CACF: Coalition for Asian American Children and Families

We’re sending so much gratitude to all of the community members, elected officials, and member and partner organizations that came out on Tuesday to celebrate the power of our communities with us at our 2024 Catalyst for Change Awards Gala. As this year’s gala theme so eloquently states, the support and funds raised from our gala attendees will allow CACF to continue IGNITING ACTION on behalf of AAPI New Yorkers. Your generosity will help us support our growing policy, leadership, and grants and contracts teams as we continue to advocate for AAPI communities across the state. We’re especially grateful to our incredible Catalyst for Change honorees James C. Rhee of the red helicopter and Maya Wiley of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights for their inspiring remarks about their families and their journeys as advocates and changemakers in the United States. Thank you too to our incredible emcees Ernabel Demillo and Vivian Lee for expertly hosting the evening and to our auctioneer Paul Florez-Taylor for leading such a spirited paddle raise and live auction. And, of course, we were so happy to have our ASAP Youth Leaders Ashwyn Lu-Huda and Clarissa Kunizaki expertly moderate a panel discussion with our awardees. Our current Youth Leader cohort was also a major part of the evening, with ASAPer Olivia Kim paying tribute to the power of ASAP and the importance of youth advocacy. Our ASAPers also networked and played a specifically designed AAPI trivia game with our guests throughout the reception. Thank you too to all of the elected officials and staff representatives who came out to celebrate the power of New York’s AAPI communities. We opened our event with Office of the New York State Attorney General Letitia James’ powerful opening remarks during the reception. We are also so glad Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, Assemblymember Steven Raga, Office of the New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, New York City Councilmembers Crystal Hudson, Shekar Krishnan, Linda Lee, and Julie Won, and our AAPI Equity Budget Champions Assemblymember Grace Lee and Senator John Liu were able to join us. Stay tuned for even more photos and videos from the event in the coming days!

We’re shining a light this Friday on our ASAP Youth Leaders, who once again lit up the room at our annual Catalyst for Change Awards Gala! Each year, our young people are on-hand to greet our guests with a specially designed, community trivia game during our reception. Our 2024 gala also featured our Youth Leaders Ashwyn Lu-Heda and Clarissa Kunizaki, who deftly moderate a panel discussion with our honorees Maya Wiley and James C. Rhee. Fellow ASAPer Olivia Kim also spoke during the ceremony, spotlighting the program’s continuing impact on AAPI youth. Swipe through to see our ASAP Youth Leaders networking with Office of the New York State Attorney General's Letitia James, Senator John Liu, Councilmembers Shekar Krishnan and Linda Lee, and more. (Photos by Lia Chang and ASAP)

Happy #Thanksgiving from all of us at CACF! Our work would not be possible without the incredible community-based organizations, advocates, students, and parents that make up our coalition. On this day of gratitude, we are sending our thanks to all of you. Together, we will continue to push to ensure our communities across New York State have the equitable access to education, healthcare, and supportive services they need to thrive. To support our work, head to https://lnkd.in/dtCZe8Nn. (Photo by Lia Chang)

CACF was honored to present civil rights activist and author Maya Wiley with our Catalyst for Change Award at our annual gala on November 18. While accepting her award, Maya focused on both the beauty and strength of multiracial coalitions and solidarity in a stirring speech on the shared civil rights struggles of the Black and AAPI communities. “We were in coalition when we didn’t even know each other,” she said. “We can be angry at injustice and shake our fist at it together and say, ‘We will not hate, we will do the hard work and say, no, you will not come for any one of us.’” “We are what is best about this country and we will stand together.” Thank you, Maya, for your incredible words and message to our community. For those that couldn’t make our gala, there's still time to make a gift in support of CACF’s incredible, pan-Asian coalition. Head to the link in our bio to make your donation today! (Photos by Lia Chang)  

CACF was privileged to present entrepreneur, professor, bestselling author, and CACF Board member James C. Rhee of the red helicopter with our Catalyst for Change Award at our annual gala earlier this month. The author of “red helicopter—a parable for our times,” James focused his remarks on the importance of centering hope in uncertain times, because “nothing good, nothing sustainable comes from anger.” “I’m looking at a very joyful and optimistic future – but that doesn’t come without a lot of hard work,” he said. He continued, “The reason why I wanted to be part of CACF and the reason I joined this Board is because I believe that this pan-Asian coalition is a massive piece of the puzzle that can really and finally affect change.” It’s not too late to make a gift in support of our groundbreaking coalition. Head here to make your donation today: https://lnkd.in/dtCZe8Nn

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate the power of IGNITING ACTION with us at CACF’s 2024 Catalyst for Change Awards Gala! The night was energetic, with almost 350 people in attendance to celebrate honorees Maya Wiley and James C. Rhee. We were truly captivated by their heartfelt remarks about their families and journeys as advocates and changemakers, especially during this critical moment for our communities. Despite the many complex obstacles we will be confronted with throughout the next year, we firmly believe that, together, we have laid a foundation at CACF for a transformative future for our families, communities, and, most especially, our youth. Be sure to check out these wonderful photos from the event by photographer Lia Chang! And of course, it’s never too late to make a gift in support of CACF and our movement to create equity for AAPI New Yorkers across the state! Be sure to head to www.cacf.org/donate to do so today!

Congrats to CACF’s Co-Executive Directors Anita Gundanna and Vanessa Leung for being named Downtown Block Stars by PoliticsNY and amNewYork at Schneps Media! CACF is proud to be part of Downtown Manhattan’s thriving nonprofit community. In addition to hosting our ASAP Youth Leaders each week, we also regularly welcome our member and partner organizations for trainings, meetings, and collaborations centered on creating a healthier and more equitable New York for all. Be sure to head here for the full piece: https://lnkd.in/e3ez9Ri9 and here for the complete list: https://lnkd.in/eRnbF8Eh

Congrats to everyone at Sesame Street on the iconic program’s 55th anniversary! As a longtime partner of Sesame Workshop, we were thrilled to collaborate on the special segment below on the importance of uplifting our family histories and stories. Earlier this month we also launched a Racial Literacy Learning Space in partnership with Sesame Workshop, which is a shared learning community for CACF member organizations dedicated to deepening our collective understanding of racial literacy. In addition to sharing Sesame resources and the personal experiences of attendees, this unique learning space focuses on how we can encourage children’s identity development and sense of community and belonging through an AAPI lens.

We can’t wait to celebrate the power of community with you at Monday’s Catalyst for Change Awards Gala! Join CACF as we uplift our Catalyst for Change honorees James C. Rhee and Maya Wiley and the many ways they are IGNITING ACTION to create meaningful change each day. Head here to get your tickets today: https://lnkd.in/evxntvuY

CACF’s Policy Team is thrilled to invite you to our upcoming Inclusive Curriculum Convening on Wednesday, November 20 at 4pm on Zoom. This convening is for community members, students, parents, educators, and community-based organizations interested in learning more about the curriculum advocacy landscape in Albany and the current push by CACF and our partners to advocate for an AANHPI curriculum in New York State’s public schools. Throughout the briefing, you’ll hear from CACF, elected officials, educators, and curriculum advocates as they highlight the historic Senate progress on the AANHPI curriculum bill and share the successes and challenges we’ve seen with other AANHPI curriculum efforts around the country. Join us as we will uplift the need for both an AANHPI curriculum and broader inclusive curriculum to be implemented in every classroom! To RSVP, head to https://bit.ly/ICB24 or the link in our bio.