The AAPI Civic Engagement Fund has announced grants totaling more than $7.5 million in support of Asian-American/Pacific Islander community-based organizations working to build power and strengthen racial solidarity.

The fund awarded $4.7 million in two-year general operating support grants of $150,000 each to thirty-one local- and state-based AAPI groups in eighteen states. To complement those on-the-ground efforts, the fund also is supporting AAPI Women Rising, an initiative led by Women's Democracy Lab and New American Leaders that aims to increase the number of women of color seeking to run for office and help close the representation gap through a public awareness and recruitment campaign, intensive coaching for up to twenty candidates, a paid fellowship for three state legislators, and a yearlong fellowship and networking opportunities for up to five current officeholders.

Through its Anti-Racism and Intersectional Justice Grants program, the fund awarded grants totaling $2 million to thirty-seven community-based organizations, which received $50,000 each to counteract anti-AAPI violence and racism across the nation and build an effective anti-racism and intersectional justice network that boosts local and state response capacity and sets an agenda for long-term change. The recipient organizations, the majority of which are led by AAPI women, represent twenty-six ethnic backgrounds — including some of the most underrepresented groups, such as Southeast Asians, South Asians, and Muslim Americans — and are part of the Shared Liberation Network, which encourages peer learning.

In addition, the fund announced inaugural Creative Content grants totaling $450,000 in support of nine collaborations between AAPI civic engagement groups and independent artists whose projects are designed to encourage civic participation.

"In this unparalleled time, we are focused on providing essential resources to support the civic engagement infrastructure and capacity of AAPI groups and leaders to address the immediate challenges in our communities, while also building lasting power," said AAPI Civic Engagement Fund director EunSook Lee. "These groups are grounded in advancing intersectional solidarity, working as part of the broader movement for racial justice to dismantle the inequities that harm us all."

(Photo credit: Coalition of Asian American Leaders)