Chiu leads national effort to create AAPI political pipeline

A coalition of hundreds of the top Asian American political leaders led by San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu has launched an initiative aiming to inspire more Asian Americans to assume public office.

Earlier this month, more than 350 Asian American elected officials convened in Las Vegas to announce the creation of the nonpartisan organization AAPI LEAD (Leadership Elected and ApppointeD), which advocates touted as the first coordinated effort across local, state and federal governments to create a pipeline for Asian Americans to enter and progress in politics.

Members said they hope the program provides a key missing resource for the Asian American community, which has struggled to maintain a strong foothold in national politics over the years.

Organizers include Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, U.S. Rep. Ted Lieu, and Chiu, who is the president of AAPI LEAD. All three are Democrats.

While representation in California politics has increased, the rest of the country still significantly lacks Asian American elected leadership. Of the 945 Asian American elected officials in the U.S., 53% are in California, according to AAPI LEAD data.

“For years, many of us have wondered why there has not been a national organization pulling Asian public officials together, across the country,” Chiu told The Examiner. “We're at a point where, as an Asian community, we have had some electoral successes. But we have so much more work to be done. We are, as a community, truly stronger together … we need to ensure that the progress of our community continues and that Asians have a seat at every table.”

Even The City’s Asian American political representation has diminished in recent years. Ten years ago, five of the 11 members of the Board of Supervisors were Asian American. Today, there is only one: District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan.

Top political leaders who spoke to The Examiner earlier this year said that one of the main reasons for the uneven progress is a dearth of Asian American political organizations.

“I don’t think the community has done anything to build political infrastructure, and that’s why we’re at where we’re at,” said California Assemblymember Phil Ting, who represents San Francisco.

Chiu said he and other organizers hope AAPI LEAD is a significant step towards creating that institutional pipeline.

“Other ethnic communities have been much more successful over the decades in building and sustaining political influence and power,” Chiu said. “We have built infrastructure in a number of different sectors. We haven't done that when it comes to politics.”

“For almost every Asian elected I've spoken to, we all had the same experience, where none of us were encouraged to run for office or consider a career in public service,” he continued. “We were all encouraged to consider many other paths in life. And for many of us who find ourselves in these positions, we arrived here on our own. Part of what we're hoping to do with AAPI LEAD is to socialize the importance of this work throughout our community and to encourage careers in public office.”

Darlene Chiu-Bryant, whose array of former San Francisco political titles including serving as then-Mayor Gavin Newsom’s Deputy Chief of Staff, said AAPI LEAD will provide a series of services like consulting, job training, bootcamps and internship opportunities for Asian Americans.

“I get this question all the time, ‘My son is going to be studying in D.C., do you think you can find him an internship?’” Chiu-Bryant said. “With a platform like this, you can go to one platform, ask a question, and someone will get back to you. It can be something as simple as that request.”

AAPI LEAD creators modeled the organization after the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials , a nonprofit which helps already politically active Latino or Latina Americans climb up the industry ladder.

In 1984, three years after NALEO was founded, there were 3,128 Latino elected officials in office, according to the nonprofit. As of 2021, there were more than 7,000 nationwide.

“We're still underrepresented,” NALEO CEO Arturo Vargas said. “But you have seen measurable increases in the number of Latinos in higher offices, whether they're members of Congress, US senators, or state legislators.”

Vargas mentioned that both U.S. Senator Alex Padilla and Los Angeles County Supervisor and former U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis joined NALEO early in their political careers.

“We're able to identify and address particular challenges that Latinos and Latinas encounter in public office,” he explained. “Some of our governance deals with, how do you develop alliances with people who don't represent Latino districts, but share a common cause? How do you navigate working with a superintendent and school board member or your city manager?”

He said his biggest piece of advice for AAPI LEAD officials was that they need “to have clarity about the mission and the purpose of this organization they're establishing. Because as they develop this network of political leaders, there is always that danger of having individual political agendas hijacking an organization, or taking the organization off its course.”

Chiu said he found NALEO’s journey “aspirational,” going from hundreds of members when it first formed nearly 50 years ago, to now thousands today.

“My profound hope is that my 8-year-old son, when he becomes an adult, will look at a career like mine differently than the experience I had growing up,” Chiu said. “Seeing how NALEO organized themselves and the issues that they focused on has given us a lot of guidance. And our hope is that we're able to see benefits from this faster because we are learning from their experience.”