New York, NEW YORK (June 24, 2024) --  The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and its Asian American Student Advocacy Project (ASAP) are set to kick off its third annual AAPI-LEAD youth conference on Thursday, June 27 with over 80 youth participants from across the NYC area.

A conference designed by and for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth, AAPI-LEAD (or Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders - Learn. Engage. Advocate. Dream) is a collaboration between CACF’s Social Justice Leadership Institute and our ASAP Youth Leaders. First launched in 2022, the four-day event consists of workshops and interactive sessions on topics that include identity, data disaggregation, and other social issues facing young AAPI New Yorkers today.

“Since the founding of AAPI-LEAD three years ago, we’ve heard time and again from young people about how rewarding it has been to find a space where they can discuss and learn about their identities from their peers,” said CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “There’s nothing more powerful than seeing young people coming together to explore how to become informed advocates for their communities, which is why it is particularly special for us to see our ASAP Youth Leaders lead and design their own workshops for their peers. As interest in AAPI-LEAD continues to grow, CACF is committed to meeting this expanding need with empowering, culturally-affirming programs for young people.”

First founded in 2004 by CACF, ASAP is a youth leadership program for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) youth in New York City’s public schools. ASAP educates, trains, and equips its Youth Leaders to be self-aware and informed advocates for their communities. ASAP seeks to build a community of AAPI youth whose voices are heard and incorporated, and with the collective power to create positive change, particularly in education. The program is getting ready to celebrate its 20th anniversary on July 26 with alumni from across the country.

Several of our current ASAP Youth Leaders credit their work developing AAPI-LEAD with playing a key role in their leadership journeys.

“I'm so excited to lead a workshop at AAPI LEAD this summer. I want to help my workshop attendees become more aware of the social justice issues in the AAPI community, just like the facilitators of my first AAPI LEAD did with me,” said current ASAP Youth Leader Olivia Kim, a rising senior at Stuyvesant High School.  “Leading an AAPI-LEAD workshop this year is particularly special because it’s my second year facilitating. I’m eager to use what I learned last year to better my speaking and presentation skills to make this year’s conference the best ever.”

First-year ASAP Youth Leader Ashwyn Lu-Heda, a 10th grader at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, credits AAPI-LEAD for inspiring him to join ASAP this school year. “At AAPI-LEAD, I learned so many great things, including topics about AAPI history that usually aren’t covered in school,” he said. “Before attending AAPI-LEAD, I also hadn’t known what data disaggregation was or why it matters to the AAPI community. That’s why I’m particularly excited to lead the data disaggregation workshop at this year’s conference.”

AAPI-LEAD was created with support from the NYC Department for Youth and Community Development, the Stronger Together Collaborative from the Jeremy Lin Foundation and the Asian American Foundation (TAAF), and the New York City Council’s AAPI Community Support Initiative. We’d also like to thank the New York City Council Black, Latino and Asian Caucus (BLAC), and Councilmembers Rita Joseph, Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, Christopher Marte, Mercedes Narcisse, Lynn Schulman, and Sandra Ung for their support.

For more information, please contact Lakshmi Gandhi, CACF’s Senior Communications Coordinator, at lgandhi@cacf.org.

###