(NAME-MCE) Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation 2-3-10 Seattle WA

[Anselmo Villanueva]

The Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation (ACLF)

Information: http://aclfnorthwest.org/

ACLF Northwest is a community-based, nonprofit organization that
trains and supports the leadership and civic engagement of Asian
Pacific Islanders with a commitment to social justice, community
empowerment and public service.

ACLF is now accepting applications to the 2010 Community Leaders
Program.   Attend our CLP information session to learn more about the
program and application process!

CLP 2010 Info Session
Wed, February 3
6pm – 8pm
611 Lane Street, Seattle WA – Room C
Please RSVP to aclfnw at aclfnorthwest.org.

The Community Leaders Program (CLP) is a unique, culturally relevant
program that draws from our rich, complex intertwining histories of
global migration, acculturation and political empowerment in the
United States. We remember, honor and educate about the significant
contributions of APIs and other minorities to the Northwest and United
States, which can often be overlooked in mainstream leadership
programs. We provide opportunities to meet and be inspired by
generations of API leaders who have made an impact in not just the
local API community, but the at-large Northwest community. In
addition, not only does ACLF focus on technical leadership skills such
as public speaking, communication and media; we integrate values of
community building, equity and social justice that serve as principle
foundation to building strong communities.

The CLP is an intensive curriculum that provides training and
mentorship to those with an interest in and potential to step into
leadership roles within our communities. Each class is composed of
roughly 15 people who meet in bi-weekly sessions over six months.

There are innumerable emerging leaders amongst us of all ages,
cultures and walks of life. ACLF focuses on cultivating emerging Asian
Pacific Islander leaders to strengthen our vital and complex
community. We do not define “emerging” by age. Our class participants
are chosen on a basis of their demonstrated commitment to community
issues, desire to learn, and readiness to contribute to the group.
They come from the private, nonprofit, and public sectors. Our
participants are a mix of first-generation immigrants and
second-generation APIs and beyond.

ACLF provides training and support to help these individuals grow as
effective leaders, be it as staff, board members, or volunteers in all
three sectors. This rewarding experience impacts alumni for many years.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
- To foster ethical, compassionate and self-reflective API leaders who
promote greater social, economic, and political justice.
- To build strong interpersonal relationships that promote
communication, support, and accountability to each other and to the
API community.
- To strengthen inter-group collaboration through knowledge and
understanding of diverse perspectives within the API community.
- To cultivate leaders who value and practice coalition-building
across all communities in order to benefit the community at large.
- To build connections between the CLP class and the greater API community.

Our three-pronged approach fosters the development of individual
leadership, community strength, and inter-community unity to promote
issues critical to Asian Pacific Islanders:

Leadership Development
Program participants receive training in coalition building,
interpersonal communication, community development, public speaking,
media training, and other critical leadership skills.

Community Involvement
Participants develop and apply their leadership skills by completing a
community project designed to benefit a local API organization.

Networking and Mentorship
ACLF promotes networking opportunities for participants to meet API
community leaders and develop mentor-mentee relationships.

The Asian Pacific Islander Community Leadership Foundation (ACLF) is a
community-based, nonprofit organization that trains and supports the
leadership of Asian Pacific Islanders with a commitment to social
justice, community empowerment and public service.

Our mission is to promote social, economic and political justice by
training and supporting a strong, sustainable community of civically
engaged leaders that reflects the diversity of local Asians & Pacific
Islanders.

HISTORY

In December 6, 1998, a group of community leaders from different
organizations and government offices met to discuss the need for an
organization that could serve a growing need: the ability to train and
nurture emerging leaders. These leaders included: Jeffrey Hattori,
Michael Latimer, Doris Lock, Akemi Matsumoto, Jill Nishi, Diana
Sheythe, Sue Taoka, Kip Tokuda, Trang Tu, and Joan Yoshitomi. ACLF had
the intent of nurturing leaders, who embrace values of community and
social justice, to affect social change through proactive, principle
practice. New leaders often sought out mentors and other people they
could go to for advice.

The founding committee adopted a mission statement and began to lay
down the ideas that would lead to the founding of the Asian Community
Leadership Foundation (ACLF).

ACLF had its first program run in 1999-2000. Since that time, ACLF has
improved its sessions in many ways. Board members added sessions to
address new concerns and needs in the community. It partnered with
Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics (LEAP) to put on a joint
leadership seminar. The active board has grown in size and diversity.
ACLF hired its first full-time coordinator. The founding members of
ACLF have seen their continue to take shape and become reality.

In the future, ACLF will continue to address the needs of tomorrow’s
leaders in the Asian/Pacific Islander community.

Mission Statement

The mission of the Asian Pacific Community Leadership Foundation is to
build individual and community leadership which:

    * Promotes greater economic, social and political justice;
    * Develops and mentors ethical, highly-skilled, and caring API leaders;
and
    * Strengthens the unique and diverse voices of the united API community
in the democratic process.