Newsletter

In Community: May 2023 Newsletter #2

TAAF celebrated AAPI Heritage Month with a summit, honoring community leaders, launching AAPI Heritage Heroes on Hulu, and announcing a $65 million funding initiative.

Dear Friends,

What an incredible AAPI Heritage Month. On May 5th and 6th, we celebrated TAAF’s second anniversary with our Heritage Month Summit and Celebration in New York City. Over 50 speakers and 1,000 leaders came together to bring our 2023 theme “Together We Build” to life. The power of our community – when brought together – is limitless.

We’re excited to close out May and welcome National Immigrant Heritage Month with the premiere of AAPI Heritage Heroes on Hulu. The second year of this series spotlights and celebrates incredible Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who inspire all of us with their unwavering displays of resilience, creativity, courage and heart.

According to our 2023 STAATUS Index, 78% of AAPIs do not feel they fully belong or are accepted, and together we must change that. As Michelle Yeoh shared at our inaugural Heritage Heroes Awards Dinner, “Our time is now. We are ready for our closeup and we are not going back to the background. Never. The challenges are by no means over, but we will face them together. And we will rise together.”

In solidarity,

Norman Chen‍
CEO, The Asian American Foundation

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HERITAGE MONTH SUMMIT

Bringing trailblazers and leaders together at the Heritage Month Summit and Celebration

Left to right: Our panel discussions included Building Coalitions to Fight Hate, Bridging Generations, Storytelling, Belonging, and the AAPI Experience, and our Academic Advisory Committee for the STAATUS Index discussing this year’s findings. (Credit: JP Yim, Krisanne Johnson, JP Yim)

The TAAF Heritage Month Summit & Awards Dinner built community, inspired action, and strengthened relationships across sectors.

The event featured engaging conversations across TAAF’s core pillars and a fireside chat with ABC News’ Juju Chang and actor Simu Liu on his experience breaking the bamboo ceiling in TV and film. Guests were also treated to an advance screening of “American Born Chinese” now streaming on Disney+.
Throughout our Summit, we were wowed by innovative cuisine from NYC’s top AAPI chefs — we are incredibly grateful to Chef Helen Nguyen and Chef Winston Chiu and your extraordinary coalition: 8282, Bangkok Supper Club, Bonbite Catering, Bonnie’s, Christine Lau HG, Ekiben, Essex Pearl, Golden Diner, Ho Foods NYC, Kimbap Lab, Klimone, Lady Wong, Lysée, Milk & Cream, Nami Nori, Potluck Club, Saigon Social, SONA, Stick with Me Sweets.
In partnership with Pearl River Mart and Yu & Me Books, we had the privilege of featuring the talent of NYC-based AAPI small businesses in a curated marketplace: Pearl River Mart, Yu & Me Books, Covry, DAWANG, EMME, Istani, Nguyen Coffee Supply, Plant Corner, Sacha Raps, Sanzo, Sublima Jewelry, WE ARE CHIMMI.

We ushered in our inaugural class of TAAF Heritage Heroes Awardees: Dr. Harpreet Singh & the Co-Founders of the Sikh Coalition; Congresswoman Grace Meng; Bain & Company’s Manny Maceda; Prabal Gurung, Tina Leung, Phillip Lim, and Ezra William of the House of Slay; and the iconic Michelle Yeoh. Broadway Legend Lea Salonga wowed with a heartfelt performance.
To close out the TAAF Summit, attendees were invited to cheer on Simu Liu, Joe Tsai (Governor, Brooklyn Nets) and Norman Chen (CEO, TAAF) in an AAPI All-Star Basketball game to benefit APEX for Youth. With heartfelt gratitude, we thank TAAF Board Member Joe Tsai, Clara Wu Tsai, and our partners at APEX for Youth, BSE Global, Fanatics, the NBA and the Brooklyn Nets for creating a memorable night for our TAAF friends and families.
The Summit would not have been possible without the generosity and support of our sponsors and partners: Bain & Company, Bank of America, Capital One, Citadel Securities, Disney, General Atlantic Foundation, Genesis House, Goldman Sachs, Instacart, JCPenney, Morgan Stanley, Nike, Panda Express, P&G, Salesforce, United Airlines, UBS, and Zoom. Thank you all!

