NQAPIA Midwest Summit Program Book by Glenn Magpantay

NQAPIA 2014 Midwest Regional Summit

Minneapolis, MN August 15-17, 2014 Co-hosted by

Thank You! Summit Sponsors This training was made possible by the generous support of the following:

Arcus Foundation David Bohnett Foundation Ford Foundation Four Freedoms Fund Office of Minority Health Resource Center OMHRC Walter and Evelyn Haas, Jr. Fund Verizon Foundation And the following advertisers: Hmong American Partnership Hmong National Development PFund Asian Americans Advancing Justice â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Chicago Organizational Invitees Invisible-to-Invincible: Asian Pacific Islander Pride of Chicago Shades of Yellow (SOY), Minneapolis, MN Trikone-Chicago, IL Freedom, Inc. Madison, WI

NQAPIA 2014 Midwestern Regional Summit Agenda FRIDAY, AUGUST 15 At The Marquette Hotel, 710 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55402-2368 9:00 - 11:00 pm

Welcoming Reception and Registration • Ben de Guzman, NQAPIA • Nhia Vang, Shades of Yellow • Nick Kor, Shades of Yellow

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16 Meeting at the Urban Institute/Public Allies, 125 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55411. 7:30 am

Leave Hotel for Urban Institute/Public Allies

8:00 – 8:30 am

Breakfast at Urban Institute/Public Allies

8:45 - 9:15 am

Introductions Framing the weekend, How we got here, and Group agreements • Glenn D. Magpantay, NQAPIA

9:15 – 10:00 am

Organizational Presentation Who’s in the room and what do they do? Each group presents their mainstay activities, one success, and one challenge. Each person also introduces themselves and preferred gender pronouns.

10:15 – 12:45 pm

Organizational Life Cycles and Leadership Styles Small group work on mapping you own organization • Shreya Shah, Training for Change

12:45 – 1:30 pm

Lunch

1:30 – 2:30 pm

Building a Queer Asian Movement and LGBT Immigrants’ Rights NQAPIA’s Programs, Next national conference, and Opportunities for collaboration; and update on federal immigration reform. • Ben de Guzman, NQAPIA • Sasha W, Board Member, NQAPIA • Michelle Lee, Board Member, NQAPIA • Glenn D. Magpantay, NQAPIA

2:45 - 5:45 pm

More Money, More Power! Grassroots Fundraising Skills Learn to ask for money, build a prospect list, write a fundraising ask and more! Participants will come away prepared to grow their organization’s resources. Money raised will help cover travel for folks in the Midwest to attend the national conference, as well as cover some initial expenses. • Sasha W, Board Member, NQAPIA • Michelle Lee, Board Member, NQAPIA 3

6:00 – 8:00 pm

Dinner (pay for yourself) Kolap Restaurant, 601 Dale St N, St Paul, MN 55103. Pho dishes $5-$8. Entrees $8-$10. -Soups and fishes about $10

8:00 – 10:00 pm

Suggested Outing: The Little Mekong Night Market in St. Paul An outdoor working market to improve the area, share cultural traditions, and support communities and businesses impacted by train construction. Food vendors, merchandise vendors, and live entertainment. Open until 10:00 pm Location: 400 block of University Ave near Mai Village Restaurant (394 University Ave W, St Paul, MN 55103) at the intersection of University Ave and Western Ave. Drive or Green Line to the Western Station.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17 Meeting at the Urban Institute/Public Allies, 125 W. Broadway Ave., Minneapolis, MN 55411. 8:00 am

Check-Out of Rooms and Leave Hotel for Urban Institute/Public Allies

8:30 – 9:30 am

Breakfast at Urban Institute/Public Allies

9:30 – 11:00 am

Skills Session 2 – Choose one: Making a Strong Ask Why do 3 people do all the work? Learn how to recruit and retain Board members, bring an in develop new leadership, and even raise money. • Michelle Lee, Board Member, NQAPIA • Sasha W, Board Member, NQAPIA Conflict Resolution Drama happens! Learn how to deal with it constructively, with steps and skills to communicate and listen when conflict happens. • Shreya Shah, Training for Change

11:15 – 12:45 pm

Promoting Inclusion Let’s reflect on our identifies and understand the positions that we hold in our communities and in the larger social ecospheres, including how our identities impact how do our work. • Shreya Shah, Training for Change

12:45 – 2:00 pm

Lunch

2:00 – 3:00 pm

Taking the Summit Home and Next Steps Each group discusses what they will do next, what support they need, and how to keep in touch. Report backs.

