AAPIP Blog

Missed Opportunities provides a crisp, accessible topography of the issues and trends facing LGBTQ Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and offers pragmatic strategies.  It is an invaluable resource for any funder committed to advancing equity in the United States.

- Daniel Lee, Executive Director, Levi Strauss Foundation

Missed Opportunities: How Organized Philanthropy Can Help Meet the Needs of LGBTQ AAPI Communities, a new report from the Queer Justice Fund, finds deep disparities in funding to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) AAPI (Asian American/Pacific Islanders), despite rapid growth of both communities. The report is being released on the eve of Creating Change 2012: The National Conference on LGBT Equality, the nation’s largest annual gathering of LGBT advocates, convened by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, and will be presented as part of the conference’s institute, AAPI Focus: Building a Queer AAPI Movement.

Download: Missed Opportunities (Full Report) Download: Missed Opportunities (Executive Summary)

Missed Opportunities found that funding in 2009 to LGBTQ AAPI communities amounted to barely 0.7 percent of the total amounted granted to all LGBTQ communities and organizations that year. In 2009 funding to all LGBTQ organizations in 2009 amounted to barely 0.2 percent of all foundation giving in the United States.

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[Editors Note: This post was shared by Kala Shah, a non-profit and philanthropic consultant, as well as the co-chair of the Lunar Giving Circle, in the San Francisco Bay Area. She shares her thoughts on the AAPIP’s convening this past September – and about acting on her inspiration.]

Kala Shah

In mid-September, AAPIP convened giving circle members and AAPIP leadership in one of the most powerful and motivating events I have ever had the pleasure of attending. I dedicated the majority of my weekend to spend with these fine people based upon my experience from the first national Giving Circle meeting last year, when I came to appreciate the value of bonding with other GC leaders from around the country over the greatness of grassroots giving. This year, I jumped at the opportunity to spend another weekend with my AAPIP comrades.

AAPIP sure knows how to put on an event. First, we were transported by multi-ethnic group Aswat’s soul-stirring musical performance. Then San Francisco Mayor Edwin Lee shared his earnest vision of an inclusive, just society in which we should all be able to participate—regardless of race, income or circumstance. That’s when the waterworks started.  And they didn’t let up. Eugene Cho of One Day’s Wages (ODW) gave us a rousing, inspirational and hilarious keynote, encouraging us to help alleviate extreme global poverty by starting with some simple acts of sacrifice of our own. And then when none of us thought it could get any more emotional in that room, it did. The students of ASPIRE (Asian Students Promoting Immigrant Rights through Education) brought the house down in describing the true meaning of sacrifice as they fight for justice and a chance to get an education in spite of their immigration status.

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On October 14, 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13515, re-establishing the White House Initiative on Asian American/Pacific Islander Affairs (the Initiative) and the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.  In the two years since, AAPIP has partnered with the Initiative on a number of key issues, raising awareness about the AAPI community and leveraging philanthropy and philanthropic resources to address an array of critical needs.

Two examples of this collaboration included partnering with the Initiative in September 2010 on convening a meeting of Federal agencies and key philanthropic institutions to focus on relief for Gulf Coast communities hard hit by the BP Oil disaster, and that are still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina five years later.  Recently, in August 2011, AAPIP partnered with the Initiative in the Pacific Islander Philanthropy Forum, as part of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement’s annual conference, drawing the needs of Pacific Islander communities, often misunderstood or invisible, into sharp relief.

For more on the Initiative’s work over the course of the past two-years, download their new publication, Opening Doors For the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community.

On June 9, Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed into law HB56, described in a June 4 New York Times article as a “sweeping bill to crack down” on undocumented immigrants that most opponents and supporters alike view as “the toughest of its kind in the country, going well beyond a law that Arizona passed last year”.

AAPIP joins Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) and the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE), in co-sponsoring a webinar – HIP Philanthropy Lab: The Anti-Immigrant Wave and A Closer Look at Alabama’s HB56, on Monday, November 28, at 11 am PT (2 pm ET). The webinar will feature a panel discussion on the effects of Alabama’s legislation on Latino and immigrant communities, and ways in which grantmakers can respond to this crisis.

To register for this webinar or for more information, including a full list of panelists, visit Hispanics in Philanthropy at www.hiponline.org, or register directly at here [link: http://bit.ly/tGDlyt ].

Kent Wong, UCLA Labor Center

The September 2011 convening in San Francisco was the first AAPIP gathering I had attended, and I was impressed by the spirit and scope of the work.  I had the opportunity to bring three leaders of the Dream Act movement to present to the group, and they were so gratified to receive such a warm and supportive reception.  It was especially meaningful for them to speak before a national gathering of Asian American community leaders, and to be welcomed by their own community.

As someone who has worked with philanthropy over the years, I was so heartened to learn more about AAPIP’s advancement of democratic philanthropy.  The world of philanthropy is filled with contradictions.  To many Asian American community and non-profit organizations, philanthropy is an alienating and frustrating labyrinth of unwritten rules and bureaucratic regulations.

Yet, the power of community philanthropy and the giving circle movement that AAPIP has been a part of nurturing is that it promotes grassroots, democratic philanthropy that is controlled not by foundation presidents hidden away in their marble and steel towers, but by anyone who has a few friends and a commitment to make a difference.  The giving circle movement draws on the tradition of many Asian immigrant communities that have pulled their limited financial resources together for mutual support and survival, and who have learned through their own experience the power of collective support and collective action.

Giving circles are doing great work all over the country.  They are building community, identifying important grassroots causes and organizations, and pooling together resources to make a difference.  But they are inherently limited in their scope and reach.  So the opportunity to bring giving circles from around the country to learn from one another, to build on best practices, and to be challenged collectively to be part of this growing movement is an exciting process.

In my work with the Dream Act movement, I have been inspired by a new generation of leaders and activists who represent the hope and future of our society.  With virtually no paid staff, no lobbyists, no fancy buildings, travel budgets and expense accounts, they have built a powerful movement through sheer courage and determination.

But I also realize that they can’t build this movement alone.  They need allies who can support them with scholarships and internships, who can access the media and reach policy makers, and who can provide financial support to grow their movement.  With encouragement and support, the Dream Act students will change the direction of this country.  They are my heroes, and I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to work with them.

Kent Wong & DREAM Activist, Catherine Eusebio

Kent Wong is the Director of the Center for Labor Research and Education at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also a Trustee of The New World Foundation.