BUILDING THE

AMERICAN MOSAIC

A Report from the President’s Advisory Commission

on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

May 2014

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BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSAIC

Report from the President’s Advisory Commission

on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

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nI itiative on asian Americans

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May 2014
This report was produced under U.S. Department of Education 

Contract No. ED-OOS-13-P-0028 with Ignatius Bau. Cindy Dixon 

served as the contracting officer’s technical representative. The 

views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the positions or 

policies of the Department of Education. No official endorsement by 

the U.S. Department of Education of any product, commodity, service 

or enterprise mentioned or linked to in this publication is intended or 

should be inferred. 

Arne Duncan

Chair

White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Secretary of Education

Christopher Lu

Former Co-Chair

White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 

Former Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary

Department of Labor Deputy Secretary

Gary Locke

Former Co-Chair

White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Former U.S. Ambassador to China and former Secretary of Commerce

Daphne Kwok

Chair 

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans

and Pacific Islanders

Iosefa Fa’amaini Aina

Vice Chair 

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans

and Pacific Islanders

Kiran Ahuja

Executive Director

White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

May 2014

This report is in the public domain. Authorization to reproduce 

it in whole or in part is granted. While permission to reprint this 

publication is not necessary, the citation should be: White House 

Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Building the 

American Mosaic: Report from the President’s Advisory Commission on 

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, U.S. Department of Education: 

Washington, D.C., 2014.

This report is available on the White House website at

http://www.whitehouse.gov/aapi/.

Availability of Alternate Formats

On request, this publication is available in alternate formats, such 

as Braille, large print, or computer diskette. For information, please 

contact the Department’s Alternate Format Center at 202-260-0852 or 

the 504 coordinator via email at om_eeos@ed.gov.

Notice to Limited English Proficient Persons

If you have difficulty understanding English you may request language 

assistance services for Department information that is available to 

the public. These services are available free of charge. If you need 

more information about interpretation or translation services, or need 

to request such services, please call 202-453-7277 or write to White 

House Initiative on AAPIs, U.S. Department of Education, 550 12th 

Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202.
CONTENTS

Acknowledgements and Dedication

President’s Advisory Commision on

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Executive Summary

Section One: One in Ten in 2050

Section Two: Commissioners as

Representatives and Advocates

Section Three: A Stronger Federal

Infrastructure for AAPIs

Section Four: Recommendations to

Federal Departments and Agencies

Conclusion

Appendix A: Executive Order 13515

Appendix B: Biographies of Members

of the President’s Advisory Commission

on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders

Appendix C: State and Local Asian American

and Pacific Islander Commisions

01

02

03

06

10

22

32

37

39

42

46
1 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DEDICATION

The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders (commission) thanks President Obama for appointing us to 

represent the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. 

His commitment to diversity, inclusion, and understanding of the AAPI 

community is deeply appreciated and helps strengthen our nation.

The commission is deeply grateful to Secretary of Education Arne 

Duncan for chairing the initiative, as well as to the prior co-chairs, former 

Secretary of Commerce and former U.S. Ambassador to China Gary 

Locke, and former Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary Chris 

Lu. Their leadership and commitment to the AAPI community provided 

tremendous support and momentum for our work. 

The commission appreciates the leadership and support of former 

Under Secretary of Education Martha Kanter. We also thank the 

White House for supporting the White House Initiative on Asian 

Americans and Pacific Islanders (initiative) and commission. In 

particular, we recognize the efforts of Shin Inouye in the White House 

Office of Communications, Gautam Raghavan in the Office of Public 

Engagement, and Kalpen Modi and Bryan Jung, former Office of Public 

Engagement staff, all for acting as the AAPI community liaisons. Their 

partnership and teamwork were integral to advancing the goals of the 

AAPI community.

The commission is truly appreciative of the leadership and 

commitment of the initiative’s interagency working group, and, 

especially, the dedicated staff from the participating federal agencies. 

Their enthusiasm and their willingness to take on projects and goals 

that may have fallen outside their scope of work exemplify a strong 

commitment to diversity, inclusion, and equal access to federal 

services and resources. 

We also commend the dedication, hard work, and creativity of the 

initiative staff in organizing six in-person commission meetings, 

numerous bi-monthly commission calls, committee check-ins, and 

monthly written updates, and in supporting our extensive community 

engagement efforts. In particular, we would like to acknowledge 

Senior Advisor Akil Vohra for serving as our point person and 

troubleshooter extraordinaire and Senior Policy Advisor Christine 

Harley for her contributions to this report.

Finally, the commission humbly acknowledges the many members of 

the AAPI communities who overwhelmingly supported, engaged in, 

and cheered on the work of the commission and the initiative. We 

met many incredible individuals who work, volunteer, and persevere 

to serve their communities with limited resources and in difficult 

circumstances, and, yet, who still took the time to inform and educate 

us. Each community engagement opportunity left us in awe of what 

the AAPI community has accomplished, and with a greater sense of 

responsibility for what we all still must achieve, despite the challenges. 

We recognize the individual and collective commitment, and hard 

work that often go unrecognized. This community inspires us every 

day to represent our communities well, and this report is dedicated 

to all of you. 
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 2

PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY 

COMMISION ON ASIAN 

AMERICANS AND PACIFIC 

ISLANDERS

Daphne Kwok, Chair

Iosefa “Sefa” Fa’amaini Aina, Vice Chair

Debra T. Cabrera

May Y. Chen

Kamuela J. N. Enos

Frances Enseki Francis

Farooq Kathwari

Hyeok Kim

Ramey Ko

Rozita Villanueva Lee

Tung Thanh Nguyen

Apolo Anton Ohno

Sunil Puri

Amardeep Singh

Unmi Song

Dilawar A. Syed

Khampha Thephavong

Doua Thor

Hector L. Vargas, Jr.

Hines Ward
3 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Today, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are bursting 

into the national spotlight as vibrant economic contributors and a 

growing political constituency. In an increasingly diverse nation, AAPIs 

stand apart as one of the most diverse and complex communities. 

Moreover, it is a rapidly growing community: By 2050, AAPIs, 

together, are expected to number approximately 40.6 million 

people, or one in 10 persons in the U.S.

Recognizing the emergence of this important community, President 

Barack Obama signed Executive Order 135151

 on Oct. 14, 2009, to 

re-establish the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders (initiative), and the President’s Advisory Commission on 

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (commission). The purpose 

of the initiative is “to improve the quality of life and opportunities 

for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased access 

to, and participation in, Federal programs in which they may be 

underserved.” The parallel mission of the commission, comprising 20 

leaders appointed by President Obama, is to provide advice to him and 

his administration on efforts to improve the quality of life of AAPIs, to 

inform federal efforts to increase access to programs and services for 

AAPIs, and to encourage community involvement in efforts to improve 

the well-being of AAPIs.

The need for the commission and initiative is evident. The 18.5 

million AAPIs in the U.S. today live in many diverse and rapidly growing 

communities with both great assets and ongoing challenges; their 

numbers and rate of growth mean their needs cannot be ignored 

without impacting the nation’s well-being. There is no “typical” AAPI 

individual or community. Education, income, employment, English 

language proficiency, and health status are often influenced by 

1 See Appendix A.

generation, immigration history, and geography, and vary widely across 

the AAPI community. While many continue to view AAPIs as “model 

minorities” who have achieved educational and economic success, the 

realities of AAPI communities are far more disparate and complex.

Within this context, the initiative and commission seized this 

opportunity to address the cross-cutting issues facing AAPI 

communities by implementing the following innovative strategies: 

Increasing opportunities for AAPIs in the federal workforce; improving 

language access; disaggregating data and improving data collection 

systems; and building the capacity of the AAPI community to engage 

more effectively with federal agencies. Over the past four years,

this effort has evolved into our vision of the American Mosaic, in 

which different parts of the nation are strengthened and united into 

a larger, cohesive union, which becomes stronger through shared 

prosperity and equal opportunity for all Americans. 

During our tenure, this vision has resulted in an action-oriented 

strategy with the commission and initiative working with local, 

regional, and national working groups to assure that the AAPI 

community is strengthened within the American Mosaic. National 

interagency working groups look broadly to leverage resources 

and provide a voice for community leaders. Regional interagency 

working groups design services for bridging regional needs and 

national technical assistance. At the local level, state and local AAPI 

commissions collaborate to provide services for their communities. 

And, ultimately, each tile of the American Mosaic will include AAPI 

advocates, thinkers, and community leaders whose voices will be 

coordinated, loud and clear.

No community should be invisible to its government. 

President Barack Obama, signing Executive Order

 13515, October 14, 2009
5 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

At the outset, Executive Order 13515 provided a renewed opportunity 

for the federal government to address the potential of the AAPI 

community. And thus, the commission and initiative worked with 23 

federal agencies and departments to develop agency plans that would 

proactively address the needs of AAPIs. Two years later, in March 

2011, the commission met with President Obama and presented him 

with these comprehensive plans. Receiving the president’s approval, 

the commission, initiative, and federal agencies then launched an 

unprecedented effort to learn about, partner with, and find solutions 

for the AAPI community.

Over the next four years, the commission and initiative organized 

over 200 events, including summits, roundtables, workshops, 

forums, and other events throughout the United States and the 

U.S.-affiliated Pacific Island jurisdictions. These events allowed the 

federal government to successfully outreach and engage over 

30,000 individuals in over 50 cities and 25 states. Moreover, these 

community engagement events allowed AAPI community leaders 

to not only inform us as commissioners, the initiative, and federal 

officials about the many distinct and unique challenges facing the AAPI 

community, but also to demonstrate the opportunities, resilience, and 

solutions found among those diverse communities.

We have been privileged to serve as representatives of President 

Obama’s administration to the diverse AAPI communities, while 

also sharing the concerns of those AAPI communities with federal 

departments and agencies. This role has provided us with a rare 

perspective and opportunity to directly and immediately translate 

identified community needs into appropriate government action.

This report provides an overview of today’s AAPI community and 

details our work, and that of the initiative, to address the current 

challenges in AAPI communities. It also summarizes the impressive 

efforts of federal agencies to respond to those communities. The 

report concludes with recommendations to continue and improve 

upon the work of this commission.

As commissioners, we are proud of the progress achieved with the 

tremendous support of President Obama, the federal departments 

and agencies, thousands of AAPI community leaders and members, 

and the initiative staff. Looking ahead, the commission supports the 

continuation of the initiative’s efforts. It is only with sustained and 

intentional efforts to support the middle class, increase social equity, 

and provide opportunities for today’s diverse communities to excel 

that this country can truly harness the full strength of its diversity and 

propel us into a future of prosperity. To that end, the commission offers 

this report to the president, to AAPI communities, and to the nation.
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 6

SECTION ONE:

ONE IN TEN IN 2050
7 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

SECTION ONE:

ONE IN TEN IN 2050

America is in the midst of a sea change; by 2050 – within one 

generation – more than half of the U.S. adult population will be 

non-Hispanic white. The demographic transformation happening 

in America, in part a result of the growth of AAPI communities, is 

creating new social dynamics that largely mirror the realities faced 

by AAPIs today. The transformation includes an increasingly multiracial and multi-ethnic population, where newly arriving immigrants 

and refugees create pockets of linguistically and culturally isolated 

communities scattered throughout the United States. It also involves 

issues of language and diversity factoring into disparate access to 

health care, education, and employment opportunities, depending 

on where one lives, works, or goes to school. Our hope is that the 

proactive strategies used to respond to the needs of AAPIs today 

may provide the basis for solutions used in the future to create 

opportunities for all Americans. 

The decennial census provides important baseline data about the 

nation’s AAPI community. According to the 2010 U.S. census, Asian 

Americans3

 were 5.6 percent of the U.S. population.4 Between 2000 

and 2010, Asian Americans were the fastest growing racial group, with 

a nearly 46 percent increase, compared to a 10 percent increase in the 

total U.S. population.5

Moreover, the growth of the AAPI community has been fueled largely 

by immigration from across 30 Asian countries with 100 different 

languages, making this community uniquely diverse, with multiple 

cultures, traditions, and histories. 

In 2010, the largest Asian American populations continued to be those 

that had been living for many generations in the U.S., ranging from 

4.0 million Chinese Americans to 1.3 million Japanese Americans.6

 

By contrast, the fastest growing Asian American populations were 

ASIAN AMERICANS ARE THE FASTEST GROWING RACIAL GROUP IN THE U.S.

... every day, we’re reminded of the many ways in 

which Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific 

Islanders have all contributed and enriched our nation 

throughout our history.... it’s more than food and 

family—because generations of Asian Americans and 

Pacific Islanders helped build this country, and helped 

to defend this country, and to make America what it 

is today. 

President Barack Obama, White House Asian

 American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

 Celebration, May 28, 20132

2 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/28/remarks-president-aapi-heritage-month-celebration

3 For purposes of this report, the term “Asian American,” as used to describe census data, shall include all 

individuals who identify as Asian American, alone or in combination with the one or more other races.

4 Humes KR, Jones NA, and Ramirez RR. Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010. U.S. Census Bureau 

(March 2011), available at http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf

5 Hoeffel EM, Rastogi S, Kim MO, and Shahid H. The Asian Population: 2010. U.S. Census Bureau (March 

2012), available at https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-11.pdf

6 Ibid.
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 8

the newer populations—Bhutanese, Nepalese, Burmese, Mongolian, 

Bangladeshi, Maldivian, Singaporean, and Pakistani Americans, each 

doubling in size since 2000. This divergent growth of segments within 

the AAPI communities is a reflection of both growing native-born 

populations and the sustained effect of high immigration.

The 10 states with the largest Asian American populations include 

those with historically high numbers of AAPI residents, such as 

California, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, Illinois, and Washington, as 

well as states such as Texas, Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, which 

historically have not had high numbers of AAPI residents.

Another interesting feature of the more recent growth of the AAPI 

community has been its expansion across the U.S. While Asian 

Americans have lived in a few AAPI high-population states for 

generations, nine of the 10 states with the fastest growing Asian 

American populations were in states that had not seen significant 

AAPI populations in the past, including Nevada, Arizona, North 

Carolina, Georgia, New Hampshire, Delaware, Arkansas, the District of 

Columbia, and Indiana. 

Our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities 

are an emerging group of people, finding their voices 

and being more visible and vocal. It is refreshing 

to see the youth and seniors within communities 

working together and having pride in their heritage 

and wanting to be sure they have representation in 

projects. It is heartwarming to feel the enthusiasm 

from people when they work together for a cause.

