Unveiling Gold House’s A100 List: 2025’s Top API Creatives and Innovators
This Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, Gold House has unveiled the A100 List for 2025. The annual tradition recognizes the work of 100 Asian and Pacific Islander (API) trailblazers across areas including the arts, technology, and business. Featuring names like film director Bong Joon Ho to Nobel Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai, this year’s A100 List honors pioneering API creatives and leaders making an undeniable impact.
“The A100 List illuminates the profound cultural imprint of the Asian Pacific community. With this year’s honorees, we celebrate more than achievement — we honor the courage of those who take first steps when no clear solutions exist, becoming the First Lights that guide us all forward,” said Bing Chen and Jeremy Tran, CEO and COO of Gold House, respectively.
Gold House is the leading cultural ecosystem uniting and investing in API creatives and companies. This year, the organization will celebrate the A100 honorees in a series of events, including the exclusive A100 Honoree Dinner and Gold Gala. Digitally, honorees will be featured on billboards across the United States, as well as a special video produced by advertising agency Team One. In addition, landmarks across North America — from Paramount Tower in Los Angeles to Niagara Falls — will display gold lights in celebration of the A100 List and the API community at large.
From honoring lifetime achievements to the next generation of leaders, follow along as EnVi takes you through the 2025 A100 list.
The A1s
The A100 List features five main categories: Business & Technology, Entertainment & Media, Fashion & Lifestyle, Social Impact, and Gaming & Sports. All honorees have been carefully selected by top API organizations, creative and business leaders, and multicultural allies.
Standout individuals and groups across each category are recognized through the honorable A1 distinction. This year’s A1s are as follows:
A1 in Business & Technology: Aravind Srinivas — co-founder and CEO of AI-powered web search engine Perplexity AI
A1 in Entertainment & Media: Jon M. Chu — award-winning filmmaker known for directing Wicked (2024), Crazy Rich Asians (2018), and more
A1 in Fashion & Lifestyle: Sabyasachi Mukherjee — founder and creative director of New York-based luxury label Sabyasachi
A1 in Social Impact: Los Angeles Wildfire Heroes — the local firefighters and first responders who helped combat the wildfires in Los Angeles, California in January 2025
A1 in Sports & Gaming: Suni Lee, Lee Kiefer, Torri Huske, and Chuck Aoki — the record-breaking Team USA athletes at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
The A100 Hall of Fame
In recognition of their continued impact, Gold House has inducted three previous A100 honorees into the Hall of Fame. The 2025 Hall of Fame inductees are Goodwater Capital co-founder and managing partner Eric Kim, Canva co-founder and CEO Melanie Perkins, and actor and comedian Ronny Chieng.
Gold Legends and New Gold
Gold House has also recognized cross-generational achievements through the Gold Legends and New Gold distinctions. This year’s Gold Legends, who are honored for a lifetime of lasting contributions to the API community, are:
Gold Legend in Business & Technology: Tsunekazu Ishihara — CEO of The Pokémon Company
Gold Legend in Entertainment & Media: Ang Lee — award-winning filmmaker known for Life of Pi (2012), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and more
Gold Legend in Literary Arts: Min Jin Lee — author of Pachinko (2017) and Free Food for Millionaires (2007)
The New Gold honor recognizes emerging API leaders who are actively shaping the futures of their respective industries. This year’s New Gold honorees are K-pop group aespa, Bilt founder and CEO Ankur Jain, actor and musician Dominic Fike, filmmaker James Sweeney, Bluesky CEO and COO Jay Graber and Rose Wang, Deepseek CEO Liang Wenfeng, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Nikko Remigio, fashion designer Sohee Park, Climate Cardinals and Phia founder Sophia Kianni, and Duolingo senior global social media manager Zaria Parvez.
Gold House’s A100 List is more than an honor — it’s an annual reminder that API creativity, talent, and innovation are limitless. Asian and Pacific Islander creators, entrepreneurs, and activists are continuing to shape, influence, and reimagine our culture as we know it. To see the full list of A100 honorees, check out Gold House’s website now!
Want to read about last year’s honorees? Check out EnVi’s piece on the 2024 A100 List here!
