For Immediate Release:
September 28, 2021

NAPABA Receives Grant from The Asian American Foundation to Serve as National Network Partner for Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Response

WASHINGTON- The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is proud to announce that The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) has named it a National Network partner in its investment, coordination, and collaboration efforts to combat anti-Asian hate. NAPABA, along with other leading advocacy organizations, has received initial grant funding to support ongoing activities in anti-hate tracking, protection, response, and prevention measures. TAAF has invited NAPABA to partner in this effort in part due to recognizing NAPABA's work in building a national civil rights infrastructure that harnesses the legal power, strength in numbers, geographic diversity, and linguistic abilities of NAPABA's nearly 90 affiliated Asian Pacific American organizations. 

"TAAF recognizes that the prolonged underinvestment in Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) populations resulted in our communities being unprepared for, and more vulnerable to the most recent onslaught in anti-Asian hate," said A.B. Cruz III, president of NAPABA. "We are grateful not only to be a grant recipient, but also an ongoing partner with TAAF and its network of organizations dedicated to the common cause of protecting our AAPI populations." 

To address anti-AAPI hate locally, TAAF is piloting AAPI Action Centers led by on-the-ground partner organizations that will serve as hubs for addressing hate in their respective cities. These Action Centers will first be piloted in New York City, Chicago, and Oakland. Each Action Center will be connected to each other, and they will feed into the umbrella of TAAF’s Anti-Hate National Network to ensure best practices are being transmitted between the national and local levels of work. NAPABA intends to leverage its strength in numbers—which includes three affiliates in New York City, five in Chicago, and 10 affiliates in northern California—to contribute its expertise in assisting hate crimes and hate incident victims seek pro bono legal assistance. 

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.