 Commissioner Rozita Villanueva Lee

This means that immigrant communities are newly emerging in 

locations that may have less experience and infrastructure, and 

fewer resources to support populations with specific language, 

cultural, and acculturation needs.

This word cloud is a 

visual representation 

of the diversity of the 

Asian American, Native 

Hawaiian, and Pacific 

Islander community.
9 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

NATIVE HAWAIIANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS ALSO CONTINUE TO INCREASE

Likewise, the number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander7 

communities are growing, with a population of over 1.2 million living 

across the U.S. in 2010.8

 This population increased more than three 

times faster than the total U.S. population. In fact, the Native Hawaiian 

and Pacific Islander population was the second fastest growing racial 

group in the country, following the Asian population.9

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders live largely in Hawaii and 71 

percent live in the Western region of the country. In 2010, the largest 

groups among them were Native Hawaiians, Samoans, Guamanians 

or Chamorros, and Tongans. The 10 states with the largest Native 

Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders were Hawaii, California, Washington, 

Texas, Florida, Utah, New York, Nevada, Oregon, and Arizona. However, 

while the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander population grew in 

every region over the past decade, it experienced the fastest growth in 

the South— 66 percent since 2000.10

The growth of AAPI populations will likely continue throughout the 

U.S. and will drive community needs in new geographic areas of the 

country. By 2050, it is projected that AAPIs will make up almost 10 

percent of the total U.S. population, with approximately 40.6 million 

individuals, up from 15.5 million in 2010. These will include Native 

Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, who are expected to more than double, 

from 1.1 to 2.6 million.11 Together, AAPIs are projected to be one in 

10 persons in the U.S. by 2050.

First Lady Michelle Obama visits with Commissioner Kamuela Enos and volunteers at Ma’O Organic Farms in Waianae, Hawaii, Nov. 12, 2011. (Photo courtesy of the White House)

7 For purposes of this report, the term “Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander,” as used to describe census

data, shall include all individuals who identify as Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, alone or in

combination with one or more other races.

8 Hixson L, Hepler BB, and Kim, MO. The Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander Population: 2010,

U.S. Census Bureau (2012), available at http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-12.pdf

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

11 http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/population/cb08-123.html
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 10

SECTION ONE:

ONE IN TEN IN 2050

SECTION TWO:

COMMISSIONERS AS 

REPRESENTATIVES AND 

ADVOCATES
11 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

SECTION TWO:

COMMISSIONERS AS REPRESENTATIVES 

AND ADVOCATES

The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders was created to “improve the quality of life and opportunities 

for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased access 

to, and participation in, federal programs...” The commission is 

charged with providing advice to the president on the development, 

monitoring, and coordination of executive branch activities to 

implement the work of the initiative. Additionally, commissioners 

have used their unique role as representatives for the president to 

increase public- and private-sector collaboration, and community 

involvement in improving the health, education, environment, and 

well-being of AAPIs so that this sector of the American Mosaic can 

grow and prosper.

BACKGROUND ON THE PRESIDENT’S 

ADVISORY COMMISSION ON ASIAN 

AMERICANS AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS

Meeting for the first time in September 2010, the commissioners 

brought a rich diversity of personal and professional experiences 

to the table, with backgrounds as founders and executives of small, 

national, and global businesses, as well as non-profit, communitybased, philanthropic, and professional organizations, and as 

physicians, educators, lawyers, union leaders, community organizers, 

and professional athletes. The commissioners have served on the 

boards of directors and as trustees of corporations, colleges and 

universities, foundations, and non-profit organizations. They also have 

a wealth of experience working in government at the federal, state, 

and local levels, as well as in the executive, legislative, and judicial 

branches. However, it was the diversity of ethnic backgrounds and 

national origins, immigrant status, leadership experiences, sexual 

orientations, and genders that helped the commissioners learn from 

each other and about the AAPI community more fully.

Since being appointed by President Obama in September 2010, the 

commissioners have met in person six times.12 Two of these meetings 

were joint meetings with the initiative’s Interagency Working Group 

(IWG). The commission had the great honor of working with the chair 

of the initiative, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and with the 

previous co-chairs of the initiative, then-Secretary of Commerce Gary 

Locke,13 and then-Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary 

Chris Lu. In March 2011, the commission and IWG had the privilege 

to meet with President Barack Obama and present him with plans 

from 23 federal departments and agencies detailing their strategies 

for implementing the work of the initiative.14 The plans are publicly 

available blueprints and serve to hold the departments and agencies 

accountable for their commitments to the AAPI communities.

Commissioners also met regularly through conference calls in 

subcommittees and work groups that focused on issues of data 

collection and disaggregation, language access services for limited 

English proficient individuals, community capacity-building, and 

federal workforce diversity. This report features many of the exciting 

interagency collaborations and community partnerships created over a 

whirlwind four years.

Being a Commissioner brought me in touch with a lot 

of the new and diverse Asian American and Pacific 

Islander groups, large and small, and impressed me 

with the need to stitch together our common issues 

and form stronger partnerships to increase capacity.

 Commissioner May Ying Chen

President Obama meets with the President’s Advisory Commission on AAPIs and the 

Interagency Working Group, March 14, 2011. (Photo courtesy of the White House)

12 The meetings were in Washington, D.C. in September 2010, March 2011, May 2012, September 2012, 

and May 2013, and in Las Vegas, Nev. in October 2011.

13 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/02/kicking-asian-american-pacific-islander-heritage-month

14 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/03/23/winning-future-aapi-perspective
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 12

ENGAGEMENT WITH ASIAN 

AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER 

COMMUNITIES

To support engagement with the diverse AAPI communities, over 

the past four years the commissioners helped organize many of 

the over 200 events sponsored by the initiative, including summits, 

roundtables, workshops, and forums in 50 cities and 25 states 

throughout the United States and the U.S.-affiliated Pacific Island 

jurisdictions. These events provided the opportunity for over 30,000 

members of the AAPI community to meet with federal officials and 

share their concerns, often for the first time. The commissioners 

also actively contributed their individual and collective expertise, 

experience, and networks with AAPI communities and federal agencies 

to help identify priority issues in the AAPI community and make the 

federal government more accessible to community leaders.

Breaking down the barriers the AAPI community experiences in 

accessing the federal government’s programs and services was critical 

to the commissioners’ outreach efforts. As a result of feedback from 

those communities, in September 2011, the initiative published the 

Guide to Federal Agency Resources15 so that community members and 

leaders could better understand how federal government activities 

and programs can benefit them. This guide remains an invaluable 

resource to facilitate increased awareness and ongoing engagement 

between the federal government and AAPI communities, and lays the 

foundation for new capacity building and technical assistance efforts 

led by the initiative.

Our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities 

are diverse, and although many of the needs are 

similar, there are also issues that are unique to specific 

ethnicities.... meeting with each specific community 

helped bring the important issues to the forefront.

 Commissioner Khampha Thephavong

Over the past four years, commissioners focused on engaging with emerging AAPI communities, targeting regions of the 

country that experienced explosive growth in AAPI communities over the past decade. Through regional summits in 

Atlanta, Ga., Columbus, Ohio, Houston, Texas, and Guam, the initiative brought together federal officials and community, 

business, philanthropic, and student leaders. The summits provided AAPI leaders an opportunity to educate federal officials 

on issues impacting their communities and gain connections to federal resources and services. Each region documented 

and shared the communities’ policy recommendations with the commission. Where possible, the initiative worked with 

federal agencies to incorporate the recommendations into the agencies’ plans.

BEST PRACTICES IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

15 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/aapi_federal_agencies.pdf
13 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

ADDRESSING COMMUNITY PRIORITIES

While many continue to view AAPIs as “model minorities” who 

have achieved educational and economic success, in fact AAPI 

communities are much more disparate and complex in terms 

of educational attainment, economic growth, health equity, 

immigration status, and civil rights status than most people realize.17

The strength of the American Mosaic depends on whether diverse 

groups like the AAPI community can reach across race, culture, and 

social sectors so that, by working together, every American can 

address shared concerns and build a nation of prosperity and equal 

opportunity for everyone.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

Stereotypes of academic prowess have long been fueled by post1965 immigration policies that gave preference to highly educated 

immigrants and by individual AAPIs who have managed to obtain 

high levels of academic achievement despite experiencing hardship. 

However, the myth of universal academic success makes invisible the 

individual needs of AAPI students and ignores the hard realities of 

disadvantaged communities. 

Only 14.4 percent of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders 25 years of 

age and older have a bachelor’s degree or higher.18 AAPI students can 

face many challenges, especially recent immigrants who must learn 

English as a second language. Many AAPIs are first-generation college 

students and have trouble navigating their way through the college 

experience. Some also struggle with the high costs of tuition, lack of 

information about scholarships and financial aid, and lack of career 

guidance on their campuses.19 

... it can be tempting ... for people to buy into the myth 

of the “model minority” and glance over the challenges 

that this [Asian American and Pacific Islander] 

community still faces. But we have to remember there 

are still educational disparities like higher dropout 

rates in certain groups, lower college enrollment rates 

in others. There are still economic disparities like 

higher rates of poverty and obstacles to employment. 

There are health disparities like higher rates of 

diabetes and cancer and Hepatitis B. Of those who 

are new to America, many still face language barriers. 

Others, like Vincent Chin whom we lost three decades 

ago, have been victims of horrible hate crimes, driven 

by the kinds of ignorance and prejudice that are an 

affront to everything America stands for. So those are 

real problems, and we can’t ignore them. 

 President Barack Obama, Remarks at Asian Pacific

 American Institute for Congressional Studies,

 May 8, 201216 

Initiative staff Akil Vohra, Kate Moraras, and Seema Patel address an audience at the AAPI 

Inaugural Welcome Brief at Department of Education on January 18, 2013. (Photo courtesy 

of Edmund Chiang) 

... community members are so eager to engage anyone who 

represents the Federal government. There is a thirst to hear 

what the government has to say and a great desire to let the 

government know the needs of the communities.

Commissioner Tung Thanh Nguyen

16 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/08/remarks-president-18th-annual-galaasian-pacific-american-institute-cong

17 http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/infographic_2.pdf

18 Ogunwole SU, Drewery, Jr. M, and Rios-Vargas M. The Population With a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher 

by Race and Hispanic Origin: 2006-2010, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey Briefs (2012), 

ACSBR/10-19, available at http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/acsbr10-19.pdf

19 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/24/increasing-access-higher-education-aapi-students
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 14

Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander Serving 

Institutions (AANAPISIs) are Minority Serving Institutions that 

play an important role in supporting AAPI students, faculty, and 

communities; conducting vital research on AAPI communities; and 

catalyzing economic growth throughout the country. The AANAPISI 

designation is a great example of fulfilling the broad purpose of the 

initiative by building multi-year, sustainable partnerships between 

local AAPI communities and stakeholders, and multiple federal 

departments and agencies.

Commissioners engaged educators from all levels of public and private 

educational institutions to discuss the important opportunities and 

challenges in education for AAPI communities. The initiative worked 

closely with the Department of Education to provide additional 

information and technical assistance to educational institutions about 

how to qualify for an AANAPISI designation. Together, the initiative and 

department co-sponsored the Federal Summit on Minority Serving 

Institutions at the White House in January 2013, in partnership with the 

Minority Serving Institutions Community of Partners Council and the 

White House initiatives on Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 

Excellence in Education for Hispanics, and American Indian and Alaska 

Native Education. The initiative also followed up by hosting a convening 

with AANAPISIs in March 2013,21 launching a regular newsletter, hosting 

a technical assistance webinar series, and creating a video to highlight 

the tremendous work AANAPISIs undertake to assist AAPIs.22

There is a continued struggle among many Asian 

American and Pacific Islander communities to complete 

a college education.

Commissioner Debra T. Cabrera

AANAPISIs are academic institutions that have at least 

10 percent enrollment of full-time Asian American and 

Pacific Islander students, a minimum threshold of lowincome students, and a lower-than-average educational 

and general expenditure per student. According to 

the Office of Management and Budget, most of the 

AANAPISIs are “junior and community colleges, where 

nearly half (47.3 percent) of AAPI undergraduates 

enroll. AANAPISI-eligible institutions enroll 75 percent 

of low-income AAPI undergraduate students in U.S. 

higher education. They also serve communities with 

disproportionately high numbers of English learners 

and individuals with low academic achievement.” 20 

Once designated, AANAPISIs are eligible for federal 

funding under Title III of the Higher Education Act of 

1965, among other federal grants.

ASIAN AMERICAN AND NATIVE AMERICAN 

PACIFIC ISLANDER SERVING INSTITUTIONS

Another critical issue affecting educational attainment is bullying and 

harassment. Data from the federal government shows that nearly onethird of all school-aged children are bullied each school year – upwards 

of 13 million students.23 Those affected by bullying are more likely to 

have challenges in school, to struggle with substance use disorders, 

and to have health and behavioral health issues. Bullying in the AAPI 

community presents unique circumstances complicated by linguistic, 

cultural, and religious issues. Furthermore, since Sept. 11, 2001, Muslim, 

Sikh, Arab, and South-Asian Americans, and those perceived to be 

members of these groups, have been the victims of increased numbers 

of bias-related assaults, threats, vandalism, and arson.24 Combined with 

language barriers and lack of access to information, AAPI and Muslim 

communities often face unique circumstances and issues when subjected 

to bullying and harassment.

The commission commends the complementary and collaborative 

activities of the White House and the departments of Health and Human 

Services, Education, and Justice in developing and implementing the 

federal government response to youth bullying. This response is inclusive 

of, and specifically addresses, bullying based on sexual orientation, 

gender identity and expression, gender, religion, disability, race, ethnicity, 

language, and immigration status.

