Sarika Bhakta
Festival Co-Lead / Sponsorship Co-Lead

As a multi-faceted executive with a multicultural immigrant background, Sarika (saah-ree-kuh) Bhakta (baak-tuh) is the President of Nikeya Diversity Consulting. She was born in Gujarat, India and raised in the American Midwest. Adjusting to the American culture was extremely challenging for Sarika inspiring her life’s legacy to empower leaders to live and lead authentically by leveraging their unique diversity as a value differentiator to deliver innovative results. She has over 20 years of experience empowering diverse talent and population groups to maximize their leadership potential while increasing their cultural competency and global perspective.

As a consultant, speaker, coach, community engager, podcaster, and author, Sarika drives impact through inspiring, interactive and engaging experiences. She focuses on bringing the diversity pendulum back into balance while showcasing the value of leveraging diverse human capital strategically via equity, inclusion, and engagement solutions. Sarika co-authored “Power Up, Super Women”, an anthology book on women’s empowerment, and is the host of Diversity Straight Up podcast. Her name Sarika means hummingbird in Hindi (one of the official languages of India) and her astrological sign is a Taurus, hence her mantra in life is “Hear you roar, see you soar!”

Pankit Kotecha
Festival Co-Lead / Sponsorship Co-Lead

Originally from India, Pankit Kotecha moved to the United States in 2007. For more than a decade now, Pankit has worked at local aerospace giant Collins Aerospace, serving in different capacities across Engineering and Leadership roles. Pankit is currently a Program Manager at Collins, managing their aircraft displays product line for business and regional jets. Pankit has served on the Board of Asian Fest since 2016 and manages the sponsorship, location, etc along with Sarika. Pankit is also an Advisory Board Member for ImpactCR Young Professionals Network (part of Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance) and an active member of Big Brothers Big Sisters, iJAG and other local youth mentoring organizations. Pankit has a Bachelors in Electronics Engineering from India, a Masters in Aerospace Engineering from Purdue University, and an MBA from the University of Iowa. Pankit resides in Marion, Iowa with his wife Bhumika, who is also on the board of Asian Fest, and 2 daughters.

Emma Aquino-Nemecek
Vendors Co-Lead / Public Policy Co-Lead

I immigrated to the US after getting married to an Iowan in 1992 . My husband Terry and I just celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary. We both have 3 kids and 3 grandchildren who currently lives in the Philippines. . 

I enjoyed living in the peaceful countryside, closer to nature and wildlife . 

Being an established small business owner in the Philippines, my husband encouraged me to continue with it . Music 2 Link US is engaged in the production and marketing of musical shows and concerts both here and abroad . We also book performers and speakers to this day .