Asian Americans United (Philadelphia, PA)
Asian Americans United’s (AAU) mission is to build leadership in Asian American communities in Philadelphia to form coalitions around quality education, youth leadership, anti-Asian violence, immigrant rights, and cultural maintenance. They have been successful in initiating a lawsuit with the School District of Philadelphia in 2009 after a group of Asian immigrant students were attacked inside and outside of a high school, founding the Folk Arts-Cultural Treasures Charter School, which aims to address the needs of Asian American students and immigrants in an underserved neighborhood, and developing youth leadership groups through their Community Youth Leadership Project.6 Their youth leadership programs allow high school and college-aged youth to foster a sense of activism and pride in their communities by giving them the necessary leadership, teamwork, and organizing skills.7
DRUM is an organization consisting of low-wage South Asian immigrant workers and youth in New York City, whose long-term vision is to build solidarity and strong alliances between all immigrant workers and communities in the US by focusing on social and policy reform in education, civil rights, and worker’s justice.8 Their youth-led program, YouthPower!, builds the leadership and power or low-income South Asian youth in NYC public schools through political education and campaign skills development. The campaigns in which they participate in primarily focus on the School to Prison and Low-Wage Jobs Pipeline and immigration rights regarding undocumented youth.9
South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!) is a youth development organization in New York City dedicated to creating opportunities for South Asian Youth to realize their fullest potential through comprehensive youth development and after-school programs.10 They have succeeded in bringing these programs to nearly 9,500 high school students across the city with their S.A.G.E. model (Support, Action, Guidance, and Enrichment), a college and career readiness program.11 98% of 12th graders in SAYA’s program have been admitted to an institution of higher learning, with $637,000 of financial aid and scholarships awarded in 2013.12
Refugee and Immigrant Center at the Asian Association of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah)
The Refugee and Immigrant Center at the Asian Association of Utah (RIC-AAU) is a community-based organization in Salt Lake City that serves over 2,000 refugees and immigrants in their transition to life in the United States.13 RIC-AAU provides a variety of services, including ESL classes, parenting classes, after school programs for younger children, and leadership development at their neighborhood center. They also offer youth case management for those who are at risk for dropping out or becoming involved in the criminal justice system.14
Asian Immigrant Women Advocates (AIWA) works with immigrant workers employed in the Bay Area’s garment, home care, hotel, restaurant, assembly, and other low-wage industries, and low-income immigrant youth in Oakland.15 High school leaders in their program, Youth Build Immigrant Power (YBIP), train chosen peer leaders to recruit immigrant middle and high school youth, encouraging them to apply for leadership programs and educating them about critical issues affecting low-income immigrant youths. AIWA women leaders are present at these meetings to respond to questions and address any concerns.16
CAAAV – Asian Youth in Action (New York, NY)
CAAAV is a community-based organization that works to build the power of low-income Asian immigrants and refugees in NYC by developing leadership in Asian communities to impact the policies and institutions that affect their lives.17 Their program, Asian Youth in Action (AYA) aims to develop young leaders who engage their communities for social change. Currently, AYA is working on a campaign against police violence, where they’ve conducted “Know Your Rights” trainings concerning interactions with the NYPD, produced a documentary on the impact of police harassment on Asian communities, spoken to elected officials, and participated in city-wide rallies, marches, and press conferences.18
Asian Youth Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Asian Youth Center (AYC) is a community-based organization serving the social service and educational needs of Asian immigrants in the LA region. Their programs include after-school, summer, and weekend education enrichment, tutoring, college and career preparation, recreation and delinquency prevention programs, and parent education workshops.19
Khmer Girls in Action (Long Beach, CA)
Khmer Girls in Action (KGA) is a community-based organization led by Southeast Asian young women, whose mission is to build a progressive Long Beach community that advocates for gender, racial, and economic justice.20 They empower Southeast Asian youth to become leaders in their communities through areas of programming that focus on community organizing, leadership development, cultural and media arts to voice their experience, and individual and academic support.21
Korea Town Youth and Community Center (Los Angeles, CA)
The mission of the Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC) is to serve the evolving needs of the recently immigrated, low-income Korean American population in the greater Los Angeles Area as well as the multi-ethnic Koreatown community.22 Their youth programs aim to ensure academic readiness for students of all ages through after-school programs and tutoring and empower Korean American youth through leadership workshops.23