"Talking to people, hearing their story, giving them the space to do so reminds me so much of what being a good ally or advocate is all about. It is probably one of the biggest DNI principles that is out there today." — Allen Chen In this episode, Nozomi and Allen discuss: Following your heart in your profession. Making space for D&I. Finding the seed deep inside each of us. The importance of emotional intelligence. Key Takeaways: Be willing to give new experiences a try, you never know where doing what you love will take you in your career. Things don’t always go in a straight line, but they always do connect when you follow your passions. You do not have to know how to do everything. If you are willing to learn and be open as you learn, take the risks, you never know what you will be able to create. Emotional intelligence can begin with asking someone how they are doing with genuine authenticity. People want to know that you care about them as a human being. "Instead of thinking of ‘how can I make money’ or ‘what would be the most useful skill,’ really following your passion, at the end of the day, you will always do better in that." — Nozomi Morgan "Having that emotional intelligence will make you that much better of a leader. At the end of the day, everyone's human and everyone's got something that's going on in their lives. Being cognizant of that, meeting people where they are, will get them motivated to work for you." — Allen Chen About Allen Chen: Allen Chen is a Diversity and Inclusion Executive within the Global Diversity and Inclusion Organization at Bank of America. In addition to driving Bank of America’s diversity and inclusion story forward, Allen oversees the strategy and initiatives for the bank’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Council (GDIC), leads the strategy around our Asian employee base, and drives progress through key D&I external partners. He serves as the enterprise co-chair for the bank’s Asian employee resource group, Asian Leadership Network (ALN), and is a leader on the Atlanta market leadership team. Allen has been with the bank since 2003 and began his career with a legacy organization, MBNA, as an outbound telemarketing agent. Prior to his current role, he served in various leadership roles within the Card Organization, including managing the AAA Cobrand credit card portfolio and most recently lead the management of the bank’s Global Employee Networks Allen earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University. He is passionate about philanthropy and diversity and inclusion both as an advocate at Bank of America or within the Atlanta Market. In Atlanta, he serves as the President Emeritus of a non-profit organization, National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP). He has been recognized by Georgia Asian Time’s Top 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia (2017 and 2019) and has received the Presidential Service Award for volunteerism (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019). Allen resides in Woodstock, GA. Episode References: NAAAP: https://www.naaap.org/ Steve Job’s 2005 Stanford Commencement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc Connect with Allen Chen: Email: allen.h.chen@bofa.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-chen-02a13519/ Connect with Nozomi Morgan: Website: https://www.michikimorgan.com/ Book: In the works Email: team@michikimorgan.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/nozomimorgan YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NozomiMorgan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nozomimorgan/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nozomimorgan/ Show notes by Podcastologist: Chelsea Taylor-Sturkie Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.
"Talking to people, hearing their story, giving them the space to do so reminds me so much of what being a good ally or advocate is all about. It is probably one of the biggest DNI principles that is out there today." — Allen Chen
In this episode, Nozomi and Allen discuss:
Key Takeaways:
"Instead of thinking of ‘how can I make money’ or ‘what would be the most useful skill,’ really following your passion, at the end of the day, you will always do better in that." — Nozomi Morgan
"Having that emotional intelligence will make you that much better of a leader. At the end of the day, everyone's human and everyone's got something that's going on in their lives. Being cognizant of that, meeting people where they are, will get them motivated to work for you." — Allen Chen
About Allen Chen: Allen Chen is a Diversity and Inclusion Executive within the Global Diversity and Inclusion Organization at Bank of America. In addition to driving Bank of America’s diversity and inclusion story forward, Allen oversees the strategy and initiatives for the bank’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Council (GDIC), leads the strategy around our Asian employee base, and drives progress through key D&I external partners. He serves as the enterprise co-chair for the bank’s Asian employee resource group, Asian Leadership Network (ALN), and is a leader on the Atlanta market leadership team.
Allen has been with the bank since 2003 and began his career with a legacy organization, MBNA, as an outbound telemarketing agent. Prior to his current role, he served in various leadership roles within the Card Organization, including managing the AAA Cobrand credit card portfolio and most recently lead the management of the bank’s Global Employee Networks
Allen earned his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University. He is passionate about philanthropy and diversity and inclusion both as an advocate at Bank of America or within the Atlanta Market. In Atlanta, he serves as the President Emeritus of a non-profit organization, National Association of Asian American Professionals (NAAAP). He has been recognized by Georgia Asian Time’s Top 25 Most Influential Asian Americans in Georgia (2017 and 2019) and has received the Presidential Service Award for volunteerism (2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019). Allen resides in Woodstock, GA.
Episode References:
NAAAP: https://www.naaap.org/
Steve Job’s 2005 Stanford Commencement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc
Connect with Allen Chen:
Email: allen.h.chen@bofa.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allen-chen-02a13519/
Connect with Nozomi Morgan:
Website: https://www.michikimorgan.com/
Book: In the works
Email: team@michikimorgan.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/nozomimorgan
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/NozomiMorgan
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nozomimorgan/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nozomimorgan/
Show notes by Podcastologist: Chelsea Taylor-Sturkie
Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.