AAPI BUSINESS LEADERS ANNOUNCE $10M COMMITMENT TO STOP HATE AND VIOLENCE AGAINST THE ASIAN COMMUNITY

March 31, 2021: In an unprecedented campaign and show of unity just one day after President Biden laid out his plans to combat rising racism against Asian Americans, Asian American Pacific Islander business leaders and their allies are pledging to commit $10 million to help end discrimination and hateful attacks against Asian communities. The pledge was announced in the Wall Street Journal today in a full page ad signed by more than 1,000 influential leaders in business and tech, including the founders of Zoom, Stitch Fix, Peloton, DoorDash and many other top companies.

Within the open letter published in today’s Wall Street Journal, this collective voice of more than 1,000 Asian American leaders stated:

“The Asian American business leaders in our community are committed to fighting for change. The change that is needed requires a national awakening and a dialogue that involves leaders from every community if we are to undo the generations of systemic bias and racism. We are business leaders. We can help make change happen.”

They are also forming a coalition and launching a new website, Stand with Asian Americans, to collectively contribute $10 million over the next year in partnership with the nonprofit Asian Pacific Fund to drive change for the Asian American community by supporting numerous organizations, including Stop AAPI Hate, AAPI Women Lead and NAPAWF, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Association for Asian American Studies. They have also pledged to create better and more fair representation in workplaces by funding AAPI employee resource groups, reporting on diversity levels for all employees, and pushing for Asian American representation at all levels of organizations.

Recent events make this campaign more critical than ever. This week, a man was captured on surveillance video in New York stomping on a 65-year-old Filipino woman while making anti-Asian remarks. Earlier this month, a gunman killed eight people in Georgia, six of whom were women of Asian descent. These attacks are just among the latest in a yearlong surge of anti-Asian violence. We cannot be silent. We cannot be complicit by doing nothing. Today, AAPI business leaders and their allies are standing together to say enough is enough, and we’re rising to pour our resources, time and money into efforts to stop the violence.

Contact: press@standwithasianamericans.com