Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Blog

  • What's Your Story Video Challenge

    Posted by Miya Saika Chen on August 29, 2011 at 1:30 PM EDT

    There is nothing more powerful than the stories of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Our stories define who we are, and they reflect our impact on the community around us. At the White House Initiative on AAPIs, we seek to amplify these voices nationally. We are pleased to announce the first ever White House Initiative Video Challenge, called “What’s Your Story?”

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  • Weekly Highlights, August 28

    Posted by Shin Inouye on August 29, 2011 at 11:09 AM EDT

    Check out a preview of upcoming events from around the administration and a recap of recent news.

    On September 20, 2011, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EDT, the Social Security Administration will host a Public Forum concerning Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.  The forum will take place at the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review located at One Skyline Tower, 5107 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church, VA  22041.  Please click here to register. This forum is part of Social Security’s self-evaluation of current policies and practices that support Section 504. Under this legislation, federal agencies are required to provide meaningful access to their programs, activities, and facilities for qualified persons with disabilities.

    Join the Immigration Dialogue with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: WHIAAPI, in collaboration with the Department of Homeland Security, invite you to participate in the public stakeholder events hosted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). USCIS is the government agency that administers lawful immigration to the United States.  USCIS’s mission includes providing accurate and useful information to our customers, granting immigration and citizenship benefits, promoting an awareness and understanding of citizenship, and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system.  USCIS hosts frequent national and local engagements on a broad range of issues, including naturalization information sessions, adoptions, and employment and family-based visas. Recognizing the role that immigration has played and continues to play in the Asian American and Pacific Islander population, we welcome this partnership with USCIS and hope that you will find their engagements and public materials to be helpful and informative. To sign up for alerts for USCIS’s local and national engagements and to suggest issues of concern, please send an email with your name and location to Public.Engagement@dhs.gov.

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  • Weekly Highlights, July 17, 2011

    Posted by Shin Inouye on July 15, 2011 at 6:42 PM EDT

    Welcome to this edition of the WHIAAPI Weekly Highlights! The nation’s Asian American population became the fastest growing race over the past decade, experiencing a 43 percent increase from 2000 to 2010, according to new figures from the 2010 Census Bureau. The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders is working to understand what these changes mean for public policy, specifically for federal services and protections.

    Host a Roundtable in Your Community! President Obama is calling for a national conversation on immigration reform that builds a bipartisan consensus to fix our broken immigration system so it works for America’s 21st century economy and security needs, but he can’t do it alone. That is why we are asking you and other Americans, including business leaders, faith leaders, law enforcement leaders and all Americans that understand that we cannot continue to live with the broken system the way it is – to continue the conversation in your community by hosting a roundtable. If you would like more information on hosting a roundtable in your community on immigration or other issues, email WhiteHouseAAPI@ed.gov.

    On July 8, WHIAAPI hosted a Sustainable Growth Summit in Seattle, Washington. Over 450 business owners, educators, community organizers, and students gathered at the North Seattle Community College to hear from government officials and practitioners about opportunities for communities to drive sustainable growth. The summit featured workshops on connecting health to the environment, economic development through local food, government contracting opportunities for businesses, among others. Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary, Chris Lu; Senior Economist, White House Council of Economic Advisors, Ronnie Chatterji; and Region XI Administrator for the Small Business Administration, Calvin Goings were featured speakers. Read the blog about why sustainability is important to AAPI communities, Sustainability Means Equity, by President’s Advisory Commissioners Hyeok Kim and Kamuela Enos.

    WHIAAPI participated in three AAPI community roundtables while in Seattle, focused on immigration, healthcare reform and small businesses. Read a blog about meeting with members of the Seattle community on the administration’s New Americans and Citizenship and Integration Initiatives by Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu and WHIAAPI Deputy Director Christina Lagdameo.

