East West - The Asian American Lifestyle Magazine

Ban Ki-moon

On Jan. 1, Ban Ki-moon will fill the seat of the world’s top diplomat. The United Nations General Assembly elected the South Korean politician and former Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea as the 8th Secretary-General in the United Nation’s 60-year history. Ban is the first person from Asia to assume the post since U Thant of Burma left the office in 1971. Ban will succeed current Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a five-year term, and the world will be watching.

Indra K. Nooyi

The news came in August and Indra K. Nooyi officially stepped into the role of CEO of PepsiCo on Oct. 1, but still, we expect Nooyi-watching to take full effect in 2007. The leader of the soft drink giant only had three months in 2006 at the helm, and former CEO Steve Reinemund is still on board as Executive Chairman until his retirement in May 2007. But Nooyi, who is PepsiCo’s fifth CEO in its 41-year history, isn’t just taking her time with the transition. She recently acquired Naked Juice Co. to compete with Coca-Cola Co.’s Odwalla brand. What’s next? How will she define the company in 2007?

Kal Penn

2007 might as well be called “The Year of Kal.” The star-on-the-rise will be seen on both the big screen and small screens, showing a serious side we’ve been anxiously awaiting. The actor’s lead role in the highly anticipated The Namesake paired with his recurring character in the upcoming season of “24” has Hollywood buzzing over this new South Asian leading man. And we would be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the actor’s funny-man roots. With the Dec. 1 release of Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj, in which Kal plays the lead, and plans for a second installment of Harold and Kumar in the works, Kal is poised for a defining year.

Steve Chen

The name is already familiar to us: Steve Chen is “one of those YouTube guys,” and 2006 was indeed a banner year for Chen and his co-founders. The 20-somethings saw their video-sharing concept spread like wildfire, so much so that within months Google acquired the company for $1.65 billion. So yes, 2006 was Chen’s year, but we think 2007 will be even more interesting. With Google-sized funds behind the YouTube team, they now can construct intriguing deals, refine technologies and make even greater headway in the video-sharing frontier. A recent deal with Verizon to bring YouTube to mobile phones is just the start, and we’re eager to see what’s next. 

Roy Lee

You might not have heard of Roy Lee, but odds are you’ve seen his movies, and the CEO of Vertigo Entertainment has a lot on his plate for 2007. Lee specializes in remaking Asian hits into Hollywood goldmines. Vertigo is basically an intermediary that sells remake rights for Asian films, on behalf of rights-holders, to American studios. Heard of the The Ring? That was originally a Japanese horror flick called Ringu. Or how about The Departed? It is a Lee remake of Infernal Affairs, a hugely popular 2002 Hong Kong thriller. With the influence of the East on Western art and culture just beginning to peak, we suspect Lee will have many more sales and many more hits on his hands in the near future. In fact, a look at his upcoming projects shows eight more films in production and another eight that have been announced. 

Premal Shah

With a Stanford degree and PayPal experience under his belt, Premal Shah is turning the dot com industry onto its giving side. As President of Kiva.org, Shah is helping connect individuals across continents to support unique small businesses in developing countries. Users can peruse small business profiles and then choose to sponsor a needy business via a loan of small or large amounts. Consider it a sort of eBay meets MySpace for microfinance, a mechanism by which every person can encourage and support economic independence throughout the world. It’s mighty ambitious, but this team of experienced entrepreneurs with Web 2.0 savvy has all the ingredients for a successful Internet story in 2007.

Du Juan

Du Juan is slowly but steadily taking over the catwalks and is on the verge of supermodel status. Miss China 2003 has come a long way from the pageant world, gracing the cover of the first edition of Chinese Vogue and working the runways for top couture designers. American “glossies” are also eager for Du Juan’s stunning looks, and while she has already found work in the pages of Allure and W, we are positive there will be countless more photos shoots, covers and luxury brand commercials in store for this 20-year-old beauty in the coming year.

Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria

Yes, he’s a medical doctor, but Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria isn’t on our list for some type of medical advancement. Instead, it is the entrepreneur in him that intrigues us. Kathuria and partner, Geoff Sheerin, are behind PlanetSpace, a company competing with the likes of Virgin Galactic in the space tourism industry. Kathuria was a founding director of MirCorp, the company that sent billionaire Dennis Tito into space for $20 million in 2001, and now he wants to expand on those efforts and advancements, giving anyone the opportunity to travel to space. Kathuria has said that PlanetSpace has a list of 3,000 people ready to drop $200,000 for a 30-minute, suborbital jaunt into space, and he has reportedly indicated plans to sell a reality show around the space flights. With the first trips estimated to begin in a year or two, we will be keenly watching Kathuria build up his space empire in 2007.

Mindy Kaling

Her name isn’t widely known yet, and you won’t find her feverishly preaching South Asian culture in the media, but thanks to the multitalented Mindy Kaling, more Americans are now educated about Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights. In addition to playing Kelly Kapour on NBC’s “The Office,” Kaling’s behind-the-scenes credits and talent are what makes her one to watch. Kaling, who has a degree from Dartmouth, also writes and produces some episodes of the hit show. Additionally, she has been invited to be a guest writer on “Saturday Night Live” and is writing a sorority comedy for Fox Atomic. Kaling flawlessly integrates culture, wit and humor into television programming and we are eagerly watching for more.  Perhaps 2007 will bring with it the idea for “The Mindy Kaling Show.” Maybe?

Padmasree Warrior

Though the Economic Times ranked Motorola’s executive vice president and chief technology officer, Padmasree Warrior, as the 11th Most Influential Global Indian, she makes our top 10.  Warrior is responsible for the company’s $3.7 billion research and development investment and 25,000 engineers. She has been credited with crafting much of Motorola’s strategy around seamless mobility, and now the world is taking note. Recent honors include Working Woman’s "Women Elevating Science and Technology" and a Distinguished Alumni award from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi.      

* Mindy Kaling photo courtesy of NBC
* Kal Penn photo from Van Wilder 2: The Rise of Taj
*Du Juan photo courtesy of Supermodels.nl
*Roy Lee photo by Joe Coomber
*Ban Ki-moon coutesy of the United Nations