20 http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet/an-economy-built-to-last-and-security-for-asian-americanand-pacific-islander

21 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/03/28/working-higher-education-institutions-serving-asianamerican-and-pacific-islanders

22 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNeOn7Yb4ZQ

23 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/04/white-house-closes-out-aapi-heritage-month-youth-forum/

24 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/03/10/president-and-first-lady-call-united-effortaddress-bullying
15 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

WHIAAPI hosts a faith-based convening that includes a panel on civil rights and education, 

June 15, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Maggie Mui)

SMALL BUSINESSES AND ECONOMIC 

GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

Disparate access to contracts and investment capital also impacts 

opportunities for economic growth in AAPI communities. AAPI 

entrepreneurs and businesses play a vital role in economic growth, 

job creation, and community revitalization. There are 1.5 million 

AAPI-owned businesses, which generated $508 billion in sales from 

2002 to 2007.28 According to the most recent Census Bureau Survey 

of Business Owners (2007), the number of Asian American-owned 

In May 2013, the initiative and White House Office of 

Public Engagement hosted a youth forum with the East 

Coast Asian American Student Union (ECAASU), with 

more than 150 AAPI youth leaders from throughout 

the country. Attendees learned about efforts to pass 

commonsense immigration reform, implementation 

of the Affordable Care Act, and federal careers and 

internships. Through a series of AAPI mentorship 

sessions, participants met senior administration 

officials to learn about their career paths. Such events 

have been part of the initiative’s efforts to engage 

youths, and to foster leadership and public service 

among the next generation of AAPI leaders.25

ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER 

YOUTH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

Commissioner Amardeep Singh spearheaded a White 

House Summit on Bullying in October 2011 in New 

York, N.Y., focused on increasing awareness of the 

bullying of Muslim, South Asian, and other AAPI 

youths, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, 

and transgender. This summit, and a May 2011 White 

House LGBT Pride and Heritage event that focused 

on health concerns and bullying experienced by LGBT 

AAPI youths, were very moving for Commissioner 

Hector Vargas.26 Over half of AAPI students ages 

12–18 who reported being bullied at school indicated 

the bullying occurred in the classroom. In fact, AAPI 

students experience higher rates of bullying in schools, 

with students reporting that bullying incidents have 

increased more than 20 percent since 2009.27 Failure 

to address bullying puts individuals members of the 

AAPI community at a disadvantage for increasing 

academic achievement and making sure all students 

are college and career ready.

COMMISSIONERS COMBAT BULLYING

25 http://www.justice.gov/crt/legalinfo/discrimupdate.php. A similar event supporting Asian American 

and Pacific Islander youth leadership development was held in July 2012, http://www.whitehouse.gov/

blog/2012/07/09/white-house-hosts-aapi-youth-briefing/. A nationwide Web chat for Asian American 

and Pacific Islander youths was held in February 2012, http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/28/

cultivating-aapi-youth-advocates/. A briefing for Asian American and Pacific Islander student leaders was 

held in January 2012,http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/01/17/empowering-next-generation-aapicommunity-advocates, and a national virtual town hall meeting for Asian American and Pacific Islander 

youths was held in October 2011,

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/13/join-our-virtual-youth-town-hall-friday-october-14th/.

26 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/25/celebrating-lgbt-pride-aapi-heritage-month

27 http://aaldef.org/2013_NYC_bullying_report.pdf

28 http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/business_ownership/cb11-74.html
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 16

businesses grew 40.4 percent, a rate more than double the national 

average, between 2002 and 2007.29 With more than 2.8 million 

workers, these businesses are fueling job creation and strengthening 

local communities at a critical time in our economic recovery.30 

From January 2009 to March 2013, the U.S. Small Business 

Administration provided over $19 billion to AAPI-owned small 

businesses through over 27,000 loans.31 Yet throughout meetings 

with AAPI business leaders, commissioners repeatedly heard about 

the challenges that business owners face in accessing information, 

loans, and capital from the Small Business Administration, and 

federal contract opportunities from other federal agencies. Over 17 

percent of AAPI-owned businesses do not have access to start-up 

capital, and close to 23 percent of them have only $5,000 in start-up 

capital.32 Realizing there was an untapped opportunity to capitalize 

on AAPI entrepreneurship and empower AAPI business leaders, 

commissioners focused on building and improving relationships 

between the federal government and AAPI-owned small businesses 

through distributing a monthly newsletter, organizing regional 

engagements, connecting local counseling and capital to business 

owners, and initiating monthly national calls between administration 

leaders and AAPI business leaders.

In addition to the opportunities outlined above, President Obama’s 

vision for the recovery and growth of the U.S. economy includes 

increasing trade, and political and other engagements with Asia and 

the Pacific as part of a fastest-growing, dynamic global economy.33 The 

Obama administration seeks to increase U.S. exports to Asia and the 

Pacific, and U.S. standing and leadership in this fastest growing part of 

the world.34 These policies may further opportunities for AAPI-owned 

businesses and entrepreneurs to continue contributing to the success 

of the future U.S. and global economies.

29 U.S. Department of Labor, The Asian-American Labor Force in the Recovery (2011),

available at https://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/AsianLaborForce/AsianLaborForce.pdf

30 http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/business_ownership/cb11-74.html and

http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/factsheet/an-economy-built-to-last-and-security-for-asianamerican-and-pacific-islander

31 In May 2013, the Small Business Administration signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the 

Asian Pacific American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship to promote improved access to 

Small Business Administration programs for Asian American and Pacific Islander small businesses.

http://www.sba.gov/community/blogs/sba-signs-memorandum-understanding-with-asian-pacificamerican-chamber-commerce-and-; Fairlie RW. Immigrant Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners,

and their Access to Financial Capital, Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy (2012), available

at http://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/rs396tot.pdf/.

32 Ibid.

33 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/11/09/press-briefing-previewing-presidentstrip-hawaii-australia-and-indonesia

34 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/11/15/record-conference-call-presidentsupcoming-trip-asia

In the midst of the national recession in January 

2011, Commissioner Dilawar Syed organized a 

summit in Silicon Valley, Calif., to highlight AAPI 

entrepreneurs and AAPI-owned small businesses 

as vital engines in our nation’s economic recovery. 

Over 700 AAPI entrepreneurs, businesspersons, 

and community leaders participated in the summit, 

which provided the perfect setting to highlight 

opportunities in technology fields. 

AAPI ENTREPRENEURS IN SILICON VALLEY
17 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

Commissioner Dilawar Syed makes remarks to the business community in Silicon Valley, 

January 2011. (Photo by WHIAAPI) 

In May 2013, the White House Office of Public 

Engagement, White House Business Council, and 

the initiative held the Doing Business in Asia Forum35 

with 80 AAPI business leaders exporting or investing 

across Asia. At the forum, senior White House and 

administration officials and AAPI business leaders 

discussed the opening of new markets across the 

region and how economic investments can be 

supported by the U.S. government. The convening 

helped establish a strategic working group between 

commissioners, the Department of Commerce Minority 

Business Development Agency, Export-Import Bank, 

and International Trade Administration to coordinate 

engagement with the AAPI diaspora and focus on 

sectors that hold the most promise for expanding 

exports and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. 

EXPANDING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN 

ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

HEALTH EQUITY

The “model minority” myth creates a cloak of invisibility for AAPIs 

that sometimes can be life-threatening, especially in terms of health 

care. AAPIs experience disparities in certain preventable diseases, 

access to and utilization of health care services, and quality of care, 

yet the lack of disaggregated data means that medical schools, health 

providers, and policymakers are unaware of these realities. For many, 

language barriers, lack of familiarity with Western medical practices, 

and economic and cultural differences prevent them from seeing a 

healthcare provider and thereby increase their risk of preventable, 

communicable, and chronic illnesses. Moreover, language ability 

and immigration status are rapidly emerging as the most significant 

barriers to access to health care.

The promise of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – access to affordable, 

quality health care – is critically important to AAPIs. They have some 

of the highest rates of lacking health insurance: An estimated 14.6 

percent of all AAPIs are uninsured, with rates even higher in some 

AAPI communities.36 The Affordable Care Act will help 2 million 

AAPIs gain coverage through the expansion of Medicaid eligibility, the 

creation of health insurance marketplaces, and new coverage by their 

employers by 2016.37 

Beyond the Affordable Care Act, the commissioners also engaged 

in discussions of other important health issues facing AAPIs. For 

example, HHS prioritized attention on hepatitis B in its agency 

plan, and then issued its first Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, 

& Treatment of Viral Hepatitis in 2011.38 The Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention’s Know Hepatitis B campaign is the first 

multilingual national communications campaign to promote hepatitis 

B testing among AAPIs in English, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean.39 

Commission Chair Daphne Kwok and Commissioner Khampha 

Thephavong hosted a community health town hall in Fresno, Calif., 

which highlighted the challenges and importance of addressing 

the health concerns of culturally and geographically isolated AAPI 

populations like the Hmong community in the Central Valley.

Commissioners also brought to the forefront invisible issues in the 

AAPI community. Commissioner Ramey Ko endeavored to shatter 

the social stigma around behavioral health conditions by sharing his 

35 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/05/22/doing-business-asia

36 DeNavas-Walt C, Proctor BD, and Smith JC. Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in

the United States: 2010. U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Reports (2011), available at

http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/p60-239.pdf

37 http://aspe.hhs.gov/health/reports/2014/UninsuredAANHPI/rb_UninsuredAANHPI.pdf

38 Department of Health and Human Services, Combating the Silent Epidemic of Viral Hepatitis:

Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis (2011), available at

http://www.hhs.gov/ash/initiatives/hepatitis/actionplan_viralhepatitis2011.pdf

39 http://www.cdc.gov/knowhepatitisb/
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 18

personal experience with mental health issues in his family.42 He 

participated in roundtables on mental health and disabilities in AAPI 

communities in August 2011 and on behavioral health issues among 

AAPIs in May 2012. The initiative conducted a national webinar 

with HHS on behavioral health issues in December 2012. With 

Commissioner Ko’s leadership, the initiative and White House Office 

of Public Engagement hosted a historic briefing on mental health and 

suicide prevention in AAPI communities in May 2013.43 Commission 

Chair Kwok also facilitated a webinar on disabilities in December 2013. 

This work is vitally important for increasing the visibility of behavioral 

health and disability issues, contributing to efforts to decrease stigma, 

and ensuring that culturally and linguistically appropriate behavioral 

health and disability services are more readily available for AAPI 

communities.44 Speaking publicly about these topics is important 

because AAPI communities and families struggling with behavioral 

health issues often suffer in silence and without access to culturally 

and linguistically appropriate services that could help them combat 

social stigma.

The initiative and commissioners Rozita Villanueva 

Lee and Tung Thanh Nguyen actively helped educate 

the AAPI communities about the Affordable Care Act. 

Working with the Department of Health and Human 

Services (HHS) and AAPI community stakeholders, the 

commission and initiative hosted regional roundtables 

in Minneapolis, Minn., Seattle, Wash., Fresno, 

Calif., Austin, Texas, Chicago, Ill., and Atlanta, Ga. to 

facilitate community engagement in state and federal 

implementation efforts. The initiative also participated 

in numerous national conference calls to reach a broad 

range of AAPI constituents, and developed outreach 

resources, including in-language materials, to support 

education efforts in AAPI communities. 

EDUCATING THE AAPI COMMUNITY ON THE 

AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

The population of Native Hawaiians and Pacific 

Islanders in California has grown to over 286,000 

individuals. Pacific Islander children have one of the 

highest rates of being overweight and obese among all 

racial and ethnic populations living in California. With 

the leadership of Commission Vice Chair Sefa Aina and 

Commissioner Hines Ward, and in partnership with the 

Let’s Move initiative,

40 commissioners joined 1,500 

Pacific Islanders and Native Hawaiians at the University 

of California, Los Angeles campus in April 2011 for a day 

of health education, physical activity, and community 

empowerment.41 This event was so popular that it is 

now an annual community-led event in Los Angeles, 

and spurred similar events in Salt Lake City, Utah and 

Seattle, Wash.

PACIFIC ISLANDERS AND NATIVE HAWAIIANS 

TACKLE OBESITY

Commissioner Hines Ward participates in the WHIAAPI NHPI Health and Fitness Day at 

UCLA, April 2011. (Photo courtesy of Tana Lepule)

40 http://www.letsmove.gov

41 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/04/native-hawaiian-and-pacific-islander-healthand-fitness-winning-future-our-youth

42 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvvlLdHS1FA

43 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/05/10/raising-awareness-about-mental-healthand-suicide-prevention-aapi-community

44 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/31/what-do-new-clas-standards-mean-aapibehavioral-health.
19 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

COMMONSENSE IMMIGRATION REFORM AND 

IMMIGRANT INTEGRATION

AAPIs are acutely aware of the need for commonsense immigration 

reform because they are directly impacted by the full spectrum of 

outdated immigration-related policies. Approximately 2 million of 

the over 4 million family members currently caught in the backlog for 

family visas are Asians and Pacific Islanders.45 Similarly, 80 percent of 

the 130,000 immigrants caught in backlogs and delays in processing 

both temporary and permanent resident employment-based visas 

are from Asian countries, disproportionately impacting workers of all 

skill levels from China, India, Korea, and the Philippines.46 Meanwhile, 

undocumented AAPI students have become the public, human faces 

of the estimated 1.1 million undocumented AAPIs in the U.S.47

Refugees from Burma, Bhutan, and Iraq have been the most numerous 

arrivals in recent years, with approximately 17,000 Burmese refugees 

from Thailand and Malaysia, and 15,000 Bhutanese refugees from 

Nepal expected to be admitted to the U.S. in 2014. 48 As each of 

these immigrant groups seeks to settle and rebuild their lives in the 

U.S., they can make critical economic and cultural contributions to 

revitalizing American communities. However, immigrant families 

and children may also rely on community support and governmental 

services that promote immigrant integration.

The initiative and commissioners strongly support President Obama’s 

vision of a modern immigration system that reflects our nation’s 

values. Together, the commission and initiative held roundtables 

beginning in early 2011 with the AAPI community to discuss the 

need for commonsense reforms of federal U.S. immigration laws 

and policies. These roundtables focused attention on the benefit of 

strengthening and accelerating the integration of immigrants within 

the U.S. The initiative sponsored a roundtable in Seattle, Wash. in 

July 2011 on how immigrants stimulate economic growth, spur job 

creation, and promote innovation.49 Additional roundtables on 

immigration reform were conducted between June 2011 and July 2013 

in Fremont and Sacramento, Calif., Atlanta, Ga., Orlando, Fla., New 

York, N.Y., and Houston, Texas. 

President Obama delivers remarks on immigration at the Betty Ann Ong Chinese Recreation 

Center in San Francisco, Calif., Nov. 25, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

It is so important for Asian and Pacific Islander 

immigrant and refugee voices to be included in these 

debates. Our communities are struggling also with 

immigration laws that impact our families. It has 

been powerful to work with the initiative to hear their 

stories finally told.

