Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF)

The organization receives grants and contributions from left-of-center organizations including the Carnegie Corporation of New York and from Mackenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos,  through her organization Yield Giving. ^{2 3}

Background

The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families is a left-of-center advocacy coalition representing Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The organization uses an “equity and social justice orientation/lens” in every aspect of its work. ¹

The coalition was founded in 1986 by a group of social service providers and was initially run by volunteers. CACF became an incorporated charity in 1992 and appointed its first executive director in 1995. ⁴

Affiliated Organizations

The Coalition for Asian American Children and Families contains many membership organizations. These organizations pay CACF for membership, allowing them to have “an opportunity to shape CACF’s advocacy agendas,” sign open letters and statements sent to policymakers, and meet with elected and appointed officials. ⁵

The CACF network is comprised of more than 85 organizations, some left-of-center. Left-of-center member organizations include the Chinese Progressive Association, the Muslim Community Network, and the Arab American Association of New York. ⁶

Financials

Coalition for Asian American Children and Families had a total revenue of $3.2 million in 2021, with approximately $1.5 million coming from grants and contributions and just under $1.7 million from program services that year. The organization spent $2.3 million in 2021, with $1.3 million spent on grants and contributions to other organizations and around $674,000 spent on salaries and employee benefits. CACF’s net assets were just under $1.7 million in 2021. ⁷

The organization’s total revenue was nearly $4.7 million in 2022, with $1.1 million received from grants and contributions and $3.6 million in program service revenue. Its total expenses were roughly $4.2 million, with just under $2.4 million spent on grants and around $1.6 million spent on salaries and employee benefits. The organization reported $2.5 million in net assets in 2022. ⁷

Funding

The Asian American Federation granted Coalition for Asian American Children and Families a total of $10,000 in 2010 to sustain its “Child Welfare Advocacy Project.” The Korean American Community Foundation provided CACF with a grant but did not provide details of the amount given. As of February 2024, the Asian American Federation did not list CACF as a grantee. ^{8 9}

The Carnegie Corporation of New York is a left-of-center private grantmaking organization that provided the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families with a $50,000 grant in 2008. The grant was for a “collaborative research project” with CACF to “document academic performance within the Asian Pacific American student population of New York City Public Schools.” ²

CACF also received a grant from Mackenzie Scott through her organization Yield Giving in 2023. Scott is the ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. Although Yield Giving did not state how much  CACF received, the organization stated the grant was an “unrestricted gift.” ^{10 11}