ACE Women’s Collective Vision

Hi there,

Thank you for stopping by. My co-founders and I created ACE Women’s Collective to empower junior women in finance by providing a safe community where critical questions are asked, heard, and discussed. We host intimate speaker sessions, provide a forum for peer mentorship, and challenge our members to strategize to win. The ACE community will help our members become even more brave, confident, and resourceful as they work towards defining and executing their career aspirations while being their most authentic selves. 

ACE is very personal to me, as it was created in memory of one of the most important people in my life: Susan Stanton. 

Susan was the definition of ACE: authentic, compassionate, and excellent. 

Susan believed in investing in diverse talent across race and gender lines. While she had no children of her own, Susan spent her entire life educating and mentoring foreign students like myself and first-generation immigrants. 

Susan believed that a friend is the best gift you could give. She connected me with people who she thought I would get along with whenever I traveled to a new city and many of them are my closest friends today.

Susan believed that we shouldn’t think too heavily about our failures because sometimes it’s just bad luck. During the lowest point in my career, she shared her own story of almost being fired because of office politics. I quickly picked my confidence back up because if somebody as perfect as Susan could experience such difficult times, then I could, too. 

Last November, I bought her and her husband concert tickets and looked forward to celebrating my first holiday season with them. However, just a few days before the concert, I got a call from her husband… he told me Susan had passed away… My world collapsed at that moment — I wish I could have brought them to the concert earlier and showed Susan how appreciative I was for all her guidance.

There isn’t anything I could do for her but pay it forward. Therefore, my co-founders and I decided to create ACE to honor Susan and many selfless mentors like her to help our peers the way Susan helped me; by supporting all talents, connecting like-minded people, and sharing knowledge and resources.

Best,
Angel An, 
Co-founder and CEO @ ACE