Finding Inspiration Within Our Sector and AANHPI Community

The Bay Area of California is where Elaine Mui and I, the most recent cochairs of the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) Caucus, call home. It is also where some of the earliest attacks on our community occurred since the start of the pandemic in 2020. That same year, the murder of George Floyd would prove to be a racial reckoning in our country too seismic to ignore.

Yet at the time, we were operating under a presidential administration using divisive rhetoric, and within the philanthropic sector that yearned for more equity (and still does). In AAPIP’s 2022 report Seeking to Soar, foundation funding designated for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities only accounts for 0.20 percent of all US grantmaking.

Glimmers of hope

However, philanthropy is also where I personally and professionally felt I could turn for glimmers of hope. From the nonprofits that worked harder toward racial, social, climate and economic justice, to the grantmakers that directed greater funding and shifted conversations toward grantee-centric and trust-based practices, I found the inspiration needed to help me through the darkest of tragedies and sobering of statistics in regards to hate crimes against our community. (According to the Stop AAPI Hate report Righting Wrongs, How Civil Rights Can Protect Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Against Racism, “More than 11,000 acts of hate against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have been reported to Stop AAPI Hate since March 2020 and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.”)

Consequently, in 2021, I was glad that Jina Freiberg, Anna Huynh, and Sheryl Saturnino formed the Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus. I regularly attended meetings to find solidarity amongst colleagues. To my honor, I was asked to become a cochair in 2022. Much to my surprise, I am discovering so much in the role. Still in its nascent stage, the cochairs leaned on PEAK, peer groups, its members and each other on what the Caucus should do, represent, and even what it should be called. We officially changed our name to the more inclusive AANHPI Caucus. This coincided with The White House Proclamation on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May 2022.

We wanted to provide our members with learning, social networking and professional development opportunities as we continued to meet virtually. Our first invited speaker was Eddy Zheng, founder of the New Breath Foundation. He shared his lived experience of being formerly incarcerated, to starting a philanthropic organization in support of the AANHPI community. We also featured separate talks on mental health awareness and self-advocacy, with some happy hour socials sprinkled in between. Invitations to take part in other peer networking group events within PEAK were also invaluable. Overall, the activities fostered inclusion and a sense of community at a time when many were still working remotely and healing from world events.

Feeling seen at PEAK2023

In early 2023, Elaine joined as cochair. We all began to plan for the first in-person caucus meeting at PEAK’s annual convening held this May. In honor of AANHPI Heritage Month, we wanted to do something special for our members. We are tremendously grateful to PEAK for supporting our celebratory boba tea party for the more than 50 members in attendance. One member shared that it was the first time they had felt “seen” at these conferences. The model minority myth rendered members of our group invisible for so long. This statement made a strong impression on the cochairs. The first in-person event further strengthened our resolve to build on a sense of community well-being for our members. Members even came up to us afterward expressing interest in volunteering.

Thus, we want to acknowledge the many different cultures that comprise our caucus. At the same time, we recognize the power of our collective voice in advancing causes important to our members. Thank you to PEAK for affording us the space to meet, learn, lead, and find our voice. Alongside an incredible group of changemakers, we will work shoulder to shoulder, bolder and bolder.

Click here to learn more about all of PEAK’s member peer groups. To learn more about the AANHPI Caucus and inquire about joining, contact our team at info@peakgrantmaking.org.