The 2020 election saw record-breaking turnout for Asian American voters, continuing a trend that began in 2016. In fact, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders saw the highest increase in voter turnout in 2020 for all racial and ethnic groups. According to Pew Research Center, between 2000 and 2019, Asian Americans were the fastest growing racial or ethnic group in the U.S., increasing by 81% during that time period. A separate analysis from Pew Research Center found that 15 million Asian Americans will be eligible to vote this November. That’s 6.1% of all eligible voters.
As the general election rapidly approaches, more nonprofits and funders are turning their attention toward mobilizing voters. While some will inevitably make the mistake of waiting until election year — or worse, a few scant weeks before voters cast their ballots — others work year-round to encourage civic participation.
The AAPI Civic Engagement Fund is a collaborative fund that works to encourage Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders to participate in the civic process in order to both strengthen America’s multiracial democracy and advance change to improve the quality of life for everyone. Launched in 2013, the fund is backed by a number of powerhouse philanthropies, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Open Society Foundations, the Bill and Melinda Gates, Ford, MacArthur, Surdna and W.K. Kellogg foundations, among others.
“We came about because we understood the AAPI community had both low voter turnout and registration and, therefore, low voter civic participation itself,” said EunSook Lee, AAPI Civic Engagement Fund’s executive director. “We understood that in order to counteract that, we need to have more resourcing for the AAPI community.”
A report from Asian Americans in Philanthropy found that AAPI communities receive a small share of overall philanthropic funding. Only 20 cents out of every $100 philanthropic dollars (0.2%) are designated for AAPI…
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