Committee of 100 Issues ''Report Card'' Highlighting Under-Representation of Asian Pacific Americans on U.S. Corporate Boards.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 1, 2004

The Committee of 100, a national organization of Chinese American leaders, has issued its first-ever "Report Card" highlighting the dramatic under-representation of Asian Pacific Americans (APA's) on the boards of Fortune 500 corporations.

The Report Card indicates that, whereas this group represents approximately four percent of the population of the United States, the percentage of APAs holding seats on corporate boards of the largest global companies represents one-fourth of that number, or one percent.

In addition to the disproportionate numbers illustrated by the Committee's findings, the Report Card also includes demographic trends and other considerations making the case for increased inclusion of APAs in the governance of the world's leading corporations.

"Our Report Card carries a message of missed opportunity to Corporate America," said Wilson Chu, Chair of the Committee's APA Corporate Board Initiative. "In today's Sarbanes-Oxley environment, corporations are casting an ever wider net for qualified directors. The resourceful CEO will find an APA community to be a largely untapped pool of highly qualified board candidates -- including leaders in diverse industries, professions, and communities. These individuals, with their uniquely diverse talents, can strategically assist companies desiring to market to a highly-educated and increasingly affluent APA consumer market and to an increasingly global clientele."

The Report Card cites U.S. Census Bureau statistics projecting an increase of almost 50 percent of APAs in the American population between 2000 and 2010. More compelling, perhaps, are statistics that illustrate APA purchasing power and the proven and growing talent pool of APA business leaders, including the following findings:

-According to the U.S. Census Bureau for 2001--2002, APAs have a median household income higher than any other group, minority or majority, in the United States.

- According to a recent study by the Spectrem Group, the number of affluent APA investors increased more than five-fold between 2000 and 2002.

- In contrast to the Fortune 500, over 30% of the companies in the NASDAQ 100, comprised of many of the country's most innovative companies, have at least one APA on their boards.

"We believe this Report Card makes a compelling case for Corporate America to diversify its boards with more Asian Pacific Americans," said Bob Lee, Chairman of the Committee of 100. "As with all considerations of gender, race and ethnicity, we advocate the inclusion of 100 percent of the talent pool here in America, and APAs are very much a part of that."

The Committee of 100, with its pan-Asian Advisory Board, has joined major executive search firms, including Heidrick & Struggles, Korn Ferry and Spencer Stuart, to facilitate the search for and placement of qualified APA board candidates. Corporations and other interested parties are encouraged to go to the Committee of 100 web site, www.committee100.org, for more information and for links to the partner search firms.

The Committee encourages Fortune 500 heads to take the following steps to access this largely untapped talent pool of Asian Pacific American senior executives:

-- Create in-house mechanisms to identify highly qualified APA

candidates for corporate director positions.

-- Profile the positive contributions by existing APA corporate

directors and encourage other senior management executives to

do likewise.

-- Approach C-100's executive search firm partners for help in

identifying highly qualified APA corporate director

candidates.

Founded in 1989 by prominent Chinese Americans, the Committee of 100 is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit membership organization composed of Chinese American leaders in a broad range of professions. With their knowledge and experience, they have committed themselves to a dual mission: (1) encouraging stronger relations between the U.S. and Greater China; and (2) encouraging the full participation of Chinese Americans in all aspects of American life. For more information, please visit our web site: www.committee100.org.