijian Shan and Parag Khanna. The center
also developed a partnership with McKinsey Global Institute to support the launch of their report,
Asia’s Future is Now, with a number of in-person discussions and webinars coming in 2020.

SWITZERLAND
In 2019, Asia Society Switzerland increased its membership by almost one half, and significantly
increased program attendance and ticket revenue over the year. Among highlights were a half-day
conference organized with Credit Suisse assessing the current state and future of China’s Belt andRoad Initiative (BRI), and a seminar held in partnership with the University of Applied Sciences

in Zurich on “How to Understand Contemporary China,” made up of six half-day sessions, led bysome of the world’s leading experts.

AUSTRALIA
With the establishment of its presence in Melbourne, Asia Society Australia significantly expanded
its staff, programming, audiences and impact. In 2019, its Disruptive Asia series—long-form
essays on how Asia’s rise is impacting Australia’s foreign policy, economy, and society—turned its
focus to China. With offices in both Sydney and Melbourne - Australia’s first and second largest
cities and the nation’s business and cultural capitals, Asia Society Australia is well positioned as
the leading national center for engagement with Asia moving forward.

JAPAN
Asia Society Japan marked its first year of full operations in 2019, organizing 30 programs
including three signature symposiums, as well as art excursions/joint trips run in conjunction with
Asia Society Hong Kong, and a special “Innovation Caravan” for Asia Society Trustees. In 2020,
the Center looks forward to hosting the 15th annual Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in Tokyo.

PHIILIPPINES
Asia Society Philippines made strides in its aim to connect and engage with younger stakeholders,in addition to organizing a roster of lectures, films, seminars, and conferences. Efforts to engage
the Asia 21 Young Leaders Network included programs with young innovators and disruptors.
Among these initiatives was a “Future Forward” series on “The Future of Data” and the “One Step
Ahead” conference on the topic “Rethinking the Future of Work to Promote Inclusive Growth in
Asia Pacific.”

KOREA
Now in its 12th year, Asia Society Korea launched a “Leo Gala” this year, which enjoyed support
from a number of embassies in keeping with its strong network that now includes 97 ambassadors
as honorary members. A luncheon series with a range of speakers fosters open debate and civil
discourse on current issues and social responsibilities in Korean society. Those sessions combinedwith monthly cooking classes with embassies, rounded out corporate and business activities forthe local community.

NEW TRUSTEES

Asia Society’s Global Board of Trustees met in Hong Kong in the spring. Front row (left to right):
Kevin Rudd, Ronnie C. Chan, Lulu C. Wang, John L. Thornton, Chan Heng Chee, Stephen Riady,Betsy Z. Cohen; 2nd Row: W. Bradford Hu, Duncan Clark, Adrian T. Keller, Kenneth Wilcox,
Asheet Mehta, Prince Turki Al-Faisal, Richard Drobnick, Chen Guoqing, Josette Sheeran; 3rd
Row: Jack Wadsworth, George Hicks, Fritz Demopoulos, Mohit Assomull, J. Frank Brown, Nicolas
Aguzin, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Thierry Porté, Susan Hakkarainen, and Omar Ishrak.
Asia Society welcomed six new Trustees in 2019: Frederick “Fritz” Demopoulos, a Hong
Kong-based entrepreneur; Ram Krishnan, Global Chief Commercial Officer of PepsiCo andChief Executive Officer of Greater China; Jean Liu, president of Didi Chuxing, the world’s
largest on-demand transportation network company based in China; Stephen Riady, Executive
Chairman of OUE Limited, one of the leading, publicly-listed, diversified real estate companies
in Singapore; Harit Talwar, global head of Goldman Sachs’ digital consumer financial services
business; and Ernie Thrasher, a global leader in the energy industry.

IN MEMORIAM

I.M. Pei and family at our 2016 Asia Game Changers Awards.

I.M. Pei died in New York in May, age 102.
A giant in architecture, friend of the Asia
Society, and 2016 Asia Game Changer.
On that occasion, the then-99-year-old Pei
accepted his award in person. “I usually havea lot to say, but tonight...I’m grateful. I’m
thankful. And I want to thank you all for
coming.”Lisina Hoch died at her home in Irvington, NY,
in February. She was 89. In the 1950s she
and Frank Hoch traveled to Bhutan, sparking
a fascination with the country that would
span decades. Hoch served as a memberof our board from 1981 to 1984 and later
became an honorary life trustee. Lisina andFrank Hoch championed many Asia Society
activities, providing generous support for ourPark Avenue building renovation and gallery
expansion, as well as several exhibitions held
over the years.

Lisina Hoch at the opening of the exhibition Princes and Paintersin Mughal Delhi, 1707-1857

Mimi Poser at an Asia Society luncheon event in 2017, pictured
with Daniel Moss, Bloomberg News. Maria Baranova-Suzuki.

Mimi Poser, a longtime supporter of Asia
Society through Friends of Asian Art, wasformer director of philanthropy at the New York
Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, a former volunteer at the Guggenheim,
and an active supporter of CEC ARTSLINK.
She and her husband, Joseph, were avid race
car drivers and enjoyed fishing. In 2004, they
hosted an Asia on My Mind benefit dinner
on behalf of Asia Society with special guests
Bernard Kalb and Mike Wallace.

Former Global Trustee and longtime Asia
Society friend Anthony (Tony) J. Walton
passed away in January.
Tony was a great advocate
for Asia Society at Standard
Chartered throughout theyears, and served withstrong conviction on the
Asia Society’s corporate
business.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Chan Heng Chee

Betsy Z. Cohen

Lulu C. Wang

CO-CHAIR

VICE CHAIR

VICE CHAIRJohn L. Thornton

Lewis B. Kaden

Josette Sheeran

CO-CHAIR

VICE CHAIRPRESIDENT AND CEO

Nicolas A. Aguzin

George G. Hicks

Gaoning Ning

HRH Prince Turki AlFaisal

Doris M. Ho

Indra K. Nooyi

Edward R. Allen III

W. Bradford Hu

Richard L. Plepler

Isaac Applbaum

Omar Ishrak

Thierry Porté

Mohit Assomull

Mitchell R. Julis

Stephen Riady

Joseph Y. Bae

Karamjit S. Kalsi

Charles P. Rockefeller

Nicolas Berggruen

Adrian T. Keller

Nicolas Rohatyn

Hamid Biglari

Caroline Kennedy

Kevin M. Rudd

J. Frank Brown

Mahmood J. Khimji

Denise Saul

Michael S. Chae

James Kondo

Stephen A. Schwarzman

Albert Chao

Ram Krishnan

Josette Sheeran

Purnendu Chatterjee

Chong-Moon Lee

Neil N. Shen

Chen Guoqing

Lee Hong-Koo

Shin Dong-Bin

Duncan Clark O.B.E.

Ido Leffler

Warwick L. Smith AO LLBHenry Cornell

Jean Liu

Harit Talwar

Frederick M. Demopoulos

Strive Masiyiwa

Oscar L. Tang

Richard Drobnick

Harold McGraw III

Ernie L. Thrasher

J. Michael Evans

Asheet Mehta

Kenneth P. Wilcox

Renée Fleming

John D. Negroponte

Zhang Xin

Jamshyd N. Godrej

Harold J. Newman

James D. Zirin

Toyoo Gyohten

Robert Niehaus

Fernando Zobel de Ayala

Susan S. Hakkarainen(Treasurer, Board of Trustees)

Trustees

Chair Emeriti
Ronnie C. Chan

Maurice R. Greenberg

Henrietta H. ForeCharles R. Kaye