I can’t believe six years have gone by so fast. I can still remember receiving the call from Danielle Reyes gauging my interest in being nominated to AAPIP national board. AAPIP was seeking to diversify their board by adding someone with corporate and philanthropic experience. At the time, I was working at Verizon and had known Peggy and AAPIP for quite a few years. It was truly an honor to be invited and I didn’t think twice to accept!
In these six years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet so many people and learn so much from them. From my fellow board members, staff, community leaders, and student activists, the list just goes on. It is through their collective advocacy that we effect change for our community. I am extremely proud of the many innovative programs that have been developed to increase resources and build philanthropy within our communities. Campaigns like the National Giving Circle Campaign, 1st STEP and the Public Private Partnership increase grant-making in our community while building a new generation of leaders and are so representative of what AAPIP is about. For the next generation of philanthropic leaders, it is important to look and think outside of the box for innovative ideas and creative solutions to build partnerships and work collaboratively to respond to the needs of the AAPI community.
As I transition off the national board, I look forward to working with the New York chapter to continue to develop programs and workshops that are relevant to funders, policy makers and our community. I am truly thankful to be a part of the AAPIP family – a family dedicated to advancing our community through building democratic philanthropy!
June Jee is a community affairs and strategic partnership consultant based in New York who served on the AAPIP Board from 2009-2014. She currently serves on several non-profit boards including Museum of Chinese in American, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies, OCA-NY, and others.