Cheng-Cimini ’92 Is Ready to “Rewire”

After three decades as a human resources professional, Angela Cheng-Cimini ’92 has decided to “rewire.” She’s stepping away from her latest role as the senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Harvard Business Publishing to focus on philanthropy, advocacy, building her speaking portfolio as she educates the next generation of HR managers and stopping to smell the roses.

“I had a bit of a reckoning,” Cheng-Cimini says. “In the last years, three people in our social circle were suddenly diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and were gone in three months. That has definitely been a moment to say, ‘How am I spending my life? What if that were to happen to me?’ I’m not old enough to retire, so I’m going to rewire.”

An individual who happily gives of her time to worthwhile causes, Cheng-Cimini has served on six boards over the years, including her appointment two years ago as a member of the ILR Alumni Board.

In that role, Cheng-Cimini has hosted numerous events, including a recent collaboration with fellow Cornell alumna, Anna Kawar, HE ’06, as they presented “Purposeful Paths: Inside Non-Profit Leadership” to over 200 attendees.

Cheng-Cimini also recently sponsored a program to discuss when organizations should speak up about social issues.

“These events really allow me to promote the mission of ILR,” Cheng-Cimini says.

On the advocacy front, Cheng-Cimini is a founding member of The Authentic Asian, a network built to help Asian American female executives and entrepreneurs feel more connected by providing mentorship and cultivating a supportive and inspiring community.

The advancement of Asian Americans is a topic Cheng-Cimini is passionate about. She recently partnered with Joy Chen, CEO of the Multicultural Leadership Institute, to write an article for the Harvard Business Review titled Stop Overlooking the Leadership Potential of Asian Employees.

“The article has gained lots of traction, particularly in the Asian community, but it was really written for the dominant majority, for the decision-makers who can lift up and promote Asian Americans,” Cheng-Cimini says. “There is an inverse relationship. The higher the concentration of Asians in an organization, the fewer there are in the C-suite.

“Our hypothesis is that companies look at the numbers and they say, ‘Oh, we’re 18% Asian. We’re fine,’ whereas those that have fewer Asians take so much more care to make sure that they continue to stay and grow. Those corporations have a greater representation of Asians in the C-suite, because they pay more attention to the few that they have.

“So, we wanted to bring to light the fact that people have an overly optimistic view of how successful we Asians are in corporate America, and to point out the things that they can do different and better.”

On top of hosting events and writing articles, Cheng-Cimini regularly appears on HR-related podcasts, and last year gave an eCornell Keynote, “Internal Talent Mobility: Posting, Slotting, and Hoarding,” along with Associate Professor JR Keller.

On a more personal level, she also makes the time to speak to Cornell students about their career paths.

“Through some of the work that I’ve been doing, or just having a presence on LinkedIn, Cornell students have approached me out of the blue and asked to spend some time with me and get my advice,” Cheng-Cimini says. “When I was coming up through my career, I didn’t really have that. So, if a Cornellian – especially a female or a minority – wants to pick my brain or use me as a sounding board, or have me check their resume or talk about my lived experiences, I try and make the time for that, because it would have been so formative for me.

“I’m trying to pay it back by paying it forward.”

A second-generation Asian American, her parents arrived from Taiwan to attend college in the United States. Her father was a chemical engineer who specialized in air pollution control, while her mother was a computer programmer for Citibank.

“Thankfully, they never said I needed to be a lawyer or a doctor or an engineer,” Cheng-Cimini says. “Probably because they knew I wasn’t suited for it. I knew I wanted to do something business oriented and my dad encouraged me to look at ILR. I’m not sure how he knew of it, but he was a researcher, so my guess is he probably started by finding the most competitive schools, and then seeing which ones had a business program and he must have eventually come to the ILR School.”

Once at ILR, she quickly settled on HR, explaining that most of her classmates at that time took one of three paths – working in HR, working for organized labor, or preparing for law school.

As an undergrad, she secured a coveted Winter Intersession Program (WISP) with Citigroup and “never looked back.” The summer before her senior year, she landed another internship with Frito-Lay and before she graduated she received word that she would be hired full-time by the company.

Over the next 32 years, she transformed into a well-respected leader in the human resources industry and was relied on by C-suite leaders to identify and build organizational capabilities.

But now, Cheng-Cimini plans to make time for herself.

“I just want to spend more time reading,” Cheng-Cimini says. “I used to draw a lot and I want to get back to doing that. My husband [Michael, A&S ’92], who I met my freshman year at Cornell, and I want to travel more, which I could never do because my calendar was so encumbered.”

Stepping down from a full-time role also means more time to spend with her children – daughter, Christina, son, Matthew, Engineering ’19, and his wife, Sarah, A&S ’19 – who live in the D.C. area.

“Michael and I plan to move to Maryland next year to be closer to them. We have already re-engaged with other Cornell alum who live in the area and recently hosted a gathering in our home down there.

“I think I’ve got 20 good years, and when I think about how quickly the last 20 went – I’m ready to do something different.”