Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Blog

  • Empowering the Next Generation of AAPI Community Advocates

    Posted by Kiran Ahuja on January 17, 2012 at 4:56 PM EDT

    Last week, the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders kicked off the New Year by hosting a briefing for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) student leaders.  The purpose of this briefing was for Administration officials to engage a new generation of AAPI community advocates on the Obama Administration’s agenda to ensure all Americans have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

    As Executive Director of the Initiative, I have had the distinct honor of working with many young leaders committed to serving AAPI communities and making positive change.

    With our roots tracing back to nearly fifty different countries, the AAPI community is one of the most culturally diverse groups in the United States.  Our everyday challenges are as different as the places we come from, and with the rapid growth of the AAPI population in the last decade, it has become increasingly important to address these issues and barriers.

    Today, significant portions of the more than 16 million AAPIs live in poverty, face significant health disparities, and struggle with accessing linguistically-appropriate services and resources. To tackle these pressing issues, we must make sure that every generation, especially the younger generation, is activated and engaged in developing strategies and being part of the solutions.

    The Initiative’s outstanding student intern, Bessie, put this into perspective with her own personal story:

    As an intern at the Initiative, I have had the opportunity to work on diverse projects like bullying prevention, diversity in federal employment, affordable healthcare, and a host of other issues central to improving the lives of AAPIs.  The experience has opened my eyes to the importance of having AAPIs in public service.

    My parents immigrated to the United States in the 1970s.  They left Hong Kong to pursue graduate degrees in the United States, and eventually settled in Maryland, where they raised a family of five children.  Growing up, I was generally unaware of the significant barriers and challenges AAPIs face in this country.  Because my parents were able to provide me with a comfortable living, I believed that all AAPIs were as lucky as myself and were doing fine.  But starting college opened my eyes to the vastly different experiences of AAPIs.  My new friends helped me realize that across the country, the AAPI experience varies greatly.  They were the children of refugees; they were first in their families to go to college; and their own family experiences and struggles were much different than mine. 

    Enlightened with this new perspective, I recognized the need to become more active and more engaged.  At the Initiative, I’ve had an invaluable opportunity to meet passionate individuals committed to tackling these diverse issues through public service and leadership.  And there is still much work to be done in improving the lives of AAPIs.  That is why I encourage my AAPI peers to think about a career in public service.

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  • From Words to Action: Integrating Newcomers Who Want to Learn and Work in America

    Posted by Ryan Edgar on January 9, 2012 at 2:42 PM EDT

    One of the most meaningful experiences during my time at the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders was helping to organize a roundtable on integration with the White House Domestic Policy Council in Honolulu, Hawaii last August. For most of my career, it has been difficult to draw attention to small, underserved communities in the Pacific Islands and highlight their positive contributions to this country. In this instance, the Administration was at our doorstep, listening, learning, and proactively thinking about ways to meet our community’s needs regarding integrating newcomers and assisting those who want to learn and work in America.  It was a humbling and inspiring experience.

    I am highlighting this roundtable for a special reason: we got results.  There were clear deliverables that we have acted on and make me proud to serve in this Administration. My experience with this roundtable is a demonstration of how government can put words into action.

    One of the biggest issues articulated at the roundtable was the impact of U.S. immigration laws under the Compacts of Free Association (COFA). These are bilateral agreements between the U.S. and the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau, which allow citizens of these countries visa-free access to live and work indefinitely in the U.S. in exchange for the U.S.’ unrestricted access to their lands and waterways for strategic purposes.  Community leaders expressed how COFA migrants are experiencing difficulty obtaining or maintaining jobs due to challenges with E-Verify or the Form I-9, both methods by which an employer can verify that an individual is legally authorized to work in the U.S.
    The Department of Justice’s Office of Special Counsel for Immigration Related Unfair Employment Practices (OSC) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Verification Division responded by taking immediate steps to improve their outreach and policy.  USCIS, with collaboration from OSC, issued special Form I-9 and E-Verify guidance for employers who hire individuals from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau.

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  • Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Listens to AAPI Community Leaders

    Posted by Nicholas Rathod on December 15, 2011 at 2:47 PM EDT

    Last month, I had the honor of joining an historic convening of AAPI community leaders from across the country organized by our Office of Community Affairs here at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).  Raj Date, the Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the CFPB, shared his vision for the Bureau with the National Coalition of Asian Pacific American Community Development Organizations (CAPACD).  This coalition is comprised of AAPI community leaders representing diverse constituencies from around the country. 