 Commissioner Doua Thor

In April 2012, Commission Chair Daphne Kwok 

convened a forum in Oakland, Calif. with Burmese, 

Bhutanese, Nepalese, Tibetan, and Mongolian refugee 

and immigrant communities. These newest Asian 

American communities were introduced to federal 

departments and agencies, and educated about federal 

programs and services that are available to assist 

them. The forum also was an opportunity for leaders 

and community-based organizations working with 

these emerging refugee and immigrant communities 

to connect with each other and with more established 

Asian American community-based organizations. 

SUPPORT FOR EMERGING ASIAN 

REFUGEE COMMUNITIES

45 Department of State, Annual Report of Immigrant Visa Applicants in the Family-sponsored and 

Employment-based Preferences Registered at the National Visa Center (2012), available at http://travel.

state.gov/content/dam/visas/Statistics/Immigrant-Statistics/WaitingListItem.pdf

46 Ibid.

47 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/07/30/aapi-dream-riders-inspire

48 Department of State, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Health and Human Services, 

Proposed Refugee Admissions for Fiscal Year 2013, available at: http://www.state.gov/documents/

organization/198157.pdf

49 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/07/14/integrating-immigrants-strengthen-economy
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 20

CIVIL RIGHTS AND FAITH-BASED COMMUNITIES

On Aug. 5, 2012, six individuals were shot and killed at the Sikh 

Gurdwara in Oak Creek, Wis. in a hate-based crime.50 Three other 

Sikh community members and a local police officer were seriously 

wounded in the shooting. This mass shooting at a place of worship 

brought national attention to the U.S. Sikh community.51 

In response to this tragic event, the administration acted quickly. 

President Obama offered a statement of condolence and support,52 

First lady Michelle Obama visited with the Sikh American families 

affected by the tragedy,53 Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at 

the funeral, and the Department of Justice Community Relations 

Services implemented educational and training programs to improve 

awareness about Sikh communities among federal departments and 

agencies, and offered mediation services to improve federal, state, and 

local government relationships with local Sikh communities.54

Leaders from faith communities convene at the AAPI Faith-Based and Community Leaders 

Forum in Chicago, Ill., June 15, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Maggie Mui) 

50 http://www.sikhtempleofwisconsin.com/memorial

51 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/08/05/statement-president-obama-shooting-wisconsin and 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/06/presidential-proclamation-honoring-victimstragedy-oak-creek-wisconsin 

52 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/08/05/statement-president-shooting-wisconsin

53 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/08/24/first-lady-michelle-obama-visits-sikh-communitywisconsin

54 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/12/07/dojs-community-relations-service-delivers-mediationand-conciliation-services-aapi-c; http://www.justice.gov/crs/video/ocg-video.htm

55 “Crime in the United States - 2001,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, page 60, from http://www.fbi.gov/

about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2001/01sec2.pdf. The FBI reported that the number of anti-Muslim 

hate crimes rose from 28 in 2000 to 481 in 2001, a seventeen-fold increase.

I was deeply impressed and moved by how 

meaningfully the Initiative and the Commission 

played its critical “connector” role between the 

White House and the local community. Within hours 

of the tragedy, the President called an Oak Creek 

Gurdwara trustee to express his regret; his statement 

later that day was informed by community input.... 

I actually saw the local community have a meaningful 

place at the table to influence the response and 

ongoing work of the White House. This would not 

have been possible without the infrastructure already 

in place as a result of the Initiative’s and Commission’s 

existence and good work.

 Commissioner Amardeep Singh

Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Muslim Americans often find 

themselves in the uncomfortable position of being viewed with 

suspicion and distrust. For more than a decade, Muslim Americans 

– and those perceived to be Muslim – have experienced heightened 

airport screening procedures, immigration investigations and 

enforcement activities, and national security and police surveillance. 

In addition, Muslim American students and workers also have 

experienced increased and continued harassment, bullying, and 

discrimination in their schools, workplaces, and neighborhoods. The 

Federal Bureau of Investigation found a seventeen-fold increase in 

hate crimes against Muslim Americans immediately after 9/11.55 
21 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

SUPPORTING MUSLIM AMERICANS

SUPPORTING AAPI WOMEN AND GIRLS

The initiative and commission sought to uplift the experiences of 

AAPI women and girls. Compared to all other women in the U.S., 

AAPI women are the least likely to have ever had a mammogram56 

even though breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer 

for AAPI women. Older AAPI women have the highest suicide rate 

of all women over age 65 in the United States.57 AAPI women were 

also greatly affected by the 2008 economic downturn. At the start 

of the recession, white and AAPI women were almost as likely to 

be employed, but by 2010, AAPI women were less likely than white 

women to be employed with labor participation of AAPI women 

declining at twice the rate as that of white women.58 

To learn more, the initiative hosted over a dozen roundtables with 

AAPI women leaders. The initiative also partnered with the White 

House Council on Women and Girls to convene a forum to elevate 

the experiences of AAPI women and their communities. In 2012, the 

initiative hosted an interagency meeting with the council focusing on 

AAPI women’s health and safety, and followed up with a nationwide 

conference call featuring senior administration officials discussing 

accomplishments around anti-violence efforts, worker health and 

safety, and AAPI women’s reproductive health.

Forty percent of the nail salon workers in the U.S. 

are AAPI women, and they face health and safety 

concerns in the workplace. The initiative convened 

the first interagency working group on salon safety 

with the Environmental Protection Agency and 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration 

as co-leads, along with the, National Institute of 

Occupational Safety and Health, Small Business 

Administration, and Food and Drug Administration. 

The agencies assessed their respective regulations 

and policies to improve the health and safety of salon 

workers, and worked with community advocates 

and salon owners to support effective outreach and 

education strategies.59 

NAIL SALON WORKERS FACE WORKPLACE 

HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUES

56 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17961259

57 http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=3&lvlid=136

58 http://www.dol.gov/_sec/media/reports/asianlaborforce/

59 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/19/toward-green-nail-salons

These issues of educational opportunity, economic growth, access to 

health care, commonsense immigration reform, and civil rights are 

key priorities for AAPI communities. The initiative and commission 

worked within the federal government to build stronger interagency 

working relationships to better respond to AAPI community priorities 

and find common strategies to address their needs. But underneath 

these social concerns are commonly shared barriers that make 

their resolution more difficult. These include issues related to 

a lack of disaggregated data that would expose the disparate 

realities, the need to improve language access for a growing 

linguistically diverse population, untapped potential for harnessing 

a diverse and skilled workforce, and the need to grow our capacity 

to address these challenges. The initiative and commission found it 

necessary to address these cross-cutting barriers by working within 

the federal government infrastructure.

Under the leadership of commissioners Amardeep 

Singh, Farooq Kathwari, and Dilawar Syed, the initiative 

held four community forums with Muslim Americans, 

along with AAPIs from other faith communities, in 

March 2011 in Washington D.C., in June 2013 in 

Chicago, Ill., in August 2013 in Palo Alto, Calif., and 

in September 2013 in New York, N.Y. to highlight 

important issues raised by Muslim Americans and other 

faith communities. Speaking to representatives from 

the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Small 

Business Administration, U.S. Department of Justice, 

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and U.S. 

Department of Education, Muslim American community 

leaders noted priorities related to immigration, 

education, and employment. Forums such as these 

provide critical occasions for communities to initiate 

and engage in dialogues that can build long-term 

relationships and partnerships with federal offices. 
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 22

SECTION THREE:

A STRONGER FEDERAL 

INFRASTRUCTURE 

FOR AAPIS
23 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

SECTION THREE:

A STRONGER FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE 

FOR AAPIS

The broad scope of the initiative provides a unique opportunity for the 

commissioners to interact with the staff of many federal departments 

and agencies, in both their national headquarters and regional offices. 

In fact, this commission has enjoyed the rare privilege of working with 

24 federal departments and agencies over the course of three years to 

create new and worthwhile opportunities for looking broadly across 

areas of need for effective solutions. 

The commission has spearheaded innovative collaborations 

throughout the federal government, working with the Interagency 

Working Group and individual federal departments and agencies to 

address the cross-cutting and priority issues facing AAPIs. Together, 

these players have committed to tackling the important, “universal” 

issues of increasing opportunities for AAPIs in the federal workforce, 

improving language access, building community capacity, and 

disaggregating federal AAPI data as part of our American Mosaic 

strategy to create a government that serves all.

 [There needs to be] continuous dissemination of 

information from the Federal government to local 

communities. It has to be initiated at the federal level. 

Our Asian American and Pacific Islander communities 

simply are not aware of the resources that are 

afforded them. 

 Commissioner Hines Ward

INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP

AND AGENCY PLANS

Executive Order 13515 also established the Federal Interagency 

Working Group (IWG). Comprising individuals, executive branch 

departments, agencies, and offices representing a broad spectrum of 

fields and programs impacting Asian Americans and Pacific Islander 

communities, the IWG helps increase AAPI participation in federal 

programs. The commissioners worked closely with the initiative and the 

IWG to help each participating federal department and agency develop 

robust AAPI plans that increase the participation of AAPIs in federal 

programs. The commissioners used their subject-matter expertise, and 

knowledge about and experiences in AAPI communities to review and 

provide feedback on the draft agency plans submitted by the federal 

departments and agencies in 2010, 2012 and 2013, and met with the 

IWG to discuss ways to improve and strengthen those plans.

In 2010, 23 federal departments and agencies created plans that 

addressed the following issues: 1) improving data collection, analysis, 

and dissemination of AAPI-specific information; 2) protecting civil 

rights and equal opportunity for AAPIs; 3) promoting and increasing 

federal employment among AAPIs; and 4) increasing outreach and 

access to federal grant opportunities and programs for AAPIs.60 These 

agency plans provide public accountability and allow for coordination 

of AAPI community engagement.

Commissioners Sefa Aina and Daphne Kwok, along with then Co-Chair Chris Lu and 

Executive Director Kiran Ahuja, facilitate conversation among the Interagency Working 

Group and Commission, March 14, 2011. (Photo courtesy of WHIAAPI)

60 http://www2.ed.gov/about/inits/list/asian-americans-initiative/plans.html
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 24

Twenty-two federal departments and agencies updated their plans 

in 2013. Based on the AAPI communities’ recommendations and the 

initiative’s efforts to refine its work, the agencies re-organized their 

plans around four cross-cutting priority issue areas: 1) AAPI community 

capacity-building; 2) collection and analyses of disaggregated data 

on AAPIs; 3) language access for limited English proficient AAPIs; 

and 4) increasing workforce opportunities for AAPI federal workers.61 

The work of the IWG also was organized in sub-committees along 

these four issue areas to allow well-positioned agencies to lead key 

transformation efforts. The initiative’s staff published several reports 

summarizing the agency plans and accomplishments to inform and 

engage the AAPI community on the important progress made by the 

federal government.62 

The Interagency Working Group is wonderful. Instead 

of the federal government being distant or something 

to be fearful about, they made it simple and accessible. 

It was very practical, especially at the regional level, 

for actually reaching our communities.

 Commissioner Sunil Puri

One of the strengths of the initiative is its ability to 

work across federal departments and agencies to 

resolve issues of high importance to AAPIs. As an 

example, over 260,000 Filipino nationals enlisted 

and fought with the U.S. military during World War 

II, and were entitled to full benefits as U.S. combat 

veterans but these benefits were rescinded under the 

Rescission Acts of 1946. After decades of advocacy, 

Congress established the Filipino Veterans Equity 

Compensation Fund in 2009 to provide a one-time, 

lump-sum payment to surviving Filipino World War II 

veterans.63 As a result of community concerns about 

delays in processing claims and appeals for denied 

claims, then initiative Co-Chair Chris Lu convened 

a federal interagency working group, including the 

White House Domestic Policy Council, Office of 

Management and Budget, Department of Veterans 

Affairs, Department of Defense, and National Archives 

and Records Administration, to improve transparency 

and accountability in the administration of the 

payments from the fund, and improve the timeliness of 

processing appeals of denied claims. To date, over $224 

million has been paid to nearly 19,000 Filipino World 

War II veterans.64 

INTERAGENCY EFFORTS ON BEHALF OF 

REGIONAL INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP FILIPINO WORLD WAR II VETERANS

One of the truly essential and innovative developments from the 

initiative is the formation of the Regional Interagency Working 

Group (Regional IWG), which seeks to deepen federal engagement 

with regional and local AAPI communities. Although regional 

offices primarily conduct local community outreach and education, 

the commission found that there was a real need to strengthen 

relationships between local AAPI communities and the federal regional 

offices. The initiative formed the Regional IWG to create the necessary 

structure for facilitating information-sharing and coordinating local 

AAPI community engagement across the federal field agencies 

nationwide. 

The Regional IWG has grown from its origins to include more than 

100 members, allowing more than 20 federal agencies to coordinate 

across 10 federal regions to plan and implement activities with the 

AAPI communities.65 Regional offices are uniquely positioned as 

resources for local and emerging AAPI communities because of their 

proximity to the community, growing knowledge of local community 

concerns and needs, and engagement in local programming and 

technical assistance offerings.66 

61 http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/aapi/agency-plans/2013-agency-plans/

62 White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Opening Doors for the Asian

American and Pacific Islander Community: Two-Year Anniversary Accomplishments (2011), available

at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/microsites/10112011_aapi_full_report_of_2yr_

accomplishments.pdf; White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Improving 

Access for the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community: Federal Agency Accomplishments 

(2012), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/report_-_pathways_

agency_accomplishments_may2012.pdf; and White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders, Continuing Progress for the Asian American and Pacific Islander Community: Federal Agency 

Accomplishments (2013), available at http://www.ed.gov/edblogs/aapi/files/2013/02/ContinuingProgress-for-the-Asian-American-and-Pacific-Islander-Community-1.pdf.

63 http://www.va.gov/centerforminorityveterans/NewsFlash.asp

64 http://www.va.gov/centerforminorityveterans/NewsFlash.asp

65 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/08/21/coordinating-outreach-aapi-community-new-yorkregional-aapi-forum

66 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/08/29/chicago-regional-interagency-working-groupcontinuing-dialogue-aapi-community
25 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

Strengthening the Regional Interagency Working 

Group would be a huge help to the Asian American and 

Pacific Islander communities. Washington, D.C. isn’t an 

easy place to access for many folks in our communities, 

so making sure that there are ways for Asian 

Americans and Pacific Islanders to engage with federal 

departments and agencies in their own communities 

and regions would be very helpful.

