Daphne Kwok

Daphne Kwok develops and leads strategies and teams to create effervescent, inspiring, inclusive workplaces. Daphne Kwok is the Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Asian American & Pacific Audience Strategy at AARP. Her work empowers Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) to choose how they live as they age. She brings to AARP her experience as a “leader of leaders” through her community service in promoting and empowering the AAPI community.

Ms. Kwok was appointed by President Barack Obama in 2010 to chair his Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The Commission served as the “eyes and ears” of the community advising the President and the federal government about the issues impacting the AAPI community.


Previously, Ms. Kwok was Executive Director of Asians & Pacific Islanders with Disabilities of California. She was also the Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation in San Francisco. For 11 years, she was the Executive Director of the Organization of Chinese Americans (OCA), a national membership based civil rights organization. She was the first elected Chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, a network of national APA organizations.

She also served as Executive Director of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies. A 1984 graduate of Wesleyan University, Ms. Kwok is the first Asian American to serve on its Board
of Trustees, is a trustee emeritus and chaired the Wesleyan Alumni Association.

Ms. Kwok’s board service includes: Chair of APIAVote, a board member of the Comcast-NBC Universal Joint Diversity Advisory Council, Co Chair of the Nielsen External Asian Pacific Advisory Council, a board member of the Asian American Advertising Federation, and a board member of Normal Next. In 2019, she will serve a 2-year term as a member of the Network of Multicultural Aging Council of the American Society on Aging.