The Center for Asian Pacific American Women is a nonprofit that advocates for the interests of Asian American and Pacific Islander women. The primary focus of the group is leadership development for Asian American and Pacific Islander women.

The group also opposes racism targeted against Asian Americans. In March 2021, the group’s president denounced the alleged racist motives behind a series of shootings at massage parlors in Atlanta, Georgia. Six of the eight victims of the shootings were Asian women. ¹

Some of America’s biggest corporations such as Walmart, State Farm Insurance Company, and The Coca-Cola Company sponsor the group. ² It is a member organization of the left-of-center Tides Center project National Council of Asian Pacific Americans. ³

Background

Martha Lee and 18 other Asian-American women, who called themselves the “Warrior Sisters,” founded the Center for Asian Pacific American Women in 1995 under the name of Asian Pacific American Women’s Leadership Institute. The group’s purpose was to develop more Asian American and Pacific Islander women for leadership roles. ⁴

The group developed its Fellowship Program, which selected a group of women for a three-week leadership training course. It concluded by asking each participant to create a leadership impact project that positively changed the lives of at least 25 people. ⁵

In 2006, the group’s name changed to Center for Asian Pacific American Women and its scope expanded to include more leadership programs. ⁶

The group is a member of the activist organization National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, which is a project of the left-of-center Tides Center. ⁷

Advocacy

Anti-Asian Hate Crimes

In March 2021, a 21-year-old man attacked three Atlanta-area massage parlors, killing eight people, six of whom were Asian-American women. The shooter claimed that he had a sex addiction and he wanted to get rid of temptations that were haunting him. He claimed that the shootings were not racially motivated. ⁸

The Center for Asian Pacific American Women’s president disagreed with the claim that the shooting was not racially motivated in an interview with NPR. ⁹

When the shooter pled guilty in July 2021, the group’s president attacked the shooter for not mentioning the victims and instead talked about his own issues. She continued to insist that the shootings were racially motivated. ¹⁰

Criticizing Lack of Internet Access

In June 2022, the Center for Asian Pacific American Women published an article featuring an identity politics-based criticism of the lack of internet access for Native Hawaiians. It claimed that as of 2019 8.7 percent of Native Hawaiians did not have internet access compared to 4.6 percent of the general Hawaii population. ¹¹

The article praised the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill for giving money to Hawaii to improve its broadband network. ¹²

Sponsors and Collaborators

Walmart, State Farm Insurance, Stanley Black and Decker, Philips 66, Southwest Airlines, the Coca-Cola Company, ADP, Kimberly-Clark, Helmsbriscoe, IW Group, Cole Chemical, AT&T, Nike, and Deloitte are sponsors of the Center for Asian Pacific American Women. ¹³

It called the Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship, the left-leaning group AARP, and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates “community collaborators.” ¹⁴

Leadership

Sue Ann Hong has been the Center for Asian Pacific American Women’s president and CEO since January 2020. She originally joined the group in May 2018 as its interim executive director. She previously worked at State Farm Insurance Companies. ¹⁵

Sandy Dang is the chair of the board. From 2011 through 2018, she served as a presidential appointee to the board of directors and executive director of the Vietnam Education Foundation, a U.S. government agency to strengthen relations between the U.S. and Vietnam. ¹⁶

Finances

According to its 2022 tax return, Center for Asian Pacific American Women had $868,647 in revenue, $540,713 in expenses, and $1,045,848 in assets. ¹⁷

1. Hagen, Lisa. “‘sex Addiction’ Cited as Spurring Spa Shooting, but Most Killed Were of Asian Descent.” NPR, March 17, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/17/978288270/shooter-claimed-sex-addiction-as-his-reason-but-most-victims-were-of-asian-desce.
2. “Our Sponsors: Asian Women Rising Programs: Capaw.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://capaw.org/our-sponsors/.
3. “Member Organizations.” NCAPA. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=National%2BCouncil%2Bof%2BAsian%2BPacific%2BAmericans&d=4786487959952894&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=yNxKjRIqNwSApLdeJtq2h1ALhmuqTvxR.
4. “Our History.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20150904202704/http://www.apawomen.org/about-us/our-history/.
5. [1]“Our History.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20150904202704/http://www.apawomen.org/about-us/our-history/.
6. “Our History.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20150904202704/http://www.apawomen.org/about-us/our-history/.
7. “Member Organizations.” NCAPA. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://cc.bingj.com/cache.aspx?q=National%2BCouncil%2Bof%2BAsian%2BPacific%2BAmericans&d=4786487959952894&mkt=en-US&setlang=en-US&w=yNxKjRIqNwSApLdeJtq2h1ALhmuqTvxR.
8.  Hagen, Lisa. “‘sex Addiction’ Cited as Spurring Spa Shooting, but Most Killed Were of Asian Descent.” NPR, March 17, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/17/978288270/shooter-claimed-sex-addiction-as-his-reason-but-most-victims-were-of-asian-desce.
9. Hagen, Lisa. “‘sex Addiction’ Cited as Spurring Spa Shooting, but Most Killed Were of Asian Descent.” NPR, March 17, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2021/03/17/978288270/shooter-claimed-sex-addiction-as-his-reason-but-most-victims-were-of-asian-desce.
10. Hallerman, Tamar, Paradise Afshar, and Asia Simone Burns. “Reaction: Civic Leader Calls Spa Shooter’s Plea Deal ‘a Slap in the Face’ for Asian Community.” AJC, July 27, 2021. https://www.ajc.com/news/reaction-spa-shooters-sentence-brings-some-measure-of-peace-to-families-asian-community/OJTAGU7Z4JHC3FXHZ44OWRGNKA/.
11. Beach, Olivia. “Digital Equity for Native Hawaiians.” CAPAW, July 9, 2022. https://capaw.org/news/digital-equity-for-native-hawaiians/.
12. Beach, Olivia. “Digital Equity for Native Hawaiians.” CAPAW, July 9, 2022. https://capaw.org/news/digital-equity-for-native-hawaiians/.
13. “Our Sponsors: Asian Women Rising Programs: Capaw.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://capaw.org/our-sponsors/.
14. “Our Sponsors: Asian Women Rising Programs: Capaw.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://capaw.org/our-sponsors/.
15. “Our Leaders: Women of Color: Capaw.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://capaw.org/our-leaders/.
16. [1]  “Sandy Dang, Chair.” CAPAW. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://capaw.org/team/sandy-dang-chair/.
17. “The Center for Asian Pacific American Women, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed October 9, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/841309405/202321329349302792/full.