Dear Friends,

The Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association would like to congratulate Suzanne Lee Chan, Fremont City Councilmember, on her appointment to the National League of Cities (NLC) 2013 Community and Economic Development Steering Committee. Main responsibilities of the committee include the development of NLC federal policy positions on matters concerning community and economic development, historic preservation, housing, international competitiveness, land use, recreation and parks.

In this new role, Councilmember Chan will have the opportunity to work at the Federal level to advocate for America’s cities and shape NLC’s policy positions.

To read more on NLC’s committees, please visit http://www.nlc.org/build-skills-and-networks/networks/committees-and-councils.

On December 10, 2012, APAPA held its Holiday Mixer and Toy Drive at APAPA’s National Headquarters in Sacramento. The annual event was sponsored by State Farm Insurance. Nick Clark, Vince Wetzel and Tri Tran were presented a Certificate of Appreciation by Amy and Lucy. The evening provided an opportunity for everyone to come together to celebrate the season and to support needy children in the local community by donating unwrapped toys to the Children’s Receiving Home of Sacramento.

More than 300 people were in attendance at the mixer, including local officials, organization leaders from diverse communities, corporate sponsors, friends, supporters and volunteers. Councilmember Kevin McCarty, County Board Supervisor Jimmie Yee and Assembly Members Richard Pan and Roger Dickinson were among the elected officials who attended and took to the stage to deliver welcoming remarks and congratulate APAPA on its accomplishments and continued efforts to empower API Americans in civic and public affairs through education, active participation, and leadership development. The mixer proved to be a fitting occasion for APAPA to recognize exceptional volunteers and individuals for their dedicated service and commitment to helping the organization fulfill its mission. Among those being awarded were Board Members of the Year, Henry Chang and Liz Lynn.

Attendees mixed and mingled in APAPA’s large and festively decorated training room while listening to Christmas songs performed by a band of local API high school students and the unique sounds of instruments played by a Chinese music ensemble. The performances were followed by an all-female youth group dancing and singing along in unison to the Christmas classic, “Let It Snow!”

Shortly after, APAPA’s founder, C.C. Yin, and other guests were encouraged to get up on stage to join Pammy Mann, member of one of APAPA’s community partners, Indus Valley American Chamber of Commerce (IVACC), to participate in a cultural dance with lively, traditional Indian music playing in the background. Throughout the evening, guests gathered around for group photos and took turns posing for the camera with Santa Claus in front of the beautifully adorned Christmas tree.

The night concluded with raffle prize drawings and an exchange of warm wishes by all for a happy new year. The event was an overall success, and the attendees are looking forward to meeting again in 2013.

Please visit APAPA's gallery online for photos taken at the event: http://apapa.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6674

Photo credits: John W. Oback & Danny Lee

Please join us for our annual mixer & toy drive on Monday, December 10, 2012 from 6 to 8:30pm at APAPA's National Headquarters in Sacramento to celebrate the holiday season and to support children with special needs in the local community. To RSVP: Sokie Hul, (916) 928-9988 or email to sokiehul@apapa.org. For details, please visit our website at www.apapa.org.

APAPA and CAPITAL will be hosting its Sacramento Community Town Hall Meeting on Monday, October 29, 2012 from 5:30-8:00pm at APAPA's National Headquarters in Sacramento.

RSVP required by October 25th. To RSVP, please email to office@apapa.org or call (916) 928-9988.

For details, visit APAPA's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/APAPAHQ.

Dear All,

APAPA worked with the League of Women Voters and Citizens for Better Community to translate the Pros and Cons of the CA propositions for this coming election. Don Sun and Christine Feng did a great job of taping the translation.

Please pass this link along to all those that can benefit from hearing the Pros and Cons in Mandarin. This is a great service to Mandarin speaking voters. See video in this link: http://www.lwvfnuc.org/public/2012Election/ProConMandarin.html

It will be on the APAPA website soon and can be viewed at www.YouTube.com. This is a great accomplishment for APAPA. Hopefully we'll be able to do more of these videos in various Asian languages in the future.

NEW SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE FOR ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER STUDENTS WHO ATTEND COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Washington, D.C., Aug. 1, 2012--The Asian & Pacific Islander American
Scholarship Fund (APIASF), the nation's largest non-profit organization
devoted to providing college scholarships for Asian American and Pacific
Islander (AAPI) students, is now accepting applications for the APIASF
Community College Scholarship Program. The organization's new scholarship
opportunity--ranging from $2,250 to $5,000 each during the 2012-13 academic
school year--is available to 155 full-time, degree-seeking AAPI students who
are enrolled at either City College of San Francisco, Coastline Community
College, De Anza College, or South Seattle Community College.

The APIASF Community College Scholarship Program applicants must be of AAPI
ethnicity as defined by the U.S. Department of Census and must be a citizen,
national, or legal permanent resident of the United States or a citizen of
the U.S. Freely Associated States.  Other eligibility requirements include
applicants submitting a request for federal financial aid using the Free
Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)--although applicants do not
necessarily need to be recipients of federal financial aid to be eligible
for the APIASF Community College Scholarship Program. The application
deadline is Oct. 12, 2012.

"We've known for some time that the largest population of AAPI college
enrollment, at 47.3 percent, is in the community college sector; therefore,
our goal has always been to work toward creating significant opportunities
at those types of institutions for students to access, complete, and succeed
in postsecondary education," said APIASF President & Executive Director Neil
Horikoshi.  "For those reasons, we created the APIASF Community College
Scholarship Program as a natural extension of our efforts to not only
increase overall AAPI student success, but to develop scalable models for
training future leaders who will excel in their career, serve as role models
in their communities, and will ultimately contribute to a vibrant America."

