Tag: asian americans

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LEAP’s Statement on Pew’s Research Study on Asian Americans

Statement from Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP) on Pew’s Research Study on Asian Americans

Los Angeles, California June 20, 2012 – LEAP is encouraged by the Pew Research Center’s first step to study the important and burgeoning Asian American community in their recent study The Rise of Asian Americans. While their research on the community paints a rosy picture, the Asian American community is not monolithic and many segments of the population, who were featured only as “other”, face a significantly more difficult climb.

The study clearly identifies the importance of job and career success to Asian Americans and that they do not believe that being Asian makes no difference to school admission or hiring and promotion decisions. Yet, for Asian Americans at the highest levels of leadership in corporate America, academia, government, nonprofits and foundations, the actual numbers paint a completely different picture.

LEAP’s own research studies, launched in 2009 to measure current Asian and Pacific Islander (API) representation at the highest levels of leadership positions in different sectors of U.S. society, found that although APIs are the fastest growing minority group and a vital part of the nation’s talent pipeline, APIs remain one of the least represented groups in leadership roles:

Fortune 100:
• In 2011, only 30 companies had API representation on their boards
• 29 API directors held 32 board seats out of 1,211 total seats
• 2 out of 100 CEOs were of API descent

Top 100 Nonprofits:
• In 2011, only 47 nonprofits had API representation on their boards
• 75 API directors held 78 board seats out of 3,051 total seats
• No API served as CEO

Top 100 Foundations:
• In 2010, only 24 Foundations had API representation on their boards
• 36 API directors held 37 board seats out of 748 total seats
• No API served as CEO

Further findings on executive suite representation will be shared by LEAP on June 27, 2012 when the sixth and newest leadership series report, API Executive Officers and Top Earners in the Fortune 500 is released.

We strongly encourage the Center to dive deeper in their future reports addressing Asian Americans and report on much needed disaggregated data research and analysis to paint a clearer and more complete picture of the vast diversity of issues affecting differently all subgroups that make up this community.

About LEAP:
Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc. (LEAP) is a national organization founded in 1982 with a mission to achieve full participation and equality for Asian and Pacific Islanders (API) through leadership, empowerment and policy. With original programs in leadership training, public policy research and community education, LEAP raises the impact and visibility of APIs in all sectors. LEAP is headquartered in Los Angeles and has an office in Washington, DC.

CONTACT: Rima K. Matsumoto
VP, Research & Strategic Alliances
Tel. (202) 412-4190
rmatsumoto@leap.org
www.leap.org

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NCAPA Responds to Pew Research Center Study on Asians Americans

NCAPA Responds to Pew Research Center Study on Asians Americans

On the heels of the Pew Research Center study on the Rise of Asian Americans (see this post and this one), the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans has issued a response.  Here is an excerpt:

The Pew Research Center’s study is an important conversation starter, but it should be balanced with a comprehensive understanding of community-based needs and concerns facing Asian Americans. We must acknowledge that there are a wide range of issues and concerns related to the economy, civil rights, and immigration that are on the minds of our communities. We need to move beyond one-dimensional narratives of exceptionalism about Asian Americans in order to better understand and address the diverse experiences facing our community members. NCAPA is committed to collaborating with researchers and policymakers to ensure that accurate and balanced information is provided about Asian American communities.

To read the entire statement click on the link in the title.

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NYT: Asians surpass Hispanics as Biggest Wave of Immigrants

NYT: Asians surpass Hispanics as Biggest Wave of Immigrants

Elsewhere in this blog, I posted the msnbc.com report that according to the Pew Research Center, Asians are happier than the general public.  The New York Times apparently ignored that part of the report and focused on Asians surpassing Hispanics, pointing to immigration enforcement and declining Mexican birth rates as possible reasons. Are the finding of this latest study good news or bad news for Asians? What can we anticipate from these statistics showing Asian Americans to be the largest growing immigrant group in the USA today?

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Survey says Asian Americans are Happiest

Survey says Asian Americans are Happiest

This morning, I received a link to the above article on msnbc.com reporting on the findings of a Pew Research Center survey indicating that, compared with the general population, Asian Americans are more satisfied with their lives and the nation’s direction.

Do you agree with the findings?  Do the survey results paint too rosy a picture? Do they help perpetuate the Model Minority Myth?  Please share your thoughts and comments.

