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In response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian Pacific Planning and Policy Council (A3PCON), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University launched the Stop AAPI Hate reporting center on March 19, 2020. The center tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States.

Our approach recognizes that in order to effectively address anti-Asian racism we must work to end all forms of structural racism leveled at Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

Our 5-pronged approach is to:

• Serve as the leading aggregator of anti-Asian and anti-Pacific Islander hate incidents
• Offer multilingual resources for impacted community members
• Provide technical assistance from rapid response to preventative measures
• Support community-based safety measures and restorative justice efforts
• Advocate for local, state, and national policies that reinforces human rights and civil rights protections

For questions or info, email: community@stopaapihate.org.

Website: www.stopaapihate.org

Leadership

Manjusha P. Kulkarni, Executive Director of A3PCON

Cynthia Choi, Co-Executive Director of CAA

Russell Jeung PhD, Professor, Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University

Founding Organizations

Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council is a coalition of more than 40 community-based organizations that serve and represent the 1.5 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the greater Los Angeles area, with a particular focus on low-income, immigrant, refugee, and other vulnerable populations.

Chinese for Affirmative Action advocates for systemic change that protects immigrant rights, promotes language diversity, and remedies racial and social injustice.

Asian American Studies Department, San Francisco State University uses interdisciplinary approaches in teaching, community service, and research to address the structural and ideological forces that shape the lives of Asian Americans.

Harini Krishnan is an Indian American Democratic Organizer who is passionate about Gender Equity, Civil Rights, Public Education and Arts. A former Lead Volunteer Organizer for the Presidential Campaign of VP Kamala Harris in California in 2019, Harini co-founded NorCal Joyful Warriors for Joe and Kamala in early 2020, was elected as a Biden Delegate to the 2020 Democratic National Convention and was featured in several videos at the historic convention. Harini joined South Asians for Biden (SAB) as the National Grassroots Organizing Lead and California State Director in June 2020, helping to not only mobilize the South Asian community to be the margin of victory in key battleground states for the Biden-Harris campaign during the General Election, but also coordinating grassroots efforts with AAPI groups on the ground in Georgia, to help elect Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock in the Special Election in 2021. Harini is currently working with her SAB colleagues to launch a new National South Asian Political Advocacy Organization, South Asians for America (SAFA), and will serve as Co-Chair of Community Organizing Campaigns & Training for SAFA on the leadership team.

In addition to her involvement with Presidential campaigns, Harini is an elected AD 22 Delegate and Platform Committee Member of the California Democratic Party; a San Mateo County Democrats Central Committee Alternate and Co-Chair of Events committee; a Board Member of Fund Her, which elects progressive women to state legislatures nationwide; Board Fund Committee Chair of Equal Access International, an International NGO which combines media programming with community mobilization to address gender inequities and increase civic engagement; Vice Chair of the San Mateo County Arts Commission; a well-known Indian Classical Vocalist and Lecturer for the past 2 decades; and is currently enrolled in the Harvard Kennedy School’s Public Leadership Program. A resident of the Town of Hillsborough in Northern California for more than 2 decades, Harini is the recipient of the 2020 Hillsborough Citizen of the Year Award and 2018 Jefferson Award for Public Service.

Vida is a Filipino American, born in the Philippines, raised in San Francisco East Bay Area, CA. Benavides is a proven leader who has harnessed the intersection of policy advocacy, civic & electoral engagement, social justice, equity and multicultural activism.

Vida is the first Filipino American to serve as a Public Affairs, Political and Multicultural Affairs Strategist, and Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion (J.E.DI) facilitator in the country. Vida serves as a strategic counsel to national, state and local leaders from the private and public sectors.  Vida has advised and consulted Forbes 50 Company C-Suite Executives, Global Foundations, Federal Agencies such as CDC and OMH, and National Advocacy Organizations. 

Prior to her career as a Strategist, Vida served as the Executive Director for APIAVote (National Organization, Executive Director,) Community Technology Policy Council (California Statewide), Director of Constituencies, (Democratic National Committee), Deputy Political Director (Clinton Presidential Transition Team), Special Assistant (Clinton-Gore Campaign) Management Analyst (Solano County, County Administrators Office).

As a leader in Political Affairs and within the Democratic Party, Vida served in various leadership roles: DNC Platform Committee Member; DNC Commission Member, Presidential Nomination, Timing and Scheduling; Convention Site Selection Committee Member; Delegate to two Democratic Party Conventions and DNC Director of Constituencies.

Vida has advised, consulted, and worked on Presidential Campaigns since Clinton-Gore Campaign. And served as a Deputy Political Director for the Clinton-Gore Transition. She was the first Asian American to consult the DNC and Democratic Presidential Campaigns for General Election. Just recently, Vida served as Senior Adviser to Filipino Americans for Biden-Harris guiding infrastructure, data driven and GOTV strategies.