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Left to right: Daniel Dae Kim with Dr. Singh of the Sikh Coalition, Lea Salonga performs onstage at the TAAF Heritage Heroes Awards Dinner, the TAAF Board with Michelle Yeoh, Rep. Grace Meng, and Manny Maceda, and the AAPI All-Star Basketball Game benefiting APEX for Youth. (Credit: JP Yim, Krisanne Johnson, JP Yim, Kirsten Luce)

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NARRATIVE CHANGE

Uplifting inspiring AAPI leaders: AAPI Heritage Heroes just released on Hulu

‍AAPI Heritage Heroes returns to Hulu to spotlight inspiring AAPI leaders.

To close out AAPI Heritage Month and welcome National Immigrant Heritage Month, TAAF is debuting the second annual AAPI Heritage Heroes special, with seven talented AAPI directors highlighting seven incredible AAPIs who inspire with their unwavering displays of resilience, creativity, courage, and heart. This year’s heroes feature trailblazers in arts, education, fashion, food, public service, and sports.
This year’s films are:
- “Who I Am Inside” featuring Lea Salonga and directed by Yasmine Gomez
- “Heart of Helen” featuring Helen Nguyen and directed by Bao Nguyen
- “Phillip x Prabal” featuring Phillip Lim and Prabal Gurung and directed by Georgia Fu
- “Duckworthy” featuring Senator Tammy Duckworth and directed by M.G. Evangelista
- “Amazingly Asian” featuring Pranav Iyer and directed by Alex Bocchieri
- “Tony Speaks” featuring audience-nominated Community Trailblazer Tony DelaRosa and directed by filmmaking duo Julian Kim and Peter S. Lee

Watch Heritage Heroes on Hulu

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PROGRAMS

Announcing our Five-year Portfolio Strategy grantees:

Maria Torres-Springer, New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic & Workforce Development, discusses how TAAF’s NYC strategy will impact public safety and economic empowerment for AAPI New Yorkers. (Credit: JP Yim)

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‍Our new Portfolio Strategy commits $65 million in direct funding over five years to bring transformational impact to the lives of AAPIs and our communities. We are excited to highlight our inaugural grantee partners across our three initiatives:

ANTI-HATE INITIATIVE: Our Action Centers Asian Health Services (Oakland), Chinese American Service League (Chicago), and Asian American Federation (NYC) have set the standard for locally-driven community based solutions to hate and we are thrilled to expand to an additional six cities:
- Asian American Resource Workshop (Boston)
- Tahirih Justice Center, Daya Houston, Boat People SOS (Houston)
- Advancing Justice–SoCAL, Chinatown Service Center (CSC), AAPI Equity Alliance (Los Angeles)
- Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition (Philadelphia)
- Community Youth Center (San Francisco)
- Chinese Information and Service Center (Seattle)
- In addition to our City Partners, our AAPI National Network will also include National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and The Sikh Coalition and other leading organizations.
EDUCATION INITIATIVE: Our education partners will not only expand AAPI History as part of inclusive history in K-12 across all 50 states and bring AAPI studies to more higher education institutions, but will also help to implement curriculum with professional development. Our inaugural education grantees include:
- The Asian American Education Project
- UCLA- Asian American Studies (AASC)
- Make Us Visible
- TEAACH Act Collaborative (Illinois)
NARRATIVE CHANGE INITIATIVE: Narrative Change grantees will improve AAPI representation in mainstream media by combating harmful stereotypes and elevating authentic stories. Our inaugural grantees include:
- Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA)
- Center for Asian American Media (CAAM)
- Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE)
- Rideback Rise

Supporting the safety and well-being of AAPI New Yorkers

At summit, we announced a $35+ million partnership with the Robin Hood Foundation, Surdna Foundation, New York Women’s Foundation, Bank of America, and the NYC Mayor’s Office to support the safety and well-being of AAPI New Yorkers over the next five years.

In addition, the newly founded New York City Anti-Hate Collaborative, part of our Anti-Hate Initiative, includes 14 inaugural grantees:

To support the NYC Anti-Hate Collaborative, we expanded our regional presence in NYC to address the unique needs and opportunities of AAPI New Yorkers. Leading this effort is Eugena Oh, a native New Yorker who joins TAAF from the “I Have A Dream” Foundation where she served as President and CEO.

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