GAACC LEGACY CELEBRATION
GAACC Legacy Leaders Videos
Conversations with the people who built Austin’s Asian American business community.
In 1980, Asian Americans made up under 3% of Austin’s population. Too small a number to qualify for most funding programs. Too scattered to be heard much at City Hall. Represented by no institution that could speak for the whole. Four decades later, Central Texas has one of the fastest-growing AAPI populations in the country, an Asian Chamber of Commerce with a unified voice, a resource center built by public bond, and a civic network that politicians answer to.
That transformation was built: slowly, deliberately, and often uncomfortably by people who chose collaboration over control.
The Legacy Leaders Series captures those people on camera. These are not polished keynote speeches. They are long, candid, occasionally funny conversations about the risks these leaders took, the resistance they met, the years they nearly quit, and what they hope the next generation does differently.
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ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Legacy Leaders Video Series is the 2025–26 capstone project of GAACC Leadership Accelerator Cohort 2: nine emerging AAPI leaders who spent nine months developing their own leadership while documenting and celebrating the leaders who came before them.
The full video series premiered at Pillars & Protégés: A GAACC Legacy Celebration on July 27, 2026.
ALI KHATAW
Founder & CEO, Encotech Engineering Consultants
One Voice: Building a Unified Community
In 2012, Austin’s two Asian chambers became one. Ali Khataw made the phone call that started it all, discovering in the process that his counterpart at the other chamber was just getting ready to call him.
He recounts the three-year courtship between two boards of directors, the mediator who asked the hard questions about money and power, and the mayor who pulled him aside at City Hall.
Plus: the early years of Ali’s firm, doing CAD work for $7.50 an hour (and his wife talking him out of quitting).
Watch for: “Listen privately and negotiate publicly.”
CLIFFORD CHIU
Senior Advisor, Vista Equity Partners
Steward of Capital, Governance, and Institutions
After forty-five years on Wall Street, seventeen of them spent in Tokyo and Hong Kong, and having traveled across more than seventy-five countries, Clifford Chiu came to Austin and began what he calls his stewardship chapter.
Clifford brings a global operator’s view to a local question: why can Asians lead in every field in Asia but face a bamboo ceiling in American boardrooms and C-suites?
He shares the trust framework he’s used in every market he’s entered, the four Qs he learned from Jamie Dimon, and his conviction that mentorship works better when it digs deep rather than casting wide.
Watch for: Running fast versus running far.
PAUL KIM
Engineering Executive & Community Leader
Does This Community Matter?
Paul Kim has spent decades asking a hard question about the organizations he serves: if this disappeared tomorrow, would anyone notice? He walks through the strategic case for the 2012 chamber merger: split grant funding, split messaging, two boards with an inherited suspicion of each other…
Hear about the the 2005 grassroots campaign that put a $5 million Asian American Resource Center bond on the Austin ballot (and won).
Paul also explains why continuity matters more than any single great idea.
Watch for: The student from Yonsei University with a homemade business card.
CHANNY SOEUR
CEO, CAS Consulting & Services
The Architecture of a Community
A refugee from Cambodia who became the City of Austin’s first Asian American executive, Channy Soeur helped design the three-part structure: chamber, network, and resource center, that still organizes AAPI civic life in Central Texas.
Channy explains what it took to build institutions when the community was under 3% of the population and “qualified for nothing.” Then he turns the lens on the present with a pointed warning about leaders who stay too long and young people who never get the chance to make mistakes.
Watch for: “It only requires a few people with a shared conviction.”
GAACC LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR COHORT 2
The Legacy Leaders Video Series is the 2025–26 capstone project of GAACC Leadership Accelerator Cohort 2.
Hailing from a broad range of sectors and with diverse professional backgrounds, nine young leaders participated in the second cohort (2025-26) of the GAACC Leadership Accelerator.
Stephanie Mora
Jenn Penano-Collazo
FOUR PILLARS OF GAACC ADVOCACY
LOCAL SUPPORT
We champion policies that lower barriers and leverage opportunities for small businesses.
