Asian American Public Policy Institute
4546 El Camino Real, Suite B10-129, Los AltosCA94022
525 Los Coches, Milpitas, CA95035
AAPPI comprises of Asian American Community leaders and organizations across California, the U.S. and internationally. We have chapters in Northern and Southern California. Most Asian American community organizations across the state have some kind o affiliation with the Policy Institute. AAPPI works at several levels:
Public policy: AAPPI has think tanks in Northern and Southern California that work on policy issues that impact the Asian American communities across the States and the U.S.
Advocacy: AAPPI regularly helps draft legislation and lobbies at Sacramento, WashingtonD.C. and the local level (City and county).
Electoral Politics: AAPPI helps identify, groom and support Asian American candidates for local, Statewide and federal offices. We help them with endorsements, fundraising, grass root mobilization and get out the vote. Voter registration is one of the more popular programs we have in place. The Policy Institute is of the opinion that the Asian American community is in dire need to have our candidates elected to high offices across the U.S. The number if elected Asian Americans is not all representative of the large and ever growing Asian American communities across the U.S.
Norm Mineta as the Transportation Secretary on President Bush’s cabinet and Mike Honda the new Congressman from California are testimony to the increasing visibility of Asian Americans in the political realm.
Education: AAPPI has a very popular program called “ Education For All”. EFA has a dedicated team of volunteers who help disenfranchised school districts across California and increasingly across the country, help get connected to the Internet. EFA has done some interesting work on campus across the U.S. on issues like: Asian American tenured faculty, Department for Asian American studies, more Asian languages in the languages being offered on campus, glass ceiling issues, affirmative action among others.
Youth: AAPPI believes that youth programs are critical for our society. We have programs that work with disenfranchised youth and help them in various aspects:
Mentoring: AAPPI has a well established mentoring program wherein youth are paired with Asian Americans working at major Silicon Valley corporations.
Asian Youth Gangs: AAPPI works with gangs at various levels. Our panel of attorneys provide pro-bono legal assistance. AAPPI works with the local, State and Federal corrective action departments to make the officers sensitive to the issues that are particular to Asian youth. We have Asian American youth volunteering and running these programs. Peer support means a lot more than a few well meaning adults.
Census 2000: AAPPI was actively involved in encouraging the Asian American community to cooperate with the Census authorities. It was critical that all people of color got counted in this exercise, as the typically get undercounted and that affects representation as Washington D.C, in funding and other ways that hit home. It was the result of a concerted effort to get undercounted communities recognized that California has now won an additional seat in the U.S. Congress.
Redistricting is a critical issue that AAPPI had been actively involved with at the City, County, State Assembly and Congressional levels. Asian American communities across the country stood to get split unless they spoke up. It was critical that Asian American communities do not get split up as that reduces their political presence and muffles their voices.
Community: AAPPI has worked on projects involving immigrants, domestic abuse, child abuse, hate crime, gay and lesbian issues, HIV and AIDS. AAPPI has undertaken several projects in developing countries involving the education of children and women. AAPPI believes that education, health and financial independence of women is critical in empowering them.
Subsequent to 9.11.01 there have been a spate of hate crimes against Sikh and Muslim Americans across the US. AAPPI has been instrumental in conducting educational sessions on Sikhism and Islam. AAPPI has also been working with elected officials on introducing and widening the scope of existing hate crime legislation.
Workplace issues: AAPPI has worked for several years to help monitor and change the face of corporate U.S. to be more representative of the communities companies operate within. We try help the management realize that it is not enough that they hire large number of Asian American engineers, but that the higher levels of management need to be more representative too. AAPPI helps run diversity training sessions for Silicon Valley companies.
Some other training sessions conducted are on HIV and AIDS.
AAPPI has worked on issues regarding queer APIs at work. AAPPI has worked major hi-tech companies in Silicon Valley to pass domestic partnership (DP) benefits for the employees. AAPPI works closely with “ Pride At Work” to work on these issues.
Labor and Union organizing: This gets covered under workplace issues, but often has a much broader dimension. The Policy Institute is currently engaged in various issues:
Hi-tech companies in Silicon Valley abusing workers, denying the right to organize, using sweatshop tactics. HIB programmers being abused by U.S. corporations, Abuse of labor by multinational corporations in Asia is an area of considerable activity.
Human Rights: Human rights in China, Burma, Indonesia, sweatshop issues. The role that U.S. multinationals play in the persecution of labor internationally. Persecution by agents of the state (police, army, intelligence services) in the U.S. and abroad.
Within the U.S. AAPPI works with and monitors police departments in areas of racial profiling, sentencing of people of color. The monitoring of abuse of women, queers and people with HIV/ AIDS while incarcerated is an ongoing activity at AAPPI.
Cruelty to Animals: AAPPI has been active over the years in working on issues involving cruelty to animals, specifically when it applies to Asian American restaurants and also with practices across Asia. AAPPI has also focused on US multinationals that operate in Asia and continue cruel practices in the processing of animals in their food processing centers. AAPPI works closely with PETA in actions in the US and internationally.
Healthcare: AAPPI ( Asian American Public Policy Institute ) has several programs that address Healthcare issues of the various Asian American communities.
AIDS ( Asian AIDS Action is a very large independent program of AAPPI )
Programs that address diabetes, tobacco use among Asian Americans, focusing on youth
Access of health care by senior Asian Americans
Asian AIDS Action: AAA is a program that AAPPI launched in initially in the Los Angeles area, and since 1999 in the south bay area in Northern California. AAA had its genesis in SAAA (South Asian AIDS Action) and now is a separate program. AAA focuses on various aspects of the HIV AIDS pandemic affecting the Asian American community. There are programs for outreach to both the queer and heterosexual AA communities. There are several initiatives to lobby local, State and Federal organizations on focusing government dollars and programs on affected AA communities across the U.S. AAA engages major pharmaceutical companies in expanding the scope of their clinical trials of AIDS drugs to the AA community and to certain Asian countries.
International action: AAA works extensively with AIDS Service organization across Asia. AAA has programs in various parts of India, Thailand and recently in China and Hong Kong. AAA has worked with AIDS service agencies across South East Asia, Pacific islands and parts of Asia. There is a continuous back and forth flow of migrants from Asia to the U.S., Canada and Europe and back to Asia. This is observed not just among recent immigrants but even with second and third generation immigrants. This results in a pattern of infection and transmission of infection both among queers and heterosexuals.
How you can get involved:
Volunteer: AAPPI has several ongoing projects which need volunteers either for short durations or on an ongoing regular basis.
Support: AAPPI has a planned giving program in place. AAPPI also receives regular support from various major and small corporations for its various programs. If you work at a major company, your donations to AAPPI could be matched by your employer.
Internships: AAPPI regularly takes in interns. Interns typically work on short term projects in one of the above areas of focus. Successful internships often get converted into full time staff positions at AAPPI.
Contact: