Since May 1990 the U.S. government has designated the month of May as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, celebrating the achievements and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. The month of May was chosen because it commemorates the migration of the first immigrants from Japan to the United States on May 7, 1843 and to celebrate the completion of the transcontinental railroad by over 20,0000 Asian immigrants on May 10, 1869.

The next highlight in our June is for Justice series is focused on APANO – The Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon. APANO is doing important work in our community by uniting Asians and Pacific Islanders in building power, developing leaders, and advancing equity through organizing, advocacy, community development, and cultural work. They envision a just world where Asians and Pacific Islanders–and communities who share their aspirations and struggles–have the power, resources, and voice to determine their own futures, and where they work in solidarity to drive political, social, economic, and cultural change.

In particular, the Asian American community has been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, making the work of APANO to both raise awareness of these inequities and work to create policy change, even more important. Since March 2020 APANO has taken a stand, leading the way with a roadmap to change and by condemning pandemic-linked anti-Asian hate and bias incidents.

In addition, APANO works to provide education and awareness around the topic of housing rights. “Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community members have faced discrimination in housing in Oregon. Whether it’s perceptions of larger families, pungent cultural foods, or price gouging due to the model minority myth, these PSAs are important for community members who are struggling with housing issues and discrimination, particularly as we go into the 3rd year of the pandemic.” said Duncan Hwang, Associate Director, APANO CUF.

Financial support

Your donations to APANO helps enhance their capacity to continue to organize, advocate, and mobilize for issues that impact diverse Asian and Pacific Islander communities. Learn more about ways you can provide financial support.

Get involved

Looking to stay connected to APANO’s policy work and initiatives? Sign up for their emails here. APANO sends regular emails about campaigns, organizational updates, events, activities, and involvement opportunities to subscribers of this list.

Interested in donating your time and talent to get involved? Find out more about opportunities here.

Our commitment

As part of our June is for Justice series, we want re-state our commitment to basic civil rights for everyone. We’re committed to doing everything we can to strive for equity for all of us. If we want to create true change, we have to do things differently. It is simply not enough to be open-and-loving-to-all, personally. We must, as a corporate citizen, be part of the solution to acknowledge the problems with policy in our country and create opportunities to bring awareness and support to communities facing discrimination and hardships.

Here’s our roadmap to doing our part.

Financial support

We’re committed to supporting organizations working for justice and social equity.

Educate and amplify

As a team, we’re invested in education through books and podcasts. Today we’re sharing some additional organizations working for justice and civil rights.

The best way forward is together

It will take a village and us all working together to make real change and progress. We’d love to learn from you. If you have thoughts or ideas you’d like to share, be it things your business has done or things you see we could do better, we’d love to listen.

At Hyatt Training you’ll find more than a good sweat. Our core values guide each decision we make every day. We’re passionate about what happens outside the walls of the studio in our community at large in Portland and Oregon. One of our core values is to connect with and do our part to keep Oregon a vibrant place to live, work and be healthy. To learn more about what we’re all about or how we could help you, email us at Go@HyattTraining.com.