Asian Leaders Alliance Newsletter #20
by By Julie K. Ea; Edited by Brian Pang
Hello Asian Leaders Alliance! This past month was full of activity as our community not only came together for the commemoration of March 16th but for many celebrations as well!
We want to thank everyone who participated in any of the March 16th events that happened locally and virtually. There’s a full recap of the event below if you weren’t able to attend. There was so much great content that can definitely be reused for your ERGs.
Looking forward, Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Heritage Month is upcoming in May! ALA has compiled a toolkit to help with your planning! Additionally, Asian Hustle Network, National ACE, and Asians in Advertising are each hosting their own summits/conferences. More details can be found in our Upcoming Events section. We also want to congratulate Ascend Leadership on their rebrand and successful A-List Awards event.
With so much upcoming activity and celebrations, we encourage everyone to collaborate together to help amplify our reach and uplift our Asian community. Let’s continue to share in the work together.
Join ALA
ALA as a platform, enables connections and collective impact and is open to all. Join our community on Slack and the Event Portal to directly interact, share, and uplift each other across ALA.
March 16th Recap
by Brian Pang
On March 16, 2021, eight lives were lost — six of whom were Asian women — a watershed moment that united our community to demand change.
From New York to Atlanta to Detroit to Denver to San Francisco, thousands gathered to honor Asian American lives lost to hate and violence.
For the 2nd year in a row, our Asian Justice Movement coalition, consisting of several community-based organizations came together on March 16th, to honor all Asian American victims of hate and violence, and to commemorate this significant date in our history.
A heartfelt thank you to those who contributed to the March 16th Always With Us: Asian Americans Rise Against Hate nation-wide rallies — whether you were a viewer, amplifier, provided a message of hope, and so many of you who did behind-the-scenes work to make this event happen.
Together, we were able to keep our stories in the media cycle, push for safety within our communities, and raise more awareness of the calls to action.
Here are a few additional links covering the event:
- AsAm News — Atlanta coverage
- AsAm News — NY and SF coverage
- AmNY — NY coverage
- President Biden’s Executive Order on Reducing Gun Violence
- Joint Statement from Health and Human Services Secretary Becerra and U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador Tai
- A message from President Biden to community members, delivered by Erika Moritsugu, Deputy Assistant to the President and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Senior Liason
- Read more about H.R. 7803 — Michelle Go Act here
- All the recordings are at alwayswithus.org, along with links to our previous nationwide rallies.
If you’d like to join the Asian Justice Movement in a more official capacity, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/TnZ14fwM4H2Tuzgx8 (also found on the asianjusticemovement.org website) or reach out to me.
Thank you to Julie Ea and Brian Pang, for refreshing the ALA March 16th resource guide for organizational and people leaders. This guide will be refreshed again in 2024.
AANHPI Heritage Month toolkit
by Manie Schweigert & Brian Pang
Within the past year, the Asian American communities has both experienced deep grief as well as monumental achievements. As organizations, E/BRGs, affinity networks plan activities and celebrations for May’s Asian American Native Hawaiʻian and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month, Asian Leaders Alliance (ALA) has built a toolkit to help guide your planning process and to offer resources for you to leverage.
Please access the guide here:
- Guide: https://ala.fyi/Heritage-Month-Toolkit
- Planning Template: https://ala.fyi/Heritage-Month-Template
Kudos to @Lisa Huang-North, @Manie Schweigert @Philip Xiao @Julie Ea @Richard Leong @Angela Chan@Ramon Tran Tang @Jimmy Hua and Brian Pang for authoring & contributing to this toolkit.
ALA’s AANHPI Heritage Month theme is “Center and Uplift”. “Center”, as we focus around wellness and mental health, while “Uplift” celebrates the wins and achievements across Asian communities.
If you like to source or contribute more ideas, or opportunities to collaborate with other ERG communities, please visit ALA’s Slack by clicking here.
Workplace Justice
by By Julie K. Ea
Ascend Leadership’s The Diversity-Equity Gap In The Fortune 500: Too Few Racial Minority Executives
Companies, having spent billions on DEI, may be evaluating their progress and the efficacy of their efforts. This latest Ascend Foundation study analyzes the disparity between diversity and executive equity in the Fortune 500. Access the paper here
Upcoming Events
See ALA’s Event Portal for more upcoming events
Gateway Series: Understanding and Navigating through Different Leadership Styles (April 19; Virtual/SF, CA) — Anyone can be a leader. Each leader will lead with their own leadership style. Every leader should understand how best to impact their team and adjust their leadership styles to help your team improve. At the end of his session, you would learn about the different type of leadership styles, work language and building trust in teams. Mastering both will build a highly functional and confident team. The event starts at 5:30pm PT, register here for Zoom and here for in-person.