3:00 – 3:30 pm

Evaluations, Thank Yous, and Closing 4

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Training for Change tool www.TrainingForChange.org

Sustaining Self-‐Care a tool for personal awareness This design allows a group to reflect, in a natural and easy flow, about sustainability and self-care: it uses participants' experience to uncover new lessons and appreciate old ones. Introduce the goals of this exercise by letting participants know this is a chance to do some reflection about themselves and how to take even better care of ourselves. Step 1. Story-telling of a time I felt sustained Have participants get into pairs or buddies. Then, have them settle into a moment of silence to recall a particular moment when they felt sustained or energized in their organizing work, especially within their group, organizational, or activist context (for example, “it helps sustain me when I can delegate work to others” versus “doing yoga on my free time”). Encourage people to recall a particular moment or story for each of the questions. Share the stories. Give them about 10 minutes for this section (about 5 minutes each). Ask folks to listen actively to each other, offering back reflections and questions, not advice. Step 2. Create a list of “What sustains you?” Bring the group back together and report - looking for common themes. Make list: “What Sustains You?” Encourage the list to focus on behaviors within their activist work. (This is because this exercise looks at the dimension of self-care as an organizational and cultural behavior, not a personal one.) Notice any patterns. Be light and help the group be honest as they disclose. Step 3. Pick something on the list you want to do more of, then tell how you are already doing it This next step is a little tricky. First, get them into small groups of two or three. Next, in those small groups, have people identify one or two items on that list that they want to do more or feel they do poorly. Make sure each person has one of those on their list. Then, ask them to tell a time in which they most effectively did that behavior. This may be a stretch – and that’s the point. However small the example is, encourage them to tell the whole story of what happened to play out how they did it, including what happened inside them. The rationale for this design is this: people grow by identifying behaviors to keep doing rather than reminding themselves of behaviors they are not doing. For example, say someone thinks, “ ‘Taking a break’ is on the list, and I am terrible at that.” Rather than allowing the self-limiting belief to get reaffirmed, this design challenges it directly by getting them to see when they do it – even if it is only a little bit, like accepting a ten-second distraction by looking outside. Then explore what goes inside them that allowed them to do that. Then encourage them to do it again during the large group debrief. Support others who may have had trouble coming up with a story. This may be an opportunity to delve deeper as feelings may surface. This design was created by Nico Amador, Training for Change based on a design from Claudia Horwitz and Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey www.stonecircles.org

Training for Change handout www.TrainingForChange.org

Team Types and Strategy When making a cake, it's important to have all the key ingredients! Same is true when creating strategy for our organizations or movements. But, what are the key ingredients for strategy? The Team Types offers one way of looking at different roles in strategy making and implementation. Each team type has a unique gift to offer in the project of developing strategy. Certain elements of strategy are sometimes preferred by different organizational cultures. For example, in some organizations there is a belief that the East is seen as the role that creates strategy. But that is a real short-coming. All team types offer important ingredients for strategy. East: Providing Intuition One process, intuiting, is creating ideas out of patterns and possibilities – shaping the different goals, tactics, symbols, timing, SWOT analyses, etc into a coherent partially formed strategy. East people often take a lot of data and emerge with some intuitive element: a well-framed campaign goal, a useable tactic, or even a full campaign plan. Groups often perceive the East’s style as a total emergence from nowhere – often sudden. For some groups they assume the East people will be the first step coming up with ideas for action. South: Interpreting By ideas need to be understood. Even where ideas are swimming in an organization, they have to be articulated, understood, and seen how they relate to the group. And in steps the South. Here the South’s warm relational energy helps to move it from the individual idea to the group, explaining the idea to the whole group in a way it can be understand. North: Integrating Talking only goes so far. And the North energy is the “let’s go implement this” energy. While North people can often jump too quickly, their increasing frustration at a long dialogue can often be expressed in a way to help propel the group forward. In organizations, this process may be led by an individual, subgroup or even many of its members. Either way, that movement to action is an expression led by the energy of the North. West: Institutionalizing People in the West role often remind the group of a key principle: you know you have a strategy, when you know what you are not going to do. West offers the rigor to be clear we are doing this strategy and therefore this action and not that action. They assure that alignment with the strategy occurs, including putting in place defined tasks, organizational mechanisms, etc. Reflect on your group. What roles are missing? What roles may be overwhelming others? How can you cultivate better relationship among those roles? What roles need to be supported? Written by Daniel Hunter, Training for Change The 4I framework comes from Crossan MM, Lane HW, White RE. 1999. An organizational learning framework: from intuition to institution. Academy of Management.