Example Initiatives:
• Advocating for small business permitting reform
• Promoting the $1 million DECA Loan Fund for expansion
• Partnering with the City of Austin on digital skills training
REGIONAL EXPERTISE
We are a leading voice for AAPI demographic and business data in Central Texas.
Example Initiatives:
The Central Texas Asian Impact Project provides actionable insights into the 96% population growth and the $73.4 billion in annual spending power of AAPI Texans.
NATIONAL COLLABORATIONS
Amplifying our regional business voice through powerful and critical national partnerships.
Example Initiatives:
Collaborating with National ACE on AI adoption for small businesses and ensuring member access to their $500k Restaurant Accelerator & Community Fund Grant program.
International Connectivity
Positioning Austin as a global landing pad for Asian venture capital and innovation.
Example Initiatives:
Leading trade missions to Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.
Advocating for direct flights between AUS and Asia.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
The NextGEN Program facilitates opportunities to connect, build relationships, volunteer, and engage with the local Asian Community. Initiatives include the annual Austin AAPI Professional Summit, partnering with the Austin AAPI Collective, and networking mixers that support entrepreneurs.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The NextGEN Program organizes and facilitates leadership panels, fireside chats with thought leaders and mentors, and cultivates introductions and connections that foster professional and career growth.
LEADERSHIP ACCELERATOR
The GAACC Leadership Accelerator is an immersive program focused on empowering high-potential AAPI individuals. The nine-month program consists of engagements with local business/civic/community leaders, skill development sessions, and a capstone project.
GET IN TOUCH
Do you have Business Advocacy-related business needs that the Chamber may be able to support??
Click the button to email us and we will be in touch.
CENTRAL TEXAS YOUNG PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
NextGEN EVENTS
Do you have (or know about) an upcoming Central Texas event you believe would be of interest to the GAACC NextGEN Community? Let us know about it and we’ll add it to this calendar.
ONGOING ADVOCACY INITIATIVES
These critical, regionally-focused advocacy-based projects are ongoing efforts of the GAACC. These initiatives are made possible with the generous support and expertise of our partners.
CENTRAL TEXAS ASIAN IMPACT PROJECT
STATUS: ESTABLISHED/FLAGSHIP INITIATIVE
The Central Texas Asian Impact Project provides the most comprehensive look at the AAPI economic footprint in Central Texas. From the $73.4B in annual spending power to the 96% population surge over the past decade, our reports provide a primary resource for policymakers, developers, and corporate leaders who want to engage authentically with our regional business and civic communities.
DECA
STATUS: ESTABLISHED/REGIONAL PARTNERSHIP
GAACC is a proud founding member of DECA, a collaborative of Central Texas’s multicultural chambers. Together, we amplify our collective voice to advocate for equitable economic development, small business resources, and inclusive policy-making at the city and regional level
AUSTIN ASIAN ERG PARTNERS
We deeply appreciate the supporting partners at the Austin AAPI Collective. The Collective is an organically-growing, welcoming platform gathering Asian Employee Resource Groups together to build relationships, learn from one another, and provide opportunities to volunteer and connect with the Central Texas Asian business community.
Did you know that in each of the counties in the five county Greater Austin area, Asians are the fastest or second-fastest-growing ethnic group? The social and economic impact of Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in Central Texas is undeniable. These diverse communities add talent, buying power, and dynamic cultural impact to our region, and as we will explore, this impact is just beginning.
But who are they? A lack of current data and rigorous analysis of Central Texas’ AAPI populations can make it difficult for AAPI communities – like other communities of color – to receive the awareness and policy support needed to promote and achieve economic equity. Without a more complete understanding of the composition, geographic distribution, or ethnic makeup of these communities, it is difficult to effectively engage and fully include them in Central Texas’ civic and economic growth.
The Central Texas Asian Impact Project aims to address this gap by exploring and sharing the most comprehensive set of actionable demographic and business insights on the Asian population here in the Greater Austin region. The first phase of this multi-phase effort will roll out between May and December, 2023 with multiple reports, surveys, and interactive data dashboards being made available to the public.