Media Mentions
For press and media related inquiries please contact Lakshmi Gandhi, Communications and Outreach Coordinator at lgandhi@cacf.org
A N.J. push to investigate health and education needs hidden within the term ‘Asian American’
At least five states including California, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Washington and New York — along with New York City — passed laws requiring data disaggregation among Asian Americans, whom the “model minority” myth inaccurately portrays as uniformly well-off. Some legislation requires deeper looks at other racial groups as well.
“We’re at this inflection point, and a lot of advocates are getting involved in making sure people see Asians,” said Lloyd Feng, special projects policy coordinator at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families in New York City.
Philadelphia Inquirer
July 1, 2022
NYC to teach Asian American, Pacific Islander history in over 1,800 schools
Kaveri Sengupta, the senior policy coordinator for education at CACF, an advocacy organization for the Asian American community, said New York City’s new curriculum looks to highlight the diverse experiences in the Asian American community. She added that education is also critical in dismantling anti-Asian hate.
NBC News
May 31, 2022
NYC schools to pilot Asian American studies curriculum
The advocacy group Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) has been working on its own pilot curriculum to use with youth organizations across the city. It centers on healing by allowing young people to explore their own backgrounds and building community across identities, said Kristen Sze-Tu, a program coordinator at CACF who helped create the lessons.
Chalkbeat NY
May 26, 2022
Report: Model minority myth overshadows AAPI needs
AAPI families in the New York City school system all have their own needs, but their voice is not being heard, a report from Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) says.
Naomi Chou and Kaveri Sengupta, researchers from CACF that worked on the report, said a disparity existed between what AAPI families wanted and the policies that the Department of Education (DOE) in New York City created. They said a lot of the disparity came from the model minority myth.
AsAm News
May 12, 2022
City and State’s 2022 Asian 100 honors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung
This year has been full of wins for Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, who have directed the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families together since 2017.
City & State
May 5, 2022
Disaggregation Is Essential To Achieve Data Justice For Asian Americans
“Data is the cornerstone of policy-making,” Lloyd Feng, the special projects policy coordinator at the Coalition of Asian American Children and Families (CACF) said. “It’s the first step towards getting good policy.”
As it’s become all too clear in recent years, the importance of good and comprehensive policies that account for the unique needs of a multiracial, multiethnic collective community like Asian Americans can mean the difference between survival and catastrophe, especially in an era of increasing climate change, natural disasters, and pandemics.
Prism
May 5, 2022
Asian Americans Grapple With Tide of Attacks: ‘We Need Our Safety Back’
Younger Asian American leaders want to rely less on traditional policing solutions, while more traditional cultural and business groups favor them.
What most Asian Americans leaders seem to publicly agree on is denouncing the impulse to view the crimes as a Black-on-Asian pattern. Racial divisions and stereotypes can “strain the community relationships that have been built,” said Vanessa Leung, who is co-executive director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families.
By Jeffery C. Mays, Dana Rubinstein and Grace Ashford
March 6, 2022
The New York Times
Push for Language Access After Ida Highlights a Greater Need in N.Y.
“Our community, as diverse as it is, remains highly invisible in discussions around race,” in New York and around the country, said Vanessa Leung, the co-executive director of the New York-based Coalition for Asian-American Children and Families.
By Ashley Wong
March 3, 2022
The New York Times
N.Y. enacts ‘groundbreaking’ law to change how Asian American populations are counted
Gov. Kathy Hochul quietly signed a bill last week requiring state agencies to separate data among different Asian ethnic groups.
“This is groundbreaking,” said Anita Gundanna, a co-executive director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, which has spent over 10 years pushing for the change. “We started with this need for better data on our communities because so many of our community members have been struggling in silence.”.
By Sakshi Venkatraman
December 29, 2021
NBC News
Opinion: NYC Needs a Mayor’s Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs
‘AAPI New Yorkers deserve to be heard in the halls of power, and we need a mayor who will recapture our diverse communities’ support and confidence.’