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NQAPIA Support Tabling and Outreach at non-LGBT AAPI Cultural Events The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is a federation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations. We seek to build the organizational capacity of local LGBT AAPI groups, develop leadership, promote visibility, educate our community, enhance grassroots organizing, expand collaborations, and challenge homophobia and racism. NQAPIA is a project of the Tides Center in San Francisco, CA. NQAPIA is also independently incorporated as a nonprofit tax-exempt IRS 501(c)3 organization. To promote visibility, NQAPIA will provide financial support to cover the tabling fees for outreach by local LGBT AAPI organizations at non-LGBT Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander cultural festivals and celebrations. This effort is made possible with the generous support of the Arcus Foundation. Payment for Tabling Fees NQAPIA will pay the fees for a table, booth, or parade participation/ entrance for local LGBT AAPI organizations to conduct outreach at mainstream non-LGBT cultural festivals. These include: • Lunar New Year Parades • Diwali Celebrations • Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May • Nation-specific Independence Day celebrations (e.g., Pakistan, India, Philippines) • Other ethnic specific events (e.g., Dragon Boat, Eid, Cherry Blossom) This funding will only cover tabling fees or group admission. The local organization must cover all supplies, equipment, material reproduction and any giveaways. This funding does not support tabling at LGBT events or Prides festivals and is intended to support visibility of LGBT organizations in the AAPI community. NQAPIA may also provide assistance for media coverage of the tabling event. Application and Reporting Requirements Groups must answer the following application and reporting questions. 1. Information about the event (name, fee, location, ethnic population, date) 2. Information about the LGBT AAPI organization 3. Post-event report (a short description of the outreach and number of volunteers), 4. Supporting Materials (a picture, materials distributed, and media coverage) NQAPIA gives preference to traditionally underrepresented groups, first-time outreach, bilingual or multilingual outreach, and the organization’s demonstrated need for support. We ask receipts of support to report on qualitative and quantitative results. For example, quotes showing about how they raised AAPI awareness or quotes from the crowd. The group should provide as part of the outreach effort: • materials to be distributed or handouts • training to volunteers on how to conduct outreach 17

• media advisories or outreach to local Asian ethnic media about the outreach efforts • sign-in sheets or other mechanisms to identify new and additional volunteers NQAPIA will provide some materials to be distributed as well. Agreement Interested organizations must complete an application for funding with a completed copy of the tabling application form, and a signed agreement with NQAPIA. For more information, contact Glenn D. Magpantay at NQAPIA at glenn_magpantay@nqapia.org or 917-439-3158.

NQAPIA Application for Funding Support for Tabling and Outreach at non-LGBT AAPI Cultural Events Application Requirements 1. Information about the Event • Amount of tabling free • Name of Event • Location of Event • Predominant Asian or Pacific Islander ethnic population/s reached • Date of Event 2. Information about the LGBT AAPI Organization • Name and address of organization • Name, title, address, and email of a contact person 3. Supporting Materials • Any forms to be completed and delivered along with the check • The materials to be distributed 4. A completed copy of the event application with the organizations’ name. NQAPIA will deliver a check on behalf of the organization. Reporting Requirements To be completed within 1 month after the event. 1. Post-Event Report • A two paragraph statement of how it went, what went well, what could be improved • Number of volunteers who showed up (provide a contact sheet of names) • Number of interactions (e.g., number of conversations, number of materials/ flyers/ postcards distributed) 2. Supporting Materials • A picture of the table and volunteers • Any media coverage in Asian-ethnic newspapers or LGBT community media • Copy of sign-in sheet of new volunteers/ interested participants

NQAPIA Fiscal Sponsorship of Local LGBT AAPI Organizations The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is a federation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations. We seek to build the organizational capacity of local LGBT AAPI groups, develop leadership, promote visibility, educate our community, enhance grassroots organizing, expand collaborations, and challenge homophobia and racism. NQAPIA is incorporated as a nonprofit tax-exempt IRS 501(c)3 organization. To support local LGBT AAPI organizations, NQAPIA will provide limited 501(c)3 fiscal sponsorship for local groups. The fiscal sponsorship relationship is transactional (one-time or asneeded), not a long term arrangement. I. OVERVIEW Fiscal Sponsorship for Foundation Grants NQAPIA will fiscally sponsor local LGBT AAPI organizations to pursue a specific foundation grant or major donation which must go to a 501(c)3 tax exempt nonprofit. This funding should support a specific project, activity or event. NQAPIA will accept the funding on the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behalf and will directly pay for all of the organizationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expenses associated with the grant. The organization should identify the funder and develop activities to be undertaken under the grant, as well as a proposed budget. For the grant final report, the organization is responsible for developing the narrative of activities and NQAPIA will develop the financial reports. NQAPIA and the local organization will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding for the fiscal sponsorship. For the donor foundation, NQAPIA will co-sign the grant agreement letter on behalf of the local organization. As the fiscal sponsor, NQAPIA will also develop the final budget report and will fulfill all the IRS reporting requirements. An administrative fee of 1015% will be assessed, depending on the grant size and reporting requirements. This is not a permanent or long term arrangement. It is provided to local LGBT AAPI groups on an as-needed basis for when funding opportunities arise and a 501c3 tax exemption is required. While NQAPIA assume the financial administration of the grant monies, the organization is still responsible for its overall financial oversight, bookkeeping, and maintenance of its own finances. Tax Deductible Donations The fiscal sponsorship also applies to major donors who seek to make a financial contribution to a local organization and would like to receive a tax deduction for their contribution. NQAPIA will provide the acknowledgment letter and comply with annual IRS reporting requirements. The funding will then go to the organization, less an administrative fee of 10%.

