Asian Leaders Alliance Newsletter #10: 2021 Recap and Happy Holidays
by Brian Pang on Dec 19, 2021
Dear ALA family, what a rollercoaster year we’ve had in 2021. As if the COVID-19 pandemic wasn’t enough to deal with, we’ve also seen a sharp rise in xenophobia, scapegoating, anti-Asian rhetoric, violence, shunning towards our communities, and also numerous political issues across the world.
It is through these challenging times we see leaders step up, and seize the opportunity to drive change.
Within the same year, we’ve also seen a reinvigoration in the Asian American community, many more of us are speaking up, sharing our experiences, leading various initiatives, programs and events to help uplift, advocate for, and advance our communities.
We’ve also seen increased representation in mainstream media and entertainment, from movies, TV, music, sports, books, video games, politics and more.
We’re now experiencing more allyship towards our communities, and also from our communities, to uplift other marginalized and underserved cohorts. Many of us are actively leveraging our privilege and our platforms to drive meaningful change for all.
This past year, Asian Leaders Alliance contributed to the movement through a variety of initiatives and programs, such as the ongoing Gateway Series (in partnership with Asian Business League and NAAAP), held two emergency forums to provide space for our community to heal and devise solutions, participated in the March 26th Stand With Asians program, hosted at-scale Bystander Intervention training (with HollaBack! and Advancing Justice-Asian Law Caucus), co-hosted the massive Be Seen, Be Heard event (with 40+ company ERGs), co-hosted Data Talks (with Ascend), recently kicked off a new Be Seen, Be Heard: Origins series, held countless partner meetings, while also supporting all our ERGs and partner orgs with best practices and shared content for their respective programs, initiatives, and events.
Asian Leaders Alliance has now grown to 250+ corporate ERGs, with an ever-increasing opportunity to lead the collective movement. As such, the leadership team has refreshed ALA’s vision and mission statements to sharpen the why, what, and how we will lead and amplify our movement, by leveraging our ERG communities, our experience as coalition and community leaders, and also our proven ability to trailblaze through our corporations / organizations.
Vision: We exist to unify, advance, and elevate all APIs in the community and workplace through ERG advocacy and action
Mission: To equip and empower Asian Pacific Islanders and allies to develop as leaders in the workplace and communities, to advocate, serve, and drive collective impact through ERGs and partner organizations
Objectives: Activate the community in action; Infuse principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion within our workplaces and communities; Develop next generation leaders in corporate and civic ecosystems.
Learn more about ALA’s refreshed focus from the leadership team here: ALA Town Hall 2021
We at ALA are working hard to serve the ALA community and wider Asian, Native Hawai’ian, and Pacific Islander communities, as well as all marginalized communities around the world through our programs, strengthening our collective movement by driving unity, connecting community organizations, contributing to and amplifying all our partner organizations and their initiatives as well.
A heartfelt thank you to the ALA family for being a part of this incredible community, leading change, and making the world better, more just, and equitable for all.
Happy Holidays to you and your families, and we’ll see you in 2022.
-ALA Leadership Team
Partner Spotlight
1990 Institute
What Happens if #StopAsianHate Ends?
Stand with Asian Americans
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving that harnesses the power of giving to benefit humanity.
This year, Asian Leaders Alliance Giving Tuesday campaign reached out to the API community to support two organization partners: Southeast Asian Development Center and Hollaback!
Your gifts will support leadership training, empower a movement to end harassment, engage young people in social justice issues, and ensure that more of our community members are engaged in giving to the causes they support.
Donate today or throughout 2022 via the following links
Southeast Asian Development Center
We thank you all for your support.
McKinsey’s Connected Leaders Academy:
by Adrian Kwok on October 19, 2021
Connected Leaders Academy is designed to provide leaders a catalyst for growth by equipping future leaders with the peer network and sponsorship that will help them achieve their aspirations as well as new capabilities, mindsets, and behaviors. The program is experienced through identity-based communities. We currently offer cohorts for Black leaders, Hispanic-Latino leaders, and Asian leaders.
Connected Leaders Academy provides organizations the opportunity to improve their talent pipeline and unlock the organization’s full potential while empowering employees to take the next step in their professional journeys.
Read more about this program here.
Register by contacting Adrian Kwok
USC Marshall Center for Effective Organizations: ERG Leadership Summit
by Brian Pang on September 25, 2021
The USC Marshall Center for Effective Organizations held an ERG Leadership Summit on September 21–24, 2021. This year’s theme was Accelerating Transformation. Meida Surya, Julie Ea, and Franklin Shen led a presentation about how to best support Asian colleagues and communities.
More details of this summit are here.
Watch the replay of the ALA leaders presentation here
FASTERCON21
by Brian Pang on October 9, 2021
On October 8–10, the incredible FASTER org hosted FASTERCON21 in partnership with Asian Leaders Alliance (ALA), and LEAD Filipino. This year’s event featured over 20+ speakers, 4 skills-based professional development workshops for professionals and undergraduate students over the month of October. Day 1 featured Jeamarie De Paz, Jimmy Hua, and Brian Pang from the Asian Leaders Alliance leadership team.
The workshops focused on helping participants sharpen their skills, learn more about new technology spaces where Filipinx Americans are innovating, and convene in community building — to create safe spaces to connect, collaborate, and cultivate our growth in these times.
