Entrepreneur and Bestselling Author James Rhee and Civil Rights Activist Maya Wiley Honored With CACF’s 2024 Catalyst for Change Award

NEW YORK, New York (November 20, 2024) --  Nearly 350 advocates, civic leaders, and supporters gathered at Manhattan’s Tribeca 360 Monday for the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)’s annual Catalyst for Change Awards Gala. The organization’s Catalyst for Change Award celebrates leaders champions of the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community that exemplify CACF’s commitment to the nation’s children and families.

This year’s Catalyst for Change honorees were entrepreneur, bestselling author, Howard University Johnson Chair of Entrepreneurship, and CACF Board member James Rhee and writer, civil right activist, and former NYC Mayoral candidate Maya Wiley.

“For 38 years, CACF has built an incredible pan-Asian coalition of advocates and community-based organizations. This coalition—one that embraces the incredible diversity of the AAPI community while uniting us in shared purpose — is the heart of the work we do each day on behalf of AAPI New Yorkers.  Our current climate calls on each of us to IGNITE ACTION in our communities by embracing the strength in our diversity and celebrating not just our differences but the ties that bind us,” said CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “Our 2024 Catalyst for Change honorees James Rhee and Maya Wiley truly embody the power of action and solidarity and we were honored to celebrate their visions and impact with our community.”

CACF was also honored to welcome New York State Attorney General Letitia James to our gala to give opening remarks, in which she focused on her office’s longtime work with New York’s AAPI community. Other elected officials in attendance were CACF’s AAPI Equity Budget Champions Assemblymember Grace Lee and Senator John Liu, Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and New York City Councilmembers Crystal Hudson, Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, and Julie Won.

This year’s Catalyst for Change Awards Gala also paid tribute to the 20th anniversary of CACF’s beloved Asian American Student Advocacy Project (ASAP), which trains and uplifts New York City public high school students to speak out on the issues that impact their schools and communities the most.

Our current ASAP cohort was a major part of the evening, with ASAP Youth Leader Olivia Kim paying tribute to the power of ASAP and the importance of youth advocacy in remarks honoring the program's 20th anniversary. Our Youth Leaders also networked and played a specially designed AAPI trivia game with our guests throughout the reception.

A highlight of the gala was a special intergenerational fireside chat between our two of ASAP Youth Leaders, Ashwyn Lu-Heda and Clarissa Kunizaki, and our honorees.

When asked by our Youth Leaders what advice they had for the next generation, both honorees stressed the importance of thinking out of the box when thinking of community-centered solutions.

“Creativity is going to be the most important thing over the next 30 years — it’s a word that is part of a lot of conversations in Asian households, but to imagine a new country, a new world we need creativity,” said Rhee.

Building off of that thought, Wiley emphasized that “creativity is also necessary in activism and multiracial coalition building … We have to recognize that while we have shared interests we don’t have the same experiences.”

The evening was emceed by two longtime friends of CACF, journalists Ernabel Demillo and Vivian Lee of CUNY TV’s “Asian American Life.” The live auction and paddle raise was led by auctioneer Paul Florez-Taylor.

Photos from Monday’s Catalyst for Change Awards Gala can be found here. Please credit photographer Lia Chang in all usages.

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

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