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  • Integrating Immigrants to Strengthen the Economy

    Posted by Chris Lu and Christina Lagdameo on July 14, 2011 at 6:07 PM EDT

    Last week, we met with 25 members of the Seattle, Washington community as part of a series of New American Citizenship and Integration Initiative Roundtables.  These roundtable discussions provide meaningful insight into how the federal government can support local integration efforts.

    President Obama is committed to building a 21st century immigration system to stimulate economic growth, spur job creation, and promote innovation.  To win the future, the President has committed to attracting the best and brightest from around the world to invest their talents, skills, and ideas towards growing our economy and creating American jobs.

    Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu at Media Roundtable

    In addition to the immigration integration roundtable, Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu participated in various events with the AAPI community, such as this ethnic media roundtable with Commissioners of the President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. (Photo by James Morse)

    The state of Washington is much like the rest of the country with immigrants promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. According to the Small Business Administration, immigrant business owners generate $67 billion in business income, which is 12% of the U.S. total.  Around the country, immigrants have started 25% of U.S. public companies that were venture-backed—including Google, eBay, Yahoo!, Sun Microsystems, and Intel, according to the National Venture Capital Association.  Further, immigrant-founded, venture-backed public companies employ 220,000 people in the United States. These and other important facts about the positive economic impact of immigration are detailed in our White House Blueprint on 21st Century Immigration Reform.

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  • Watch Live: Sustainable Growth Summit

    Posted by Deanne Chen on July 8, 2011 at 12:15 PM EDT

    Join the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in a discussion on federal efforts to promote sustainable communities, encourage innovation, and support economic growth. Attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a number of workshops on growing jobs and growing communities.

    We are pleased to announce that the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders the Sustainable Growth Summit will be live streamed:

    Video, chat, community by Ustream

  • Sustainability Means Equity

    Posted by Hyeok Kim and Kamuela Enos, Commissioners, President's Commission for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders on July 6, 2011 at 4:10 PM EDT

    Most people, when asked, think that sustainable growth is about going green.  And that’s true – partially.  Sustainable growth goes well beyond environmental issues.  Sustainable growth entails making sure that our communities are still thriving 30 years now and with a quality of life greater than today’s.  Sustainable growth is providing all Americans with equal access to education, jobs, and healthcare, so that their communities flourish.  In short, we must have equity.

    Sustainable growth is not a new concept for Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs).  We come from families who have lived sustainably on the same landscape for thousands of years.  Passing valuable lessons down through the generations, our ancestors taught us we cannot sustain personal wealth at the expense of our health, our environment, or our community’s well-being.

    For the AAPI community, sustainable growth is becoming increasingly important.  The AAPI population grew faster than any other race in this country over the last 10 years – a whopping 43 percent.  This population explosion creates an urgent need to get AAPIs to the table and engage them in the national conversation.

    In one week, we will do just that.  The White House Initiative on AAPIs will bring together federal and local experts on entrepreneurship, technology, education, and innovation to raise awareness of federal resources and create opportunities for sustainable growth.  Best of all, we will do this in Seattle, a city leading the way in sustainability initiatives that span farming, health, education, and green technology.

    At the Sustainable Growth Summit on July 8th at North Seattle Community College, business owners, educators, community organizers, and students will gather to hear from government representatives who can connect them to right resources.  And even more importantly, they will hear from practitioners who bring a bagful of inventive ideas for community development.

    As members of America's tapestry, AAPIs have a vested stake in these conversations around sustainability, both in our uniquely important perspectives as well as in the dire consequences that our exclusion will entail for not only our communities but for the nation as a whole. Truly, we have an opportunity to frame these conversations so that communities and, ultimately, families are empowered to be their own and most effective agents for positive change in our society.
     

    Hyeok Kim and Kamuela Enos serve on the President’s Advisory Commission for AAPIs.  For more information on the Sustainable Growth Summit or to register, please visit http://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/06/23/sustainable-growth-summit-july-8th.