II. DETAILS Items for Fiscal Sponsorship This fiscal sponsorship arrangement is to help local organizations secure foundation grants and/or tax deductible donations to execute a specific, short-term project, activity or event. Examples include, but are not limited to: • Strategic Planning • Translation services • Design, development and production of materials (website, brochure, flyer, poster, newsletter) • Tabling fees for outreach at cultural festivals, parades, LGBT Pride • Fees for advertisements • One time fundraisers • Conferences, workshops, trainings • Peer-support groups • Political mobilization • Needs assessment Budget items may include consultant fees, meeting expenses for food, room and space rental fees, tabling and parade fees, printing, translation, web hosting, supplies, materials, minor equipment, travel expenses. NQAPIA Responsibilities In this fiscal sponsorship arrangement, NQAPIA will: • accept the funding on the organization’s behalf • directly pay for all the organization’s expenses associated with the grant (consultants, printing, translation, room rental and other fees, food, supplies) • develop the final financial report to the funder at the end of the grant term • submit the final narrative report of activities, written by the organization, to the funder at the end of the grant term • fulfill the nonprofit reporting requirements to the IRS, i.e. the 990 form • adhere to mutually agreed upon deadlines and accomplish tasks in a timely and professional manner. Local Organizational Responsibilities In this fiscal sponsorship arrangement, the local organization must: • indentify the funder • develop the grant proposal, listing activities to be undertaken under the grant and a proposed budget • execute the project, activity or event (see above for ideal items for fiscal sponsorship) • develop the grant final narrative report, detailing all activities that occurred under the grant and a listing of expenses • adhere to mutually agreed upon deadlines and accomplish tasks in a timely and professional manner.

Other Benefits NQAPIA can also provide the following services on an as-needed basis: • Liability insurance for events, naming the vendor and local organization (as a member of NQAPIA) as insured parties. • Acceptance of on-line credit card payments and donations Costs An administrative fee of 10% will be assessed for grants and individual contributions. Credit card donations collected by NQAPIA have an additional 3% and 40¢ processing fee per transaction. III. AGREEMENTS Attached is the Memorandum of Agreement that must be signed by an organizational representative and NQAPIA. IV. CONTACTS AND QUESTIONS Organizations interested in fiscal sponsorship should contact Glenn D. Magpantay at NQAPIA at glenn_magpantay@nqapia.org or 917-439-3158.

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Fiscal Sponsor Memorandum of Understanding SAMPLE I. General Understandings This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is entered between the National Queer Asian & Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) as the fiscal sponsor and the organization _________. The organization _________ seeks to raise funds in the amount of _______, for (state purpose or intent) _____________. NQAPIA is a federation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations. NQAPIA supports the building of the organizational capacity of local LGBT AAPI groups, developing leadership, promoting visibility, educating the community, enhancing grassroots organizing, expanding collaborations, and challenging homophobia and racism. NQAPIA is a bona fide nonprofit tax-exempt corporation. NQAPIA agrees to serve as the fiscal sponsor for this grant. The intended purpose of the grant shall be understood as a project of NQAPIA for the specific benefit of the organization _________.. II. NQAPIA Shall: • Track funds designated for this project and accept tax-deductible contributions on behalf of the fiscally sponsored organization. • Allow for the acceptance of Credit Card donations on NQAPIA’s website at https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/7100/donate_page/nqapia-donations Donors must specify that the donation is “In Honor Of…” and write the organization “_________..” • Disburse the funding and make programmatic payments in accordance with its intended purpose. • Fulfill any and all 501(c)3 reporting obligations including financial accounting and donor recognition. • File all federal tax reporting obligations under Internal Revenue Code 501(c)3 for taxexemption and all state registration requirements in accordance with the Not-for-Profit Corporation Law of the State of New York. • Provide insurance coverage of the event through the Tides Center. III. The Organization ________ Shall: • Report to prospective donors this fiscal sponsorship arrangement by listing the event “as a fiscally sponsored project of NQAPIA”. • Track all donations it collects. • Coordinate with NQAPIA on its preferred method of disbursing the funds. • Provide any and all receipts and documentation for the disbursement of the funding. • Provide to NQAPIA activity reports, event details, and evaluations of the activity in a timely manner. 23