 Commission Vice-Chair Sefa Aina

STATE AND LOCAL ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC 

ISLANDER COMMISSIONS

As commissioners traveled throughout the U.S. and engaged with 

diverse AAPI communities, they were continually impressed by the 

dedication of many state and local commissions (councils and task 

forces) focused on local AAPI communities.67 These advisory bodies 

are created by either state and local legislation, or gubernatorial or 

mayoral executive orders. Some are funded and staffed, while others 

operate on a volunteer basis. However, they all share the common 

goal of making visible the needs of the AAPI communities in their 

states, cities, and towns. Several have even documented the specific 

needs of AAPI communities in their state by issuing comprehensive 

reports with recommendations and next steps.

Recognizing the critical role of engaging local leaders, the initiative 

convened members and staff from these state and local AAPI 

commissions for the first time in May 2012 and then again in May 

2013, through conference calls and in-person meetings to share 

information and best practices and to support each other’s work. The 

commissioners believe that building and maintaining the capacity 

of these state and local commissions will reap long-term benefits 

for AAPI communities, and serve as a crucial local resource to the 

Regional Interagency Working Groups. 

The commissioners urge federal agencies and departments to 

continue to conduct new trainings and educational events for AAPI 

staff and community members so they can grow their outreach 

programs and to invite AAPI leaders to meet with them. Likewise, 

commissioners encourage the AAPI community to actively monitor 

and hold accountable federal departments and agencies to 

serve the needs of AAPI communities. AAPI community leaders 

should actively seek appointments to federal and state advisory 

commissions, expert panels, and grant review panels to share the 

AAPI community’s perspective.

Members of the Regional Interagency Working Group participate in a team building exercise 

during their first in-person convening at the White House, Dec. 3, 2013. (Photo by WHIAAPI)

67 See Listing in Appendix C.
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 26

INTERAGENCY EFFORTS ON CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES

Having AAPIs represented at all levels of the federal government can 

improve that sector’s understanding of the specific needs of AAPI 

communities. Recognizing this, President Obama included specific 

provisions in Executive Order 13515 to support the recruitment, 

career development, and advancement of AAPIs within the federal 

government. The commission commends President Obama for naming 

a record number of AAPIs to his Cabinet in his first term, and for 

appointing so many AAPIs throughout his administration, including a 

record number of AAPI judicial appointments.68 

While AAPIs are represented throughout the federal workforce,69 the 

commission and initiative supported efforts by AAPI federal employee 

affinity groups to promote AAPI employees into managerial and 

executive positions in federal departments and agencies. With this 

support, two exciting new efforts were launched to encourage the 

promotion and retention of talented federal employees into Senior 

Executive Service (SES)70 positions.71 In 2012, the Asian American 

Government Executives Network (AAGEN) initiated a Senior Executive 

Service Development Program to provide professional skill training 

and mentorship to potential SES candidates, with the support of the 

initiative, Office of Personnel Management, and Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission.72 Twenty-four participants completed the 

program in 2012 and one participant has since been promoted to an 

SES position. The second class of 20 participants signed on in 2013, 

and graduated with three participants receiving promotions into SES 

positions. The third class of 22 participants hopes to continue upon 

these successes.

In addition, the Federal Asian Pacific American Council (FAPAC) 

began the Federal Challenge Team Program in July 2013, with the 

participation of the initiative, Office of Personnel Management, and 

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.73 This program gives 

federal employees opportunities to work in cross-agency teams and 

collaborate on projects that address the needs of AAPI communities, 

particularly in capacity building, language access, data disaggregation, 

and workforce diversity. These programs can expand opportunities for 

leadership development.

Still, there remains more to be done to ensure that AAPIs are 

represented throughout all levels of the federal government. Most 

importantly, the federal government should improve analysis of 

disaggregated workforce data to identify underrepresented groups 

within specific fields as there is little data on the ethnic representation 

of AAPI federal employees. There also remains a need for continued 

attention towards the diversification of the federal workforce74 and 

FEDERAL WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

targeted strategies to recruit diverse candidates from interns to toplevel employees, including Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and 

other underrepresented AAPI candidates.

It is critical for leadership within all federal agencies 

to support the career advancement of AAPI 

federal employees. Not only are these individuals 

well positioned to bring the perspective of their 

communities into the agencies’ decision-making 

but supporting AAPIs’ demonstrates the federal 

government’s commitment to promote diversity of the 

workforce at every level.

 Commissioner Frances Francis

Co-Chair Chris Lu joins the first class of the AAGEN Senior Executive Service Development 

Program during its launch event, March 21, 2012. (Photo by WHIAAPI)

68 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/05/01/observing-aapi-heritage-month

69 Office of Personnel Management, Federal Equal Opportunity Recruitment Program Report, Fiscal Year 

2011, available at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/diversity-and-inclusion/reports/feorp2011.

pdf/. 

70 Office of Personnel Management, Guide to Senior Executive Service Qualifications (2012), available 

at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/senior-executive-service/reference-materials/

guidetosesquals_2012.pdf

71 There were only 3.14 percent Asian Americans and only 0.15 percent Native Hawaiians and Other 

Pacific Islanders in the Senior Executive Service in Fiscal Year 2012. Office of Personnel Management,

2012 Senior Executive Service Report (2013), available at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/dataanalysis-documentation/federal-employment-reports/reports-publications/ses-summary-2012.pdf

72 http://www.aagen.org/sesdevelopmentprog and http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/21/

launching-senior-executive-service-development-program

73 http://www.fapac.org/challengeteams

74 The Office of Personnel Management has been implementing Executive Order 13583 on diversity 

and inclusion in the federal workforce, 76 Fed. Reg. 52847-52849 (August 23, 2011), including the 

Government-wide Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Plan 2011, available at http://www.opm.gov/policydata-oversight/diversity-and-inclusion/reports/governmentwidedistrategicplan.pdf
27 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

Another issue that impacts millions of AAPIs is the lack of information 

on federal programs and services available in Asian and Pacific Islander 

languages. According to the 2011 American Community Survey, of 

the 14 million Asians ages 5 and over, 47 percent do not speak English 

‘very well’75 and need language assistance services. The percentage 

of limited English proficient (LEP) individuals in some AAPI ethnic 

communities can be even higher.

The importance of language access for AAPI communities cannot be 

overstated. Without the ability to read, communicate, and understand 

information about federal programs and services, and about their 

rights and responsibilities, LEP AAPIs cannot participate in or benefit 

from many of the federal government programs and services intended 

to reach them and meet their needs.

Fortunately, federal agencies are stepping up to the plate. There are 

several outstanding examples of federal departments and agencies 

that have enhanced language access for AAPI and LEP populations. 

Under the leadership of Gary Locke, former co-chair of the initiative 

and former secretary of the Department of Commerce, the Census 

Bureau conducted unprecedented outreach in 28 languages to ensure 

a full and accurate count for the 2010 Census.76 Furthermore, HHS 

made multilingual information about the Affordable Care Act available 

on www.healthcare.gov, including translated materials in Chinese, 

Korean, Tagalog, and Vietnamese.77 

LANGUAGE ACCESS FOR AAPIS WITH LIMITED 

ENGLISH PROFICIENCY

The commission and initiative found themselves filling 

an unanticipated but critical role of coordinating federal 

responses for AAPI communities immediately after 

the BP Gulf Coast oil spill in April 2010. Ultimately, 

the initiative created a federal language translation 

clearinghouse to produce public information materials 

about the recovery efforts in Vietnamese, Khmer, and 

Lao, as well as in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and French. 

The initiative also partnered with Asian Americans/

Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy and the Corporation 

for National and Community Service to convene 

government, philanthropic, and AAPI community 

leaders for future cross-sector partnerships along the 

Gulf Coast.

THE LANGUAGE OF THE GULF COAST

The initiative, in partnership with the Civil Rights 

Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, is working 

across the federal government to take on language 

access. All 24 agency plans on AAPI engagement 

include priorities to implement, monitor, and enforce 

the language access requirements of Title VI of the 

1964 Civil Rights Act and Executive Order 13166. 

A federal interagency working group on limited 

English proficiency also maintains www.lep.gov, a 

comprehensive website that links to useful materials, 

such as tools that federal departments and agencies 

have developed to support language access.

The General Services Administration has consolidated 

language assistance vendors into one portal78 and 

the National Virtual Translation Center acts as a 

clearinghouse for facilitating federal department 

and agency use of translators.79 The Department of 

Defense operates the National Language Services 

Corps, a volunteer program of over 4,600 Americans 

who speak languages other than English, and who are 

available to federal departments or agencies as part of 

a crisis or disaster response.80

FEDERAL AGENCIES TACKLE 

LANGUAGE ACCESS

75 American Community Survey 2010-2012 Three-Year Estimates for Asian Americans (alone or in 

combination with one or more other races) and for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (alone or 

in combination with one or more other races), S0201 (Selected Population Profile), available at https://

www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acs-22.pdf

76 Kim J, and Zapata J. 2010 Census Language Program Assessment Report, U.S. Census Bureau (2012), 

available at http://www.census.gov/2010census/pdf/2010_Census_Language_Program_Assessment.

pdf. Language assistance guides to assist limited English proficient respondents in filling out their census 

forms were available in 59 languages. Paid television, radio, and print media materials were developed 

in 28 languages and dialects. Telephone questionnaire assistance hotlines were available in Chinese, 

Korean, and Vietnamese as well as Spanish and Russian. The Census Bureau sent out advance letters and 

a follow-up postcard, with instructions in Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Spanish, notifying households 

about the upcoming census.

77 https://www.healthcare.gov/language-resource/

78 http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104610

79 http://www.nvtc.gov/

80 http://www.nlscorps.org
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 28

In February 2012, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services 

conducted its first-ever Chinese language public engagement, or

“jiao liú.” The worldwide webinar, conducted in Mandarin and 

Cantonese, shared information about how immigrants can apply 

to change their immigration status, including how to apply for U.S. 

citizenship.81 This was followed by another national in-language 

webinar in Vietnamese.82 The use of multilingual subject matter 

To further reach emerging AAPI communities, the 

initiative and commission also collaborated with 

the White House Office of Public Engagement 

to host multiple in-language Google Hangouts in 

Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese (Mandarin) on the 

health insurance marketplace. This was part of the 

initiative’s efforts to engage limited English proficient 

(LEP) populations on the Affordable Care Act. The 

enthusiasm of the Hangout participants showed the 

importance of engaging AAPI LEP communities in their 

own languages.

IN-LANGUAGE COMMUNITY 

GOOGLE HANGOUTS

AAPIs have long advocated for better and disaggregated data 

collections, urging the nation’s decision-makers to avoid viewing the 

community as a monolithic group. With improved data collection, the 

federal government can provide better program support, improved 

policies, and more efficiently targeted funding to help underserved 

communities achieve self-sufficiency and financial independence.

DISAGGREGATED DATA ON AAPIS

To reach AAPI limited English proficient communities, WHIAAPI held a series of in-language 

Google Hangouts in Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese (Mandarin).

81 http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnexto

id= ba8233a99dea4310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e0b081c52aa38210VgnVCM100

000082ca60aRCRD and http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2012/02/13/uscis-engages-chinese-speakingimmigrants-jiao-li

82 http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.5af9bb95919f35e66f614176543f6d1a/?vgnextoid= 

44906c4bcf24e310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=e0b081c52aa38210VgnVCM100000

082ca60aRCRD

83 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/05/08/remarks-president-18th-annual-gala-asianpacific-american-institute-cong

And if we’re going to do a better job addressing them, 

then we first have to stop grouping everybody just in 

one big category. Dozens of different communities fall 

under the umbrella of the Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders, and we have to respect that the experiences 

of immigrant groups are distinct and different. 

 President Barack Obama, Remarks at Asian Pacific

 American Institute for Congressional Studies Gala,

 May 8, 201283

experts and communications technology demonstrated the feasibility 

and effectiveness of new strategies to reach LEP communities. 

Looking forward, language access remains a critically important need 

for AAPI communities. The commission urges each federal agency 

to conduct comprehensive assessments of the language needs of 

potential users of their programs and a review of all vital program 

and public engagement materials, to ensure full language access 

for the six key languages for federal programs. In addition, federal 

agencies should consider opportunities to partner with other 

offices and departments when contracting on translation and 

interpretation services to create economies of scale. Regardless 

of the specific tactic used, recognizing and purposefully engaging in 

concerted efforts to expand language access to LEP consumers, will 

benefit all communities in the coming years.
29 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

One of the important functions of the commission has been to provide 

advice on the compilation of research and data related to AAPI 

populations and sub-populations. Many federal departments and 

agencies have been working to collect new data and to disaggregate 

data to better understand the diversity of AAPI communities. In 1997, 

the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) revised the standards 

for data collections on race and ethnicity used by federal agencies 

and departments to separate out “Native Hawaiian and Other 

Pacific Islander” from “Asian” and to report the data in two separate 

categories.84 Sixteen years later, the AAPI community still encounters 

federal data sets that fail to adhere to these standards for collecting or 

reporting data on AAPIs using these two separate categories.

Some federal agencies have made great strides in expanding 

disaggregated data collection and reporting of subcategories under 

the 1997 revised OMB data collection standards. The 2010 census 

collected disaggregated Asian American race data in six specific 

subcategories, Pacific Islander race data in four subcategories, and 

an open-fill “Other” subcategory.85 More progress occurred in 

2011, when HHS incorporated these same subcategories into new 

guidance for federal health surveys implementing section 4302 of 

the Affordable Care Act.

86 The results of such disaggregated data 

collection and reporting will greatly improve understanding of diverse 

AAPI communities and allow the federal government to take steps to 

better serve the most underserved AAPI communities.87

The commission commends both the Census Bureau and HHS 

for taking an important step forward in collecting and reporting 

subcategories of disaggregated data on AAPIs. The commission 

encourages other federal agencies to collect and report disaggregated 

subcategories of AAPI racial data using the 1997 revised OMB race and 

ethnicity standards in order to provide better services to underserved 

AAPI communities.

In August 2012, OMB issued a working paper on best 

practices for collecting disaggregated data about 

AAPIs across the federal government, highlighting the 

efforts of the Department of Labor.88 The commission 

commends the Department of Labor for disaggregating 

and analyzing AAPI data from the Current Population 

Survey.89 When the disaggregated data was analyzed, 

it became clear that there are statistically significant 

differences in unemployment rates among AAPI 

populations. For example, 43.9 percent of Chinese 

Americans and 41.7 percent of Filipino Americans, two 

of the largest AAPI sub-groups, had been unemployed 

for 27 weeks and more, compared to only 37.6 percent 

of all AAPIs and 33.2 percent of non-AAPIs. 

