New Breath Foundation Launches "We Got Us" Fund to Uplift Invisibilized AAPI Communities

OAKLAND, Calif., July 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Breath Foundation (NBF), in partnership with the East Bay Community Foundation, is launching a $10 million fund to support Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities to build power, promote racial solidarity, and cultivate healing between AAPI communities and Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities.

The We Got Us Fund will address racialized violence against the AAPI community by promoting cross-racial solidarity, long-term sustainable power, and effective alternatives to criminalization.

"We must be fearless in building a pathway towards collective liberation by investing in organizations that are often invisible and under-resourced," said Eddy Zheng, President and Founder, New Breath Foundation. "It is time to lift up and empower our AAPI communities who have, for too long, been overlooked because of the model minority myth."

There has been historic underinvestment in grassroots AAPI organizations, with less than one percent of philanthropic dollars going to fund AAPI causes. Even still, AAPI organizations have persisted, providing mutual aid to communities in need, fighting back against oppressive systems, and organizing people to exercise their democratic rights. With the recent waves of anti-Asian violence and the racial justice uprisings in the aftermath of state violence, the country is at an inflection point when it comes to race, and AAPI voices have to be a part of this conversation.

The We Got Us Fund utilizes a trust-based philanthropic approach that centers the communities most impacted by systemic racism and amplifies community based organizations committed to advancing cross-racial solidarity and collective liberation. 

The We Got Us Fund seeks to achieve the following three outcomes:

1. Increased capacity to build power for Asian American and Pacific Islander, Black, Indigenous and people of color racial justice movements;
2. Increased opportunities for racial solidarity and healing between Asian American and Pacific Islander, Black, Indigenous and people of color racial justice movements communities; and
3. Increased development of  leadership pipelines for survivors of crime, violence and those formerly incarcerated.

In addition to funding, the New Breath Foundation will provide key leadership with the creation of a community advisory committee composed primarily of AAPI formerly incarcerated leaders and survivors of violence, who will help devise a national grantmaking approach to resource grassroots organizations building power, fighting criminalization, and building cross-racial solidarity.

"Our support of organizations such as New Breath Foundation will focus their work on investing in community healing and solidarity building efforts throughout the state," said Dr. Robert K Ross, President of The California Endowment. "We know this investment will inspire others in philanthropy to invest more readily in AAPI organizations, such as New Breath Foundation, so they can build a new generation of organizers who can carry on the long legacy of activism and racial solidarity deeply rooted in the Asian American and Pacific Islander experience." 

The New Breath Foundation grew out of grassroots movements to end mass incarceration, address immigration detention and deportation, prevent community violence, and advance racial justice and solidarity. While attention to AAPI issues may shift over time, the New Breath Foundation's We Got Us Fund is committed to building racial justice movement infrastructure that will sustain grassroots organizing strategies over the long-term. By convening and strategizing with community-based organizations committed to racial solidarity, NBF will strengthen its collective efforts towards achieving racial justice for all.

Read the community support statement from grassroots organizations at www.new-breath.org/community-support-statement.

"Significant and lasting change will only come from investing in organizations and leaders closest to the challenges we seek to address," said Sandy Herz, President of Sobrato Philanthropies. "The We Got Us Fund is an example of how to build and share power with AAPI communities in an authentic and deep way that can address barriers and create new avenues to opportunity. We are grateful to be part of the bold, transformative, trust-led work of this fund."

To learn more about the We Got Us Fund, visit New Breath Foundation's website at www.new-breath.org/wegotus.

About New Breath Foundation:

The New Breath Foundation mobilizes resources to support Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) harmed by the unjust immigration and criminal justice systems to heal, keep families together, and build movements that shift narratives and policies. We are organizers and directly impacted leaders who are building a community of funders and donors committed to providing hope and healing to AAPIs facing violence, incarceration, and deportation.

Supporters of the Fund:

The We Got Us Fund is housed at the East Bay Community Foundation and was made possible with key initial investments from Sobrato Philanthropies, The California Endowment, and Heising-Simons Foundation. Please visit the We Got Us Fund website for a full list of funders.

SOURCE New Breath Foundation

Related Links

https://new-breath.org/wegotus