I’ve heard consensus among conference goers that this was one of the best conferences CAPACD’ has ever put on.   Having been to the past four conferneces, I’d have to agree.  It wasn’t just the after-hour activities that made this one memorable though.  The content of the conference gave everyone something to think about.  This was really true for me — especially coming from a local, neighborhood perspective.  So here are some brief reflections that I’ve taken home to San Francisco with me.

First.  We are in a real moment to affect change on a federal level.  This was made clear to me by not only who came to conference (Adolfo Carrion, Hilda Solis, etc.) but by what they had to say.  The message was loud and clear.  We’re no longer on the outside.  It’s our turn.  We got a seat at the table — but we better come strong.

Second.  Now is the time to start thinking about federal policy and how our local work relates up.  What local community development models can we bring to the forefront.  More importantly, how do our communities fit into the bigger picture discussions happening right now. How do we fit within the “metropolitan” strategy discussed at the workshop with Adolfo Carrion?  How do we support some of the exciting “integrated metro/community” investment strategies being spearheaded by the White House Office on Urban Affairs?  How do we make sure that within this conversation – the communities we serve don’t get left behind?  How and do we want to fit into the critical ongoing dialogue on modernizing (or “reframing”) the Community Reinvestment Act?  In this era of economic recession — how do we leverage some of the existing regulatory mechanisms to ensure that bailed out financial institutions continue to invest in community development?  How do we create a new standard of responsibility that will mandate this type of investment going forward?

How do we build coalitions — whether it’s multi-racial/ethnic — or multi-sector to amplify our voice and concerns.  We shouldn’t forget that it’s a big world out there.  AA’s and NHPI’s are a small group, both demographically and (I hate to say it) politically.  We’re living in a “post-racial” world now.  To me, that doesn’t mean that race doesn’t matter.  It means that race cannot be the only thing that matters.  It means that we have to be clear about how and why we matter.  It again returns us to this question of what we’re bringing to the table.

Third.  Activism matters.  The Administration is taking the lead on a lot of things.  But it doesn’t mean they’re going to get it right on everything.  We have to stay on our toes and continue to organize and advocate.  That’s our ultimate mechanism for accountability.  This has been a strength for a lot of us.  We should makes sure moving forward that we continue to invest in and grow our capacity for organizing and advocacy.

Even though the conference is done.  I’m now more excited by what’s to come.  Hope you are too.  See you in (DC ???) next year.

The National CAPACD C0nvention was a huge success.  We got a lot of great feedback, and many said that this was the best convention to date!  Thank you all for joining us, and for those who couldn’t make it, here are some pictures from the conference.  You can find more pictures on the National CAPACD Social Network at www.nationalcapacd.ning.com.

Congressman Abercrombie joined the National CAPACD family at the Welcome Reception on June 3rd. He stayed and mingled with National CAPACD members and delivered a powerful speech for everyone.

Congressman Barney Frank Accepting the Power of Change Award at the National CAPACD 10th Anniversary Gala

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis Takes the Podium

Next Generation Leadership Scholars pose for a picture with National CAPACD Board Members and Mentors.

Gala attendees were impressed with the Nen Daiko Taiko Drummers.

We here at National CAPACD are really excited to have hundreds of our friends, colleagues and allies join us in Washington, DC this year.  The entire staff of National CAPACD are working hard to put together the most exciting and fun schedule of events, speakers, workshops, and tours.

We hope you enjoy your time here, and for those of you who are not able to join us this year, please keep posted on the National CAPACD Social Network and Website for ways to keep engaged!

National CAPACD staff Lisa Hasegawa and myself participated in the South Asian Summit this past weekend.  Lisa had the opportunity to speak on a panel about the “Impact of the Economic Crisis” will fellow panelists Seema Agnani (Chhaya CDC), Hamid Khan (South Asian Network) and moderator, Julie Sun (Freddie Mac).  The panel brought attention to how the economic crisis is impacting the South Asian community, and Lisa made a call to the participants to make sure their voices are heard by our nation’s government and financial institutions.

That was just one of many “Calls to Action” of the Summit.  SAALT really made it a point to ensure that the value of the Summit didn’t end in just one a time Advocacy Day on Capitol Hill, and a series of workshops and networking events.  Deepa Iyer, Executive Director of SAALT, stated early on in the Summit the importance of taking the lessons learned home and continuing to stay active in our communities after the weekend.