Additionally, the APIASF Community College Scholarship Program supports the
new Partnership for Equity in Education through Research (PEER) project,
which APIASF along with the National Commission on Asian American and
Pacific Islander Research in Education (CARE) launched recently to help
realize the full degree-earning potential of the AAPI student population.
Considered one of the largest investments to date to increase AAPI student
success, the PEER project is a three-year, nearly $2 million effort being
supported by The Kresge Foundation, USA Funds, and the Walmart Foundation.
The PEER project also works collaboratively with three of the APIASF
Community College Scholarship Program institutions: De Anza College, City
College of San Francisco, and South Seattle Community College.

The APIASF Community College Scholarship Program is being supported by The
Coca-Cola Foundation, USA Funds, Walmart, and Wells Fargo. 

The APIASF Community College Scholarship Program scholarship recipients will
be announced in January 2013.

To apply or for additional details about the APIASF Community College
Scholarship Program, visit APIASF's website at  www.apiasf.org

Also, follow APIASF on Facebook www.facebook.com/apiasf
and Twitter www.twitter.com/apiasf

More information about the PEER project can also be found on APIASF's
website and by visiting CARE's website at www.nyu.edu/projects/care/pp.html
 

Alek Sripipatana, PhD, MPH :: United States Department of Health and Human
Services :: Health Resources and Services Administration

Bureau of Primary Health Care :: Office of Quality and Data :: 5600 Fishers
Lane, 6A-55, Rockville, Maryland 20857 ::  301.443.1808 ::
ASripipatana@hrsa.gov

As our Annual Capitol Internship & Scholarship Awards Banquet is approaching us, I can’t help but think back to 2008 when I was awarded a scholarship from APAPA.

As a starving college student tired of increasing tuition and fees, my biggest focus was getting any money to pay for college. My goal was short-term. I didn’t think about how it would truly affect my life outside of college.

Thinking back, without that scholarship, I wouldn’t have been able to afford to intern that Fall semester for Assemblyman Dave Jones. Without that internship (and no one was hiring!), I wouldn’t have landed my first real job out of college at a boutique public relations firm in Sacramento. If you think about it, that scholarship helped get me a job!

I don’t recall much from the banquet except for making an unprepared speech to thank APAPA, its sponsors and, of course, my parents. I just went for the food and certificate. I never thought I’d ever see or hear from APAPA much, if ever.

Four years later, I’m a new and devoted member on APAPA’s Board of Directors. Not only do APAPA’s goals and missions align with my beliefs, but it does a fantastic job of ensuring the Asian and Pacific Islander American community has representation in the political, social and economic world. After I graduated in 2009, I realized how much the community has helped me get to where I am today. It was my turn to give back.

Giving back through an organization that helped me is very rewarding – and a great story to tell. I use my knowledge and skills to help with what I can – writing, marketing, media relations and event planning.

The first event I volunteered to help plan is the biggest event for APAPA each year – Voters Education and Candidates Forum. I obtained free advertisement on Clear Channel’s electronic billboard on Highway 50 by California State University, Sacramento. The Forum was held at CSU, Sacramento in 2010. At the Forum, I managed the backstage and ensured that every elected official and candidate was present and ready to make their speech to over 2,000 attendees. It was amazing and touching to see the community’s overwhelmingly appreciative response to the Forum.

Now it’s your turn to take action.

For all the recipients of 2012 Capitol Internship & Scholarship Awards, I only ask one thing of you. Give back. Give back to an organization and community that helped you move onwards and upwards.

On May 7, 2012, APAPA and co-host CAPITAL held the first annual Community Organizations’ Networking Meeting at APAPA’s National Headquarters. An invitation was extended to all Asian and Pacific Islander community leaders in the Sacramento Region.

Over 100 people representing 25 community organizations were in attendance, including Sonney Chong of CAPITAL, Aida Azurin of Filipino Community of Sacramento and Vicinity (FCSV), Mayue Carlson of Chinese New Year Culture Association (CNYCA), Melissa Chapman of the Jewish Federation of the Sacramento Region, Kendra Thao of Hmong Women’s Heritage Association (HWHA), Georgette Imura of the Asian Pacific Youth Leadership Project (APYLP), Asian/Pacific Bar Association of Sacramento (ABAS), Sandy Louey of Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA), Ofa Mann of To’utupu’o e ‘Otu Felenite Association (TOFA), Sukh Singh of Indus Valley American Chamber of Commerce (IVACC), Aiona Teu of Pacific Families, Inc. (PACFAM), Nilda Valmores of My Sister’s House, Betty Williams of NAACP Sacramento Branch, Kazuyo Morishita of KIDS FOR PEACE and grownups too, Randy Kajioka of the Asian Peace Officers Association of Sacramento (APOA), Nina Mourning of OCA Sacramento, APICA, APSEA, Mai Nguyen of Greater Sacramento Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce (GSVACC), Alice Perez of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (SHCC), Pat Fong Kushida of Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce (SACC) and California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce (CAPCC), Asian Community Center, Pacific Rim Heritage Foundation, and Filipino Fiesta of Sacramento.
 
Local officials who attended the meeting included Assemblymember Mariko Yamada, Assemblymember Richard Pan, Councilmember Darrell Fong, County Board Supervisor Jimmie Yee, Board of Trustee Harold Fong, Sacramento Board of Education Darrell Woo, SMUD Director Genevieve Shiroma and Board President Nancy Bui. Assemblymember Roger Dickinson was present to support the event.
 
The meeting was designed to give community leaders an opportunity to network with each other and with the local elected officials. The evening concluded with a Q & A session between the community leaders and elected officials. The event was an overall success. The attendees are looking forward to the next meeting.

Please click on the following link for photos taken at the event: http://apapa.org/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5517

Photo credits: Lucy Oback & Paul Quong