Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon

The Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) is a membership-based, volunteer-run non-profit organization working to address issues facing the Asian Pacific Islander community in Oregon. Founded by local Asian-Pacific American activists Thach Nguyen, Phyllis Lee, Polo Catalani, Mary Li, and Lee Po Cha, APANO was established in October of 1998 in Portland, Oregon. APANO gained its 501(c)3 in October 2010.
The organization was formed primarily to address issues of educational equity, health equity, and immigrant civil justice. APANO's mission is to "create an alliance that can mobilize the social, cultural and political strengths of Asian and Pacific Islander communities of Oregon by bringing together diverse communities to "tell our story, build leadership, and work for change." Membership is open to anyone with an interest and commitment to improving the lives of Asian Pacific Islanders in the state of Oregon. Moreover, APANO implements coalition building and community outreach programs as primary tools for working toward its overarching policy goals.
Timeline
* 1998 - APANO founded
* 2000 - Voter Registration/Education and GOTV Project; Sponsoring of Candidate Forums featuring candidates for local, county, state and national offices
* 2001 - Series of three community forums between API communities and the Portland Public Schools, providing parents and community members opportunities to voice their concerns and expectations regarding the academic success of their children
* 2002 - Budget Forum, Portland Public Schools; Coalition of Communities of Color formed
* 2004 - Participation in API V.O.I.C.E (Voting, Organizing, Involvement, and Civic Engagement; Coalition for Education Excellence formed with Latino Network, African Community Coalition of Oregon and the Slavic Coalition of Oregon
* 2005 - Interwoven Tapestry Project with the Immigrant and Refuge Community Organization (IRCO) and the City of Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement
* 2008 - API Vote Oregon Project, focusing on Civic Engagement, Voter Registration, Education,and Mobilization; Successful creation of a new City of Portland district position, titled the Director of Workforce Diversity and Development
* 2010 - APANO granted 501(c)3 status; Asian Pacific American Voter Education Project formed with Oregon Commission of Asian Affairs; the Urban Ecology Project formed; 3rd consecutive Get Out The Vote-GOTV Campaign
* 2011 - Regular community work groups organized to outline APANO's upcoming five-year policy goals
Policy Interests
Education Equity
APANO advocates for Asian and Pacific Islander communities that are faced with barriers to gain academic success in Oregon’s schools. Barriers include success for English language learners, parent engagement in their child’s education, cultural competency in the classroom, diversity within the workforce, and issues with racial harassment.
The APANO Board of Directors formed resolutions to the issues faced in API communities within education in 2010. The document highlights the organization’s focus on working with the Portland Public Schools and with the Oregon State Department of Education, the Education Equity Work Group will be formed to address the issues and seek solutions for the Asian and Pacific Islander community, and the building of coalition with other communities of color facing similar issues.
Finally, APANO will work towards providing equitable access for Asian and Pacific Islander children by transforming the institution of education which will include:
:* Equity in academic achievement
:* Equity in referrals and discipline practices
:* Appropriate support and resources for immigrants and refugees
:* Equity in academic assessment of students in the English Language Learner program
:* Increase recruitment, professional development and retention of teachers and administrators who have the capacity and cultural competence to successfully teach Asian and Pacific Islander students, with an emphasis on improving the Asian and Pacific Island teacher-to-student ratio
:* Increase recruitment, professional development and retention of educational leaders, including but not limited to principals and other district administrators, who have the capacity and cultural competence to effectively lead a diverse teaching and support staff, to oversee appropriate educational programs, and to interact productively with the parents and home communities of their students, with the goal of improving educational access, opportunity and academic achievement of all students, and particularly Asian and Pacific Islander students”
Health Equity
APANO's different projects include awareness building of language access, medical interpretation, culturalinterpretation, cultural competency, health disparity research, workforce diversity, immigrant and refugee health care advocacy. APANO’s health equity team known as Health Equity and Reform Team (HEART) works for health equity and health insurance campaigns. Some of their goals also include:
# Building a representative Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition for Health Equity and Reform
# Policy formation and funding at the local and state level to improve health care accessibility, affordability and equity.
# Lead Asian and Pacific Islander involvement in Oregon State Health Equity Efforts
In August 2010, APANO Board of Directors announced the “Resolution on Health Care Equity” outlining policy goals:
:* The advancement of cultural and linguistic competence of healthcare providers as a measure of quality.
:* Increasing access to culturally and linguistically appropriate care through a diverse range of providers
:* Increasing research efforts to understand health disparities, including disaggregation of ethnic/racial groups within Asian and Pacific Islanders
:* Creating incentives and programs to improve workforce diversity
:* Addressing language access barriers through stronger medical interpreter programs and health care provider accountability measures.
:* Expanding the Oregon Health Plan to cover all residents of Oregon regardless of citizenship
:* Participation of the Asian Pacific Islander community members and leaders in the policy making process and program development efforts addressing health equity issues, including the establishment of accountability measures and equity benchmarks that ensure continued progress towards health equity.
Immigrant Civil Justice
Given that foreign-born Oregon residents make up 10 percent of Oregon's population, and 13 percent of Portland, there is a high demand for programs that advocate for immigrant rights. Asian-Pacific Islander immigrants face challenges navigating public school systems, employment opportunities, and overall civic engagement in high immigration states or communities . Thus, APANO's Immigrant Justice policies are incredibly interconnected with their Education and Health Equity plans.
For example, in April 2010 when Portland Public schools faced steep budget cuts that threatened to significantly impact English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, APANO founder Thach Nguyen, and APANO coordinator Joseph Santos-Lyons spoke with top academic advisers at a community forum. While the School Board's budget plan added 12 new certified ESL teachers, it also proposed cutting 23 ESL language assistants within the Portland Public School system. Because accessibility to language resources is a crucial component for immigrant children, this example demonstrates the impact of APANO advocacy work within a specific context. Moreover, other facets of immigrant justice advocacy work includes voter education and participation, economic empowerment, employment equity, and access to representation in legal proceedings and political positions for local and state government. Past APANO policy campaigns have included the APA Voter Education Project, which inspired a significant growth of API voter participation in the 2010 elections, and the Start with Equity campaign, which called upon Oregon legislature to approve a Health Equity Committee within Oregon State Senate Bill 99.
Community Programs
Connection to the Asian-Pacific Islander community in Oregon remains a significant platform of APANO's work. Whether its through sponsoring work group meetings in which members determine organizational priorities or documenting immigrant histories and narratives, APANO works to build a diverse network of relationships.
* Many Rivers Listening Circles
Many Rivers Listening Circles is a cultural program dedicated to different communities of Asian pacific Americans asking questions, connecting diverse cultural and social groups and addressing different issues facing these communities. Each circle is intended on connecting these different communities with the broader API community and provides opportunities to inform the groups about policy advocacy, community organizing and improving accountability to APANO Boards and leadership.
* Urban Ecology Project
Urban Ecology Project is focused on issues arising within API communities in metropolitan areas. This program examines the impacts of urban pollutants,transportation inequities, access to food and affordable housing, and access to competitive education and jobs, while maintaining cultural identities. Long term goals and interests of this group focus on building community voices, policy presence of API communities, including issues of sustainability and environmental justice. The group also is currently building coalitions and organizations intending
on linking API communities to these issues in metropolitan areas.

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