In 1977, the U.S. Congress chose the first ten days of May to commemorate the history and contributions of Asian American communities in the U.S. The week's observance became a month - the very month in which the first Japanese immigrants came to the U.S. in 1843. It also commemorates the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, as the majority of workers who laid those railroad tracks were Chinese immigrants. And that's why AAPI Heritage Month is in May.
Born in 1962 in Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia, Michelle Yeoh is a film industry veteran, who was first an action icon in Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s. After decades spent being overlooked in the industry, she’s recently broken barriers. For her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), she won the Academy Award for Best Actress - becoming the first Asian woman to win in this category, and first Malaysian to win an Academy Award in any category in the Academy’s 94-year history. Yeoh is also an activist, whose efforts extend to wildlife advocacy, environmental conservation, and health and well-being issues.
Jessica Kim is co-founder and CEO of ianacare, a platform that encourages, empowers, and equips family caregivers with practical tools and communities, so no one is alone. Her dedication to her mission stems from the time she spent as her mother’s primary caregiver. As a Korean-American female founder, Jessica successfully raised multiple rounds of venture capital funding (while pregnant) and lead diverse, inclusive companies. Less than 2% of venture capital funding goes to female founders/CEOs. She continues to advocate for the millions of “sandwich-generation” leaders caring for young kids and aging parents.
Mina Fedor founded AAPI Youth Rising, a collective of middle school activists devoted to uplifting their community and stopping racist hate. Mina witnessed the rise in anti-Asian violence throughout the Covid pandemic and took action. She organized a rally to stop racist violence towards Asian Americans. She hoped for at least 70 people, but the rally actually drew 1,200. Fedor then launched AAPI Youth Rising, which joined other student-led coalitions in support for AB 101 - an education bill that would require every public high school student in California to take an ethnic studies course. The bill was later signed by Governor Newsome.