Join a community of AAPI changemakers, and receive $10,000 in funding for your civic impact project.

Are you an Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) woman or gender-expansive person who is passionate about making change for our communities?

PREFERRED CRITERIA

You live in PA, MA, or GA.

You love, work for, and live in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, or Georgia.

You are an AAPI woman or gender-expansive person.

You self-identify as an Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Native Hawaiian. You also identify as a woman or gender-expansive person. We welcome individuals who self-identify as South Asian and Southeast Asian, and also welcome individuals who self-identify as multiracial.

You have a vision.

You have the grit to make something out of nothing. You have a sense of a problem or unmet need in your community that you’d like to solve. You understand you may need to build something for your community that may not have existed before. You see long-term benefits where others may see short-term obstacles.

You want a community.

You are committed to uplifting the voices of our AAPI communities and want to be in a space that celebrates you, centers your growth, and harnesses the collective power of our community.

You are serious about the work and get things done.

You have already contributed to your community in some way. You are passionate about civic engagement and/or social justice. You are ready to give back.

You need this program.

You want mentorship, support and community. The fellowship and incubator will provide funding, workshops, trainings, and an alumni and community network to help you make an impact.

The AAWPI National Civic Impact Fellowship & Incubator empowers individuals and ideas to create social change and equity for our AAPI communities in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Georgia. We fund civic impact projects led by AAPI women and gender-expansive people.

Are you a changemaker?

APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED!

Do you know a changemaker?

DEADLINE ROLLING

National Civic Impact Fellowship & Incubator Program

The AAWPI National Civic Impact Fellowship and Incubator is a 6 month program aimed at supporting AAPI women and gender expansive people in planning, building and implementing a project to make change in our AAWPI communities. Fellows are part of a cohort of AAPI women and gender expansive people from Georgia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. The fellowship has both in-person and online components with the goal of building an intentional community amongst the fellows where they learn from and uplift each other.

    • 2-Day Orientation Retreat: This initial in-person experience helps ground fellows in their understanding of the Fellowship, in their initial planning and values that will drive their projects and also builds connections amongst the fellows.

    • Monthly Workshops: Fellows will gather virtually for one weekend per month (approximately 6 hours, over 2 days) to participate in workshops designed to deepen the fellows’ understanding of core issues affecting the AAPI community and to provide support and guidance around their civic impact projects.

    • Grassroots Experiential Learning: Fellows will meet in-person with their state-based cohorts for on-the-ground experiences to deepen their connection to local communities and enhance their knowledge about moving plans to action. (Approximately 4 hours per month)

    • On-going Support: Fellows will meet with members of the AAWPI Leadership Team and other advisors to receive support for implementing their civic impact projects.

    • Closing Weekend: This closing in-person experience will give all the fellows space to share about their projects and collectively reflect on their experiences in the program.

    • Wed, Nov 13, 2024 @ 11:59 PM EST: Application deadline extension

    • Oct 23 - Nov 20, 2024: Interviews (Interviews will be held via Zoom. Once your application has been submitted and you have been selected as a finalist, we will reach out about your availability for an interview.)

    • Mon, Dec 16, 2024: Decision notification

  • To apply, complete the short application by 11:59 PM EST on Wednesday, November 13, 2024

    The first step of the application includes the following sections:

    • Section 1. Intake/ Demographic Information

    • Section 2. Personal Statement

“Because of AAWPI, I know what radical love means and I feel it now. I'm so appreciative to be part of this community and just so grateful for it.”

Khanh Le

“For the first time, I was in a space that was so safe, that embodied radical love and that allowed for me to understand more about my Asian American identity and connect to other people that come from so many different ethnic backgrounds, different identities, and different points of view. But also, we share this love for each other, a drive to make change and get stuff done. AAWPI has become a home for me, a piece of me moving forward, and I'm so grateful to be able to walk through life with that.”