    Many of the assembled leaders represent communities directly impacted by fair lending and consumer finance issues.  They know from first-hand experience that no one is immune from predatory lending that deceives households seeking the American Dream.

    We all know that mortgage paperwork is complicated.  As Nam Pham, a community leader from Dorchester, Massachusetts, explained, if American-born citizens with fluent English are getting cheated or misunderstand the mortgage process, how are AAPIs with limited English proficiency supposed to get a fair deal?

    We heard from Michael Byun, from Asian Services in Action in Cleveland, Ohio, that fair homeownership needs to be more accessible, both through providing more loan documents in plain English, and translating those documents into AAPI languages.  Participants were excited to learn that the CFPB currently offers a complaint helpline that has interpretation available in 189 languages.

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  • Supporting Small Businesses: The Engines of Our Economy

    Posted by Christopher Chan on December 9, 2011 at 5:31 PM EDT

    We at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) know that small businesses are the engines of our economy.  Over 50% of Americans own or work for a small business, and it is important to support these business owners and entrepreneurs across our country.  Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) small businesses, for instance, strengthen the U.S. economy by generating over $300 billion in revenue and creating 2 million jobs for Americans of all backgrounds, according to the U.S. Census.  That’s why President Obama’s call for small business tax cuts in the American Jobs Act is so beneficial to our community and all small businesses in our country.

    At the SBA, we are committed to working with the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to ensure that AAPI small business owners know what we offer.  At the most recent White House Initiative Interagency Working Group meeting, SBA was recognized for its work on community engagement.  We are honored for the recognition from the Initiative, and we know that there is a great deal more to do in order to ensure that small business owners across the country have the tools and resources they need to grow and succeed. 

    Congress is working to pass pieces of the American Jobs Act, but the President knows that America’s small businesses can’t wait for help.  He is calling upon federal agencies to do everything they can, absent new legislation, to continue supporting and bolstering our economy.

    That is why SBA recently retooled our CAPLines program to make sure that businesses can secure important financing. Small businesses can now borrow against accounts receivable, inventory, contracts, and purchase orders in order to secure an SBA revolving line of credit from one of our certified lenders. 

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  • Asian American Entrepreneurship: An Asset to the Nation’s Economy

    Posted by Dilawar Syed on November 22, 2011 at 10:30 AM EDT

    November is National Entrepreneurship Month. Asian American entrepreneurs can lay claim to a track record of achievement, innovation, and value creation -- entrepreneurship is core to the Asian American experience. It is the most celebrated and cherished ethos of this fastest growing community in the U.S. Taking the risk to start a business and to work hard to sustain and grow that business is the story of millions of Asian American families.

    As leading actors in the U.S. economy, Asian American entrepreneurs’ contributions cut across all segments. They are innovators in technology start-ups in Silicon Valley; they operate restaurants and convenience stores in neighborhoods across the U.S.; they run medical clinics, often in underserved communities. Fundamental to this mosaic of entrepreneurial success stories is a set of core characteristics: a strong work ethic, a disciplined pursuit of education, and an unshakeable faith and optimism about the country’s future. 

    The impact of Asian American entrepreneurship is clear and increasingly significant. Today, more than one million Asian American entrepreneurs generate $300 billion in sales, providing jobs for more than 2 million workers. As the U.S. faces difficult economic times, these contributions are a vital catalyst to economic recovery.

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  • Federal Agencies Making Strides for the AAPI Community

    Posted by Chris Lu on November 21, 2011 at 1:36 PM EDT

    This past Thursday, as the recently appointed co-chair of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs), I had the honor of presiding over a meeting of the Interagency Working Group (IWG).

    I could not be more pleased to finally meet and interact with these agency leaders -- their commitment to the AAPI community was clear.  As each representative shared their agency’s plans for 2012, it was evident that they clearly understood what was at stake. As last year’s Census data made clear, AAPIs are the fastest growing racial group in the United States.  This has created an urgent need to better understand the day-to-day challenges AAPIs face.   

    In just over a year, the Initiative and the IWG have made considerable progress in meeting the President’s mandate to increase AAPI access to and participation in federal programs.  I had the privilege of recognizing several agencies for their outstanding work in key areas. 

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