National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development

We were established in 1999 by a group of 16 community-based organizations serving AAPI residents in cities across the country. Our founders were motivated by the profound need for a national voice that could advocate on behalf of diverse AAPI communities and analyze policies impacting low-income communities. National CAPACD has become that voice and over the past 20 years has grown into a coalition of nearly 100 community-based organizations spanning 21 states and the Pacific Islands. The members of our coalition speak more than 40 languages and reach more than one million constituents through direct and media outreach.

Through our work, National CAPACD aims to achieve three primary outcomes:

1) Strong community-based organizations that provide services to, advocate for, and organize within AAPI neighborhoods and communities.
2) A connected coalition that represents collective AAPI power at the national level.
3) National policies and resources that support and invest in local organizations and communities.

Our member organizations employ a diverse set of strategies tailored to local community needs, including housing, small business assistance, financial empowerment services, youth development, community organizing, and the creation of affordable housing and community institutions. National CAPACD offers capacity building and program initiatives to support these strategies.

As an intermediary with a proven track record, each year, we re-grant $1-$2 million to network members, implement training and leadership development programs that invest in more than 50 staff of member organizations, develop resources and tools for groups to use locally, and create peer learning opportunities for our members to share best practices and strategies across the network. In total, the members of our coalition speak more than 40 languages and collectively reach more than 1,000,000 constituents through direct and media outreach.

Over the last two decades, we have forged strong partnerships with the country’s leading civil rights and advocacy groups. Our reputation among elected officials and federal agencies as a trusted and knowledgeable resource helps to ensure that the national discourse on equity and opportunity includes the diverse perspectives of AAPI communities. In the past year alone, we published a report on innovative community development practices to support AAPI entrepreneurship, documented the multi-generational approaches to building economic empowerment to influence the field more broadly, and launched a multilingual, online toolkit to organize against displacement in AAPI neighborhoods.

In our current strategic plan, we affirm our role as an intermediary with a focus on building local organizations, while also holding a space as a national influencer. National CAPACD is currently focussed on the following strategies:

● Expand our coalition;
● Build the capacity of emerging and existing community-based organizations across the country that are reaching diverse and growing lower-income AAPI populations;
● Increase the reach of our organizing within the AAPI community;
● Develop intentional strategies to build leadership in our communities;
● Ensure that comprehensive systems are in place to support the implementation of our strategic plan, and alignment between our values and our work.

On the national level, National CAPACD will continue to strengthen our partnerships with ally organizations to defend the programs and policies that help to address structural inequities in our society. This commitment is reflected in our revised mission statement: “National CAPACD is a progressive coalition of local organizations that advocate for and organize in low-income AAPI communities and neighborhoods. We strengthen and mobilize our members to build power nationally and further our vision of economic and social justice for all.”
Our vision of economic and social justice in the US emerges when all AAPI communities, particularly low-income AAPI communities have the knowledge, resources, and capacity needed to engage, thrive and have a voice in shaping their neighborhoods and communities.

Our Theory of Change identifies three long-term outcomes:
1. Strong community-based organizations that provide services to, advocate for, and organize within AAPI neighborhoods and communities.
2. A connected coalition that represents collective AAPI power at the national level.
3. National policies and resources that support and invest in local organizations and communities.

We believe that to achieve truly healthy and thriving neighborhoods and communities, our strategy must include responsiveness to issues such as safety, security, and community autonomy, as well as sustained engagement with key partners.

Founded by a group of 16 organizations 20 years ago this year, National CAPACD has grown into a coalition of nearly 100 community-based organizations spanning 21 states and the Pacific Islands. Collectively, the coalition improves the lives of over two million AAPIs who live in poverty in the U.S. by providing voice, tools, and shared knowledge to drive change.

Our member organizations employ a diverse set of strategies tailored to local community needs, including housing, small business assistance, financial empowerment services, youth development, community organizing, and the creation of affordable housing and community institutions. National CAPACD offers capacity building and program initiatives to support these strategies.

As an intermediary with a proven track record, each year, we re-grant $1-$2 million to network members, implement training and leadership development programs that invest in more than 50 staff of member organizations, develop resources and tools for groups to use locally, and create peer learning opportunities for our members to share best practices and strategies across the network. In total, the members of our coalition speak more than 40 languages and collectively reach more than 1,000,000 constituents through direct and media outreach.

Over the last two decades, we have forged strong partnerships with the country’s leading civil rights and advocacy groups. Our reputation among elected officials and federal agencies as a trusted and knowledgeable resource helps to ensure that the national discourse on equity and opportunity includes the diverse perspectives of AAPI communities. In the past year alone, we published a report on innovative community development practices to support AAPI entrepreneurship, documented the multi-generational approaches to building economic empowerment to influence the field more broadly, and launched a multilingual, online toolkit to organize against displacement in AAPI neighborhoods.

National CAPACD has advanced its vision with positive gains for the AAPI community, including:
● In 2010, we became the first and only AAPI-focused liaison for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s housing counseling program;
● In 2012, we implemented one of the largest AAPI national civic engagement initiatives in the US;
● In 2013, we launched the first nation-wide, culturally responsive asset building program targeting low-income AAPIs;
● In 2016, National CAPACD published the #OurNeighborhoods report, and later convened a group more than 80 local organizations focused on coordinating anti-displacement strategies in low income AAPI neighborhoods;
● In 2017, we launched the Empowerment Economics model to promote a new culturally responsive and multi-generational approach toward building community wealth.

Our member organizations employ a diverse set of strategies tailored to local community needs, including housing and financial empowerment services, youth development, community organizing, and the creation of affordable housing and community institutions. National CAPACD offers capacity building and program initiatives to support these strategies. Each year, we re-grant more than $1.5 million, implement training and leadership development programs that invest in more than 50 staff of member organizations, develop resources and tools for groups to use locally, and create peer learning opportunities for our members to share best practices and strategies across the network. In total, we speak more than 40 languages and reach more than one million constituents through direct and media outreach strategies.

In addition, over the years, we have forged strong partnerships with the country’s leading civil rights and advocacy groups. We have built a strong reputation with elected officials and federal agencies in Washington, DC to ensure that the national discourse on AAPIs includes the diverse voices of our communities. In the past year alone, we have published a report on the thriving small business sector in the AAPI community and documented the multi-generational approaches to building economic empowerment to influence the field more broadly.
National CAPACD is the only national AAPI-focused organization working at the intersection of race and economic justice. Building on the foundation of our current strategic plan, we recently clarified that our strategic identity must respond to the most urgent threat low-income AAPIs face in our neighborhoods – displacement.