AAPIs for Obama Leadership Council Expanded

The Obama campaign announced today in a press release new members of the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) for Obama Leadership Council, a group that was established in October 2007. I’m honored to have been appointed to this group and to serve with Konrad Ng, Sen. Obama’s brother-in-law and my friends Dale Minami, Catherine Park, Curtis Chin, Bill Kaneko and Ramey Ko.

The AAPI leadership council consists of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders leaders and activists from across the nation, representing every sector of our society, including community, nonprofit, entertainment, business, government, law, academia and media.

We’re fortunate to have such a strong team of AAPI leaders from across the country speaking and living Barack Obama’s message of change.  The three co-chairs of the Leadership Council — Nancy Chen, Ann Kalayil and Stan Toy — were instrumental in introducing Senator Obama to the AAPI community during the primary season.

We all want to express a heartfelt mahalo to Ann, Nancy and Stan for their incredible hard work, leadership and personal investment of time and resources from the beginning of the campaign.

The Obama campaign was also galvanized by the grassroots efforts of Asian Americans for Obama, South Asians for Obama, Asian Pacific Americans for Progress and other similar groups.  These groups touched thousands and thousands of AAPIs across the country, many of whom were new to the political process.

The council now has executive and steering committees that include AAPI supporters of former presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Edwards.

“My brother is the only candidate with an intimate connection with Asia and the Pacific,” said Maya Soetoro-Ng, Obama’s sister of Indonesian descent, in the announcement of the original council.  “Our mother’s work and values brought us into contact with a wide range of worlds. The movement of our childhood and adolescence required that we be able to walk between worlds and, in particular, to communicate broadly within Asian and Pacific Islands cultures.  Barack understands the values, needs, and expectations that are unique to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.”

“Barack Obama has a long track record of promoting policies that are important to the AAPI community. His depth of experience in bridging the many divides combined with his sound judgment is what I believe will make a better America,” says Ann Lata Kalayil, Chicago-based AAPI community leader and Co-Chair of the Obama Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Leadership Council.

“I am honored to be a member of the steering committee for AAPIs for Obama Leadership Council,” said Irene Natividad, former National Chair of AAPI Women for Hillary.  “I look forward to working with Asian American and Pacific Islander community leaders across the country as we share with AAPI voters that Barack Obama’s story is our story, and there is no better champion of the issues that are important to our community than Senator Obama.”

“Barack Obama epitomizes all that is possible in this great country of ours,” said Jadine Nielsen, former Hawaii State Director for John Edwards. “He was born and raised in Hawaii, a majority AAPI state, and he spent time as a child in Indonesia.  His family members include a sister who is half-Indonesian and a brother-in-law who’s Chinese-Canadian.  He is a candidate who reflects our multi-cultural society at its best.”

The members of the Executive and Steering Committees of AAPIs for Obama Leadership Council are:

Executive Committee:
Jacinta Titialii Abbott, AS
Gloria Caoile, VA
Nancy Chen, IL
Ann Lata Kalayil, IL
Hrishi Karthikeyan, NY
Dale Minami, CA
Konrad Ng, HI
Catherine Park, CA
Stanley Toy, CA
Lee Pao Xiong, CA
Janet Yang, CA

Steering Committee:
Rajen Anand, CA
Preeta Bansal, NY
C.P. Chen, OH
Curtis Chin, CA
Rocky Chin, NY
Martha Choe, WA
Robert Gee, VA
Lisa Hasegawa, MD
Paul Igasaki, VA
Keith Kamisugi, CA
Bill Kaneko, HI
Ramey Ko, TX
David Lang, CA
Rozita Lee, NV
Asif Mahmood, CA
Mona Mohib, DC
Karen Nakandakare, CO
Irene Natividad, VA
Hung Nguyen, VA
Jadine Nielsen, HI
Prem Shunmugavelu, MN
Bouapha Toommaly, DC
Cuc Vu, DC
Eddie Wong, CA

Read the original announcement of the AAPIs for Obama Leadership Council and get involved by visiting the official AAPIs for Obama site at http://aapi.barackobama.com and continuing to read our grassroots blog at www.asianamericansforobama.com.