Newsletter

TAAF Newsletter | January 2026

Dear Friends,

Almost three years ago to the day, I found myself on stage with Daniel Dae Kim and Bing Chen, looking into the audience at our first Sunrise Collective the morning after the Monterey Park mass shooting. We had created Sunrise Collective as a space for AAPI artists and leaders to come together at the Sundance Film Festival, to find support and belonging, and to celebrate our rich heritage. After the terrible shooting, Sunrise also became a place to find solace and grieve together. I can still remember the pain we all felt individually and collectively as we tried to process that tragedy. As we gathered this past weekend at Sundance, we were reminded again of the power of community.

At TAAF, safety is paramount in everything we do—it was the driving force behind our founding in 2021 during the height of anti-Asian hate and the guiding principle of how we do our work today. As AAPI and immigrant communities are once again experiencing uncertainty and anxiety in the wake of federal immigration raids and violence in Minnesota and around the country, we are reminded why this work matters. In Minnesota, TAAF is working with community members directly affected by the raids, supporting the work of several Safety National Network Partners, and will be providing additional rapid response funding to our safety grantees on the ground. We stand with the Hmong community and all other immigrant and refugee communities during these challenging times.

In solidarity,

‍Norman Chen
CEO, The Asian American Foundation

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NEWS

TAAF at Sundance

“Community makes us creative, and when we come together around common purposes, we create something incredible.”

These were the words of filmmaker Geeta Gandbhir, director of the Academy-Award nominated The Perfect Neighbor and one of our panelists at Sunrise Collective this year, and they couldn’t be more true. In collaboration with 3AD and Gold House, Sunrise Collective has brought together influential and rising AAPI and multicultural creatives, filmmakers, and industry leaders for inspiring conversations, creative exchange, and celebration.

Now, more than ever, it is important to ensure these spaces continue to exist. Spaces where storytellers like Chiké Okonkwo, Geeta Gandbhir, Vera Miao and Michelle Satter can explore the transformational and healing power of art, where creativity becomes not only resistance, but restoration; where Chloé Zhao and Juju Chang can dive into how the act of imagining is a way to process, connect, and move forward. And where a healthy debate about the intersection of art and AI can happen with Daniel Dae Kim, Janet Yang, Andrew Ng, Daniel Kwan, and Jonathan Wang. We believe that when we create spaces like these, we can tell stories that have the power to shape a better, more just future.

While this year’s festival featured 24 films by Asian and AAPI filmmakers, our community is still vastly underrepresented in film and television. The issue of underrepresentation—and with it, lack of belonging—points to a continued need for the support of AAPI storytellers. That’s why TAAF supports the Rideback RISE fellowship , the CAPE Rising Filmmakers Finishing Fund, the PEAK Producer & Executive Fellowship, and the Sundance | TAAF Fellowship. It’s also why we hosted the “AAPI Leaders and Luminaries Brunch” featuring a thoughtful panel moderated by Juju Chang with Daniel Dae Kim, Dan Lin, and Clara Wu Tsai. The conversation explored how AAPI stories are advanced across the industry, and the collective responsibility to expand opportunity for AAPI storytellers. Thank you to our collaborator Rideback RISE, and co-hosts Dan Lin, Clara Wu Tsai, and Kathy Im. We are especially grateful to the MacArthur Foundation for supporting the event, and for their continued shared commitment to the artists in our Sundance | TAAF Fellowship and Scholarship and the Rideback RISE fellowship.

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IMPACT UPDATE

TAAF Cities: Seattle

Last year, TAAF launched our TAAF Cities initiative in Seattle with the Chinatown International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA) Safety Ambassadors Program to support small businesses and welcome visitors. The Ambassadors watch over the neighborhood blocks to ensure they are safer, cleaner, and cared for. Since the program launched in June 2025, Ambassadors have de-escalated 250+ incidents and conducted 750+ business check-ins and 675+ wellness checks/outreach to individual residents. In addition, the latest survey of business owners revealed that:

84% of those who contacted an Ambassador about an incident were satisfied or somewhat satisfied with the handling of the incident.
88% of business owners agree that the Ambassador program is improving safety for the Chinatown International District.

Following the initial success of the program, we are excited to share that CIDBIA recently secured additional funding to expand the number of overall Ambassadors.

In addition to the Ambassador program, TAAF sponsored a Small Business Saturday Food Walk planned by Intentionalist and CIDBIA. 35 businesses participated and provided free food offers to the first 50 customers. They also organized a “Winter Windowland” window display contest between 18 businesses to encourage foot traffic.

While these are early updates, we are excited about the progress that is being made and hope to continue to help create a safer, more vibrant Seattle. Learn More About TAAF Cities.

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In case you missed it, these are the stories we’ve featured on our blog, The Takeaway.

How a Small Museum in Southern California is Preserving the Cultural History of Martial Arts

Turning Trauma into Leadership: How Mohamed Q. Amin Built the Community of Support That He Never Had

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Make an Impact

TAAF created the AAPI Nonprofit Database to connect you to grassroots organizations and causes that you’re most passionate about, ensuring that your support directly benefits those in the community.

And if you can’t choose, you can support TAAF, where 100% of your donation goes toward strengthening groundbreaking research, programs, and cross-sector partnerships to address our community's most persistent challenges.

Donate today to show your support for Safety, Prosperity and Belonging for the AAPI community. You can also leverage your corporate matching program to double your impact. Donate to TAAF.

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