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Building Our Legacy: The Murder of Vincent Chin – A Trial Reenactment

Thursday, February 16, 2012
6:00 – 9:00 PM
Fordham Law School,
140 West 62nd Street
South Lounge, Lowenstein Cafeteria.
The Vincent Chin Trial Reenactment is part of a series of historic Asian American trials, which Judge Denny Chin has edited and adapted from actual court transcripts.  The public outcry and media attention surrounding the trial prosecuting the murderers of Vincent Chin served to catalyze the birth of the modern Asian American civil rights movement.  Come see Fordham APALSA’s production of this historic trial, which will be accompanied by a reception and Q&A discussion with Judge Denny Chin.

Please RSVP using this link. 

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Tribute and Remembrance: Asian Americans After 9/11

Tribute and Remembrance: Asian Americans After 9/11

From AAARI/CUNY:

Commissioned by the Asian American Federation in 2003, Tribute and Remembrance documents the extensive effects the 9/11 tragedy had on the Asian American community, by examining the economic impact of Chinatown, the toll on taxi cab drivers, INS deportation of Muslims, the mental health impact and 3 victims’ family stories. In addition, it highlights some of the philanthropic efforts of the Asian American community following the tragedy.

This screening and lecture is scheduled for Sept. 9. For full details follow the link in the title.

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Q&A: Why Redistricting Matters to APAs

Last month, AABANY announced that it joined ACCORD, the Asian American Community Coalition on Redistricting and Democracy.  We reached out to James Hong, Civic Participation Coordinator at MinKwon Center for Community Action, the lead organization behind ACCORD, to tell us more about what ACCORD is all about.

AABANY: What is ACCORD?

MinKwon (James Hong): We are a group committed to APA and minority communities’ opportunity to meaningfully participate in the political process.  Such opportunity is fundamentally changed by the results of redistricting, which completely re-organizes boundaries of districts, and hence creates the population that will be voting in elections. 

A: Why does redistricting matter to the APA community in New York?

M: Redistricting matters to all communities, ethnic and otherwise.  However, APA communities – and the enclaves in which they live – face a history of having their neighborhoods gerrymandered and thus having their voters split into multiple districts.

APAs living in ethnic enclaves are routinely divided into several adjacent populations/districts so that they constitute only a minority of those districts, when they could easily be the majority population of a single district.  Therefore, hundreds of thousands of APA voters often cannot exert the power of their numbers, even though – and this is the real point here – numbers are the foundation of democratic government, where the will of the many is supposed to be expressed in the political process.

I believe one reflection of this is that despite the APA population being 13% in NYC – meaning 1 out of 8 people is an Asian American – there is not a single State Senator or Congressman that is APA (overall, only 1 in 50 of the elected officials representing the city’s various districts are APA), and less than one-quarter of 1% of public spending goes toward Asian or Asian-led social service organizations.  While ACCORD is not promoting APA candidates, these discrepancies are revealing.

A: How can the APA community learn more about redistricting?

M: This guide has been a good reference for me: http://www.advancingequality.org/attachments/files/410/Impact_of_Redistricting_in_YOUR_Community_2010.pdf.

And if you aren’t aware of what your own district looks like, use the NYC GIS to see how the lines are currently drawn (click “Show Additional Data on Map” module on right side of page):  http://gis.nyc.gov/doitt/nycitymap/

For the legally-minded, this page focuses on the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its relevance for redistricting:  http://www.publicmapping.org/what-is-redistricting/redistricting-criteria-the-voting-rights-act

A: What is ACCORD doing now to educate the APA community about this issue?

M: We are holding educational sessions at various community organizations, in English, Chinese and Korean.  If you or your organization are interested in hosting a meeting, please contact ACCORD at accord.newyork@gmail.com or James Hong at the MinKwon Center for Community Action (718-460-5600).  We can come out and do a 15-minute presentation to your group and have Q&A.

A: What is ACCORD doing now to advance the cause of redistricting for the APA community?

M: Each of the ACCORD member organizations plans to give public testimony in the upcoming public hearings on redistricting.  This is the first of two rounds of hearings, with each borough having one hearing each round.  We will be focusing on bringing both testimony and constituents to the Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan hearings, for both rounds.  All first-round hearings begin at 10am and the locations/dates are as follows: 

  • Queens is on Wednesday, September 7th at Queens Borough Hall, Meeting Room 213-1&2, 120-55 Queens Boulevard, Kew Gardens; 
  • Brooklyn is on Tuesday, September 20th at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Brooklyn; 
  • Manhattan is on Wednesday, September 21st, in the Assembly Hearing Room at 250 Broadway in Manhattan.

If you would like to get more involved with ACCORD, let us know at main@aabany.org.

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