FASTER recognizes the losses from the Filipinx American community since March of last year. Injustice is not new to the Filipinx American community. In light of what our communities and allies have experienced, from the Black Lives Matter, those fighting with us against anti-Asian hate crimes, and the death of aspiring Filipino American game designer, Angelo Quinto, last December.
We want to recognize the strength, beauty, in our minds, bodies, voices, and souls by celebrating Filipinx American joy, continuing to recognize the work of Filipinx American contributions to our industry as we have always done since the founding of our organization, building our legacy for future generations, continuing to arm ourselves with the tools needed to continue thriving in the industry, and keeping our communities safe through COVID-19.
Watch the recorded sessions in this playlist: Filipinx Americans in STEAM — 5th Annual Conference FASTERCON21 — Day 1 — Fighting Anti-Asian Hate
Hate is a Virus, Act to Change, Stop AAPI Hate: Changemakers Summit, 2021
by Brian Pang on October 24, 2021
The Changemakers Summit 2021, held on October 23, 2021 is a virtual, nationwide AAPI (Asian American & Pacific Islander) youth conference organized by Act to Change, Hate Is A Virus, and Stop AAPI Hate. This online youth conference gives AAPI youth and activists the opportunity to learn from and connect with veteran innovators, creators, educators, advocates and organizers who are dedicated to addressing AAPI issues and driving social change across a spectrum of industries and spaces.
Watch some of the recorded sessions in this playlist: Changemakers Summit 2021: Opening Ceremony
Hate is a Virus — UNITE: A Community Celebration
by Brian Pang on December 5, 2021
On December 4th, Hate is a Virus held a community celebration — the first ever in-person gathering of their full team, supporters, and change catalysts. Attendees included grantees, artists, partners, donors, and many more.
The event was incredibly well run and re-energized many of the attendees. At a time when fatigue is high and media attention towards our movement is dissipated, the event was inspiring, uplifting, and also re-energizing as the community leaders strengthened their existing connections and partnerships, while forging new relationships.
Congratulations to the Hate is a Virus team!
Character Media’s 2021 Unforgettable Gala
by Brian Pang on December 11, 2021
On December 11th, Character Media hosted their 19th Unforgettable Awards ceremony and celebration, recognizing the Asian and Pacific Islander leaders who have fought for API presence in the arts, entertainment, and culture.
On this night, our community honors the efforts and dedication of these individuals and anticipates a future of authentic representation for all.
Watch the speeches and highlights in this Youtube playlist:19th Unforgettable Gala Pre-Show Highlight
by Brian Pang on December 15, 2021
ABL, ALA, and NAAAP hosted a Holiday Party on December 15. Ramon Tran Tang led us through Holiday Games, Contests, and a space for us to network with one another.
The participants took this opportunity to wish one another a Happy Holidays and join the festivities.
This space was also used to discuss potential professional development topics for 2022 and consideration of an in-person or hybrid event for next year. If you all haven’t filled out the survey, please take some time to fill it out. We want to hear your voice!
Be Seen, Be Heard: Origins
by Brian Pang on December 19, 2021
The event organizers of the Be Seen, Be Heard event have launched a new BSBH monthly series: Origins.
This series will focus on intimate and personal conversations, which will enable our communities to share perspectives and develop our voices. We are pushing past our professional wall to see each other, be seen, give voices to those who feel wordless, and take up ALL the space.
The first Origins event held on December 19th, was moderated by Julie Ea, featuring Jane Qin Medeiros, who shared her origin story, its impact, and how we can each do the same.
Watch the replay here
ALA ERG Leaders & Friends Virtual Summit
by Samantha Lee on Dec 18, 2021
2021 is another year of great changes. New president, first woman VP, vaccines roll-out, return to offices, variants…. As 2021 ends, we want to kick off the new year with some new refreshing ideas. As a working professional, do you want to hear from senior executives and leaders and learn about their career journey? As an ERG leader, do you want to learn from other ERG leaders and bring new ideas back to your ERG, or would you like to understand how to get senior support for your ERG initiatives? As an ERG member, do you want to understand the ins and outs of ERGs, and how to help make a difference within an ERG?
We know there are more questions than answers and that’s why we created this virtual summit. In this unique time, we strive to foster collaboration, to help connect people together, and to help create a positive and inclusive community so you feel supported. Please come and join us as we bring together a group of ERG leaders, friends, and professionals. Listen and engage with our distinguished speakers, who will share their personal experiences and talk about career, community, ERG, and other relevant topics. Network with like-minded individuals to share, cultivate, and empower one another!
This will be a multi-day series for the summit. You can register for the first day using the link below. The other dates and registration will be sent later through our different communications.
New Tech Platform for ALA (Comming Soon!)
We are slowly changing some of our technology to better create a way for all of YOU to be connected and share easily! We want to bring our API communities and all communities closer together. Here is the list of technology we have and the plans.
- Email List (Google Groups) -> Moving to Everyspace (Jan 2022)
- Document Sharing and Resources (Google Drive)-> Moving to Everyspace (Jan 2022)
- Events submission and sharing (Google Form) -> Moving to Everyspace and allowing users to self-service. (Jan 2022)
- Community (Slack)-> We are keeping slack and is the best way to connect to the 1.5k members of ALA.
We will let everyone know when this is rolled out and how this affects you and how you can use the platform. And better yet, this is all free to our members! This is our passion for wanting to provide everyone a community that we all can connect and collectively do impact!
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