NEW YORK (June 26, 2023) -- The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF) and its Asian American Student Advocacy Project (ASAP) are set to kick off the second annual AAPI-LEAD conference Wednesday with 85 youth participants from across the New York metropolitan area. The innovative, four-day conference focuses on developing the attendees' understanding of what it means to be an AAPI youth while also equipping participants with the tools to advocate for themselves, their families, and the wider AAPI community as a whole.

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.

Created by and for 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. Over the course of the conference, which runs on June 29, 30, and July 1 and 2, Youth Leaders will conduct a series of interactive workshops that cover AAPI history, the importance of cross-racial solidarity and intersectionality, the harms and impact of microaggression, and a focus on the tools today’s youth need to empower themselves and their communities. A second conference with the same curriculum will be also held later this summer from August 17 to August 20. Community interest in AAPI-LEAD was immediate, with spots for both cohorts filling up shortly after registration opened in May. 

“There’s nothing more powerful than seeing young people coming together to explore how to become informed advocates for their communities,” said CACF’s co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung. “Since AAPI-LEAD launched last year, we’ve heard from so many attendees about how they continue to be grateful that they had the chance to connect their experiences to those of the larger AAPI community. As interest in AAPI-LEAD continues to grow, CACF is committed to meeting this expanding need with empowering, culturally-affirming programs for young people.”

Several ASAP Youth Leaders credit their work developing AAPI-LEAD with playing a key role in their leadership journeys, particularly when it comes to public speaking and organizational planning.

“After designing & facilitating workshops at the AAPI LEAD Conference last year, I became a stronger learner, speaker, facilitator, and advocate,” said ASAP Youth Leader Sufan Wan, a soon-to-be graduate of Francis Lewis High School. “I was glad to have a comfortable space to have a deeper conversation on the topics that are relevant to our AAPI community and youth.” 

“As an AAPI-LEAD attendee last summer, I got to see AAPI youth like me advocate and educate their peers about the systemic issues that we have witnessed and/or experienced. I knew that I wanted to be able to one day be able to do the same,” said ASAP Youth Leader Kyle Lin, a student at James Madison High School and one of several attendees who was inspired to apply to ASAP after last year’s conference. “Now, as a facilitator for the upcoming AAPI-LEAD, I can’t wait to facilitate a session of my own.”

“When I attended the AAPI-LEAD conference last year, I was shocked when I discovered how little I knew about the AAPI community, even though I've been surrounded by AAPI friends and family for the majority of my life. Through AAPI-LEAD, I learned more about my identity, AAPI history, our community’s struggles, and so much more,” said ASAP Youth Leader Karen Kong, a student at Midwood High School who also attended last year’s conference. “I was inspired to apply to ASAP to explore my AAPI identity and advocate for positive changes in my community. Through ASAP, I feel seen and heard by my program coordinators, peers, and decision makers and I’ve grown to be a better public speaker, team mate, listener, and facilitator. In this year’s AAPI-LEAD, I wish to take the skills I’ve acquired in ASAP and facilitate an impactful workshop that leaves people with a different and more accurate perspective of the AAPI community.”

“I am excited to facilitate and teach a workshop at this year’s AAPI-LEAD. When I attended last year, it was so refreshing to learn about so many social justice issues and the history of the AAPI community, topics that I’ve been exposed to but never given the chance to fully explore,” said ASAP Youth Leader Olivia Kim, a student at Stuyvesant High School. “I hope the attendees at this year’s conference will be as inspired as I was when I first came to AAPI-LEAD.”

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 New York City Councilmembers City Council Members Justin Brannan, Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, Christopher Marte, Lynn Schulman, and Sandra Ung for their support.

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