IV. Other Understandings NQAPIA shall be entitled to a 10% fiscal sponsorship fee for administration. This is a limited fiscal sponsorship arrangement for the purpose of administering this program of the organization. NQAPIA does not assume full and complete fiscal sponsorship of the organization itself for all its finances and other contributions. No changes in the purpose for which tax-deductible contributions provided is allowed. Nothing in this MOU shall constitute the naming of NQAPIA or the organization as an agent or legal representative of the other for any other purpose except as specifically set forth herein. This MOU shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York. IV. Agreement This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is agreed to by the following on behalf of their respective organizations. For National Queer Asian & Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) as fiscal sponsor:

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NQAPIA IMMIGRATION UPDATE: WHERE WE’RE AT / WHAT YOU CAN DO The national debate about immigration stands at a crossroads as we celebrate LGBT Pride month. We have moved the ball further than ever before, but with the midterm elections coming up in November, unless the Congress moves in June or July, nothing will happen legislatively this year. We are pushing the Congress to pass immigration reform legislation and the President to do what he can as well, but we need your help. The AAPI community has mobilized locally and nationally for immigrants’ rights. Yet, the LGBT movement has lost considerable steam after a victory for family petitions for married binational couples as a result of the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality last June. Wrangling from conservatives in the House of Representatives has stalled legislation from moving forward. NQAPIA and our Asian and Latino allies are still fighting for immigrants’ rights on the legislative front because it is the most assured way of giving legal status to 11 million undocumented immigrants, of which 1 million are AAPI and half a million are LGBT. • Legislation Adopted by the United States Senate A year ago the Senate passed an immigration bill. It is a good start with expanded visa programs, a path to citizenship for the undocumented, and some legal protections, but there are also problematic heavy enforcement provisions, which should be removed. • Engaging The White House The President has actively campaigned for comprehensive immigration reform, but a record 2 million immigrants have still been deported. The President has an ability to act in the short term. In collaboration with the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, NQAPIA brought LGBT AAPI immigrants and representatives of local LGBT AAPI organizations to Washington DC for a special roundtable meeting with the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. We provided a variety of recommendations that the President can order to improve the lives of immigrants and their families. • Moving the House of Representatives Last year, NQAPIA delivered 5,403 postcards to Congress calling for immigration reform. Thanks to our local partners, scores of volunteers, organizers from the Task Force, and supporters like you, NQAPIA undertook one of the largest grassroots mobilizations among AAPI and LGBT national organizations for immigrants’ rights. But now, our voices are needed again more than ever. The House of Representatives still continues to drag its heels and we need you to call your Member of Congress and demand that they pass immigration reform this year. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 to be directed to your Member of Congress’ office. Tell them: “I live in your district and I am calling to ask my Congressmember to support comprehensive immigration reform. I support legislation that: 1) provides a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants; 2) keeps families together, 3) protects workers across the wage spectrum; and 4) preserves our civil rights and due process protections.” Please call in the month of June. There is no pride in being undocumented, deported, or in losing a visa. But there is much pride in winning new rights and protections for LGBT AAPIs across the country.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Asian American, South Asian, and Pacific Islander PRINCIPLES ON IMMIGRATION REFORM There are almost 12 million Asian Americans, South Asians, and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in the United States. 69% of them are immigrants. Countless AAPI immigrants are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). As the nation debates reforms to our broken immigration system, LGBT AAPIs urge dignity, fairness, and inclusion. • Strengthen All Families According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are about 35,000 same sex bi-national couples where one partner is a US citizen or legal permanent resident and the other is a foreign national. Immigration reform should promote family reunification and recognize bi-national same-sex couples. Immigrants and their partners or/and children should be together. Reforms must address the extensive backlogs in processing visas for family members living abroad of those living in the US. It must also allow US citizens to sponsor their same-sex immigrant partners for residency and citizenship. • Protect Workers As LGBT people, we seek employment non-discrimination laws and anti-harassment policies, as well as protection from exploitation and harassment based on citizenship status, sexuality, or gender/ gender expression. Likewise, as immigrants we seek labor protections so that migrant and other undocumented workers are treated with dignity and respect. Many LGBT AAPI immigrants currently have professional worker visas, and they would benefit from expanded visa programs in the technology, science, and medical sectors that are ultimately tied to access to greencards and permanent residency in the US. • Preserve Civil Rights Reforms must address the detention and deportation of immigrants. Many Muslim, South Asian, and Southeast Asians have been improperly racially profiled and have not been afforded constitutional due process protections. Recent immigration enforcement has torn families apart, targeted gay and transgender AAPI immigrants, and denied detainees medical care. Police misconduct is already a problem. Local police should not also be required to enforce complicated federal immigration laws. • Show Compassion Immigration reform must include broad access to legalization for those who are undocumented. It should support undocumented young people seeking higher education. Many LGBTs from around the world have been persecuted in their home countries. They seek freedom from discrimination but the time to apply for political asylum is extremely short and should be lengthened. Immigrant women and girls are also exploited and increased enforcement of human trafficking is essential. For more information or to get involved in the campaign for immigrants’ rights, go to www.nqapia.org or email nqapia@gmail.com.

NQAPIA Analysis of Senate Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill S744 The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is fighting to ensure that the concerns of Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities are heard in the debates around the Senate bi-‐partisan immigration reform bill, S744 Border Security, Economic Opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act of 2013. The AAPI community is over 60% foreign born. One in ten, or 1.3 million, undocumented immigrants are Asian. The estimated 267,000 LGBT undocumented population is disproportionately Asian. The ways in which the Senate’s 844-‐page bill affects LGBT AAPI communities are complex, but real, and we provide this preliminary analysis to highlight some of the implications of this legislation for LGBT AAPIs. Summary The most exciting aspects of the legislation provide legal status and an expedited path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, especially young people and women. They can come out from living in the shadows and they can work, travel, and pursue an education. They can eventually attain U.S. citizenship. There are prohibitions against racial profiling and due process improvements. The severe wait time for family visas for spouses and minor children mired in backlogs is eliminated. The numbers of H-‐1B professional worker visas are doubled. However, improvements will be needed on the family visa categories to allow for a broader definition of families to include siblings and same-‐sex partners. Moreover, the bill’s new “Merit-‐based system” replaces the current system and awards points based on education, employment, entrepreneurship, English language ability, age, family ties to the U.S., and other criteria. This is a shortsighted priority for current economic gain at the expense of keeping families together. NQAPIA’s Statement of Principles is the frame form which we examine the major provisions in the legislation. Strengthens All Families AAPI citizens and legal permanent residents sponsor nearly one-‐third of all family based visas each year and almost half of the 4.3 million people caught up in the backlog for these visas are from Asian countries. While the legislation provides meaningful mechanisms to reunite families, other provisions ignore and exclude many members of our communities. • Family Petitions Backlog: The legislation eliminates the wait time and alleviates the backlog within ten years. Over 1.8 million family members are waiting to be united with their loved ones. Spouses and children of current greencard holders may immediately petition. • Family Petition Categories: The bill eliminates categories for siblings and for adult married children over 30 may no longer immigrate to the U.S. It also does not allows US citizens to sponsor their foreign same-‐sex partners, as married heterosexual couples are currently allowed, thereby excluding 32,000 same-‐sex couples from the immediate family petition. • Eliminates Diversity Visas, which will adversely affect groups such as Pacific Islanders and Africans. Protects Workers South Asians and East Asians account for more than 70% of all high-‐skilled employment based H-‐1B visas. Studies suggest that a higher number of these Asian immigrants come out as LGBT. At the same time, many AAPIs also immigrate as low-‐skilled workers employed in service industries, and those who are undocumented have been exploited. • Specific provisions protect workers’ rights and addresses employer retaliation.

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Doubles the cap on H-‐1B visas for high-‐skilled workers, from 65,000 to 110,000. Also expands visas for low-‐skilled workers. Allows employer-‐based visa holders to bring their spouses and children, who may also receive work authorization. Accelerated path to citizenship and employment for students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). However, mandates businesses use E-‐Verify program for work authorization. E-‐Verify has numerous errors and there are few safeguards from errors, especially for AAPI names.

Preserves Civil Rights While much of the rhetoric about the bill focuses on enforcement and border security, the actual impact on AAPIs, especially given the bills proposed protections, is not clear. • Border Security: The bill authorizes significant funding to “secure the border.” Though border security is required before the proposed pathway to citizenship can take effect, the metrics to measure security are dependent on budget allocations. • Enforcement: Specific language prohibits profiling based on race and ethnicity in enforcement of immigration laws. Many South Asians since 9/11 have been racially profiled in this regard. • Deportation/ Detention: Improved oversight of detention facilities to ensure humane treatment, but the impact of people of transgender experience remains unclear. The legislation also proposes welcome alternatives to detention in certain cases. • Due Process: Provisions allow for increased judicial review of immigration cases; appointment of counsel for certain vulnerable populations; and discretion to allow judges to consider other factors in whether to deport. • However, the grounds of inadmissibility and removability are expanded. Harsher penalties are imposed on immigrants convicted of fraud, gang violence, habitual drunk driving, and domestic violence. • The legislation does nothing to pre-‐empt state laws that target immigrants, such as such as Arizona’s SB 1070. Shows Compassion In addition to allowing undocumented immigrants to eventually become U.S. citizens, there are special benefits for young people and women who are in the informal economy. •

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Path to Citizenship: Provides an opportunity to legalize via a new “Registered Provisional Immigrant” (RPI) status and a clear path to U.S. citizenship for approximately 11 million undocumented immigrants. Immigrants must wait 10-‐years for a greencard (i.e. Lawful Permanent Resident Status) and then 3-‐years to naturalize. Once legalized, immigrants can work in the United State and can travel abroad with the ability to re-‐enter. However, the total length of time can be up to 13 years and the costs for processing fees, a $2,000 fine, and payment of back-‐taxes may be too arduous for many. During this time, though the immigrants are “in-‐status,” they are denied access to many federal benefits. Anyone brought to the U.S. under the age of 16 (“DREAMers”) are allowed a shortened 5-‐year path to citizenship. Eliminates the arbitrary age cap. Undocumented youth who participated in Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) are grandfathered in. Asylum: Lifts the harsh one-‐year deadline for filing for asylum. Immigrants with a well founded fear of persecution based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender can seek refuge in the United States, a welcome relief for many LGBTs in some Muslim or exceptionally homophobic countries.

