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When I visited democracy grantee United for Respect in Merced, CA, UfR’s partner—the UC Merced Community and Labor Center—organized at my request meetings with some of the community-based organizations with which UCM and UfR have been working. These included both farmworkers’ organizations and AAPI organizations. They were very glad of the opportunity to meet with a national funder, which most said they had never done before. For my part, I was deeply impressed by their enthusiasm, creativity, and commitment. Moreover, I recognized that the organizations we have supported through the democracy initiative, like UfR, rely upon the credibility and relationships of these smaller, grassroots entities to carry out their work.
 
Although much of our AAPI grantmaking has been aimed at national and regional organizations, you and I agreed that it would be valuable also to maintain a stream of funding for local organizations. The three organizations here are based in more recent immigrant communities in the Central Valley of California, with a particular emphasis on youth. I recommend that we award special grants of $50,000 to each organization.
 
Hmong Culture Camp (HCC), Merced, CA. HCC was launched in 2017 and offers Hmong language and cultural instruction to Hmong children up to 11 years old in the Merced area. The Central Valley is home to some 300,000 Hmong—likely the largest community in the country—who emigrated from Laos in the 1970s following the US wars in Southeast Asia. The descendants of the original migrants increasingly worry about culture and language loss as those who were born and raised in Laos pass on. HCC delivers courses which it offered on-line during the pandemic. Now, the organization seeks to disseminate the curricula and other educational materials they have developed to educators in schools in CA and throughout the US. They hope, in part, that the availability of Hmong curricula in school will encourage more Hmong families to take advantage of pre-K education for their children and thus improve their educational attainment.
 
Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP), San Francisco, CA. HIP seeks to organize, educate, and engage Hmong and Southeast Asian community members in the Sacramento and Fresno. Founded in 2012, HIP has a particular focus on strengthening youth leadership. They would utilize a Luce grant to train and compensate two youth leaders to undertake needs assessments in Hmong and SEA youth communities, including conducting focus groups, to provide skills development to a cohort of Hmong and SEA young people, and to offer wellness assistance to them. HIP’s strategy is to involve members of the community at younger ages in learning about and advocating for community needs so that they will carry this orientation and understanding with them into adulthood and into community organizing and politics.
 
Jakara Movement, Fresno, CA. Jakara, founded in 2000, serves Sikh and Punjabi-speaking youth in 12 counties of California. The organization supports a network of Sikh youth groups in 80 high schools and 15 colleges and universities, which count 1200 members. Jakara offers youth development and leadership training services to members and also provides workers’ support and health and wellness assistance. During the 2020 US Census, Jakara organized to reach out to 180,000 residents of Punjabi-descent. A Luce grant would enable Jakara to add staffing in San Joaquin County, as growing focus of attention as more Sikhs move out of the Bay Area because of rising home prices.