Joanne Kwong is the president of Pearl River Mart, the iconic NYC Asian emporium established in 1971.

After the 2016 closing of the historic “friendship store,” she joined her in-laws and reinvented the brand, establishing new locations in SoHo, Chelsea, Chinatown, and Flushing.

Today, under Joanne’s leadership, Pearl River remains the joyful shopping institution beloved by generations of New Yorkers and visitors alike. It now also serves as a dynamic hub for the AAPI community and a springboard for emerging entrepreneurs and artists. Pearl River Mart’s community-based approach has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal as “the future of retail,” and by New York Magazine as one of its “Reasons to Love NY.”

Joanne is a product of the NYC public schools and holds degrees from Columbia and Duke. Before leading Pearl River, she was an attorney, federal judicial clerk, adjunct law professor, and non-profit communications executive. Joanne serves on the boards of New York Public Radio, Light Up Chinatown, the Meatpacking Business Improvement District, and the Columbia College Alumni Association, and was recently appointed to the U.S. Congressional Commission To Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of Asian Pacific American History and Culture. In recent years, she has been honored as one of Gold House’s A100 “Most Impactful Asians and Pacific Islanders” and Time Out NY’s “9 Amazing Women Who Changed New York for the Better.”

Joanne is a proud resident of the Upper West Side, where she lives with her husband and two sons.

Jolene Delisle is the Founder and Creative Director of the branding agency The Working Assembly based in NYC. Her design work has been recognized by Print, D&AD, Dieline, The One Show, and Fast Company. She has been named to the Forbes Next 1000 entrepreneur list and Adweek's Creative 100, honoring the most innovative and inspiring individuals. Jolene is passionate about bridging the gap in creativity and tech by investing, advising, and prioritizing founder diversity. In 2022, Jolene became the owner of a 1950's ice cream shop in Stone Ridge, New York, called Cherries.

Kenshiro Uki is the President of Sun Noodle North America. He oversees strategy and operations out of the company’s Carlstadt, New Jersey location. A third-generation noodle maker, Kenshiro grew up taste-testing ramen noodles at his family’s Honolulu facility. With his sister Hisae, he launched Sun Noodle’s innovative ramen pop up concept, Ramen Lab, in the competitive New York restaurant scene during a peak growth period for Sun Noodle. Kenshiro earned his business management undergraduate degree and his MBA in International Management from Whitworth University.

Maya Kaimal is the founder of Maya Kaimal Foods, a winner of the Julia Child Award for her cookbook Curried Favors, Family Recipes from South India, and former photo editor of Saveur magazine. Raised in Boston and Boulder by two talented cooks--an American mother and Indian father--Maya’s father’s roots in Kerala have been a source of inspiration for her. She has written extensively about South Indian cuisine in magazines and cookbooks. In 2003, she and her husband launched her namesake line of Indian products after noticing a lack of offerings in retail. Her goal was to translate home cooking on a commercial scale so consumers could easily experience delicious, regional Indian flavors. Maya Kaimal products are now available in over 12,000 stores
nationwide. In 2023 she released her third cookbook Indian Flavor Every Day. She lives with her husband and daughters in Rhinebeck, New York.

For more information, visit http://www.mayakaimal.com/.

Sue Kim is the VP of Marketing for Spindrift Beverage Company, makers of delicious sparkling
water made with real squeezed fruit. Today, her team focuses on brand building primarily
through the in-house creation of content and the delivery of unreasonable hospitality to the
growing online community of Drifters, consumers who are fanatical about their love of Spindrift.

As a second-generation Korean American, Sue desperately attempts to recapture the feeling and
specialness of childhood family meals in her work and life. Obsessed with the stories told around
a table, Sue now brings that perspective to Spindrift, a brand that appreciates a connectedness to
real ingredients and the love and care it takes to make delicious things for people to enjoy.