BEST PRACTICES FOR 

DATA DISAGGREGATION

 [We have] to make sure Asian American and Pacific 

Islander communities are counted, literally, in all 

[Federal department and agency] activities. 

 Commissioner Unmi Song

WHIAAPI Executive Director Kiran Ahuja speaks at the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, 

and Pacific Islander Research and Data Convening, December 2010. (Photo by WHIAAPI)

84 Office of Management and Budget, Revisions to the Standards for the Classification of Federal Data on 

Race and Ethnicity, 62 Fed. Reg. 58782-58790 (Oct. 30,1997), available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/

omb/fedreg_1997standards/

85 Humes KR, Jones NA, and Ramirez RR. Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010. U.S. Census Bureau 

(March 2011), available at http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf

86 http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/templates/browse.aspx?lvl=2&lvlid=208

87 Beginning in January 2013, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) has been 

oversampling Asian Americans, which will result in updated health data about them. See http://www.cdc.

gov/nchs/ppt/nchs2012/SS-14_BROITMAN.pdf

88 Federal Agency Approaches to Providing Statistical Information on Detailed Asian and Native Hawaiian 

and Other Pacific Islander Groups, available at http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/

omb_spwp_on_detailed_race_groups_final_8-7-12.pdf

89 Department of Labor, “Asians in the U.S. labor force: Profile of a diverse population” (2011), available 

at http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2011/11/art1full.pdf
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 30

The initiative, with Commission Vice Chair Sefa Aina, 

hosted a meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah in September 

2011 at which the Department of Health and Human 

Services Health Resources and Services Administration 

Bureau of Primary Care presented data it had analyzed 

about the health care needs of Native Hawaiians and 

Pacific Islanders (NHPI). This was the first time that the 

bureau hosted a specific discussion about the health 

care needs of these populations, and made data and 

other information about them available to community 

leaders. In addition, HHS recently announced the 

launch of the first-ever, large-scale national health 

survey on NHPI households – the Native Hawaiian/

Pacific Islander National Health Interview Survey – to 

provide empirical data on the health concerns of the 

Pacific Islander community.90

PACIFIC ISLANDER COMMUNITY 

HEALTH DATA

The commission also commends the Department of Education for its 

Request for Information (RFI) about best practices in the collection and 

utilization of disaggregated data on AAPI students.91 Commissioners 

actively publicized the RFI, which received over 700 responses, 

including responses from 26 states, Guam, American Samoa, and the 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The initiative worked 

ENGAGING PHILANTHROPY AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS

The initiative and commission also recognize the great potential of 

building and sustaining partnerships between the federal government 

and the private sector. In October 2011 and August 2012, the 

initiative partnered with the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement 

to host Pacific Islander philanthropy forums in Honolulu. The forums 

created opportunities for partnerships among the 1,000 participants, 

representing the growing number of Native Hawaiian and Pacific 

Islander community-based organizations, with national and Hawaiibased foundations.93

closely with the Department of Education to review the responses and 

then partnered with the National Commission on Asian American and 

Pacific Islander Research in Education to conduct a two-day iCount 

symposium in June 2013 on the important issue of disaggregating 

education data.92 

These activities resulted in raising awareness on the importance 

of data disaggregation for the AAPI community, sharing of best 

practices in the collection and dissemination of AAPI granular data, 

creating regional school clusters focusing on data disaggregation, and 

encouraging foundations to invest in these efforts.

While the commission commends the progress made by federal 

departments and agencies on collecting, analyzing, and using data 

about AAPIs, more needs to be done to accurately capture the 

diversity of the AAPI community and understand the needs of specific 

racial groups. From health care needs to educational attainment rates, 

the realities of different communities in the AAPI racial categories are 

often masked. At a minimum, all federal agencies should strive to 

consistently collect and report demographic data using the 1997 

OMB standards. In addition, all federal agencies are encouraged 

to follow the example of the Census Bureau and HHS in collecting 

and reporting on separate, additional disaggregated subcategories 

for Asians and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders. . The 

commission urges federal agencies to produce comprehensive data 

reports and analyses using this further disaggregated demographic 

data on AAPI subcategories to better serve AAPIs that use or need 

their programs and resources. 

90 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/12/18/improving-data-collection-native-hawaiian-and-pacificislander-health

91 77 Fed. Reg. 26531-26534 (May 4, 2012), available at http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-05-04/

html/2012-10835.htm

92 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/12/icount-equity-through-representation

93 http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/10/25/helping-nonprofits-empower-native-hawaiian-andpacific-islander-communities

Being part of the planning process and efforts around 

engaging national philanthropy has been a very 

important part of my experience as a Commissioner. 

To see the sea of Asian American and Pacific Islander 

faces gathered together in the auditorium was aweinspiring for me, especially considering that sitting in 

the audience were board chairs and CEO’s of some of 

our largest national philanthropic foundations. 

 Commissioner Hyeok Kim
31 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

Commissioners Kamuela Enos, Hyeok Kim, and Unmi Song identified 

key opportunities on which to focus the public-private partnership 

discussions, which they presented at a briefing on public-private 

partnerships at the Grantmakers in Health Annual Meeting in March 

2013. They also recently partnered with the Ford Foundation to 

highlight the increasing rates of poverty in the AAPI communities, 

ongoing issues for Native Hawaiians, and strategies to seed and 

leverage innovation in AAPI communities. Other key foundation 

participants included the Bill & Melinda Gates, W.K. Kellogg, and 

Kresge foundations, and the Pacific Island Philanthropy Connection. 

Then in June 2013, the initiative joined the Council on Foundations’ 

federal philanthropic liaison working group as a regular member.

This group is a forum for sharing best practices and current 

information and for collaborating on public-private partnerships.

Private philanthropic support has been critical to AAPI-specific 

initiatives and efforts, such as the implementation of the Affordable 

Care Act and the iCount symposium. These advancements in 

community engagement have been both fruitful and successful, 

but the diversity and growth of AAPI communities require ongoing 

engagement efforts. Foundations play an important role in leveraging 

federal funds to accelerate needed programs and policies that support 

AAPI communities. 

In April 2012, the initiative organized the National 

Philanthropic Briefing on the Asian American/Pacific 

Islander Community at the White House with over 

200 participants. Attendees came from many private 

and community foundations, as well as from the Asian 

Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP). 

Three national foundations – the Ford Foundation, 

W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Kresge Foundation 

– announced grants totaling $1 million to support 

planning to build public-private partnerships between 

the federal government and philanthropy focused on 

the unmet needs of AAPIs.94 

AAPI NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC BRIEFING

94 http://aapip.org/our-stories/ford-kresge-and-kellogg-foundations-join-in-1m-planning-initiative-foraapi-communities

IN SUMMARY

Today, the commission is proud of all it has accomplished, from its 

community engagement efforts to educational roundtables that 

initiate lasting relationships between AAPI communities and federal 

agencies. We hope our legacy will be the transformative interagency 

collaborations that lead to greater cooperation, break down silos, and 

uncover new solutions to tackle real-world issues. By addressing these 

cross-cutting issues of federal workforce representation, language 

access, and data disaggregation, federal departments and agencies 

can and should be more effective in meeting the needs of AAPIs and 

fulfilling their mission to serve the American people. 

Commissioners Hector Vargas and Ramey Ko meet with community leaders and Mayor 

Annise Parker at the AAPI Texas Regional Conference in Houston, TX on February 23, 2013. 

(Photo courtesy of Edmund Chiang)
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 32

SECTION FOUR:

RECOMMENDATIONS TO 

FEDERAL DEPARTMENTS 

AND AGENCIES
33 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

SECTION FOUR:

RECOMMENDATIONS TO FEDEARAL 

DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

After reflecting on the collective and individual interactions with 

federal departments and agencies over the past four years, the 

President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders makes the following recommendations.

RECOMMENDATIONS ON ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER 

PRIORITY ISSUES

• Increase financial support for Asian American and Native 

American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs) 

commensurate with the rapid and increased growth of the AAPI 

community and its student populations.

• Analyze Minority Serving Institutions funding investment, to 

determine practices and policies that yield strong student 

outcomes, and work with institutions to scale best practices.

• Analyze the results from AAPI and Muslim community 

studies that have found that a significant percentage of these 

populations experience bullying and harassment; then develop 

a specific campaign to inform these communities of federal 

protections and the complaint process, and align investigations to 

reflect any disparity in total numbers.

• Promote native languages and culture-based education as an 

important value and pathway to student success. 

EDUCATION

Secretary Arne Duncan addresses an audience at the AAPI Inaugural Welcome Briefing at 

the Department of Education on January 18, 2013. (Photo courtesy of Edmund Chiang)
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 34

SMALL BUSINESS AND ECONOMIC 

GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES

• Encourage the General Services Administration and the Office of 

Federal Procurement Policy to mandate disaggregating minority 

contracting data in order to truly understand what proportion 

of contracting dollars are allocated to AAPI-owned businesses as 

main contractors and sub-contractors. 

• Encourage all federal offices of Small and Disadvantaged Business 

Utilization to develop targeted strategies for engaging and 

increasing contract opportunities for small and mid-sized AAPI 

businesses. 

• Institute a government-wide approach to promote an economic 

strategy for the Asia-Pacific region; in addition, target AAPI 

enterprises in order to leverage relationships, and ongoing trade 

and investment opportunities. 

• Assess AAPI health disparities as identified through disaggregated 

data analysis, and adjust federal efforts for and investments in 

correcting them. Increase funding for health research on AAPIs 

and for services for prevention and alleviation of the disease 

conditions prevalent among AAPIs. 

• Expand workforce development programs to bring AAPIs into 

health care fields where they are underrepresented.

• Build the capacity of AAPIs to compete for government funding 

to reach medically underserved AAPI populations. This includes 

increasing the ability of AAPI health providers to compete in the 

solicitation process and manage funds once awarded. 

• Expand language access to and cultural competency of federal 

health programs for limited English proficient groups so they can 

better utilize available services. 

HEALTH EQUITY

COMMONSENSE IMMIGRATION REFORM AND 

IMMIGRANT INTERGRATION

• Assess refugee support systems, grant programs, and state 

refugee networks in order to develop new partnerships or 

policies that ensure new refugees are more effectively integrated 

into their host communities. All federal agencies should conduct 

targeted engagement of new refugee communities. 

• Create a federal office of immigrant integration to facilitate 

English language proficiency, civic engagement, financial selfsufficiency, and upward economic mobility. This office should 

promote best practices for immigrant integration at the national, 

state, and local levels. 

• Continue to ensure our nation’s immigration enforcement 

priorities are aligned with our nation’s values. 

• Raise the national minimum wage so that AAPI low-wage workers 

and their families have the opportunity to earn fair wages and 

move into the middle class.

• Issue updated guidance that expands the definition of profiling to 

include religion, national origin, gender, and sexual orientation, 

where civil rights and liberties are impacted. The Department 

of Justice should also fully implement the guidance and train all 

federal law enforcement officials, agents, and civil rights offices to 

ensure effective monitoring and compliance.

• Create a national Hate Crimes Task Force that coordinates efforts 

across key agencies to address a rise in hate crimes that affect 

diverse communities.

• Ensure that all federal policies impacting families and married 

couples are inclusive of LGBTQ partners and families. Ensure the 

full implementation of the Supreme Court’s decision in the U.S. v. 

Windsor ruling that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act

is unconstitutional.

CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL LIBERTIES
35 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

RECOMMENDATIONS ON CROSS-CUTTING INTERAGENCY WORKING 

GROUP ISSUE AREAS

• Promote advancement opportunities for AAPIs with subject 

matter expertise in leadership and decision-making positions 

throughout each federal department or agency, especially in 

Senior Executive Service (SES) positions. Encourage federal 

agencies to provide supervisory support for AAPI candidates’ 

participation in training and mentorship programs, and make 

diversity in employment a positive factor in the evaluation of 

managerial performance.

• Improve the collection, documentation, and analyses of 

workforce data in each federal department and agency; it is 

especially important that this data be disaggregated among 

AAPIs to identify where underrepresentation occurs in particular 

sectors of the federal government. 

• Implement policies to identify and recruit a diverse pool of 

qualified candidates from internship positions to SES, including 

Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, and underrepresented Asian 

Americans in every federal department and agency. 

FEDERAL WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

• Require each federal department and agency to conduct a 

comprehensive assessment to evaluate the quality and utility 

of in-language materials and the language access needs of all 

potential users of federal programs; the assessment should be 

conducted both at the national and regional levels.

• Review all vital documents (especially applications, forms, 

appeals, and notices), public information, and public engagement 

materials, and develop specific work plans, timelines, and 

budgets to systematically translate these materials into the 

languages that are identified in the assessment.

• Review each federal department and agency website to upload 

and make easily available all its translated materials. The online 

resources should be made easy to identify and navigate for 

limited English proficient users.

• Consider contracting with AAPI community-based organizations 

to provide interpretation and translation services on an ongoing 

basis, especially to meet the needs of underserved and emerging 

language populations.

LANGUAGE ACCESS

• Standardize data collection and reporting of all federal agency 

data to be in compliance with the 1997 Office of Management 

and Budget’s revised standards.

• Collect, analyze, and report disaggregated subcategories of data 

about Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. 

For federal departments and agencies that have not implemented 

disaggregated subcategories data collection, use the Census 

Bureau and HHS data collection models to develop specific plans 

and timelines to implement the use of these disaggregated 

subcategories for data collection about Asian Americans and 

Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders.

• Maintain up-to-date, disaggregated demographic data about 

AAPI communities, using publicly accessible data from the Census 

Bureau, including the American Community Survey.

• Expand the American Community Survey, among other data 

collection efforts across agencies, to Pacific Island jurisdictions.

DISAGGREGATED DATA ABOUT ASIAN AMERICANS AND 

PACIFIC ISLANDERS

President Obama meets with national AAPI leaders. (Photo by WHIAAPI)
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 36

• Expand and create technical assistance opportunities, 

trainings, and capacity building tools to target and include AAPI 

communities so that they can access federal resources and 

partner with federal agencies.

• Continue to develop and sustain working relationships with 

state and local AAPI commissions and advisory bodies, especially 

through the Regional Interagency Working Group and regional 

offices of federal departments and agencies.

• Continue to develop and sustain partnerships with employers, 

foundations, and philanthropic organizations to leverage 

private-sector resources to meet the needs of underserved AAPI 

communities.

