Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders
In 2009, the Foundation became aware of a lack of support for Asian Americans / Pacific Islanders (“AAPI”) in the 2010 Census. This indicated a disturbing pattern since for the 2000 Census, there was a substantial undercount of this community. The AAPI community presents significant obstacles to obtaining a full census count. Emigration from Asian countries created a demographic minority with over fifty ethnicities and one hundred languages and dialects. Language barriers and cultural differences have contributed to limited access to healthcare and social services. A significant undercount in the census exacerbates these problems. The Foundation recognized that strategic grants to diverse community based AAPI organizations would be impactful. As a result of this investment, the AAPI population had the lowest undercount and the 2010 Census also confirmed that the AAPI community was the fastest growing demographic group in the country.
In 2016, the Foundation determined that providing capacity building funding to national organizations was not sufficient. To address this deficiency, the Foundation developed the Coulter Conveners Program which emphasized direct investment in the states. Organizations in over twenty-five states were selected based on the AAPI population including those states with small but growing communities (“Coulter Conveners”). The state based organizations also received capacity building grants.
National Conveners
Organizations to which the Foundation has provided grants include:
The State Conveners are the leaders in their respective geography. They continue to remain front and center on issues affecting their communities. Due to their extensive local and state community reach, they champion key issues, disseminate information and implement much needed programs within their coalition network. In addition, as leading grassroots and community-based organizations, they are the bridge that connects the National Conveners with local and state-based issues that meet the needs of the AAPI communities they serve.