Memorandum urging for the reestablishment and revamp of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI)
TO:
Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff
Dr. Susan Rice, Director, Domestic Policy Council
Cedric Richmond, Senior Advisor to the President
CC:
Adrian Saenz, Special Assistant to the President, Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Senior Advisor for Intergovernmental Affairs
FROM:
Dr. Tung Nguyen, Chair, AAPI Progressive Action
RE:
White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) Revamped and Elevated Beyond Previous Administrations
Introduction and Background:
Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Progressive Action is an organization that works to empower AAPI communities by connecting community leaders and promoting awareness and action for progressive AAPI causes. Our organization was founded in 2017 by the former Chairman and many of the former Commissioners of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders under President Obama.
Past White House Initiatives on AAPIs succeeded in elevating domestic policy issues that have an outsized impact on Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians. The prior Executive Orders focused on cross agency coordination and data disaggregation in the Clinton Administration, business engagement and growth in the Bush Administration, and in the Obama Administration, the Executive Order tackled a broad range of critical data and federal government agency access issues.
Today, the Asian Americans and Pacific Islander community has experienced great growth: Asian immigrants make up the largest share of immigrants residing in America, approximately 28% of 44 million¹; in a reversal of trends since 2000 where Latinos were the largest inflow of immigration, Asian immigrants and refugees constitute the largest share of incoming individuals, to include 38% of new immigrants in 2018. Additionally, two million Asian American–owned small businesses across the US now generate $700 billion in annual GDP and employ around 3.5 million people.
However, leaders across the AAPI community remain alarmed that issues endemic to the community -- including disparities, discrimination and poverty, underemployment and unemployment -- remain at high levels. COVID-19 has only exacerbated these disparities. For example, 1) Asian American women constituted the largest group of unemployed individuals in the last six months of the pandemic according to a 2021 National Women’s Law Center report; and 2) COVID-19 mortalities amongst the Pacific Islander population in some areas of the country were fourfold their proportion of the population. The evidence and data surfaces differently than in other minority communities, because of the methodology of data collection and how different AAPI ethnicities live spatially across America. Finally, the alarming rise in white supremacy specifically against Chinese-looking or Asian-looking individuals due in large part to COVID-19 origins and the trade war against China and accompanying rhetoric in the last four years has led to a resurgence of racism and acts of hate against Asian Americans in all sectors of life.
The following document outlines options and considerations for recommendation to the Biden-Harris Administration regarding the continuation of the White House Initiative on Asian Ameicans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI). We urge a deeper and bolder commitment to elevating AAPI success, issues, and racial disparities than in past Administrations; many of these issues cannot sit in one agency, and we request dedicated staff centrally situated inside the White House and Eisenhower Executive Office Building to work on this portfolio full time. A centrally located staff can effectively coordinate with the Domestic Policy Council, Office of Communications, National Security Council, and Office of Public Engagement in a manner that reflects this moment in time, needed velocity for change and targeted policies to enact and implement.
This work would expand upon President Obama’s Executive Order 13515 whose mandate was to:
Establish a President's Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders and a White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. Each will work to improve the quality of life and opportunities for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through increased access to, and participation in, Federal programs in which they may be underserved. In addition, each will work to advance relevant evidence-based research, data collection, and analysis for AAPI populations and subpopulations.
The Commission shall provide advice to the President, through the Secretaries of Education and Commerce, as Co-Chairs of the Initiative described in section 3 of this order, on: (i) the development, monitoring, and coordination of executive branch efforts to improve the quality of life of AAPIs through increased participation in Federal programs in which such persons may be underserved; (ii) the compilation of research and data related to AAPI populations and subpopulations; (iii) the development, monitoring, and coordination of Federal efforts to improve the economic and community development of AAPI businesses; and (iv) strategies to increase public and private-sector collaboration, and community involvement in improving the health, education, environment, and well-being of AAPIs.
We believe that the Biden Administration can build upon this work even more deeply by doing the following:
1. IMMEDIATE PROCESS AND TIMELINE
a. By May 31, during AAPI Heritage Month, announce the new WHIAAPI Executive Order
b. Full time staff work with a designated White House working group with key EEOB representatives and federal agency leads at the outset to establish priorities, regulatory imperatives, and directives.
