Dear Friends,
Happy New Year! 🥳 2026 is an extra special year for AAPI Equity Alliance as we turn 50. 💙
In 1976, our communities in Los Angeles couldn’t access critical services and programs in their native languages.
This became a major focus for a group of Asian American leaders who began gathering every month to discuss the issue, over food, dubbing themselves the “Asian Lunch Bunch”.
The more voices that joined the table, the stronger they grew, becoming formally known as Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council (A3PCON).
Our predecessors successfully advocated for language access, increased AAPI decision-making power, and secured funding for grassroots organizations. They spoke with public officials, government agencies, and academic institutions to improve the lives of AAPIs.
Sound familiar? Well, it’s still core to what we do today!
Stay tuned. We’ve got a lot planned:
- “Celebrating Leadership & Legacy”, AAPI Equity Alliance Gala & Dinner on Thursday, May 7, 2026. Save the date!
- The Roots of AAPI Activism in LA, an oral history project preserving the stories of our predecessors.
- Member Mondays, a weekly series on social media spotlighting our 50 members.
- AAPI Equity Alliance Action Fund, a newly formed C4 branch expanding our policy work.