AAPI Victory Alliance

Background

The AAPI Victory Alliance was founded in 2017 as a social welfare organization called “AAPI Progressive Action” by leaders in left-of-center Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) activism, including previous commissioners of former President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. ²

In 2021, the AAPI Victory Fund re-branded AAPI Progressive Action, its 501(c)(4) entity, to “AAPI Victory Alliance.” AAPI Victory Alliance focuses on policy advocacy, education, and building alliances to promote left-of-center Asian American and Pacific Islander interests at the federal, state, and local levels. It also created a think tank to support its areas of focus. ^{3  4}

As of 2026, the AAPI Victory Alliance was a fiscally sponsored project of Beyond Impact (formerly Tides Advocacy), a left-leaning social welfare organization 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  6} Other organizations that Beyond Impact fiscally sponsored at that time or had sponsored in the past include Dream Defenders, Flip the Vote, the Movement for Black Lives Action Fund, and Voices for Progress. ⁷

Work Areas and Issues

AAPI Victory Alliance advocates for policies and candidates that support left-of-center Asian American and Pacific Islander interests, educates the AAPI community on left-of-center issues, and collaborates with other liberal organizations to ensure AAPI leadership at the federal, state, and local levels. ¹  It focuses on four priority areas: restricting private firearm ownership, promoting environmentalist climate-change policies, combating supposed misinformation, and opposing regulations on voting. ⁸

Corporate Accountability Campaign

Its Corporate Accountability Campaign urges financial institutions to stop financing the firearms industry, claiming that gun manufacturers are to blame for much gun violence. AAPI Victory Alliance partners with Newtown Action Alliance, Moms Rising, Chinese for Affirmative Action, and the Hope and Heal Fund to host an annual convening of the AAPI Against Gun Violence Coalition. ^{9  10}

In June 2024, the Biden administration hosted a roundtable with AAPI Victory Alliance and the AAPI Against Gun Violence Coalition to address alleged rising gun violence against the AAPI community. ¹¹

Political Advocacy

In 2021, AAPI Victory Alliance campaigned at the federal and state levels to combat alleged hate incidents against Asian Americans that the group claimed had increased as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It participated in the push to reinstate the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, which was initially established during the Clinton administration, to respond to the claimed rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans. ^{4  12}

In 2023, AAPI Victory Alliance was one of 63 Asian American and allied organizations that wrote a message to Congress opposing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which enables certain warrantless surveillance. The groups claimed that Asian Americans have been disproportionately harmed and “treated as “perpetual foreigners.”” The message called for warrant requirements, stronger judicial oversight, and limiting the scope of whom the government may target. Other signatories included the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, the Center for Leadership Equity and Research, the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, Rising Voices, and Stop AAPI Hate. ¹³

In June 2023, AAPI Victory Alliance signed a statement along with more than 200 groups that criticized Target for what they claimed was inadequate commitment to LGBT interests. They urged Target to release a public statement reaffirming support to the LGBT community and restore Pride merchandise to store shelves. Other signatories included the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Gender Justice, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Stand with Trans, and the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. ¹⁴

Political Endorsements

AAPI Victory Alliance endorses candidates at the federal and state level that support the AAPI community. ¹⁵ It has stated that “it will look to back ‘progressive’ AAPI candidates up and down the ballot.” ⁴ It publicly endorsed 20 Democratic candidates across 11 states in 2024, including Alaska State Senator Scott Kawasaki (D-Fairbanks), Arizona State Senator Priya Sundareshan (D-Tucson), Georgia House candidate Michelle Kang (D), Georgia State Rep. Marvin Lim (D-Norcross), and Texas State Rep. Suleman Lalani (D-Sugar Land). ¹⁶

In December 2023, left-of-center venture funder Higher Ground Labs awarded AAPI Victory Alliance a $20,000 grant to develop artificial intelligence capabilities that translate Democratic campaign messages across several Asian languages including Hindi, Tagalog, Chinese, Hmong, Korean, and Vietnamese, with the goal of reaching more voters in their respective languages. ¹⁷

During the 2024 presidential election, AAPI Victory Alliance noted an increase in voters and voter fundraising favoring then-Vice President Kamala Harris. According to an Asian Fortune news article published in October 2024, AAPI voters have historically favored Democratic candidates. ¹⁸

Leadership

As of 2026, Varun Nikore was working as executive director of AAPI Victory Alliance. Nikore was the founding president of the AAPI Victory Fund and led both organizations until 2021 when he transitioned full time to the AAPI Victory Alliance. ¹⁹ Early in his career he was a campaign coordinator for the Bill Clinton/Al Gore campaign and a special assistant to the Clinton administration. He was founder and president of the Indian American Leadership Initiative to identify, train, and support Indian American Democratic candidates. He was an advisor for the Obama campaign in 2008 and a co-chair of the Small Business Owners Council for the Democratic National Committee in 2012. He has been a board member of the Virginia Offshore Wind Development Authority, Emerging Voters, and Guns Down America. He was on the national steering committee of the Pipeline Fund. ²⁰

As of 2026, AAPI Victory Alliance listed six board members, including Ning Mosberger-Tang, co-founder and board chair of Emerging Voters; Lala Wu, co-founder and executive director of Sister District; and Luisa Blue, former vice president of the Service Employees International Union. ^{21  22}