As we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, we're spotlighting Molson Coors employees like Lynn Relf, ethics and compliance director. Lynn is located in Chicago but will be moving to Milwaukee later this year. She joined Molson Coors more than two years ago and says her proudest accomplishment at the company is "(earning) a seat at the table as an Asian woman."
Read on to learn more about Lynn and her commitment to raising awareness around and increasing representation of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
Q: What does Asian Pacific American Heritage Month mean to you?
I think this is a time for non-Asian people to be better allies and focus on learning more about Asian American heritage and the unique struggles they face. It’s a time for us all to look at our own biases and what kind of stereotypes and racist beliefs we still hold onto and do work to let it go. This month is especially a good time to reflect on the recent shooting in Georgia and the harassment countless Asian people faced as a result of the inappropriately termed COVID-19 “Chinese virus.”
Q: How do you plan to celebrate the month? How can others participate in honoring Asian Pacific American Heritage Month?
For me, every day is APA Heritage Month; because no matter how disconnected we are from our heritage or assimilated into American culture, we all need to continue the battle for racial justice. I remember and honor all those who broke barriers for the AAPI community, including my mom, and I push on for tomorrow and to create a better world to honor them.
I also spend time cooking authentic Vietnamese, Thai and Lao dishes and teaching my kids about our culture, language and our family’s history beyond my parents’ immigrating here to the U.S. after the Vietnam War.
Q: What’s been your proudest accomplishment/moment at Molson Coors?
My proudest accomplishment at Molson Coors is feeling like I earned a seat at the table as an Asian woman. In every space I’m in, I am hyper-aware of how many POC, particularly how many Asians, are in the room and how I don’t see many people who look like me. I am very grateful for being able to feel like I have not just a space at the company, but a voice and an opportunity to create more space for other marginalized people to be successful in corporate America and to strengthen our culture of diversity, equity and inclusion.