August 2024: Building Strength in Unity

Dear Friends,

As we witness an escalation in hatred and division in our country, it is more important than ever that we seek common ground with allies and work together to tear down the walls that divide our communities.

A few days ago, I was honored to participate in a discussion hosted by the anti-hate collaborative Bedrock that brought together leaders of organizations representing a diverse range of communities, all sharing the common mission of fighting bias-motivated violence. The theme of that discussion was as important as it is timely — the power of messaging and narratives in preventing violence toward our communities as we navigate one of the most intense election cycles in recent memory.

Speakers presented on a variety of fascinating topics—preventing the spread of misinformation and disinformation, responding to false narratives, deescalating heated discourse, the role of media and influencers, and the accountability of leaders.

However, I couldn’t help but feel that the most valuable takeaway wasn’t in any particular tactic or strategy discussed. It was the reassurance that we are not alone in this fight. Strength lies in unity. When we build bridges and stand together, we can more effectively resist the forces that seek to divide, degrade, and demoralize us.

In this newsletter, you’ll read about a few of the ways that TAAF is actively working to build those bridges and ensure a brighter future for our community. From expanding our Board to include a greater variety of perspectives and backgrounds to increasing our network of grantees to better reflect the full ethnic and religious diversity of the AANHPI diaspora, we are dedicated to building a broad coalition of allies in our fight against hate.

We also understand that our responsibility extends beyond just protecting our communities; it is about ensuring that we thrive in a society that values and respects the dignity of every person. Our work with a wide variety of organizations and partners with differing viewpoints and approaches is a testament to our belief that we do not need to agree on every issue to find strength in our commonalities.

What matters most is that we are united in our commitment to creating a future where hate has no place, and where our collective narratives inspire hope, prosperity, and belonging. Together, with the help of partners and allies like you, we can create a future where our communities are not only protected but also empowered to flourish.

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In solidarity,

Norman Chen‍
CEO, The Asian American Foundation

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PROGRAMS

Building critical support to fight anti-Asian hate across the U.S.

TAAF is thrilled to announce the addition of 12 new anti-hate grantees to our five year Portfolio Strategy. These new partners join our community of 80 grantee alumni and partners in anti-hate, education, narrative change, and resources & representation around the U.S, creating an extensive national network that catalyzes systemic change.

These new grantees expand the reach of regions that TAAF can serve, providing critical support in the areas of survivor and victim support, while also marshaling resources to provide increased preventative and protective measures for the AAPI community. Fighting anti-Asian hate at TAAF extends beyond responding to incidents of hate to also include proactively addressing its root causes.

National Network

The Anti-Hate National Network is a community of national, regional, and local organizations that leverage each other's existing skills, expertise, and community connections to strengthen infrastructure and build a safer America for AANHPIs.

The addition of eight new TAAF partners in Minnesota, Florida, New Jersey, and Texas grows the Anti-Hate National Network to more than 40% of the AANHPI population across the country with response and recovery services.

• AAPI New Jersey (New Jersey) activates the power of New Jersey’s 1.1 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to advance social justice through its varied, ambitious programming and advocacy.
• CAPI USA (Twin Cities, MN) has been providing immigrant-led community-based services in partnership with the diverse immigrant and refugee communities that call the Minneapolis area home for more than 40 years.
• Florida Immigrant Coalition (FLIC) (Miami, FL) is a multiracial and multiethnic coalition whose mission is to grow the connection, capacity and consciousness of communities to strengthen pro-immigrant power in Florida.
• Minnesota 8 (MN8) (Twin Cities, MN) helps keep Southeast Asian communities together through direct support, advocacy, community organizing, and leadership development for social and systemic change.
• SEWA-AIFW (Twin Cities, MN) serves, supports, and enhances family wellness for the South Asian community, especially the vulnerable and underserved, in the Twin Cities and around Minnesota.
• Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation (TMWF) (Dallas, TX) strives to be the leading culturally sensitive agency supporting the needs of survivors of domestic violence by empowering, promoting, and supporting all women and their families through outreach, education, philanthropy, and social services.
• Transforming Generations (Twin Cities, MN) provides support services to victims and survivors of gender-based violence in Hmong and Southeast Asian communities.
• Vietnamese Association of Illinois (Chicago, IL) serves diverse communities and builds solidarity among Vietnamese American and immigrant communities in Cook and DuPage Counties.
  

NYC Anti-Hate Collaborative

Our NYC Safety Study, released earlier this year, found that 1 in 2 Asian Americans in New York City report personally experiencing either insults, harassments, threats, or a physical attack in the past 12 months because of their race or ethnicity. 54% of Asian Americans who experienced a hate incident in New York did not report the experience to anyone.

TAAF's NYC Anti-Hate Collaborative was created in response to this urgent need for victim support across one of the most diverse and multilingual AANHPI populations in the U.S.

This collaborative of 21 organizations in all five boroughs raises awareness and rallies resources and support to those impacted by anti-Asian hate and violence including protective services, bystander training, and direct services to victims and survivors. We’re excited to have four new grantee partners join the collaborative:

• Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE) accomplishes its mission by creating affordable housing and economic opportunities, providing an array of multilingual community services and fostering grassroots leadership and civic engagement in the communities we serve throughout New York.
• Caribbean Equality Project was founded in 2015 in response to anti-LGBTQ+ hate in Richmond Hill, Queens, NY and is a community-based organization that empowers, advocates for, and represents Afro and Indo-Caribbean, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, gender non-conforming, and queer Caribbean immigrants in NYC.
• Jahajee is a gender justice organization that activates Indo-Caribbeans in New York to put an end to intimate partner, family, and sexual violence.
• Meals for Unity started as a one-time meal distribution in Manhattan’s Chinatown, but has quickly turned into a vision to tackle food insecurity and spread awareness of social inequities faced by vulnerable communities in NYC.