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NQAPIA 2014 Regional Summit Friends & Family Fundraising Script INTRODUCTION As you are calling friends and family, start the call how you naturally would. Once pleasantries are out of the way, continue with… I’m actually calling my friends and family today because I’m raising money for something that is really important to me…. That being said, our friendship/relationship is my first priority, so just because I’m calling, doesn’t mean I have any expectation about your answer – I am just asking you to hear me out. Is that ok? It’s about the work of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Asian Americans, South Asia, Southeast Asians, and Pacific Islanders. Do you know this work or someone who is LGBT AAPI? (Optional) ABOUT MY OWN MOTIVATION I know we do/don’t talk about this a lot but… - As a brown, mixed-race, queer, gender-non-conforming, Chinese person [insert your situation], I often face a different type of discrimination in each separate community that I’m a part of. And that's why I'm helping with NQAPIA/ i2i/ SOY/ Freedom Inc/ Trikone-Chicago. BACKGROUND Groups in the Midwest / Chicago are working with NQAPIA to organize a national activist conference for LGBT AAPIs. The conference seeks to network, educate, organize, agitate, and build capacity of the LGBT AAPI community across the country. We want to spotlight the cutting edge work happening in the Midwest. Take this weekend for example – I’m in Minneapolis with the leaders of other LGBT AAPI groups in the Midwest for a Leadership Summit. The goal is to bring leaders together to learn from each others' victories and struggles, and to provide opportunities for mutual growth and development. TRANSPARENCY I wanted to call you because I thought this might be something you would want to support, but I’m also feeling _(nervous/scared)_ because _(we never talk about money/I’ve never asked before)_. I don’t ever want it to feel like I’m imposing on my friends – I want you to feel great about giving for your own reasons. Is

supporting the LGBT AAPI community work something that is important to you? Why? URGENCY The NQAPIA network has done national conferences before in Seattle, Washington, DC and New York and it takes a lot of work and money. This conference will bring QAPIs out of isolation because when we are able to build relationships with one another, our community becomes more powerful. In order to make sure we can actually make this conference happen and to reserve the space and hotel, we need your help! THE ASK That’s why I’m asking folks who support this work to give $____, which represents ______. Can you give $_____ over the phone today. [NOW STOP TALKING] $250 – $1 for each queer API activist coming together to build their skills, leadership, and community in Washington DC $100 – will cover the meals for the weekend so that everyone who wants to attend, regardless of income, can fully attend. $78 – $1 for each of the workshops at next year’s conference that will make our leaders and our community stronger $39 – $1 for each of the 39 QAPI community groups to bring to Chicago to learn best practices to take back home [Yes 1st Amount] Thank you for your support! We can handle your gift right now with a credit card. We can take Visa, MasterCard, or American Express or Discover. (Fill out donation form) [Check] I understand. We take donations this way because it puts money directly into the organization immediately. If you want to send a check you can mail it to: NQAPIA Conference; 233 Fifth Avenues Suite 4A, New York, NY 10016. [No 1st Amount] That’s ok! I want to find a level that works for you. Would you feel great about $1 for ___________... that’s $___. (If yes, go to Yes above) Thanks so much for your support! Just a reminder, financial contributions and gifts to NQAPIA are tax deductible – you’ll get a receipt for your contribution.

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Asian Americans Advancing Justice—Chicago is thrilled to support the work of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance through the Midwest Regional Leadership Summit. Advancing Justice—Chicago, a member of Asian Americans Advancing Justice, has a mission to empower the Asian American community through advocacy, by utilizing education, research, and coalition-‐building. The Midwest Regional Leadership Summit is an incredible opportunity to bring together allies, share best practices, and grow the movement.