Apex for Youth Gala (April 26; New York) — Through the years, the annual Apex for Youth gala has become the premier Asian American gala in the United States. Last year, we raised a record-breaking $2.6 million at our 30th Anniversary Gala, with 600 guests in attendance.
Our 31st Inspiration Awards Gala celebrates the theme, We Are Unstoppable, framing the thirty-first anniversary of Apex’s work of unlocking endless possibilities for our youth. There are no limits to what we can build together with our community — join us.
2023 Honorees are Simon Kim of michelin-starred COTE Korean Steakhouse and NYTimes best-selling author Ocean Vuong. Attend the gala or make a donation here!
Asian Hustle Network Uplifted Conference (April 27–28; Las Vegas, NV) — Celebrating 3.5 years since our founding, the Uplifted Conference will be a global reunion for our community. All hustlers — Asian or non-Asian — are welcome to enjoy over 2 days filled with keynote speakers, networking sessions, workshops, special performances, food and drink, and much more. For more information or to register, check out the website here.
Asians in Advertising Breaking Barriers Conference (May 4; Virtual) — As Asian Americans, we face unique challenges in our home and workplace environments stemming from growing up with implicit bias, imposter syndrome, third culture, and more. By sharing our commonalities as we try to advance in the country we call home, we set ourselves and the next generation up for success.
Whether you want to break in, breakthrough, or break out, taking control of your career requires breaking critical barriers in the process, which we, Asian Americans, struggle with. But we’re here to tell you it’s time to take charge. Let’s do this together. Speakers include Eric Toda, Brian Pang (from ALA!), as well as Asians in Advertising’s co-founders, Jessalin Lam and Bernice Chao! Check out their website for more details and tickets. Contact Brian if you don’t have the means to purchase a ticket, but would like to join, No judgment whatsoever!
National AAPI Business Summit (May 17; Washington D.C.) — In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month, the National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE) is hosting the National AAPI Business Summit Celebrating AAPI Heritage Month.
In the modern economy, access to capital and technology are intertwined. From broadband connectivity and quality, to e-commerce and digital literacy, AAPI small businesses must be fully incorporated into the digital economy in order to remain competitive and access the capital and resources necessary to start, retain, and grow their businesses. Check their eventbrite for more details/ticketing info.
Asian Creative Festival (May 20–21; Industry City, Brooklyn) — Asian Creative Festival is a space to celebrate AAPI culture and creatives. With the support of AAPI creatives everywhere, we’re cultivating a place to exchange stories, inspire creativity, and support one another. This year our theme is Be Colorful.
Hear from our all-star speakers by ACF, shop our AAPI artists/small businesses marketplace by ACE, and watch an AAPI directed film screening by Mixed Asian Media and East Side Stories. We’ll close with an exclusive after party hosted by Asian Creative Network
Partner Updates
by By Julie K. Ea
Bar None Games has launched TWO new team building game competitions all themed around celebrating AAPI Heritage Month! There’s a 60 min trivia game and a 60 min multi-round puzzler competition all live-hosted by someone in the AAPI community. Events can be virtual, hybrid, and in-person! For the ALA community members, we’re offering a 15% off with code ALA15
Very Asian Foundation has two exciting announcements:
- In partnership with We Need Diverse Books, they’ve launched The May Book Project to help schools and libraries build and maintain robust Asian American youth literature collections for all readers. Check their website for more details.
- The Very Asian Foundation Creators Fund has been launched! The grant is to shine a light on Asian experiences through advocacy and celebration, by providing micro-grants, support, and resources to AANHPI creators to amplify their voices and reach. Learn more about eligibility and how to apply here.
Relating Between the Lines — Relating Between the Lines is a school for relational education that equips leaders with timeless people skills that create compounding returns. Through experiential learning, Relating Between the Lines helps leaders bring four key shifts into their organizations
- From avoiding conflict to embracing conflict
- From stigmatizing emotion to befriending emotion
- From downplaying differences to celebrating differences
- From diagnosing people to humanizing people
The team can provide workshops that fits your company’s needs! Check out their website for more information and to get in touch.
