Description

The Chicago chapter of Asian Americans Advancing Justice seeks $15,000 to support its annual summit, a national gathering in Chicago of the entire AAAJ network and over 200 community partners that will take place in September 2023. The Summit is an important opportunity for affiliate chapters who work with a heterogeneity of demographics across the Asian American diaspora to develop a national strategy that encompass the fully diversity of AAPI experiences while moving forward with a unified/unifying message about the necessity of protecting, promoting, and securing the legal and civil rights of vulnerable and marginal communities.  
For over twenty-five years, AAAJ affiliates in DC, San Francisco, Atlanta, Chicago, and Southern California have worked as regional chapters to support and protect the legal and civil rights of local AAPI communities. As a national network, AAAJ is unified in their collective commitment to advancing a broad-based civil rights and policy agenda focused on AAPI leadership development, advocacy, and civic engagement. 
AAAJ Chicago works with vulnerable and underserved communities throughout the mid-west on issues related to immigration, education, voting rights, language access, and anti-Asian racism. With the historic passage of the Teaching Equitable Asian American Community History (TEEACH) Act in April 2021, Illinois adopted a state-wide policy to ensure that every K-12 student in a public school environment, would learn about the contributions of Asian Americans to the history of the U.S. AAAJ Chicago has been integral to the formation and implementation of this policy, leading the campaign to mandate the inclusion of AAPI history in history curricula, and offering IL educators professional development workshops, resources for implementing the TEEACH Act. They are currently working on scaling the successes of this education campaign, adapting the TEEACH Act from a state-wide measure to a national policy model for other states to adopt. 
AAAJ Chicago will use these funds to support the cost of conference organizing, programming, and logistics for this event (including panel discussions, workshops, and travel costs). The summit brings the entire AAAJ network together with over 200 community leaders from AAPI organizations across the U.S. to discuss policy priority issues, while engaging in learning and evaluation of the impact of their collective work alongside their community partners. 
The summit’s key objectives:
•    Provide briefings on the latest analysis of key national issues and highlight local impact.
•    Create space to discuss strategy and different approaches to federal immigration advocacy, voting rights at the state level, and resources for addressing anti-Asian racism.
•    Offer support for emerging leaders, allowing attendees to consult with more experienced partners on critical questions and challenges.
The summit will support new and emerging civic leaders who understand the pressing and urgent need for legal and civil rights protections alongside community support and participation. This project is in keeping with the DEPT program’s focus on supporting democratic culture and participation, strengthening confidence that democracies can ensure the well-being of all citizens, and ensuring that the needs and voices of those communities with less access to power, representation, and opportunity are made visible and audible.