Our Mission
Established in 1989, the Asian American Federation (AAF) is the strongest leadership organization in New York serving 1.5 million Asian New Yorkers with the mission to raise the influence and well-being of the pan-Asian American community through research, policy advocacy, public awareness, and nonprofit support. We do this work in collaboration with 70 member agencies.
What We Do
In partnership with our 70 member and partner organizations, we represent the collective interests of 1.5 million Asian New Yorkers, across critical issue areas such as immigrant integration, mental health, economic development, and civic engagement. We are working to make sure the pan-Asian community remains visible, our needs are addressed, our contributions are valued, and our stories are told. And we do this by providing expert research, strong advocacy, and training pan-Asian nonprofits to be better at serving their communities.
AAF is one of the strongest leadership voices advocating for better policies, services, and funding that lead to more justice and opportunity for Asian immigrants, one of New York City’s poorest and most underserved communities. We support Asians from 20 ethnic groups—diverse in language, culture, and religion—that make up New York’s Asian community through:
How We Work
Research
Our reports provide hard data on issues affecting the Asian American community, such as poverty, mental health, and limited access to economic opportunity. In addition, our reports provide policy recommendations to address those challenges.
Advocacy
We advocate to implement our research recommendations with elected officials, government agencies, and private funders in order to affect changes in policy.
Direct Services
When our research uncovers new and underserved needs in the community, we design direct service programs that address these gaps. We raise money for these programs and re-grant funds to member organizations who can help us implement the programs on the ground.
Training Nonprofits to Succeed
We provide workshops, capacity building, and mentorship to our member organizations, so they can thrive as nonprofits.
Join Team AAF
The Asian American Federation is an equal opportunity employer, and we encourage applications for our jobs, internships, and volunteer positions from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age.
Our Team
Jo-Ann Yoo
Executive Director
Joo Han
Deputy Director
Linying He
Associate Director of Research
Ahyoung Kim
Director of Economic Empowerment
Ravi Reddi
Associate Director of Advocacy and Policy
Michelle Shang
Senior Coordinator of Small Business Programs
Jenny Shin
Senior Communications Coordinator
Janice Song
Safety Programs Coordinator
Meera Venugopal
Director of Development and Communications
Leann Pham
ONA Immigrant Community Navigator
Annie Yang
Social Media Coordinator
Lisha Luo Cai
Advocacy Coordinator
Wan Yin Lui
Operations Manager
Daphne Thammasila
Associate Director of Programs
Yuncheng Wang
Research Associate
Dena Li
Research Associate
Nicole Kormendi
Grants and Contracts Coordinator
Tiffany Tsung
Executive Assistant
Winnie Wang
Accountant
Elizabeth (Liz) Tedesco
Grants and Contract Manager
Natalia Surujnath
Administrative Assistant
Young Laura Kwon
Senior Program Coordinator, Community Safety
Kim Lee
AAF Board Chair
Global Atlantic Group
Marie Han Silloway
AAF Board Vice-Chair
Jean Siao
AAF Board Secretary
Emily Clarice Ho Mathews
AAF Board Treasurer
Stella Aquino
AAF Board Member
Chris Kwok
AAF Board Member
Priya Pereira-Sawian
AAF Board Member
John Hwang
AAF Board Member
S. Mitra Kalita
Publisher of Epicenter-NYC
Curtis Chin
Former U.S. Ambassador
CAMPAIGN RAISED
FOR ASIAN NEW YORKERS
HATE FROM MARCH 2020 TO JUNE 2021
STOP AAPI HATE, NYPD, AND THE NYC COMMISSION OF HUMAN RIGHTS.
HATE ARE REPORTED
BOOKLETS REACHED
TO COMBAT HATE VIOLENCE
DURING COVID-19
IMPACTED BY COVID-19
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES FOR ASIAN
NEW YORKERS
6,000 IN-LANGUAGE MENTAL
HEALTH SERVICES
EFFORTS REACHED
TRISTATE AREA
AND EVENTS TO HELP
INTEGRATE INTO THEIR COMMUNITIES
ORGANIZATIONS THRIVE
ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES WITH
MEDIA COVERAGE IN OVER