CAPACITY-BUILDING AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE 

PARTNERSHIPS

RECOMMENDATIONS TO ASIAN 

AMERICAN AND PACIFIC 

ISLANDER COMMUNITIES

• Actively monitor and hold federal departments and agencies 

accountable for making progress on their AAPI agency plans and 

language access plans under Executive Order 13166 by providing 

public comments and feedback.

• Help the federal government be responsive to the AAPI 

community by maintaining relationships and developing 

partnerships with key offices; sharing community stories about 

federal programs to bring 

the human face and 

impact of government 

policies; and continuing 

to educate and inform 

agencies by inviting 

them to briefings, 

events, forums, press 

conferences, and similar 

engaging events.

• Participate and 

partner with the Regional 

Interagency Working 

Group on community 

roundtables and events, 

and offer community 

recommendations. 

• Use and disseminate translated materials available from federal 

departments and agencies; provide community-tested feedback 

to continually improve the literacy, accuracy, and usability of such 

translated materials.

• Actively seek appointments to federal advisory commissions, 

subject matter expert panels, and grant review panels to share 

AAPI community perspectives.

• Encourage AAPI students and youths to seek internships and 

fellowships with the federal government, and participate in youth 

leadership development programs and activities.

The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders also has recommendations for AAPI communities to improve 

their effectiveness in engaging with federal departments and agencies:

• Provide orientation, training, 

and continuing education about 

AAPIs for all department or 

agency staff (as part of overall 

federal employee and manager 

orientation, training, and 

continuing education activities).

• Participate in the initiative’s 

regional interagency working 

groups to ensure ongoing and 

regular community engagement 

with AAPI communities. 

Periodically host AAPI 

community members to meet 

with staff at federal departments 

and agencies in order to assess AAPI communities’ needs and 

conduct follow-up engagement by providing targeted technical 

assistance.

• Schedule AAPI community outreach events during non-regular 

business hours to maximize participation and attendance; 

federal department and agency staff must have the flexibility 

and support to meet with AAPI communities during non- regular 

business hours and outside of their federal government offices, 

with compensation.

• Consider inexpensive online resources, such as a Google 

Hangout, for community engagement with the AAPI community. 

Any interpretation or translation services provided by the 

community or individual should be compensated by the hosting 

federal agency. 

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Native Hawaiian community members meet with first lady Michelle Obama, in Waianae, 

Hawaii, Nov. 12, 2011. (Photo courtesy of the White House)
37 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

CONCLUSION
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 38

CONCLUSION

...that’s why I’m signing this executive order today...

when any of our citizens are unable to fulfill their 

potential due to factors that have nothing to do with 

their talent, character, or work ethic, then I believe 

there’s a role for our government to play. Not to 

guarantee anybody’s success or to solve everybody’s 

problems, but to ensure that we’re living up to our 

ideals, to ensure that we can each pursue our own 

version of happiness, and that we can continue to 

be a nation where all things are still possible for 

all people... All that is the mission of this Initiative 

and Commission – to work with agencies and 

departments across our government to improve the 

health, education, and economic status of Asian 

American and Pacific Islander communities.

 President Barack Obama, White House Signing of

 Executive Order 13515, Oct. 14, 200995

This report has detailed the work of the President’s Advisory 

Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the White 

House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from 

September 2010 to December 2013. At the heart of this effort is the 

belief that our collective strength comes from different people — 

with different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different 

dreams — working together across sectors and at every level. We 

hope that our vision of the American Mosaic will help AAPIs and all 

Americans to better build an America of shared prosperity and equal 

opportunity. 

The President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and 

Pacific Islanders and White House Initiative on Asian Americans and 

Pacific Islanders sought to embody the best aspects of the federal 

government. We tried to assist in prioritizing solutions that break 

through silos, used new technology to reach far-flung communities, 

and sought, through a variety of means, to demonstrate the federal 

government’s continuing commitment to the values of diversity, 

inclusion, and equity. Still, despite the progress made over the past 

four years, much remains to be done on behalf of AAPI communities. 

The commission recommends even greater efforts by the federal 

government to be responsive to the needs of this fastest growing 

segment of the nation’s population so that together we can build a 

better America — one with an economy that works for all, policies 

that strengthen the individual, the community and the nation, and a 

government that serves everyone.

95 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-aapi-initiative-executiveorder-signing-and-diwali-event

= AAPI community leaders join Kiran Ahuja (second from left), Commission Chair Daphne 

Kwok (center), and former Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary Chris Lu (far 

right) at the AAPI Midwest Regional Summit in Columbus, OH on July 3, 2012. (Photo 

courtesy of Edmund Chiang)
39 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the 

laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

APPENDIX A: EXECUTIVE ORDER 13515

INCREASING PARTICIPATION OF ASIAN AMERICANS 

AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS IN FEDERAL PROGRAMS

The more than 16 million Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) 

across our country have helped build a strong and vibrant America. 

The AAPI communities represent many ethnicities and languages that 

span generations, and their shared achievements are an important 

part of the American experience. They have started businesses 

and generated jobs, including founding some of our Nation’s most 

successful and innovative enterprises. The AAPI communities have 

made important contributions to science and technology, culture 

and the arts, and the professions, including business, law, medicine, 

education, and politics.

While we acknowledge the many contributions of the AAPI 

communities to our Nation, we also recognize the challenges still faced 

by many AAPIs. Of the more than a million AAPI-owned businesses, 

many firms are small sole-proprietorships that continue to need 

assistance to access available resources such as business development 

counseling and small business loans. The AAPI community 

also continues to face barriers to employment and workplace 

advancement. Specific challenges experienced by AAPI subgroups 

include lower college-enrollment rates by Pacific Islanders than other 

ethnic groups and high poverty rates among Hmong Americans, 

Cambodian Americans, Malaysian Americans, and other individual 

AAPI communities. Additionally, one in five non-elderly AAPIs lacks 

health insurance.

The purpose of this order is to establish a President’s Advisory 

Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and a White 

House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Each 

will work to improve the quality of life and opportunities for Asian 

Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased access to, and 

participation in, Federal programs in which they may be underserved. 

In addition, each will work to advance relevant evidence-based 

research, data collection, and analysis for AAPI populations and 

subpopulations.

SECTION 1: POLICY SECTION 2: PRESIDENT’S ADVISORY 

COMMISSION ON ASIAN AMERICANS 

AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS

There is established in the Department of Education the President’s 

Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 

(Commission).

(a) Mission and Function of the Commission.

The Commission shall provide advice to the President, through 

the Secretaries of Education and Commerce, as Co-Chairs of the 

Initiative described in section 3 of this order, on: (i) the development, 

monitoring, and coordination of executive branch efforts to improve 

the quality of life of AAPIs through increased participation in Federal 

programs in which such persons may be underserved; (ii) the 

compilation of research and data related to AAPI populations and 

subpopulations; (iii) the development, monitoring, and coordination of 

Federal efforts to improve the economic and community development 

of AAPI businesses; and (iv) strategies to increase public and privatesector collaboration, and community involvement in improving the 

health, education, environment, and well-being of AAPIs.

(b) Membership of the Commission.

The Commission shall consist of not more than 20 members appointed 

by the President. The Commission shall include members who: (i) 

have a history of involvement with the AAPI communities; (ii) are from 

the fields of education, commerce, business, health, human services, 

housing, environment, arts, agriculture, labor and employment, 

transportation, justice, veterans affairs, and economic and community 

development; (iii) are from civic associations representing one or more 

of the diverse AAPI communities; or (iv) have such other experience 

as the President deems appropriate. The President shall designate 

one member of the Commission to serve as Chair, who shall convene 

regular meetings of the Commission, determine its agenda, and direct 

its work.

(c) Administration of the Commission.

The Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Secretary of 

Commerce, shall designate an Executive Director for the Commission. 
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 40

The Department of Education shall provide funding and administrative 

support for the Commission to the extent permitted by law and within 

existing appropriations. Members of the Commission shall serve 

without compensation, but shall be allowed travel expenses, including 

per diem in lieu of subsistence, as authorized by law for persons 

serving intermittently in the Government service (5 U.S.C. 5701-5707). 

Insofar as the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. 

App.) (the “Act”),may apply to the administration of the Commission, 

any functions of the President under the Act, except that of reporting 

to the Congress, shall be performed by the Secretary of Education, in 

accordance with the guidelines issued by the Administrator of General 

Services.

(d) Termination Date.

The Commission shall terminate 2 years from the date of this order, 

unless renewed by the President.

SECTION 3: WHITE HOUSE INITIATIVE 

ON ASIAN AMERICANS AND PACIFIC 

ISLANDERS

There is established the White House Initiative on Asian Americans 

and Pacific Islanders (Initiative), a Federal interagency working group 

whose members shall be selected by their respective agencies. The 

Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of Education shall serve 

as the Co-Chairs of the Initiative. The Executive Director of the 

Commission established in section 2 of this order shall also serve 

as the Executive Director of the Initiative and shall report to the 

Secretaries on Initiative matters.

(a) Mission and Function of the Initiative.

The Initiative shall work to improve the quality of life of AAPIs 

through increased participation in Federal programs in which AAPIs 

may be underserved. The Initiative shall advise the Co-Chairs on the 

implementation and coordination of Federal programs as they relate 

to AAPIs across executive departments and agencies.

(b) Membership of the Initiative.

In addition to the Co-Chairs, the Initiative shall consist of senior 

officials from the following executive branch departments, agencies, 

and offices:

(i) the Department of State;

(ii) the Department of the Treasury;

(iii) the Department of Defense;

(iv) the Department of Justice;

(v) the Department of the Interior;

(vi) the Department of Agriculture;

(vii) the Department of Labor;

(viii) the Department of Housing and Urban Development;

(ix) the Department of Transportation;

(x) the Department of Energy;

(xi) the Department of Health and Human Services;

(xii) the Department of Veterans Affairs;

(xiii) the Department of Homeland Security;

(xiv) the Office of Management and Budget;

(xv) the Environmental Protection Agency;

(xvi) the Small Business Administration;

(xvii) the Office of Personnel Management;

(xviii) the Social Security Administration;

(xix) the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs;

(xx) the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs

 and Public Engagement;

(xxi) the National Economic Council;

(xxii) the Domestic Policy Council;

(xxiii) the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and

(xxiv) other executive branch departments, agencies,

 and offices as the President may, from time to

 time, designate.

At the direction of the Co-Chairs, the Initiative may establish 

subgroups consisting exclusively of Initiative members or their 

designees under this section, as appropriate.

(c) Administration of the Initiative.

The Department of Education shall provide funding and administrative 

support for the Initiative to the extent permitted by law and within 

existing appropriations. The Co-Chairs shall convene regular meetings 

of the Initiative, determine its agenda, and direct its work.

(d) Federal Agency Plans and Interagency Plan.

Each executive department and agency designated by the Initiative 

shall prepare a plan (agency plan) for, and shall document, its efforts 

to improve the quality of life of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders 

through increased participation in Federal programs in which 

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders may be underserved. Where 

appropriate, this agency plan shall address, among other things, the 

agency’s efforts to:
41 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

(i) identify Federal programs in which AAPIs may be

 underserved and improve the quality of life for AAPIs

 through increased participation in these programs;

(ii) identify ways to foster the recruitment, career

 development, and advancement of AAPIs in the

 Federal Government;

(iii) identify high-priority action items for which measurable

 progress may be achieved within 2 years to improve the

 health, environment, opportunity, and well-being of AAPIs,

 and implement those action items;

(iv) increase public-sector, private-sector, and community

 involvement in improving the health, environment,

 opportunity, and well-being of AAPIs;

(v) foster evidence-based research, data-collection, and

 analysis on AAPI populations and subpopulations, including

 research and data on public health, environment, education,

 housing, employment, and other economic indicators of

 AAPI community well¬being; and

(vi) solicit public input from AAPI communities on ways to

 increase and improve opportunities for public participation

 in Federal programs considering a number of factors,

 including language barriers.

Each agency, in its plan, shall provide appropriate measurable 

objectives and, after the first year, shall provide for the assessment 

of that agency’s performance on the goals set in the previous year’s 

plan. Each agency plan shall be submitted to the Co-Chairs by a date 

to be established by the Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs shall review the 

agency plans and develop for submission to the President a Federal 

interagency plan to improve the quality of life of AAPIs through 

increased participation in Federal programs in which such persons 

may be underserved. Actions described in the Federal interagency 

plan shall address improving access by AAPIs to Federal programs and 

fostering advances in relevant research and data.

SECTION 4: GENERAL PROVISIONS

(a) This order supersedes Executive Order 13125 of June 7, 1999, and 

Executive Order 13339 of May 13, 2004.

(b) The heads of executive departments and agencies shall assist and 

provide information to the Commission, consistent with applicable law, 

as may be necessary to carry out the functions of the Commission. 

Each executive department and agency shall bear its own expenses of 

participating in the Commission.

(c) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) authority granted by law to an executive department,

 agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) functions of the Director of the Office of Management

 and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or

 legislative proposals.

(d) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and 

subject to the availability of appropriations.

(e) For purposes of this order, the term “Asian American and Pacific 

Islander” includes persons within the jurisdiction of the United States 

having ancestry of any of the original peoples of East Asia, Southeast 

Asia, or South Asia, or any of the aboriginal, indigenous, or native 

peoples of Hawaii and other Pacific Islands.

(f) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or 

benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity 

by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or 

entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

BARACK OBAMA

THE WHITE HOUSE,

October 14, 2009.
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 42

APPENDIX B:

BIOGRAPHIES OF MEMBERS OF THE PRESIDENT’S 

ADVISORY COMMISSION ON ASIAN AMERICANS 

AND PACIFIC ISLANDERS

Commissioners meet in Las Vegas, 2011. (Photo by WHIAAPI)

Daphne Kwok, Chair

Daphne Kwok is currently vice president of multicultural markets 

and engagement for the Asian American & Pacific Islander audience 

at AARP. Previously she was executive director of Asians and Pacific 

Islanders with Disabilities of California, Angel Island Immigration 

Station Foundation, Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional 

Studies and OCA. During her term at OCA, Kwok was elected the 

first chair of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. Her 

work with federal agencies has included serving on the Secretary of 

Energy’s Advisory Board; testifying before the U.S. Commission on Civil 

Rights; and reviewing grants for the Department of Health and Human 

Services’ Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration. 

Kwok served on the board of trustees for Wesleyan University, where 

she earned her bachelor’s degree.