Iman Ali

“I felt heard, seen and supported as an entrepreneur, as a builder. We do this for our communities, and that's what makes this different from other founder spaces I've been in. There’s no more powerful feeling than to be in solidarity with a group of caring, talented, passionate self-starters who are striving to make our world a more compassionate and equitable place.”

Jessica Nguyen

Frequently Asked Questions

  • The AAWPI National Civic Impact Fellowship & Incubator celebrates community-driven individuals with ideas, projects, and passions that will bring social change and equity to our AAPI communities.

  • The ideal candidate has an idea to make change for our AAPI communities and is looking for guidance, mentorship, support, and a deep community to help bring it to life. This woman or gender-expansive person is serious about the work required to make something out of nothing and is driven to push through because they care deeply about making a difference for our communities.

    AAWPI is rooted in our values of radical love, social justice, community solidarity, and authentic leadership. The ideal candidate believes in these values too and wants to join and hold space for their cohort and our communities in this transformative way.

  • Join our online webinar about the fellowship:

    • SIGN-UP: Thursday, October 24, 2023 - 6:00 - 6:30 pm ET

    For more information or questions, please contact us at fellowship@aawpi.org.

  • You can nominate people, BUT you may also apply directly to the program. We want to hear from you if you have a vision for your community and are making it real.

    If you want to nominate an individual for consideration, connect us with them here. We will send them a note letting them know someone nominated them for AAWPI’s fellowship and incubator program with up to $10,000 in funding and deep support to work on their civic engagement project. We will ask them to complete the first step in the application process, which opens on September 25, 2024. If you would like to self-nominate, you can start the process by applying directly as soon as it reopens.

  • Building on the success of our Massachusetts model for deep, lasting civic engagement, AAWPI is creating what hasn’t existed until now: a first-of-its-kind national infrastructure to activate and elevate Asian American and Pacific Islander women and gender-expansive persons at all stages of the political pipeline.

  • We are intentional about partnering, supporting, and learning from local, grassroots organizations that have long been doing the work on the ground. One key component of our National Civic Impact Incubator Program is fellows’ participation in grassroots experiential learning with organizations like AAPI PA Power Caucus and the Chinese Progressive Association (Boston), meant to ensure that fellows’ projects are informed by the priorities and work of activists and organizers leading on the ground.

  • We want to know: What are your hopes and dreams for our community?

    We are open to ALL project ideas that celebrate, engage, and/or meet a need for AAPI women and our communities.

    If civic engagement is not already part of it, we’ll help you take your idea even further by working with you to build a civic engagement component into your project. We define civic engagement as anything that empowers our community to participate in our democracy or advocacy; this includes registering our community to vote, educating them about how government and elections work, or organizing our communities around a piece of legislation or an issue. At every benchmark of civic engagement and political power, the AAPI community falls behind, from registering to vote to invisibility in elected office. The civic engagement component of your project works to ensure AAPI women have a voice in our democracy and in policy that affects our lives and our communities. P.S. Don’t stress about the civic engagement component! Just tell us your idea, and we’ll work with you to incorporate this piece.

  • No. Candidates can propose existing / start-up / dream programs, services, performances, curricula, etc. We’ll look at ideas that exist on paper and out in the real world.

  • If you’re looking for some inspiration, we’re sharing priority areas for our Pennsylvania grassroots partner AAPI PA Power Caucus. (But, remember, your idea doesn’t have to be limited to addressing the below!)

    • Safe and connected communities (in response to Anti-Asian Violence)

    • Belonging, support, and relief for immigrant and refugee populations

    • Fair funding for public schools

    • Full access and participation in political processes

    • Protection of local ecosystems (against air pollution, lead in water, and environmental injustices)

    • Culturally-competent, language-accessible healthcare system

  • We won’t fund individuals…

    • who have already completed the work

    • who have a project that already received a significant amount of funding and recognition

    • who are focused outside of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Georgia