HAUTE PROFILE
EMPOWERING THE AAPI COMMUNITY: ERIC TODA After struggling with his ethnicity, highly respected brand and marketing whiz Eric Toda finds new purpose in advocating for the A API community.
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ROWING UP IN THE SUBURBAN enclave of Moraga, California, Eric Toda found few who looked like him. He also found out at a very early age how cruel kids can be. On the playground, fellow students pulled back their eyes and teased him with exaggerated accents. They were repulsed by the traditional Asian meals he brought for lunch. He once asked a girl to the homecoming dance, only to be told, “I don’t like Asians.” His public school American history books did not include details about the internment camps where 50
the government banished his grandparents. Nor were there details of the history of Asian American labor. His classmates reasoned that if he wasn’t represented in American history, then he must not be American. He started to hate himself, wishing he were someone else. Though these experiences occurred many years ago, they continue to resonate, motivating Toda’s pursuit of racial justice. Today, as global head of social marketing at Meta, Toda has claimed an international role as a positive voice for the empowerment
of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. The former marketing and branding director for companies such as Nike, Snapchat, and Airbnb (among others) recently launched Meta Prosper, the first program of its kind designed to provide training, education resources, and business support to the AAPI small business community. Toda also serves on the boards of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, The Asian American Foundation (TAAF), and Leading Asian Americans to Unite for Change (LAAUNCH).
PHOTO CREDIT: © NATE FONG PHOTOGRAPHY
BY FRAN ENDICOTT MILLER