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LEADERSHIP

Welcoming new board members

New and upcoming additions to TAAF's board of directors bring wealth of experience in advocacy for the AANHPI community

This summer, we have been thrilled to announce the expansion of our Board of Directors to include three new members who each bring extensive experience, valuable perspectives and tremendous dedication to advancing our organization’s mission.  

In July, after a months-long search process, we welcomed Shamina Singh and Dr. Rushika Fernandopulle to TAAF's Board of Directors. Shamina Singh is the founder and president of the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth and the executive vice president of Sustainability at Mastercard. With a deep commitment to leadership and public service, she sits on the boards and advisory boards of several organizations, and has held senior positions in the White House and the U.S. House of Representatives. With more than two decades of experience, Shamina has worked for four presidential administrations and three Fortune 500 companies. In 1999, Shamina served as the founding executive director for the historic first President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which has been renewed by each president since.

For decades, Dr. Rushika Fernandopulle has been a practicing physician focused on improving the quality of healthcare delivered to patients. He was the co-founder and CEO of Iora Health, an early innovator in Primary Care redesign that was acquired by One Medical in 2021. The combined company was then acquired by Amazon. Dr. Fernandopulle was the first Executive Director of the Harvard Interfaculty Program for Health Systems Improvement and currently serves on the staff at the Massachusetts General Hospital and on the faculty of Harvard Medical School.  

Geraldine Acuña-Sunshine is President of the Sunshine Care Foundation for Neurological Care and Research, an international non-profit organization dedicated to finding innovative ways of delivering free clinical and neurological care to indigent patients in rural areas of Asia. A strong patient advocate, Geraldine’s work has facilitated international collaborations in the fields of medicine, public health, and science to find effective therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, resulting in cross-collaborations among top scientists at Harvard, Yale, MIT, and other preeminent institutions worldwide. She is also Co-Founder of the Collaborative Center for X-Linked Dystonia Parkinsonism at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Geraldine will be succeeding current board member Jonathan Greenblatt, who is stepping down following the conclusion of his three-year board term in September to more fully focus on his work at the ADL.

We are excited to learn from our new Board members and apply their considerable expertise toward supporting our community in the pursuit of belonging and prosperity.

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DATA & RESEARCH

Uncovering the roots of anti-Asian hate during COVID-19

TAAF has released findings from its new study Roots of Racism: Examining the Conditions for Anti-Asian Hate During COVID-19. With the generous support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the study explores the rise in anti-Asian hate incidents (AAHIs) during the pandemic, finding that such incidents are closely related to local economic conditions and unequal health outcomes. The study also sheds light on the discrepancies in incidents reported by the FBI and incidents reported by the news media.

TAAF has visualized findings and data from this study in an interactive microsite available at rootsofracism.taaf.org, making county-level insights accessible and easy to understand.

Notable findings include:

• Counties with higher rates of drug overdose deaths and income inequality tended to experience more incidents than those without (which is aligned with previous studies that analyze these relationships).
• AAHIs that are reported to the FBI only tell half the story, with large gaps between the number of incidents reported by news media and those reported to the FBI in many counties.
• Interestingly enough, political leaning, COVID-19 case rates, and homicide rates did not correlate significantly with hate incidents against Asian Americans.
  

These findings highlight the need for improved measures to encourage reporting, whether to law enforcement or to community-based support organizations, in order to accurately capture the full scope of anti-Asian hate incidents. TAAF's New York City Safety Study released earlier this year found that Asian Americans who experienced a hate crime are less likely to report incidents to police (54%) than those who witnessed (69%), with the most common barriers to reporting being a reluctance to bring additional attention to themselves (36%), not knowing how to report such incidents (30%) and not feeling comfortable reporting to law enforcement or other officials (30%).  

Explore the Roots of Racism Study

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Partner Spotlight

TAAF is honored to build with incredible community partners with the support of our AAPI Giving Challenge partners.

Each month we highlight the impact of their work and support of our grantees.

Meet our partners by clicking the image below to learn more about their work.

Chhaya organizes and advocates for systemic changes that remove the barriers to well-being, housing stability, and economic mobility for low-income South Asian and Indo-Caribbean New Yorkers.

Panda Express is committed to uplifting AAPIs by creating positive and meaningful bridges between our communities, and by funding initiatives that will enhance AAPI education and storytelling.

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Convenings

TAAF in Community

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ICYMI

Leading AAPIs in the news

Meet Suni Lee, the Hmong-American Olympic gymnastics champ

Suni is the first female Asian-American All-Around champion, who battled an incurable kidney disease to return to the 2024 Olympics. READ MORE

Maui enters rebuilding stage one year after devastating fires

At least 2,207 structures were estimated to have been damaged or destroyed in the wildfires and rebuilding could cost more than $5.5 billion, officials project. READ MORE

Asian Texans for Justice releases part one of “Deep in the Heart of Asian Texas: Insights on AAPI Voters”

Uncover new insights from ATJ’s 3-part report analyze the profiles, voices, and policy opinions of Asian American and Pacific Islander voters in Texas, who are the fastest growing ethnic group in the state. READ MORE