CACF: Coalition for Asian American Children and Families

We’re sending so much gratitude to all of the community members, elected officials, and member and partner organizations that came out on Tuesday to celebrate the power of our communities with us at our 2024 Catalyst for Change Awards Gala. As this year’s gala theme so eloquently states, the support and funds raised from our gala attendees will allow CACF to continue IGNITING ACTION on behalf of AAPI New Yorkers. Your generosity will help us support our growing policy, leadership, and grants and contracts teams as we continue to advocate for AAPI communities across the state. We’re especially grateful to our incredible Catalyst for Change honorees James C. Rhee of the red helicopter and Maya Wiley of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights for their inspiring remarks about their families and their journeys as advocates and changemakers in the United States. Thank you too to our incredible emcees Ernabel Demillo and Vivian Lee for expertly hosting the evening and to our auctioneer Paul Florez-Taylor for leading such a spirited paddle raise and live auction. And, of course, we were so happy to have our ASAP Youth Leaders Ashwyn Lu-Huda and Clarissa Kunizaki expertly moderate a panel discussion with our awardees. Our current Youth Leader cohort was also a major part of the evening, with ASAPer Olivia Kim paying tribute to the power of ASAP and the importance of youth advocacy. Our ASAPers also networked and played a specifically designed AAPI trivia game with our guests throughout the reception. Thank you too to all of the elected officials and staff representatives who came out to celebrate the power of New York’s AAPI communities. We opened our event with Office of the New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ powerful opening remarks during the reception. We are also so glad Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, Assemblymember Steven Raga, Office of the New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, New York City Councilmembers Crystal Hudson, Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, and Julie Won, and our AAPI Equity Budget Champions Assemblymember Grace Lee and Senator John Liu were able to join us. Stay tuned for even more photos and videos from the event in the coming days!

CACF and the CACF co-led Equity Budget Coalition are proud to have advocated for the creation of the New York State AAPI Commission. At the Commission’s first public meeting earlier this month, our Director of Policy and Government Relations Felicia Singh urged the commission to: ⭐ 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 the full implementation of New York State’s landmark 2021 data disaggregation bill. ⭐ 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 for the $54.35 million in funding for the AAPI Equity Budget. ⭐ 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻 education equity and inclusive curriculum in New York State’s public schools. Swipe through to see all of the members and partners who were also in attendance at the meeting. Be sure to also watch Felicia’s full testimony here: https://lnkd.in/exrWANJr

Be sure to check out this new Bronx Times article spotlighting CACF’s inaugural Public Service Intern Reona Alam by reporter Emily Swanson! The CACF Public Service Internship program was launched earlier this year to create opportunities for AAPI college students to explore careers in government and public service. An alum of CACF’s beloved ASAP program, Reona is currently interning at the offices of Councilmember Shekar Krishnan at New York City Council. She credits her time as an ASAP Youth Leader for deepening her knowledge of the AAPI community and its multifaceted needs. Head here to read the whole thing: https://ow.ly/e46e50UuaTg

Please join us in congratulating CACF’s Director of Grants and Contracts Ambrosia Saulibio-Kaui, MPA, who was sworn in as an inaugural member of New York State’s Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Commission on Thursday! After introducing herself in Hawaiian, Ambrosia told attendees that “It is an immense honor for me to be able to introduce myself to you in ‘olelo Hawai’i as part of the New York State inaugural AAPI commission. The kuleana, the responsibility, of this commission to our shared AAPI community is not lost on me. The work it took from those in this room, and everyone that came before us, is not lost on me. I look forward to continuing that work together.” Congratulations to Senator Jeremy Cooney, Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar, and the CACF co-led Equity Budget Coalition, whose advocacy and support brought the NYS AAPI Commission to fruition. Be sure to head here to watch the full recording of the event: https://lnkd.in/euHwZeuw

Be sure to check out both of CACF's new Community Spotlights below to discover some of the many ways strong data leads to strong, community-centered public policy.

CACF is proud to have contributed two in-depth AANHPI Community Spotlights to AAPI Data’s newly-launched Empowered Data project. Empowered Data was created to highlight the ways nonprofit organizations like ours can uplift the needs of the most marginalized when we have access to clear, disaggregated data on the communities we serve. Be sure to check out our Community Spotlights on both the need for disaggregated data in the education policy space and the need to include Indo-Caribbeans in data collection here: https://lnkd.in/eBzbnzsw

As a co-leader of the New York City Council-funded Access Health NYC initiative, we see firsthand the many ways our city’s community-based organizations support New Yorkers who need assistance obtaining health care services. Last week, CACF hosted a special Access Health Learning Circle dedicated to sharing the many innovative ways our Access Health NYC awardees are conducting health care outreach to reach their communities and while also addressing health disparities. Thank you to all of the awardees who attended our final Learning Circle of 2024! Please stay tuned for our upcoming brief on all of our learnings from the event in the coming months.

As co-leaders of the Equity Budget Coalition, CACF has worked closely with Senator Iwen Chu to champion the AAPI Equity Budget —which consistently brings historic levels of funding and resources to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities across New York State — since she took office in 2023. Alongside over 20 of our member and partner organizations, CACF was proud to co-sponsor a Farewell Luncheon to Sen Chu in Brooklyn last week to thank her for her incredible dedication to our communities. We cannot wait to see where she goes from here and we know that her advocacy for our community-based organizations will not be forgotten!

CACF’s Invisible No More campaign and our ASAP Youth Leaders rallied in City Hall Park on Thursday just before the official unveiling of Intro 1134, a historic new bill that would establish and harmonize race and ethnicity data collection and reporting standards across all NYC agencies. CACF is proud to have worked alongside Councilmember Shekar Krishnan in shaping the language of this bill to ensure AAPI New Yorkers and other diverse communities are truly Invisible No More in New York City. In addition to featuring remarks from CACF’s Co-Executive Director Vanessa Leung, Councilmembers Krishnan and Julie Won, we are also so happy to have featured ASAP Youth Leaders Sabrina and Ashwyn, who both detailed the harms of erasing the nuances of the AAPI experience in data. Our incredible Invisible No More campaign Task Force members Arab-American Family Support Center, Asians Fighting Injustice, Chinese-American Planning Council, KAFSC (Korean American Family Service Center), MALIKAH,  NYU Center for the Study of Asian American Health, South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) also spoke out about the importance of stronger data collection and the need for all communities to be seen. For our full press release, head here: https://lnkd.in/en-VHQ9X

This #GivingTuesday, join our movement to ensure ALL AAPI New Yorkers get the resources and support they need to not only survive, but thrive. Through our policy advocacy, innovative leadership development programming, and coalition-building work with communities across the state, CACF has been there to ensure the needs of AAPI New Yorkers are heard in the halls of power since our founding in 1986. Your support this Giving Tuesday will help keep CACF at the forefront of the fight for racial equity and transform New York to better meet the needs of the most marginalized AAPI families and communities. Head to https://lnkd.in/dtCZe8Nn to make your gift today!