The Cupertino Courier
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Innovative group fosters civic participation
By Crystal Lu
Michael Chang had a dream. The former mayor of Cupertino envisioned more meaningful representation of ethnic minorities in the public sector.
The Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute, founded by Chang in 1997, has provided innovative civic education for Asian Pacific Americans and other minorities throughout the past decade. Approximately 500 people of all ethnicities celebrated APALI's milestone birthday at Dynasty Restaurant in Cupertino Square on Aug. 2.
"On the 10th anniversary, I feel APALI is on its way to becoming a permanent educational institution to benefit the entire community," said Chang, a Ph.D. and the first Asian American mayor of Cupertino.
Chang established APALI with support from De Anza College during his mayoral term, when he saw few Asian Pacific Americans in decision-making positions in Santa Clara County. Chang observed that Asian Pacific Americans comprised nearly one-third of the county's population but were severely underrepresented in public-sector leadership. He decided to change that.
Chang and other APALI officials spent two years developing their strategies and then launched the Youth Leadership Academy in 1999. This is a five-week summer program for college students as well as highschool juniors and seniors to learn about social issues, policy and community empowerment. Students can earn eight transferable units from De Anza College. The program is affiliated with the Asian American Studies Department of De Anza College, chaired by Chang. It covers a lot of Asian American issues but welcomes students of all ethnic groups.
Victor Zarate, one of the two Latino students among the 41 people attending this summer's Youth Leadership Academy, praised the program for giving him hands-on experience when he came out of a mock city council meeting, which is part of the APALI curriculum. Zarate and his teammates had just presented a proposal to a panel consisting of real city council members, including the current mayors of Cupertino and Sunnyvale.
Zarate had heard about APALI at De Anza College, where he goes to school, and decided to sign up because of his interest in civic participation. He had worried that he might feel "a little outcast" in an Asian-dominated class but found it a friendly atmosphere.
"Everyone's friendly here," said Zarate. "We are like family."
APALI has actively reached out to the Latino community since 2006. Chang felt the need to expand APALI's service to more minorities than Asian Pacific Americans and saw Latinos as another immigrant group that should be encouraged to have more civic participation.
In Chang's view, cultivating future leaders from minority backgrounds is more than having them represent their own ethnic groups. It also allows them to bring the special insights coming from their cultures into issues to help everyone. Chang used his own experience as an example and explained that he had run for the Cupertino City Council in order to "improve services for young families," which included all ethnicities.
With a goal to serve everyone, Chang invited then-East Palo Alto Mayor Ruben Abrica to join APALI in 2006. Together, they launched the Civic Leadership Program in January 2007. This is a 12-week seminar program for practicing and emerging leaders, public officials, nonprofit board members/staff, commissioners, college students, and activists. They meet on Wednesday evenings to learn and exchange ideas about civic involvement, public policy, as well as the Latin and Asian Pacific American communities.
APALI also has a Senior Fellows Program, which hosts quarterly events for public officials, veteran policy-oriented opinion leaders, and public interest advocates to share their experiences. Two-thirds of the senior fellows are current or former elected public officials. APALI often invites them to mentor in other programs.
APALI currently has five programs, including a public service training and a leadership training internship. The former has a partnership in intern training with Vision New America, a nonprofit organization that promotes civic participation of underrepresented ethnic groups. The latter selects college students and trains them to lead the APALI's Youth Leadership Academy. Each intern is awarded an $800 stipend while developing skills for group leadership, youth empowerment and community education.
Rabiah Khalid, head intern of this year's Youth Leadership Academy, raved about "the greatest feeling" that the interning experience gave her.
"Through APALI, I have learned to use my voice and become an incubator for change," said Khalid, "I pass my experiences and my knowledge and use my expression to empower and inspire the students to find the power within their own voice."
Many APALI alumni are currently active in the public sector. One of the most notable examples is Evan Low, who became a council member in Campbell last year at age 23. Low graduated from the Youth Leadership Academy in 2002 and was in the Civic Leadership Program early this year.
"APALI helped me see how important it is to get involved and what it means to give back to society," said Low, "It encouraged me to take the next step from community service, to serve in the public office."
Low described APALI as "an investment for the future of our community.''
Low and Thuy Vu, an Emmy award-winning TV reporter, were masters of ceremonies at APALI's 10th anniversary celebration.
The achievement of APALI has brought PG&E to be one of its two lead sponsors this year. The other sponsor that has donated more than $20,000 is the Robert Chang Foundation. Major sponsors that have given more than $10,000 include AT&T, Comcast and Comerica Bank.
For more information about APALI, visit its website at http://www.svapali.org.
