Causes

Community & economic development Civil rights Housing & homelessness

Posted by

Yi-Hui C.

Program Development Officer

Our mission

We empower diversity by creating opportunities in business development, housing and financial education, targeting low- to moderate-income communities of all races.

What we do

ASIAN, Inc. is a non-profit technical assistance and research organization that strengthens Asian Americans and other socioeconomic minorities, particularly low- to moderate-income (LMI) communities with diverse multi-cultural and multi-linguistic needs. By assisting in their physical, economic and social development, we seek to overcome their systemic dependencies. We have been empowering communities to reject dependency as a permanent unalterable condition. We do so by mobilizing, partnering, and collaborating with the nonprofit, business, government, and philanthropic sectors to advance social and economic equity, leveraging public and private funding to meet the financing and technical assistance needs of emerging small businesses and others aiming to achieve affordable housing and sustainable homeownership.


HISTORY

ASIAN, Inc. was founded in 1971 by Harold Yee, an advocate for the equality of Asian Americans. Yee was inspired by the Civil Rights Era of the 1960s and the powerful literary works like "Barons of Labor" and "Driven Out." Yee believed affirmative action was necessary to create and expand access to opportunities for Asian Americans and other minorities and level the playing field in the public and private sectors.

ASIAN, Inc. has also been recognized by the Supplier Clearinghouse for the Utility Supplier Diversity Program of the California Public Utilities Commission, and is a member of the Greenlining Institute Coalition and California Reinvestment Coalition.

ASIAN, Inc.'s theme in 2020 is that we are here to create and access opportunities in housing and economic development to create upward mobility for the disadvantaged.

This means removing barriers to opportunities that block, discriminate, or biased racially, linguistically, or culturally against racial minorities. With many AAPIs suffering discrimination due to their limited English proficiency and cultural differences and with other racial minorities who have been severely discriminated, we are constantly reminded that race does matter in America.

For nearly five decades, ASIAN, Inc. has recognized these horrible racial disparities, and continues to be a vigorous proponent of affirmative action and for equal treatment of all minorities.

These disparities unify ASIAN, Inc. in everything that we pursue and initiate. We will continue to open doors, unlock windows and level playing fields so that minorities have their equal access to opportunities and also have equal protection of their rights to opportunities.