Celebrating Our Stories
We’re proud to join our colleagues, clients and community partners in celebrating Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. For nearly 20 years, inclusion & diversity has been a strategic focus for our firm. We express our commitment through a range of internal and external programs, and our associates enliven that commitment in their professional and personal lives.
We celebrate the heritage, accomplishments and contributions of the Asian Pacific American community, including these stories from across Baird:
Karan Saberwal, Senior Research Analyst, is not only an accomplished member of our Equity Asset Management team – he is one of the few people who can say they’ve reached Mount Everest Base Camp. When the opportunity to attempt the hike presented itself a year ahead of schedule, Karan embraced the challenge and got creative to build a new playbook to prepare himself to complete the ascent. He achieved his bucket list goal in fall 2022 with his family and friends cheering him on from afar.
All students deserve the opportunity to pursue their ambitions. That belief inspired our partnership with ATLAS, which strives to open doors for students of underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in a career in financial services and ultimately transform the industry. We had the pleasure of hosting students from their Fellows program at Baird for internships and informational days, including several students of APA heritage, and we are looking forward to welcoming future Fellows.
Gordon Pan, President of Baird Capital, is committed to creating connections for Baird’s associates of color. In addition to working to build a strong community among Baird’s Asian Pacific American community, Gordon is a member of the Special Task Force of Baird’s Executive Committee, which focuses on advancing a range of inclusion & diversity efforts across our firm. He’s also a member of our Bridge Builders program, a unique reverse mentorship opportunity for our associates of color. For these contributions and many others, Gordon was recognized as a Notable Executive of Color in Finance by Crain’s Chicago Business.
Making connections strengthens communities. Bob Manankil, Financial Advisor in our Towson, Maryland, branch, is an advocate for creating bridges within and to the APA community. Within Baird, Bob is an active member of Prism, our multicultural Associate Resource Group, and mentor to associates of color across the firm. A long-time advocate for introducing fellow Marylanders to the many cultures that make up the Asian Pacific American community, he was recently recognized with a Governor’s Citation for outstanding service as Commissioner of the Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs.
Mei Robertson is no stranger to writing a compelling story. A current executive sponsor of Prism and Baird’s Director of Client Reporting, Mei grew up in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her mother immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan and she finds inspiration in her heritage and her mother’s tenacity in building a life and career in the United States. Her mother’s example led Mei to move to the East Coast for college before taking roles in Japan, Singapore, and Los Angeles. She’s built an exciting career since joining Baird in Milwaukee. Watch Mei share her story in her own words and how she’s shaped her career at our firm.
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PRISM represents multicultural diversity across the firm and strives to make Baird a more inclusive company for associates and clients.