Home | Executive Order | Staff | Facts and Data | Calendar | Blog
Welcome!
Thank you for visiting the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Website. Here, we will provide you with information on our work in the federal agencies and the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. We know our success depends on the strength of our relationships and open communication with all those with an interest in improving the quality of life and opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. We encourage you to become a part of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by providing feedback and comments to WhiteHouseAAPI@ed.gov.
News
- Spreading the Word on Asian American and Pacific Islander Diversity
- The Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill on Asian American Communities
- White House Initiative Launches Campaign to Increase Asian American and Pacific Islander Access, Participation in Federal Programs
Background on The White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders
On October 14, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Executive Order reestablishing the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (Initiative). The Initiative, co-chaired by U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan and U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, is housed within the U.S. Department of Education, and led by Executive Director Kiran Ahuja. The Initiative works to improve the quality of life and opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by facilitating increased access to and participation in federal programs where they remain underserved.
The Executive Order also established the President’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and the Federal Interagency Working Group. Working in conjunction, the Commission and Federal Interagency Working Group are comprised of individuals, executive branch departments, agencies, and offices representing a broad spectrum of fields and programs impacting Asian Americans and Pacific Islander communities.
The Initiative works collaboratively with the White House Office of Public Engagement and the designated Federal agencies to increase Asian American and Pacific Islander participation in programs in education, commerce, business, health, human services, housing, environment, arts, agriculture, labor and employment, transportation, justice, veterans affairs and economic and community development.
The Initiative seeks to highlight both the tremendous unmet needs in the Asian American and Pacific Islander communities as well as the dynamic community assets that can be leveraged to meet many of those needs. The Initiative focuses on crosscutting priority areas that may reach across all issue areas and agencies, including, for example, advancing research, data collection, analysis and dissemination for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and ensuring access, especially linguistic access and cultural competence, for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and encouraging Asian American and Pacific Islander involvement in public service and civic engagement opportunities.
This historic Executive Order initiates another avenue of access to the federal government for Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and affirms President Obama's commitment to Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.
|
||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
| |
||||||||||||