Benavides as a community leader serves on boards that support emerging leaders and grow capacity for community involvement at all levels.  She currently serves on the Boards of Civic Power of Media, Civic Power of Change and America’s Opportunity Fund.  Benavides served distinguished honors as German Marshall Fund Transatlantic Fellow, Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute Fellow, Outen-UMC GBCS Fellow, Ron Brown Civil Rights and Economic Development Honoree and Filipina American Women’s Network Top 100 Influential Women Honoree.

As one of Vida’s life achievement is her volunteer service as a Co-Founder and Campaign Strategist for the National Alliance for Filipino World War II Filipino Veterans for Equity (NAFVE).  After WW II, Filipinos who served under the US Flag’s military benefits were rescinded.  From 2007-2009, Benavides developed policy engagement infrastructure at the grass tops and grassroots levels, raised funds, and implemented policy-communications strategies. In 2009, President Barack Obama signed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, authorizing the release of one lump sump payment to eligible World War II Filipino Veterans, widows and eligible family members.

The value of service by her parent’s example is Vida’s foundation and purpose in Life.  Her parents became civically engaged by serving as leaders in the Filipino community of San Francisco East Bay Area. Her father, Eugenio served as an Board Executive Officer for the Filipino American Center of the East Bay that provided employment, job training, immigrant services for Filipinos.  Her mother, Belen served as a Medical Social Worker and Social Services Director for

Alameda County and Health Care Systems in the area of health care access and affordability for Immigrant and senior populations.

Kevin M. Acebo is President and Owner of Acebo and Associates, a consulting company focused on strategic public policy advice and representation for corporate and public clients on matters before local, state and federal governments. Acebo and Associates also provides strategic political campaign advice to state and local candidates as well as local ballot initiatives.

Prior to establishing Acebo and Associates, Kevin’s 30+ year public service career included:   Deputy Mayor for the City of Los Angeles; Statewide Political Director for the California Democratic Party; Assistant Chief of Staff for Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky; Principal Legislative Consultant for California Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown, Jr; and, Campaign Consultant for the Assembly Democratic Campaign Committee.  Kevin also was elected as President of the Los Angeles Asian Democratic Caucus and State Chair of the California State Democratic Party’s Asian Pacific Caucus.

Kevin also served in Washington, DC, as research assistant for both the White House Commission on the Review of the Federal Impact Aid Program and the Office for Civil Rights within the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.  Returning to Los Angeles from the Nation’s capitol Kevin worked as a budget and program planner for the United Way of Los Angeles.

Acebo’s public service career started with two Los Angeles area Asian Pacific American community-based, non-profit organizations:  Youth Counselor for Search to Involve Pilipino Americans, Inc. (SIPA), and as a social work fellow with the Asian American Mental Health Training Center mentoring under the legendary Pilipino American community leader, Alfred Mendoza, Jr.

Kevin served twice — in 2001 and 2011 — as Chair and a General Member of the Los Angeles County Boundary Review Committee, a public member body charged with gathering public testimony, implementing an extensive community outreach effort and developing redistricting recommendations for each of the offices of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors with each district representing close to 2 million residents. He also served as a consultant to the 1990 reapportionment of California’s congressional and legislative districts.

Today, Acebo sits as a Member of the Los Angeles Commission on Mental Health, responsible for advising the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Director of the Department of Mental Health on various aspects of local mental health programs.

Kevin Acebo also is a Principal Officer the American Opportunity Fund Political Action Committee, supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) candidates and candidates who representative the voices of the AAPI community; Votamos, Inc., a non-profit voter registration and education 501(c)3 organization targeting California Latino, Asian, and  Pacific Islander communities; and, the Asian American Victory Political Action Committee PAC, a non-partisan PAC to support AAPI candidates for running for state and local office in California and candidates who represent the needs and issues of the AAPI community.

Kevin graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California’s School of Pubic Affairs and returned during his tenure as Los Angeles City Deputy Mayor as an Assistant Adjunct Professor. 

Ajay Mohan is an Orange County native with almost a decade of experience electing Democrats across California, where he has worked on successful campaigns for public office from water board to Congress. He was appointed to serve as the first Indian American and youngest ever Executive Director for the Democratic Party of Orange County in 2021 after serving as Political Director in 2020, where Orange County Democrats flipped 20 local seats and 2 State Senate seats from red to blue. As Executive Director, Ajay has championed youth and AAPI participation in our Party, and furthered the work of recruiting and electing Democrats to every single level of elected and appointed office. Ajay is a product of local public schools and currently serves as a Commissioner for the City of Irvine, where he resides with his partner Jill and dog Anakin.

The Honorable Ellen Kamei is one of our 2021 Rising Stars. She serves as the Mayor of the City of Mountain View, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. A third generation Mountain View resident, Ellen is the daughter of a Chinese and Puerto Rican American mother and a Japanese American father born at Heart Mountain Internment Camp.

Ellen is passionate about youth and civic engagement, mental health services, and social equity. She chairs the City of Mountain View Ad-Hoc Committee on Race, Diversity, and Inclusion as well as the City’s Youth Services Subcommittee.

She is a member of various boards and commissions including: Vice President of the League of California Cities Women’s Caucus, the Peninsula Division Executive Committee for the League of California Cities, and is a board member on the Community Health Awareness Council (CHAC). Her professional experience includes over a decade of experience at every level of government, local, state, and federal, as well as political campaigns. Ellen also has experience in the classroom as a former English Teacher for Kindergarten, Elementary, and Middle Schoolers.

Ellen completed her M.P.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, B.A. from UC Santa Barbara, and is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Senior Executives in State and Local Government. Pronouns: she/her

The California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus is saddened and angered to learn that members of the Sikh community were among the victims of yet another mass shooting, this time occurring in Indianapolis.

The Sikh community has a long and painful history of being targeted by xenophobic violence in America. Although details of last night’s attack are still being released, the CDP API Caucus extends our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to all of the victims and their families. Enduring yet another violent attack against members of our API community is unbearable, and we call on our lawmakers to act.

1. Call to Order | Welcome
2. Agenda  – Approved without Objection

1. Minutes – Approved without Objection

1. Minutes from last eboard:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ca8LX5cmO27XKvwensFrEQkDYt_UkNfZ/view?usp=sharing

IV.                Officer/Executive Board Reports 

1. State Chair’s Report
   1. Caucus Chairs met with Rusty.  Next meeting – there will be a special eboard in December to go over rules and procedures.  Might move to January to give people time to rest.  Next meeting will be at Convention in April – will be all virtual.
   1. South Asians for Biden Georgia phonebanks: https://www.mobilize.us/2020victory/event/362849/?utm_source=South+Asians+for+Biden&utm_campaign=9ec78e489f-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_11_09_04_51&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_324e6272f6-9ec78e489f-370273428
   1. Want to travel to GA and canvass?  Please fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1fFkEznco4nde2r_3HwONee9Mif9OSgn7_WeFYrhNiv0/viewform?edit_requested=true
   1. Interested in writing postcards? Fill out this form here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1E4F9nedVFKdEZn4gF4toN2iiG_uREWJJ1aflA7dcj7I/viewform?edit_requested=true

• State Treasurer’s Report – Approved without Objection
  • $9150.94
• State Secretary’s Report
• Northern California Report
  • Truth Squad
  • Prop 16 Panel with APA Dem Caucus of Alameda County
• Southern California Report
  • Korean Americans for Biden – PA, GA, TX outreach
  • Tammy Kim won Irvine City Council
  • Dave Min elected to state senate
  • Todd Gloria won for Mayor in SD, close race
• Chairman Hicks Addressed the CADEM API Caucus

V.                  Old Business 

a.   Committee Reports

1. Bylaws Committee Discussion/Bylaws Edits
   1. Approved Without Objection

VI.                New Business

1. Election 2020 Recap

VII.              Announcements /Speakers/Open Discussion

VIII.      Adjournment: 9: 30 PM

The California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Executive Board Elections are upon us. Join us in electing the 2021-23 California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus Executive Board.

Per the API Caucus Bylaws, interested candidates must submit their intent to run to the State Secretary, Aref Aziz, 30 days before our meeting date. Make sure to submit by March 30, 2021, to ensure you meet this deadline.

Eligible voters include all Full Members in good standing who have been members 30 days before the official meeting.

Check back in on this page for an updated list of candidates (Last Updated 4.10.21)

Candidates List

State Chair: Deepa Sharma Received 3/25
Vice Chair: Adam Ma State Received 3/15
State Treasurer: Shawn Kumagai Received 3/24
State Communications Secretary: Alfred Twu Received 3/23
State Recording Secretary: Jessica Caloza Received 3/15
Legislative Director: Olivia Lee Received 3/9
Parliamentary Chair: Aref Aziz Received 3/28
Northern CA Chair: Harris Mojadedi Received 3/23
Northern CA Vice Chair: Emily Ramos Received 3/21
Central Valley Vice Chair: Rachel Hernandez Received 3/28
Northern CA Outreach Chair: Zahra Hajee Received 3/28
Northern CA Secretary: Shivam Patel Received 3/26
Southern CA Chair: Tammy Kim Received 3/25
Southern CA Vice Chair: Michael Milan Received 3/28
Southern CA Outreach Chair: Steve Kang Received 3/28
Southern CA Secretary: Vanndearlyn Vong Received 2/25

The California Democratic Party Asian Pacific Islander Caucus is devastated by the news that 8 people were killed in Atlanta, GA in an attack that appears to have targeted members of the AAPI community. We are alarmed and heartbroken over the countless attacks and hate incidents that have occurred with escalating ferocity over the past year. We are holding the victims in our thoughts and are grateful for allies who are drawing attention to the violence occurring against the AAPI community.

Please take a moment to add your name onto our anti-xenophobia resolution to the California Democratic Party: https://bit.ly/APIXenophobiaResolution