About Us

OUR MISSION

We exist to build long-term power for APIs in Pennsylvania.

We do this by coordinating political, electoral, and legislative work to hold our elected officials accountable, engaging in culturally competent and linguistically accessible direct voter contact with our communities, and building solidarity with other aligned communities of color across the state.

WHY WE EXIST

Asian American community and movement leaders with decades of experience working within and fighting for our communities saw the impact that the lack of a statewide political voice for Asian Americans had on our communities in PA. They came together, and over years of planning and work, built the Asian Pacific Islander Political Alliance (API PA) as the first statewide, Pan-Asian organization that could fight for all of our people all across the Commonwealth.

Now more than ever, Asian Americans in Pennsylvania need a political home to fight for everything our people need to survive and thrive across the commonwealth.

We organize and advocate to protect and expand civil rights for our community, meeting our people where they are in over 20 languages to engage them in the political process and ensure our elected officials are accountable to us.

What we do

ELECTORAL

Thanks to the work of API PA and our partners, API voters doubled our vote share in Pennsylvania in the 2020 election. We work every year in over 20 languages to ensure our communities make our voices heard through federal, state, and local elections.

Over the last 4 years, we have seen traditional political structures finally pay attention to the power of the Asian American vote in Pennsylvania, but far too often parties and elected officials want our votes but not our voices. That’s why API PA organizes in our communities year-round, not just right before an election.

We bring our communities together to speak with one powerful voice in order to ensure our leaders represent our interests at every level of government. We listen to our community members, work together on the issues that matter to us, and hold our elected officials accountable.  

POLICY

As the first statewide Asian American advocacy organization, API PA worked with our partners in the AAPI PA Power Caucus - PA’s statewide Asian American civic engagement coalition - to build the first-ever Asian Pacific Islander policy platform for Pennsylvania.

Built off of 1600 conversations in 15 languages with our community members across the Commonwealth, this first-of-its-kind legislative agenda exists to inform our elected officials about our communities’ needs.

We both advocate directly for the pro-Asian, pro-immigrant, pro-refugee policy platform through community organizing across PA, and coordinate coalitions of leaders and organizations to pass the platform into law.

LEADERSHIP

We need leaders who want to serve Asian American communities.

API PA recruits and trains candidates, trains organizers and advocates, and develops staff to fight for what we need.

Join Our Team

We're looking for great people to join our growing team. Apply today!