Conversation with Linda Tsao Yang , Former US Ambassador – “A Pioneer In Governance”

Linda Tsao Yang is a pioneer in the oversight of important financial institutions and and the first woman and the first minority to represent the United States on the board of a multilateral financial institution. She served as U.S. Executive Director to the board of the Asian Development Bank in Manila, is Chair Emerita of the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA), was the first minority appointed to serve as California’s Savings and Loan Commissioner; and was also the first minority appointed to the board of the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), the largest public pension fund in the United States.

Throughout her career she has directed and driven the institutions she has chaired towards policies and practices that were more equitable and enduring, guided by good governance, transparent information disclosure, improved rules on participation and consultation, a robust policies on gender.

She did all of these things in an era where woman were not only absent in senior positions, but were rarely executive directors or board members.