2. MANDATE RECOMMENDATIONS
a. The original Executive Order 13515 should be enhanced and expanded to include the following:
i. All federal agencies should have a mandate to work with WHIAAPI to develop and implement a plan to increase participation of AAPis in the federal government
ii. WHIAAPI should have the authority and resources to provide financial assistance and grants to public organizations that serve vulnerable AAPIs
iii. WHIAAPI should have the ability to direct and partner with federal agencies to increase participation of AAPIs in Federal programs:
1. Each agency’s Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs should develop legislative and/or regulatory options to include directives on how different offices can include data disaggregation of AAPIs as part of their policy agenda
a. For example, agencies should examine authorizing legislation to understand how to institutionalize data disaggregation.
2. Agencies should develop directives and guidances to their grantmaking offices to formally partner with WHIAAPI to engage in building the capacity of nonprofit organizations serving vulnerable AAPI populations; and include equity procedures and policies through grantmaking processes including:
a. Providing capacity building grants to partner with a federal agency to offer technical assistance to organizations on how to apply for federal grants; and utilizing the following grant-making equity tools:
i. Developing solicitations that specifically mention AAPI and minority-run organizations as key partners;
ii. Develop large grant solicitations that require large organizations formally partner with community-based and AAPI-run organizations;
iii. Develop performance based measurements that emphasize a clear theory of change that results in eliminating disparities for AAPI communities
b. Have the ability to or partner with a federal agency to accept private resources to do grantmaking
iv. Have a key focus on data through OMB to mandate that federal agencies disaggregate or if they are not able to, develop a plan to disaggregate AAPI Data. Accurate data on AAPIs are necessary for federal, state, and local governments to monitor conditions and make informed policy and spending decisions. OMB should establish an interagency working group to share expertise and develop and improve systems and methodologies that federal government agencies could replicate for the collection of accurate and disaggregated data on small and hard to count populations such as Southeast Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander racial groups.
v. WHIAAPI should have the authority to work with all federal agencies to help coordinate and provide sufficient support to the AAPI community in any and all areas. AAPI Progressive Action looks forward to providing further insight into these recommendations when the Administration is ready. Some of these areas might include: disaggregating AAPI data across the federal government; supporting AAPI small businesses and entrepreneurs; support in-language access for all public facing government agencies; supporting English Language Learners and their families; addressing the varied needs of AAPI seniors; addressing the direct impact of COVID-19 on AAPI communities, etc.
vi. WHIAAPI should have the ability to work with a newly created “regional network,” which will foster the engagement of regionally based federal government employees and agencies across the country and help emphasize local AAPI priorities and local responsiveness.
3. HOST AGENCY OPTIONS
Option A: Team or staff with centrally delegated authority inside White House/EEOB, tied directly to the Domestic Policy Council (like White House Council on Women and Girls). This allows for the ability to quickly coordinate with policy making, communications, and public facing White House offices
Option B - Team or staff reporting to OMB Director: With the extensive focus on data disaggregation and federal grants, proximity to OMB will be critical and is a part of the significant work that was started but unfinished in the Obama Administration
4. FEDERAL AGENCY CO-CHAIRS: WHIAAPI should be co-chaired by the
Director of OMB alongside a key agency Secretary
5. COMMISSIONERS: We recommend that WHIAAPI have at least 20
Commissioners with the ability to add more as needed in order to have full and
deep representation from the AAPI community.
6. STAFFING: WHIAAPI staff should include: Executive Director, Deputy Director,
Senior Advisor to manage cross-agency work, and a Special Assistant to support
the overall team. The Senior Advisor position should be a permanent career
position that allows for continuity of this work beyond any singular administration.
7. FOCUS: Given the current multiple crises that are being faced, the baseline scope of former WHIAAPI Commissions should also be expanded to include addressing the following: health disparities, post-pandemic health complications and economic impacts, racial and climate injustice, voter suppression, etc.
¹Facts on Immigrants 2018, Pew Research Center