Asians in Advertising’s Jessalin Lam on creating a ‘sense of belonging’

Ad Age is marking Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023 with our Honoring Creative Excellence package. (Read the introduction here.) Today, our guest editor Bonnie Wan turns the spotlight to Jessalin Lam, VP of diversity, equity and inclusion at Digitas Health, co-founder of Asians in Advertising and co-author of “The Visibility Mindset: How Asian American Leaders Create Opportunities and Push Past Barriers.” 

Here, Lam writes about discovering a sense of purpose through community-building.

Community has always been a big part of my life—to know that you have people around you in your personal and professional life sharing a common identity or interest. Growing up, I participated in student organizations including art club and yearbook club during my high school years and I joined the advertising club in college to meet other marketing students looking to go into the same industry as me.

After I graduated college, this translated into professional organizations I joined to be part of communities that I could relate to—and to grow from their resources, events, connections and more.

Anyone who knows me knows I am not only part of various organizations—including She Runs It, The Advertising Club of New York, ADCOLOR, Asian Hustle Network and 3AF—I also create them if they do not exist.

When I worked at TBWA\Worldwide, I noticed there was no employee resource group for the Asian community, and I partnered with an incredible leader and mentor, Soon Mee Kim, to create Omnicom’s first Asian ERG, Omnicom Asian Leaders Circle. I wanted to be part of the solution for how I could help serve the AAPI community in a more proactive way.

This is when I also met my Asians in Advertising (AIA) co-founder, Bernice Chao, through a 2021 Ascend panel featuring Asian female executives sharing their career journeys. As a webinar attendee, I shared my LinkedIn profile in the chat to connect with attendees, letting them know that I’d love to meet them. Bernice added me on LinkedIn and we had a virtual one-on-one to get to know each other. After we connected, we knew we wanted to stay in touch with each other, and soon after she asked me to be her co-founder—and I said yes.

We are still amazed at how Asians in Advertising has grown so organically, with over 4,000 members across the world as a global nonprofit organization focused on community and networking, professional development opportunities and visibility to spotlight the Asian community. Some of the notable initiatives undertaken by AIA include launching our annual Breaking Barriers Conference, the Future Asian Leaders Scholarship, API Creative scholarship, NextGen Mentorship Program in partnership with 3AF, the Asians in Advertising Podcast, and speaking at SXSW about “Solving for the Asian Dilemma.”

Since we started our organization during the pandemic, we are now working on creating more in-person experiences to bring our community together in more impactful ways.

Recently, we attended Asian Hustle Network’s Uplifted Conference in Las Vegas to celebrate one of our board members, Senna Bayasgalan, being selected as one of AHN’s 50 Unsung Heroes. It was magical to meet for the first time IRL—we all flew in from across the world, including New York, Guatemala, Virginia, Illinois and California—and feel like lifelong friends already.

Having a community is essential to not only feel seen and heard, but to not feel alone in this world. A strong community will come with a sense of belonging. Being part of multiple communities has uplifted me, knowing that I have people I can tap into and ask for advice and guidance. I encourage everyone to join a community that resonates with you—you will benefit from the social connections, sense of purpose and support network.