Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment (APACE)

Background

Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment is a civic engagement advocacy focused to advance left-of-center policies on behalf of the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community in the Seattle, Washington area. APACE was originally founded in the 1960s as the “Asian Coalition for Equality.” In 1997, it was re-branded as the “Asian Pacific American Coalition for Equality” to support Washington State affirmative action and civil rights legislation. It was funded by the Japanese American Citizens League. ^{3  4}

The group was re-established as the “Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment” in 2010 and replaced the original APACE to encourage AAPI civic involvement. It was established as three organizations: APACE C4, APACE PAC, and APACEvotes. It began by endorsing candidates, developing political campaign strategies, raising money for its endorsed candidates, translating candidates’ brochures, doing in-language phone banks and ballot parties, and holding workshops on voter registration. ¹

As of 2026, APACE was a fiscally sponsored project of Beyond Impact, ² a social-welfare organization in the Tides Nexus focused on the creation, financing, and consultation of various left-of-center groups. Beyond Impact describes itself as an organization to “build power and advance progressive policies that center equity and justice.” ⁵ Other organizations that Beyond Impact was sponsoring at the time or had fiscally sponsored included Dream Defenders, Flip the Vote, the Movement for Black Lives Action Fund, and Voices for Progress. ⁶

Activities

As of 2026, Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment claimed to encourage civic engagement through voter outreach and education, phone banking, and door-to-door canvassing. ⁷ It also claimed to monitor local and state legislation and advocate for policies that support the AAPI community. ⁸

APACE publishes candidate endorsements at the county, city, and state levels. In 2025, it endorsed four county candidates, eight candidates for the State Senate or State House, and 13 candidates for city council, mayor, and attorney. All state candidates identified as Democrats. ^{9  10} APACE is recognized as an endorser by the Blue Voter Guide and its endorsements are listed in the guide. ¹¹

APACE and its sister organization APACE PAC coordinate the endorsement process. The PAC selects initial candidates and requests that the candidate complete a questionnaire. A subset of candidates are then interviewed by the PAC. Once the PAC recommends a final list of candidates to endorse, the APACE C4 board makes the final decision. Endorsed candidates are able to use the APACE C4 logo and are featured in ethnic media ads. The PAC may make donations to select endorsees. ¹²

In May 2024, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) awarded APACE with a Builder Award for carrying out “a progressive vision for America at the local and state level” and recognizing its work building a pipeline of AAPI leaders. ¹³

Advocacy

As of 2026, Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment claims to monitor legislation each year to identify legislation that requires “advocacy.” It is a member of several coalitions, including the Racial Equity Team, the Washington Voting Justice Coalition, the Washington Voting Rights Act Coalition, the Voter Registration Coalition, the Automatic Voter Registration Coalition, the Asian Pacific Islander Coalition, and the Honest Elections Coalition. ⁸

Following the death of George Floyd in May 2020, APACE published a statement demanding justice for George Floyd and urging Asian Americans to “stand with the African American community.” It encouraged donations to Black Lives Matter and the Bail Project. ¹⁴

Leadership

As of 2020, Rick Polintan had been involved with the Asian Pacific Islander Americans for Civic Empowerment 501(c)(4) and APACE PAC in various roles. In 2020, he was listed as the APACE interim board chair. He was later listed as president and board member of APACE and board member of the APACE PAC in a biography posted on Filipino Community of Seattle’s website, where he was a vice president. ^{15  16} Polintan immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1980. He was a member of the Union of Democratic Filipinos and worked for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for 25 years. Polintan was the chair of the 11th Legislative District Democrats in Seattle, Washington, vice president of the Seattle chapter of the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, and vice president of the Filipino American Political Action Group of Washington. ¹⁵

As of May 2026, Lika Smith was vice president of APACE and executive director of the Pacific Islander Health Board of Washington. Previously, she held positions at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, Seattle NOW, and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance. ¹⁷