Plenaries
A Community of Contrasts: Asian Americans in the United States, 2011
Date: Thursday, October 27th, 2011
Time: 4:00-5:30pm
Place: Sakura A
Asian American Center for Advancing Justice to Release Groundbreaking Demographic Research
The Asian American Center for Advancing Justice will release a groundbreaking report on the latest demographic trends in Asian American communities as part of the Advancing Justice Conference.
The demographic report, “A Community of Contrasts: Asian Americans in the United States, 2011,” analyzes Census and other data on Asian Americans and highlights key issues facing the nation’s fastest growing racial group. It assesses the contributions and challenges facing the diverse ethnic groups that comprise the Asian American community, from their increased economic and civic contributions to continued challenges in housing and healthcare access to stereotypes around educational attainment and employment.
The report is among a series of demographic reports that is a project of the Asian American Center for Advancing Justice. Copies of the report will be available at the conference session. The report will also be available for download at www.advancingjustice.org.
This event is free and open to the public.
Speakers:
 | Karen K. Narasaki President and Executive Director Asian American Justice Center |  | Daniel Ichinose Director, Demographic Research Project Asian Pacific American Legal Center |  | Richard Lui News Anchor, MSNBC |  | Stewart Kwoh President and Executive Director Asian Pacific American Legal Center |
Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders: How We Can Work Together for Social Justice
Date: Friday, October 28, 2011
Time: 12:15-1:45pm
Place: Imperial Ballroom
Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) have long been lumped in with Asian Americans, yet NHOPIs face significant disparities in health, education, income, etc., which are often masked by the larger Asian American communities. As Asian American and NHOPI communities to grow and evolve, how will both communities work together. In particular, how will Asian American groups include Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander concerns and leadership in their work, and how can NHOPIs collaborate with Asian Americans without losing their voice. And how can Asian American and NHOPI groups work together to foster an inclusive civil rights agenda that addresses the broad and diverse issues of both communities?
Speakers:
 | Jacinta Titialii-Abbott Attorney and Business Consultant Chair of APIASF |  | Sefa Aina Director of the Asian American Resource Center Pomona College |  | Leafa Tuita Taumoepeau Executive Director Taulama for Tongans | | Stewart Kwoh President and Executive Director Asian Pacific American Legal Center |
Emerging Epicenters of Asian American and Pacific Islander Organizing
Date: Friday, October 28, 2011
Time: 9:00 - 10:30am
Place: Imperial Ballroom
The tremendous growth of AAPI communities in recent years has resulted not only in higher numbers of AAPIs in major urban areas on the coasts, but also in areas not generally thought of as centers of the Asian American and Pacific Islander community, such as the Midwest and the Gulf Coast, and more rural areas like California’s Central Valley. During this plenary, you will hear from speakers who have worked with the Hmong community in Minnesota, the Vietnamese community in New Orleans, the Pacific Islander community in Utah, and young people from the Sikh community in the Fresno area. Each will share insights about their communities and will discuss the challenges they have faced and overcome, as well as strategies for the road ahead.
Speakers:
 | Otolose Fahina Tavake-Pasi Executive Director National Tongan American Society |  | Naindeep Singh Founder and Community Organizer Jakara Movement |  | Tuan Nguyen Deputy Director MQVN Community Development Corporation |  | Mee Moua VP of Strategic Impact Initiatives Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum | | Karen K. Narasaki President and Executive Director Asian American Justice Center |
The Power of Ideas: Is Social Entrepreneurship the Next Great Hope?
Date: Friday, October 28, 2011
Time: 4:00 - 5:30pm
Place: Imperial Ballroom
Social entrepreneurs have been touted as the “new heroes” by the media, Silicon Valley billionaires have established foundations specifically to fund social entrepreneurship and leading organizations such as Ashoka: Innovators for the Public and the Skoll Foundation among others, focus on highlighting emerging, socially responsible change-makers who are scattered throughout the world.
The two key strategies of social entrepreneurs: developing innovations that can solve social problems on a large scale and using business principles to create social value arguably hold the promise of solving some of the societies’ most pressing social justice problems.
In the past two decades there has been an explosion of entrepreneurship and competition in the social sector. This panel will explore what impact social entrepreneurship has had on the Asian American community and whether it is a promising way forward to address the social justice challenges our community faces. This plenary will draw upon a panel of thought leaders in the field.
Speakers:
 | Richard Chin CEO Institute for OneWorld Health |  | Leila Janah Founder and CEO Samasource |  | Premal Shah President Kiva.org |  | Aditi Shekar Director of Changeshops Ashoka Changemakers |  | Michelle Brega Senior Vice President Bank of America |
Trending Now: Civil and Human Rights for All
Date: Thursday, October 27, 2011
Time: 10:00-10:45am
Place: Imperial Ballroom
Social media is not just about conversations, it’s also about collaboration. One local Bay Area effort is being led by the Levi Strauss’ Pioneers in Justice, a cross-racial alliance-building initiative that is innovating “social justice 2.0.” Together, this initiative is building upon the lessons of past decades of civil rights organizing and advocacy while leveraging the promise of new technology and social media tools. Moderated by Daniel Lee, Executive Director of the Levi Strauss Foundation.
Speakers:
 | Arcelia Hurtado Executive Director Equal Rights Advocates |  | Titi Liu Executive Director Asian Law Caucus |  | Vincent Pan Executive Director Chinese for Affirmative Action |  | Lateefah Simon Executive Director Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area |  | Abdi Soltani Executive Director American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California |  | Daniel Jae-Won Lee Executive Director Levi Strauss Foundation |
Understanding the Roots of Our Movement
Date: Thursday, October 27, 2011
Time: 12:30-2:00pm
Place: Imperial Ballroom
The Asian American community is here today because the activism of countless heroes who have come before us. This plenary session will explore some of the roots of our community through a conversation with those who were there at the beginning. The speakers will share what happened at some of those first pan-Asian gatherings in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s, reflect on how far we’ve come, and also give us their insights on contemporary Asian American activism.
Speakers:
 | Lillian Galedo Executive Director Filipino Advocates for Justice |  | Steve Louie co-editor Asian Americans: The Movement and the Moment |  | Tuyet Le Executive Director Asian American Institute |  | David Monkawa Past Co-Chair, current member Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress |