Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI*) communities are leading a shift in the philanthropic landscape. As demonstrated in the “Stop Asian Hate” movement or in response to the Maui wildfire’s devastating effects on local Lahaina communities, AAPI-led movements are mobilizing major resources.

Collaboration and Momentum Across the Field

While there has long been advocacy by AAPI leaders and allies, recent calls to action in the face of violence have garnered increased momentum.

  • In 2019, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, made up of five of the country’s largest Asian American advocacy, policy, and legal service organizations, joined Communities Against Hate, a diverse coalition of 19 national organizations to fight rising violence. The Leadership Conference Education Fund, in partnership with Communities Against Hate (2019), released Hate Magnified: Communities in Crisis, a 2019 report analyzing almost 4,000 stories collected from the Communities Against Hate online database and a nationally representative Hate Incidence Poll. Many stories in the database involved anti-Asian and anti-immigrant rhetoric.
  • In March 2020, Stop AAPI Hate launched a website for individuals to safely share their experiences amidst a rise in COVID-related anti-Asian racism. In the following months, calls to “Stop Asian Hate” went viral in response to high-profile attacks, including the 2021 killing of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee in San Francisco and the series of 2021 Atlanta area spa shootings (Kai-Hwa Wong, 2022). Mutual aid groups — which have “long been a means for survival for many Asian American immigrants (Fernando, 2021, para. 16)” and whose networks swelled during the onset of the pandemic — responded broadly (Wang, 2021).
  • In 2021, AAPIP issued a call for “expanding philanthropic support for Asian American communities and organizations and all historically underserved communities of color” (para. 8). The Chronicle of Philanthropy pushed out this call from over 500 foundation leaders and ally organizations (Daniels, 2021).

Read the full article about APPI communities and philanthropy by Trish Abalo and Mandy Sharp Eizinger at Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy.