Paraag Maddiwar leads Asianati, connects diverse cultures

Paraag Maddiwar finally had a moment to catch his breath. The executive director of Asianati had just gotten through that organization’s marquee annual event, the Asian Food Fest.

The festival draws hungry Tristaters to Court Street downtown to sample dishes from many of the region’s Asian-themed restaurants and enjoy a growing array of cultural events. This year marked the event’s 15th year.

From humble beginnings – just five vendors and 1,000 attendees – the festival has grown to include more than 60 vendors serving more than 150 dishes representing more than 15 countries. The lineup of cultural activities also has grown, with a third stage added this year. Calligraphy, cooking and origami demonstrations alternated with live performances that ranged from traditional dance to K-pop.

Maddiwar said this year’s estimated attendance, buoyed by nearly perfect weather, was at least 150,000 exceeding last year’s 125,000.

The same cool, sunny days continued when Maddiwar met with M&M to talk about Asianati and his journey to his latest role as its leader.

Coal country to Columbia

That journey started in an unlikely place – Floyd County, Kentucky, a little over an hour south of Huntington, West Virginia. Its history is interwoven with coal mining. Maddiwar said his father, a doctor, was motivated to bring his family there, not just for a job, but by his dedication to serve. It’s a commitment the doctor passed on.

The environment provided the family’s first chance to build cultural bridges. Prestonsburg, the county seat (population about 3,600), hadn’t seen many people from India 50 years ago, and some residents were slow to welcome outsiders. 

“They needed a doctor, though, and they were grateful he was there,” Maddiwar said, adding his father soon became central to the community.

Maddiwar’s plan to follow his father into medicine got sidetracked at Columbia University, where he earned a degree in chemical engineering. After graduating, he started what would become a 20-year career with Procter & Gamble. He rose through several different roles over that time, most of them focused on P&G’s massive supply chain operations. He capped his time there by leading a transformation of the company’s warehousing system to a consolidated model that served P&G’s customers more efficiently.

Like many big companies, P&G has an active system of affinity groups for its employees that are known as employee resource groups, or ERGs. Maddiwar quickly became involved with the company’s API – Asian and Pacific Islander – ERG. It was, he said, an “aha moment.”

Cultural leadership hurdles

Although he, like all P&G managers, received leadership training, the ERG made the connection about how certain Asian cultural values could undermine Western-style leadership success. He noted that studies have shown that the corporate careers of Asians are more likely to stall in the ranks of middle management. Traditions like not drawing attention to oneself on the job often worked against being seen as a potential leader in the corporate world. (Maddiwar cited the 2005 book “Breaking the Bamboo Ceiling” as a reference landmark in that understanding.)

By 2016, Maddiwar had decided it was time to move on. He reveled in the freedom of the year after he left P&G, which he dubbed the “year of yes.” He immersed himself in subjects and causes that had interested him but had taken a back seat to work: Besides consulting on supply chain operations, the eclectic mix included culinary training at Cincinnati State, learning photojournalism and volunteering as a project manager for Cincinnati Works, a United Way partner organization.

In 2020, he joined the Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers as director of professional programs. Through SASE, he applied his ERG experience to a network that tripled to include more than 100 companies, becoming in essence a clearinghouse on best practices for improving API leadership opportunities – and helping corporations understand Asian cultural perspectives they might not have thought to consider.

After parting ways with SASE in March 2025, he expected to carry on that work as an independent consultant. Last fall, though, some of Asianati’s leaders, including board treasurer Koji Sado and Bao Nguyen, the past board president, contacted him. Their vision for the organization was being stymied by its lack of institutional structure – it depended almost entirely on volunteers. They wanted to hire an executive director; was he interested?

In a word, he said, yes.

The Goldilocks city

Asianati holds an unusual Goldilocks place in a Goldilocks-sized city, Maddiwar said. “In Chicago or New York, there couldn’t be an Asianati because the Chinese or Indian or Filipino communities would all have their own organizations.” In cities smaller than the Queen City, there might not be a large enough Asian community to support a group like Asianati. Cincinnati is just right.

His organization’s pan-Asian focus also benefits from changing demographics. “Lots of people that are second generation” – born in the U.S. – “or Generation 1.5” – born abroad but brought to the U.S. so young that they grew up feeling wholly American – “may not identify with a specific heritage. They might not speak the language or have the unique cultural experiences that their parents have.”

Those people often embrace a pan-Asian identity, and Maddiwar wants Asianati to be a central cultural resource – “a one-stop shop” for celebrating diverse Asian traditions, arts and cultural experiences. The organization took a big step toward becoming that central hub in January, when it completed a merger with the Greater Cincinnati Chinese Cultural Exchange Association.

“Coming together was a no-brainer as we both want to grow into a more impactful and sustainable organization,” said Felicity Tao, formerly board chair of the Chinese association and now vice president of Asianati’s board.

The merger brings two of the area’s biggest Asian celebrations under one umbrella – the Asian Food Fest and the Moon Festival, which celebrates the Chinese New Year in February and September harvest.

Building belonging

Maddiwar sees Asianati’s future as a sort of ERG for the whole community. You can already see the idea in action on the Asianati website. The revamped home page now includes not just the organization’s news but a directory of new Asian restaurants; a calendar of Asian-focused events; posts from relevant Instagram feeds; and, following the food fest theme, a list of Asian dishes to try and local restaurants that serve them.

Maddiwar’s plans for the future include building a sense of belonging across the whole region. 

“We need to figure how to get the wider community involved, get out into the suburbs – and not just the ones where our Asian communities are already concentrated.”

Last fall, the group collaborated with the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library on its Passport to Japan event. That was held at the main library downtown, but, with the system opening spacious new branches across the county with large community spaces, Maddiwar sees great opportunities there for future programming.

He sees more growth ahead for the flagship food fest, too, as Greater Cincinnatians enjoy more diverse dining options. That could include satellite festivals in different parts of town, like Blue Ash, College Hill, Westwood and Northern Kentucky, he said. 

Asianati often serves as a facilitator for Asian businesses, Maddiwar said. Many restaurants are opened by immigrants, for example, and they’re often unfamiliar with current business necessities, like digital marketing, and many are confused or intimidated by regulatory requirements, either of doing business generally or participating in big events like Taste of Cincinnati.

“We have a great social media team,” Maddiwar said, “so we can really help people with that. I’m really proud that people tell us that they love working with us, that we’re passionate and we’re easy to work with.”

Whenever he decides to move on from Asianati, Maddiwar said his goal is the same for both the organization and the city: “I want to leave it better than I found it.”

It’s the same sense of service his father lived, just manifested differently. 

“We say thanks to our parents by keeping that commitment alive.”

asianati.com