Iosefa “Sefa” Fa’amaini Aina, Vice Chair

Sefa Aina is associate dean and director of the Asian American 

Resource Center at Pomona College. Aina has worked to create 

campus and community partnerships that further the co-curricular 

learning of his students, while also helping to build the capacity and 

resources of the larger Asian American and Pacific Islander community. 

He is a founding member of Pacific Islander Education and Retention 

at UCLA, the National Pacific Islander Educators Network, and 

Empowering Pacific Islander Communities. Aina graduated from the 

University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) with a bachelor’s degree 

in history and is currently completing a master’s degree in Asian 

American Studies, also at UCLA.
43 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

Debra T. Cabrera

Debra T. Cabrera is currently on the social science faculty at St. 

John’s School located in Tumon, Guam and teaches part-time in 

the sociology program at the University of Guam. From 2008 to 

2009, Cabrera was dean of academic programs and services at 

the Northern Marianas College in Saipan, Commonwealth of the 

Northern Mariana Islands. Prior to that, she served as a faculty 

member at the college, earning recognition for her teaching in 

the social sciences. She has been active in the Northern Mariana 

Islands Council for the Humanities, where she served as the board 

chair. Cabrera holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of 

Kentucky, a master’s degree in sociology from Ohio University, and

a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Washington State University.

May Y. Chen

May Y. Chen is an adjunct professor at the City University of New 

York, where she teaches labor studies. Previously, Chen was vice 

president for Workers United, Service Employees International 

Union, representing immigrant garment workers in New York City 

for more than 25 years. Prior to this, she was an adjunct professor 

at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and California 

State University at Long Beach. Chen is a founding member of 

the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, serving on its New York 

Chapter Board, and is also board president of the New York State 

Immigrant Action Fund. She holds a bachelor’s degree in East Asian 

Studies from Harvard/Radcliffe College and a master’s degree in 

education from UCLA.

Kamuela J. N. Enos

Kamuela Enos is currently the director of community resource 

development at MA`O Organic Farms, where he works with lowincome communities to combat major health issues and promote 

sustainable agriculture. He previously worked at Empower Oahu 

on economic and community development initiatives and with the 

Department of Urban and Regional Planning, where he served as a 

research assistant in the Office of Youth Services Strategic Planning 

Process. He is a director of the Hawaii Rural Development Council. 

Enos holds a bachelor’s degree in Hawaiian studies and a master’s 

degree in urban and regional planning from the University of 

Hawai`i at Manoa.

Frances Enseki Francis

Frances E. Francis was a partner with Spiegel & McDiarmid 

LLP, a Washington, D.C. law firm specializing in energy, 

telecommunications, and regulatory matters, and is currently of 

counsel to the firm. Francis has worked primarily in the fields of 

hydroelectric regulation, nuclear decommissioning, and electric rate 

regulation and contract negotiations. She has also been a visiting 

professor at George Washington University Law School, an attorney 

with the Federal Power Commission, and a consultant for the Energy 

Policy Project and the New England River Basin Commission. Francis 

holds a bachelor’s degree from Dickinson College, a bachelor of laws 

degree from Yale Law School, and a master’s in public administration 

from Harvard University.

Farooq Kathwari

Farooq Kathwari is the chairman, president, and CEO of Ethan Allen 

Interiors Inc. Kathwari serves at several nonprofit organizations, 

including as chairman emeritus of Refugees International, a member 

of board of overseers of the International Rescue Committee, 

advisory board member of the Center for Strategic and International 

Studies, and a director and former chairman of the National Retail 

Federation. He has received several recognitions, including the 

Outstanding American by Choice award from the U.S. government, 

the Eleanor Roosevelt Val-Kill Medal, the National Human Relations 

Award from the American Jewish Committee, the National Retail 

Federation gold medal, and the Entrepreneurial Excellence Award 

from the National Association of Asian MBAs. He received a 

bachelor’s degree in English literature and political science from 

Kashmir University and a Master of Business Administration in 

international marketing from New York University.

Hyeok Kim

Hyeok Kim is deputy mayor for external affairs for the City of Seattle. 

Most recently, Kim was executive director of the Interim Community 

Development Association in Seattle’s Chinatown/International 

District. Prior to that, she was a senior policy analyst for the speaker 

of the House and House Democratic Caucus in the Washington State 

Legislature. Kim was a 2010 Marshall Memorial Fellow and a 2010–11 

Annie E. Casey Foundation Children and Family Fellow. Northwest 

Asian Weekly named her a 2008 Top Contributor to the Asian 

Community. She was born in Seoul, South Korea, and immigrated to 

the United States when she was five years old. Kim is a graduate of 

Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

Ramey Ko

Ramey Ko is a partner at the law firm of Jung Ko, PLLC, and a lecturer 

in Asian American studies at the University of Texas. He previously 

practiced with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid and the Texas Advocacy 

Project. In January 2010, Ramey was appointed as the first Asian 

American judge in Travis County and served as an associate municipal 

judge through 2013. He is a board member of the Austin Asian 

American Resource Center, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress, the 

Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, and GlobalAustin, and 

a delegate of Local 1624 of the American Federation of State, County, 

and Municipal Employees on the Central Labor Council. Ramey 

graduated from Yale University in 2002 with a degree in history and 

with honors from the University of Chicago Law School in 2006. 
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 44

Rozita Villanueva Lee

Rozita Lee currently works with the Latin Chamber of Commerce 

Community Foundation to provide Affordable Care Act outreach to 

the AAPI community. Previously, Lee owned Drums of the Islands 

Polynesian Entertainment, served as special assistant to former 

Nevada Gov. Bob Miller and as vice president of Nevada Economic 

Development Company. She serves on the board of OCA-Las Vegas 

(OCA-LV), Asian and Pacific Islander Connection, National Federation 

of Filipino American Associations-Las Vegas, Women of Diversity, and 

Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Nevada. She is 

a charter member of the Las Vegas Hawaiian Civic Club and was the 

founding board chairwoman of the LV Asian Chamber of Commerce. 

The Nevada state legislature presented Lee with the Jean Ford 

Democracy Award in 2013. Filipina Women’s Network named her one 

of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the U.S. in 2007 and one 

of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the World in 2013. 

Tung Thanh Nguyen

Dr. Tung Thanh Nguyen is a professor of medicine and the Stephen 

J. McPhee, MD Endowed Chair in General Internal Medicine at the 

University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Nguyen also serves as 

director of the Asian American Research Center on Health, director of 

the Vietnamese Community Health Promotion Project, and a principal 

investigator of the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, 

Research and Training. Dr. Nguyen received the American Cancer 

Society Control Career Development Award in 2002 and was the chair 

of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Team of the American 

Cancer Society. Prior to working at UCSF, he was an instructor in 

medicine at Harvard Medical School as well as an assistant in medicine 

at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Nguyen holds a bachelor’s 

degree in philosophy from Harvard University and an M.D. from the 

Stanford School of Medicine.

Apolo Anton Ohno

Three-time Olympian Apolo Ohno has been the top short-track skater 

in the United States, winning eight Olympic medals to break the record 

for the most career winter medals by a U.S. Olympian. In 2001, Ohno 

became the first American to win the overall World Cup for the 2000–

01 season. Ohno then won the overall title twice more, in 2003 and 

2005. Ohno has won every national title since 2001, earning his 10th 

consecutive win in September 2009, and has 12 overall national titles. 

In 2012, Ohno competed on “Dancing with the Stars,” winning the 

competition for the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy with partner Julianne 

Hough. Ohno also appeared on Bravo’s “Project Runway” as a guest 

judge in 2008. Currently, he can be seen on Game Show Network’s 

new series “Minute to Win It.” 

Sunil Puri

Sunil Puri is the president and sole owner of First Rockford Group, 

Inc., a real estate development firm he founded in 1984. Puri was 

also the former director of two U.S. banks, and is the co-founder and 

part owner of Road Ranger, an over 90-unit truck stop and petroleum 

company. Puri is actively involved with the Young Presidents 

Organization (YPO) and the International Council of Shopping Centers 

(ICSC). He serves on the executive committee and as a trustee of 

Rockford University. He has been involved with the Golden Apple 

Foundation since 2003, which annually awards outstanding teachers 

in the Rockford area and also recognizes area principals with the 

Outstanding Puri Principal Award, and assistant principals with the 

Puri Assistant Principal Development Program. Puri holds a Bachelor 

of Science in accounting from Rockford College. He has also pursued 

graduate work at Rockford College and London Business School, as 

well as continuing executive courses at Harvard Business School.

Amardeep Singh

Amardeep Singh is the co-founder and presently the director of 

programs at the Sikh Coalition, the nation’s largest Sikh civil rights 

organization. Prior to joining the coalition in 2002, Singh worked 

as a researcher in the U.S. Program of Human Rights Watch (HRW). 

While there, he authored its report “We Are Not the Enemy: Hate 

Crimes Against Arabs, Muslims, and Those Perceived to be Arab or 

Muslim after September 11.” Singh was also an adjunct professor 

at Columbia University’s Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race, 

where he taught a course on the intersection of ethnic identity and 

the law. He currently serves on the board of directors of the South 

Asian Bar Association of New York. Singh holds a bachelor’s degree 

from Rutgers University and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve 

University School of Law.

Unmi Song

Unmi Song is president of the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. Prior to this, 

she worked at the Joyce Foundation. Before she moved into the 

nonprofit sector, Song was a vice president at Bankers Trust Company 

and held positions at Citicorp Investment Bank in New York City, at 

the First National Bank of Chicago, and at Gold Star Tele-Electric 

Company in Seoul, South Korea. She currently serves on the boards 

of the Donors Forum of Illinois and the Alliance for the Great Lakes. 

She has served as board chair at the Asian American Justice Center 

and as a board member of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in 

Philanthropy. Song holds a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Business 

Administration from the University of Chicago.

Dilawar A. Syed

Dilawar Syed is president of Freshdesk’s U.S. business, which is 

the world’s fastest growing customer management company. 

Previously, he was CEO at Yonja Media Group and head of strategy 

and operations for Yahoo!’s Platform Division. Syed started his career 

at Deloitte Consulting and Ernst & Young. He is a board member 

and past president of OPEN Silicon Valley, and serves on the board 

of OPEN Global. He has participated in the U.S. State Department’s 
45 BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC

entrepreneurship delegations to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. 

In 2013, Syed joined the board of directors of the Asian Law Caucus. 

He holds a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton 

School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from 

the University of Texas at Austin.

Khampha Thephavong

Dr. Khampha Thephavong is a primary care physician at the Veterans 

Affairs Hospital in Fresno, Calif. She also serves on the board of the 

Laotian-American Community of Fresno. Dr. Thephavong holds a 

Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the California State University of 

Fresno and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Ohio University 

College of Osteopathic Medicine.

Doua Thor

Doua Thor is a senior advisor for the White House Initiative on Asian 

Americans and Pacific Islanders and a senior fellow with the National 

Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development. Thor 

was appointed to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission for 

Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from 2010 to 2013. Prior to 

joining the initiative, Thor was the executive director of the Southeast 

Asia Resource Action Center for nearly nine years. She has served 

on numerous board of directors for organizations, and the executive 

committee of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. Thor 

was a New Voices Fellow in 2002, a German Marshall Memorial Fellow 

in 2008, an Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute 

Fellow in 2009, and a Health and Aging Policy Fellow in 2013. She 

earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan and 

her Bachelor of Arts from Wayne State University.

Hector L. Vargas, Jr.

Hector Leonard Perez Vargas, Jr. is executive director of the GLMA: 

Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality (formerly known as 

the Gay & Lesbian Medical Association), a non-profit association 

of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) health care 

professionals. From 2001 to 2010, Vargas worked at Lambda Legal, 

first as the Southern regional director and later as deputy director of 

the Education and Public Affairs Department, where he played key 

leadership roles in the organization’s education and communication 

strategies. Prior to joining Lambda Legal, he worked at the National 

Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the American Bar Association’s Section 

of Individual Rights and Responsibilities, the U.S. Department of 

Commerce’s Ethics Division, and Equal Justice Works. Vargas holds a 

J.D. and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia.

Hines Ward

Hines Ward is a former wide receiver for the National Football League 

and a current NBC studio analyst who played 14 seasons for the 

Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League. He was voted 

Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl XL, is a two-time Super Bowl 

champion and a four-time Pro Bowler, and was named the Steelers’ 

2008 Walter Payton Man of the Year. He is actively involved in various 

philanthropic initiatives, including starting his own foundation, 

the Hines Ward Helping Hands Foundation, in both the U.S. and 

Korea to help mixed-race children suffering from discrimination. He 

actively participates with the Caring Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis 

Foundation, and Pearl S. Buck International. Ward has been featured 

as ABC’s Person of the Week and on the covers of Newsweek, Time 

magazine, Esquire, Sports Illustrated, Moves magazine, and Whirl, and 

as one of GQ’s 2009 Men of the Year.
BUILDING THE AMERICAN MOSIAC 46

APPENDIX C:

STATE AND LOCAL ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC 

ISLANDER COMMISSIONS

California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs

http://caapicommission.org/cms/index.php

Connecticut Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission

http://ctapaac.com/

Council of Asian Pacific Minnesotans

http://mn.gov/capm/

Denver Asian Pacific American Commission

www.denvergov.org/AsianPacificAmerican

District of Columbia Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs

http://apia.dc.gov/

Georgia Asian American and Pacific Islander Task Force

http://www.aapilegislativeday-ga.com/aapi-commission-history.html

Illinois Governor’s Asian American Employment Plan Advisory Council

http://appointments.illinois.gov/appointmentsDetail.cfm?id=442

Iowa Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs

http://www.iowacapi.org/

Maryland Governor’s Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs

http://www.asian.maryland.gov/

Maryland Governor’s Commission on South Asian Affairs

http://www.southasian.maryland.gov/

Montgomery County, Maryland Asian American Advisory Group

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/partnerships/community/

asianadvisory.html

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts Asian American Commission

http://www.aacommission.org/

Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission

http://www.michigan.gov/mdcr/0,4613,7-138-58275_54859---,00.html

Ohio Asian American Pacific Islander Advisory Council

http://aapi.ohio.gov/

Oregon Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs

http://www.oregon.gov/ocapia/Pages/index.aspx

Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission on Asian 

American Affairs

http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=210

71&parentname=ObjMgr&parentid=22&mode=2

Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission for Asian American Affairs

http://www.phila.gov/mcaaa//index.html

Virginia Asian Advisory Board

http://www.vaab.virginia.gov/

Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs

http://www.capaa.wa.gov/