GM DIVERSITY NEWSLETTER

Museum of Chinese in the Americas honors GM Executive at 2007 Legacy Awards Dinner

Jonathan Ligh, MoCA, board chairman
and Ray Young, group vice president,
GM Global Finance, at the MoCA
awards ceremony

NEW YORK – General Motors' Ray G. Young, the newly appointed group vice president of GM Global Finance, has received the Museum of Chinese in the Americas’ (MoCA) prestigious Legacy Award for his professional accomplishments and contributions to the Asian American communities.

“I am incredibly grateful and appreciative toward MoCA for this award,” said Young, during the award ceremony held Oct. 30 in New York. “It is a great honor to be recognized by an organization that has done so much for the Chinese American community.”

Young has been a champion for diversity and a groundbreaker for Asian Americans working in the automotive industry and other professional fields. Through GM, Young has demonstrated great commitment to the Asian American community. He was an advisor and a mentor to the GM Chinese Affinity Group, as well as the executive champion for the GM Asian Indian Affinity Group.

Outside of GM, Young served as the executive vice president of the Association of Chinese Americans and received the Organization of Chinese Americans’ Corporate Achievement Award in 2002. The Goldsea Asian American Daily also recognized him as one of the 70 most influential Asian Americans.

Young joined GM after graduating from the University of Chicago’s MBA program with a specialization in international business in 1986. Prior to his current appointment, Young has held many executive positions within GM around the globe. He was president and managing director of GM do Brasil for the past four years, and vice president and CFO of GM North America before he headed to Brazil.

MoCA is the leading museum dedicated to reclaiming, preserving and presenting the history and culture of Chinese people in the United States. Founded in 1980 as the New York Chinatown History Project by John Kuo Wei Tchen and Charles Lai, MoCA honors a distinguished group of pioneers in the Chinese American community each year at its Legacy Dinner. Past recipients include Jackie Chan, Amy Tan, David Ho, among others. This year’s dinner took place at the Tribeca Rooftop in New York City.

GM engineer receives prestigious 2007 National Asian Pacific American Corporate Achievement Award

Ginny Gong, OCA national president;
Harvey Bell, executive director of GM North
America Engineering; Darwin Wang, GM
staff project engineer; Bernie Collins,
chairman, OCA Business Advisory Council

LAS VEGAS – General Motors engineer Darwin Wang received the acclaimed National Asian Pacific American Corporate Achievement Awards from the Organization of Chinese Americans.

The award given out annually is the only national one of its kind, recognizing winners each year for their corporate achievement and service to Asian Pacific American communities. Winners are first nominated by their respective companies and then selected by a panel of judges. The twelve honorees of 2007 were presented their awards Oct. 19 at a banquet at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino.

“This is truly an honor,” said Wang. “I’m incredibly proud to work for GM and this award validates what we’ve been doing. It recognizes that our company is committed to diversity in the workplace and is dedicated to being a customer-driven company at the forefront of the global market. It’s great to know that I play a part in that.”

Since joining GM in 1988, Wang has demonstrated a dedication and passion toward improving product quality and customer satisfaction. His efforts and ingenuity have earned him numerous recognitions and special achievement awards from GM. Wang was also instrumental in the creation of the GM Chinese Affinity Group, and served as the group’s first president in 2001.

Outside of work, Wang is an active member in the Chinese community of Greater Detroit. He helped pioneer the creation of the Chinese Association of Greater Detroit in late 1992 and was elected to its board of directors from 1994 through 1996. Wang also served on the School Board for local area Chinese schools from 1996 through 1998. In addition, Wang volunteers his voice – as a lyric tenor – to community stages and events.

Founded in 1973, the Organization of Chinese Americans (www.ocanational.org) is a national organization with 80 chapters and affiliates dedicated to advancing the social, political and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans.

Click here to download the print friendly PDF version of this story