We call on Mayor Eric Adams to strengthen City Hall’s relationship with New York’s AAPI community by establishing a Mayor’s Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islander Affairs to effectively address our distinct community needs. While we are encouraged by the fact that the mayor has already appointed several highly qualified AAPIs to positions in his administration, New York City’s AAPI community requires much more in order to reach its full potential and thrive.
By Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung
January 18, 2022
City Limits
Sesame Street tackles anti-Asian bullying with 'Proud of Your Eyes' video
Sesame Workshop also released online articles, guides and activities to help families continue the conversation about combating racism. The new resources were created with guidance from the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families along with several other racial equity groups.
"The reality is that many children grow up experiencing racism, including Asian American children who for years have reported high levels of racial harassment — a number exacerbated by heightened xenophobia and scapegoating during the COVID-19 pandemic," Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung, co-executive directors of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, said in a statement. "With a long history of building trust with families, Sesame Workshop is the ideal organization to engage parents and caregivers in critical conversations with their little ones, help families cope with the harms of racism, and help build solidarity among communities."
June 25, 2021
NBC NEWS
CACF was recognized on City and State’s 2021 Education Power 100 list
February, 2021
City and State New York
Susan Jhun, reporter for Asian American Life, looks at the schools reopening and its impact on children's mental health by interviewing two of our ASAP leaders, Sophie Xu and Nathaniel Shum.
By Susan Jhun
October 6, 2020
Asian American Life
Why NYC Asian American students are opting for remote learning Families in multigenerational homes and fears of the coronavirus drive choice to stay in virtual classrooms.
“One of the things we’ve been constantly asking the (Department of Education) for is actually better disaggregation of the data,” Leung said, in order to get a better sense of what challenges ethnic communities are facing throughout the city. Insufficient outreach and communication from schools with parents who aren’t proficient in English, particularly immigrants, also remains a continued challenge for some families going into the school year.
By Kay Dervishi
September 17, 2020
City and State New York
Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung were named by City & State NY in the “2020 Power of Diversity: Asian 100” which highlights the most influential Asian Americans in New York politics and policy.
As co-directors of the Coalition for Asian American Children+Families, or CACF, Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung bring insight to reforms around the city’s education system. Most notably, the coalition released a 2018 report which found the city’s Specialized High School Admissions Tests, or SHSAT, reinforced inequity in public schools for all minority students including Asian Americans. Leung is a member of the New York City Panel for Educational Policy.
July 27, 2020
City and State New York
Fire Carranza!: Why Asian-Americans Are Targeting Schools Chief
In interviews this week, advocates for the city’s immigrant communities welcomed the move by the attorney general, but said city and state leaders must go further in order to make real inroads against the deeper problems that contributed to the storm’s disastrous impact.
“The language access piece is just one piece of how to address inequities that ultimately led to the death of so many folks,” said Vanessa Leung, co-executive director of the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families.
By Eliza Shapiro
March 3, 2020
The New York Times
CACF was recognized on City and State’s 2020 Education Power 100 list
February 16, 2020
City and State New York
Gov. Cuomo vetoes bill to collect demographic data on Asian American groups
However, advocates point out that cost analyses on data disaggregation have been run in other states and localities and that there are “precedents for this legislation that NY State can pull from and doesn't need to reinvent the wheel or start at the drawing board,” Anita Gundanna, co-executive director of the nonprofit Coalition for Asian American Children + Families, which leads the campaign on the legislation, told NBC News. Furthermore, the governor’s solution doesn’t include a concrete plan or timeline to collect more accurate data on the Asian American communities.
“There appears to be no accountability measures here,” Gundanna said.
December 19, 2019
NBC News
Eva Noblezada Receives 2019 Coalition For Asian American Children And Families Catalyst For Change Award
November 6, 2019
BWW News Desk
Co-leaders in Advocacy: Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung
August 26, 2019
Mochi Magazine