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Building Inclusive Organizations Welcome & Introductions (10 mins) Welcome everybody to the space. Facilitator introduce themselves, and invite all participants to share name, gender pronoun, organization, and something funny. Setting Community Agreements (5 mins) Bring a list of community agreements. Ask for additions. Do a thumb-scale to move on. Barriers and Gatekeepers: Brainstorm (20 mins) What does inclusive mean? What is the goal of building inclusive organizations? There are two terms that we’re going to use frequently today: marginalized and tokenized. Let’s define these quickly. Who can think of people – specifically groups of people – who are marginalized in our organization? Take a few examples from the room. Pair share with three prompts, 2 minutes per person per prompt. 1) Who is marginalized in your organization? 2) When did you do a great job of bringing in people who have been marginalized from your organization? 3) When have you marginalized someone in the constituency of your organization? Gallery Walk (15 mins) Put up three pieces of chart paper in the room, saying: 1) Who do we marginalize? 2) What strategies do we use successfully? 3) How do we continue to marginalize people? Split participants into three groups. Give each group 3 minutes to answer each question. Give everyone a few minutes to read their peers’ answers. Breaking Barriers: Ideas/Brainstorm (25 minutes) What is our own work for building our organizations into inclusive spaces? Do the Organizational Audit. Take first 15 minutes to do as much as you can. Take next 10 minutes to do the “We Need to Improve…” section. Each group report back one step they will take to make their organization a safer space. Sharing out Commitments (10 minutes) Each group should write their organizational commitments on a piece of chart paper, along with who will hold them accountable to those commitments. Invite everyone to view each others’ papers in a second gallery walk. Closing and Checking Out (5 minutes) Ask for a few final thoughts or lingering questions. Ask everyone to do a one-word checkout.

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Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Asian Pacific Islander Organizations The South Asian Queers and Allies (AQUA), Durham, NC Queer & Asian, Houston, TX Trikone- Atlanta, GA Khush Texas, Austin, TX VAYLA- New Orleans Midwest Shades of Yellow (SOY), Minneapolis, MN Invisible-to-Invincible: Asian Pacific Islander Pride of Chicago Trikone-Chicago, IL Mid-Atlantic/Metro DC Area Asian Pacific Islander Queers United for Action, Washington, DC Asian Pacific Islander Queer Sisters, Washington, DC hotpot!, Philadelphia, PA Khush-DC, Washington, DC NAPAWF-DC LGBTQ Committee, Washington, DC Greater New York City Area Dari Project Gay Asian & Pacific Islander Men of New York QWAVE South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association Barangay â&#x20AC;&#x201C; NY New England Massachusetts Area South Asian Lambda Association, Boston, MA Queer Asian Pacific-Islander Alliance, Boston, MA Southeast Asian Queers United for Empowerment & Leadership (seaQuel), Providence, RI Pacific Northwest Asian Pacific Islander Pride of Portland, OR Trikone-Northwest, Seattle, WA UTOPIA- Seattle Project Q of APIFWSC-Chaya, Seattle, WA Northern California Asian Pacific Islander Equality-Northern California Asian Pacific Islander Queer Women and Transgender Community Gay Asian Pacific Alliance South Bay Queer and Asian, San Jose Trikone UTOPIA- San Francisco Southern California API Pride Council Asian Pacific Islander Equality-Los Angeles Asian American Queer Women Activists Barangay - LA Satrang Gay Asian Pacific Support Network Koreans United for Equality (KUE) UTOPIA- San Diego Viet Rainbow- Orange County

About NQAPIA The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) is a federation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations. We seek to build the organizational capacity of local LGBT AAPI groups, develop leadership, promote visibility, educate our community, enhance grassroots organizing, expand collaborations, and challenge homophobia and racism. NQAPIA is a project of the Tides Center in San Francisco, CA. NQAPIA Current Programs Annual Training and Issue Briefing for Leaders of LGBT AAPI organizations This weekend long Summit focuses on networking, learning about current issues, sharing strategies, building local organizational infrastructure, and building national collaborative programs. In 2014, we are doing a series of Regional Summits. National Conference This conference brings together grassroots LGBT AAPI activists from across the nation. Prior national conferences were in Washington, DC in 2012 (350 attendees) and Seattle in 2009 (250 attendees). New York’s 2004 conference (400 attendees) helped lay the groundwork for NQAPIA’s initial convening. The next national conference will be in Chicago 2015. LGBT Immigrants’ Rights We are spearheading an educational and advocacy campaign on immigrants’ rights that includes local community forums and press conferences featuring AAPI immigrants and a national postcard campaign. Multilingual Visibility Campaign NQAPIA aims to improve the visibility of LGBTs in the mainstream AAPI community and of AAPIs in the broader LGBT community. This multilingual education campaign includes outreach to the Asian ethnic media and educational pieces translated into several Asian languages. Capacity Building Resources, Workshops, and Trainings This includes a descriptive directory of all of the nation’s LGBT AAPI groups, sharing best practices and model documents, fiscal sponsorship, and special trainings/workshops. Participation in Current Issues NQAPIA raises the LGBT AAPI voice in current issues and we promote LGBT AAPI engagement. NQAPIA is a member of the National Council of Asian Pacific Americans, the coalition of national AAPI advocacy organizations and brings a racial justice lens to the LGBT policy agenda.