Mental Health Awareness Month
by By Julie K. Ea
May is Mental Health Awareness month. Alongside AANHPI Heritage month, consider hosting events around mental health. Below are a couple of organizations centered around the AANHPI experience.
Anise Health — Anise is here to be your partner in wellbeing by providing mental health services that acknowledge cultural context and address your unique needs as part of the Asian community.
Asian Mental Health Collective — AMHC aspires to make mental health easily available, approachable, and accessible to Asian communities worldwide. Their mission is to normalize and de-stigmatize mental health in the Asian community. Check out their website for resources and ways to get involved.
Asian Mental Health Project — Asian Mental Health Project provides educational resources and community care initiatives that help make mental health care more accessible and approachable for the Pan-Asian community. Today, we create multimedia resources, host community events and provide mental health assistance grants.
BOOK
Dust Child — Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai
From the internationally bestselling author of THE MOUNTAINS SING, a suspenseful and moving saga about family secrets, hidden trauma, and the overriding power of forgiveness. Told in the voices of two Vietnamese sisters, an American veteran, as well as the child of a Black American soldier and a Vietnamese woman, DUST CHILD tells an unforgettable and immersive story of how those who inherited tragedy can redefine their destinies through love, hard-earned wisdom, compassion, courage, and joy.
Check out Randy Kim’s interview with author Nguyen Phan Que Mai here: https://www.podpage.com/the-banh-mi-chronicles/dust-child-wnguyen-phan-que-mai/
AMAZING: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Inspire Us All — Maia Shibutani, Alex Shibutani and Dane Liu; Aaliya Jaleel
From Olympic ice dancing medalists Alex and Maia Shibutani, this beautifully illustrated picture book highlights the achievements of many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have made invaluable contributions to the world.
Inclusivity sets this beautifully illustrated picture book apart in its exploration of thirty-six inspirational Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, such as disabled hero Daniel Inouye, immigrant astronaut Kalpana Chawla, and biracial entertainer Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Olympic medalist siblings Maia and Alex Shibutani felt compelled to create a book showing the undeniably positive impacts that Pacific Islanders and Asian Americans have made in this country and around the world. Thanks to quick and accessible biographies written with journalist Dane Liu, readers will learn about important figures who have shaped life-altering policy, made indelible marks on pop culture, and achieved their greatest dreams — paving the way for future generations to make lasting change.
Available for preorder!
The Wake Up — Michelle Mijung Kim (Now in paperback!)
In The Wake Up, Michelle MiJung Kim shares foundational principles often missing in today’s mainstream conversations around “diversity and inclusion” and urges readers to go beyond performative allyship to enacting real transformation within ourselves and in the world. The Wake Up invites readers to deep dive into the challenging and nuanced work of pursuing equity and justice, while exploring various complexities, contradictions, and conflicts inherent in our imperfect world.
Featured Speakers
by By Julie K. Ea & Brian Pang
Alice Hu — Woowooco — Mindful Moments
About Alice Hu
Alice Hu is a fractional Chief Mindfulness Officer, showcasing how mindfulness is a powerful tool for business. She leads wellness workshops that help employees develop emotional intelligence, strengthen their intuition, and understand/manage their energy better. The benefits are twofold: stress reduction and better interpersonal relationships skills for improved team coherence and collaboration.
Some of her most popular workshops include Rituals for a Better Day and How to Activate Intuition for Better Decision Making. Past clients include Instacart, Morgan Stanley, Follain, Accenture, Macy’s, and more.
For AAPI x mental health month, Alice is specific workshops tailored to the community such as:
How to Release Generational Trauma to Reprogram Your Mindset
Activate Your Voice and Step into Your Power
Accessing Your Authentic Self for Authentic Leadership
Book your next Wellness Wednesday or Learning and Development session here or connect with Alice via alice@woowocompany.com to learn about how she can help your organization.
Misa Chien — Hell Yes Speakers
About Misa Chien:
Misa Chien is a vulnerable leader who is known for inspiring others, and helps people feel less alone and more connected through positivity and transparency. She is known for speaking publicly and on social media about her experience as both a model and entrepreneur, addressing subjects such as imposter syndrome, mental health, and embracing failure.
BACKGROUND:
LinkedIn Top Voice, 2015
Inc 30 under 30, 2011
Forbes Women To Follow, 2010 & 2011
TedX Speaker “How To Embrace Imposter Syndrome” 2020
SERVICES:
🏆 Speaking Engagements
🏆 Panel Moderator
🏆 Fireside Chat Moderator
🌐 Booking agent: gordon@misachien.com
