APAPA WELCOMES A NEW CHAPTER IN BUTTE COUNTY, CA
APAPA Butte County, Headquarters, and National Governing Board members with Senator Jim Nielsen, CA Secretary of State Shirley Weber, President of CSU Chico Gayle Hutchinson, President of Butte College Samia Yaqub, and Mayor of Oroville Chuck Reynolds
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
CONTACT: Henry Chang (916) 402-6215
APAPA WELCOMES A NEW CHAPTER IN BUTTE COUNTY, CA
SACRAMENTO— On Saturday, April 23, the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) held its grand opening of their Butte County Chapter.
Led by Butte County Chapter President Echo Chunyan Song, the festivities included a silent auction to raise funds for APAPA’s API Next Internship Program in Butte County and an award presentation to those elected officials and community leaders in attendance including CA Senator Jim Nielsen, Oroville Mayor Chuck Reynolds, Chico Mayor Andrew Coolidge, Butte Community College President Samia Yaqub, CA State Secretary of State Shirley Weber, CSU Chico President Gayle Hutchinson, and CSU Chico Provost Debra Larson.
APAPA also honored Aveed Khaki, who raised over $12,000 for local frozen yogurt shop Gelayo in Chico, CA. The owners of Gelayo, the Kim's who were targets of anti-Asian sentiments; Diane Suzuki-Brobeck who organized an AAPI support group in response to the Atlanta Spa Shootings. And lastly to Jim Tanimoto, who is the last living member of the group of protestors from Block 42 of the Tule Lake Segregation Center.
APAPA welcomes this new chapter with great hope and excitement—the API citizens of Butte County will have greater access to resources and programs to help increase their political presence and leadership development.
APAPA’s National Executive Director, Henry Chang, said “President Echo Chunyan, and her Board, will be instrumental in supporting APAPA and its goals—I am excited to see the impact these great leaders will have on the API community in Butte County. We hope to quickly get them involved in the API Next Internship Program and deeply engaged with their local API youth.” The Butte Chapter will begin placing interns at local hosting legislator offices in Summer 2022.
As APAPA welcomes a new California chapter, their sights are still set on passing Senate Bill 1363, sponsored by APAPA and known as the K-12 AAPI History Bill, though the California State legislature.
With increased visibility, growing grassroots momentum, and bipartisan support, the Butte Chapter Grand Opening is just another sign that APAPA is working hard for the AAPI community and its youth leaders nationwide.
The Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association (APAPA) is a national nonprofit organization with 53+ chapters across the country. APAPA is dedicated to its mission to advance the API communities through increased leadership and civic engagement. Learn more by clicking on www.apapa.org.