With over 250 South Asians in attendance from across the country, I would say the South Asian Summit was a huge success!

Good news for all you CAPACD friends, allies, and members.  We have extended the early bird registration deadline to Wednesday, April 29th.  You can save up to $200 by registering today for this great deal.

As many of our loyal readers know, the National CAPACD Convention takes place once a year, and brings together hundreds of community based practitioners, organizers, and advocacy agencies in one of the largest gatherings nationwide.   We have had leaders from 34 states attend National CAPACD conventions in the past and we expect a similar turnout this year.  Our national convention provides an opportunity to:

• Meet with Congressional Leaders and Policy Makers from across the country to move forward a progressive AAPI community development agenda
• Build new and strengthen existing partnerships with elected officials, educational and research institutions, national intermediaries, government agencies, and other community based organizations
• Connect to a national network of funders including several prominent foundations and financial institutions
• Develop individual skills and organizational capacity in community development workshops led by established neighborhood practitioners, foundations, community organizers, researchers and technical assistance providers

Now is the time to sign up and take advantage of this great opportunity!  We have lowered the prices and extended the early bird registration deadline so YOU can join us for this historic event.  Celebrate 10 Years with the National CAPACD Family!

Oakland has had a lot of bad press this year, and rightly so.  We are struggling with issues of crime, financial instability and crumbling infrastructure.  But there is good news too.  Yesterday, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums launched a new city-wide financial initiative called “Bank on Oakland” that partners banks and community based organizations to provide financial education and mainstream banking options to thousands of Oakland residents who are unbanked.  These unbanked residents are often the victims of robbery because they carry their cash with them.  Or they are “robbed” in other ways because they use predatory check cashing and payday loan outlets that charge high fees.  Bank on Oakland provides these residents with mainstream banking options, even if they have had banking troubles in the past and are on ChexSystems.  This is part of a statewide initiative “Bank on California” out of Governor Schwarzenneger’s office.  San Francisco and San Jose are also participating.

Not coincidentally, Bank on Oakland is a partner at the new SparkPoint Center.  Families coming to the SparkPoint Center need to have a full range of financial options to achieve their financial goals.  Also not coincidentally, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation was honored to host the launch of the Bank on Oakland campaign yesterday at our Lion Creek Crossings affordable housing development in East Oakland.  It made sense to us because Lion Creek is designed around a community hub model.  Hence, SparkPoint Center and Bank on Oakland are there onsite as resources to the community at large.

By Carro Hua, Co-Chair, A-VOYCE Executive Board

On Tuesday, I was walking to Park Street from the Financial District and as I was passing by Macy’s, something caught my eye. No, it was not clothes nor anything of that sort. For once, they did something out of the ordinary and something I have never seen a big corporation do before. This is the first year that I can remember where Macy’s decided to celebrate Black History Month. As I looked at the posted pictures of Obama and his achievements on one of their glass displays I smiled.

While I was happy that Macy’s was taking the initiative to educate the public about Black History Month, I cannot help but think, “When May comes, will Asian Americans have that same recognition, or will I have to wait for an Asian American to be president?”

All my life, we talked about slavery, segregation and the different struggles African Americans had to face. Whether it was Nickelodeon announcing the importance of Black History Month when I was little or the way it was embedded in my school curriculum, I grew up knowing February was an important month.

But May? I had no idea, and it is a shame to say I never knew about APIA Month until I was a sophomore in high school. I never knew the Chinese helped build the transcontinental railroad until I was a teenager. I never knew much about my own history, it had always been black or white.  In school, I read books written by African American authors explaining the difficulty of growing up as a person of color, but I never read a single book about the difficulty of being an Asian American. I feel that I have not heard enough from the African American perspective in history, regardless of the exposure, but heck, I have not heard from the Asian American perspective at all … in school… in the media … nowhere basically.

I know from the books that I read about APIA history that Asian Americans have played a significant role and that we were not in the shadows when history was playing. I know this for a fact. But besides me, who else knows? Do you know? Do my own APIA peers know of their own history? Will our future generations know?

When will it be us? When will Nickelodeon talk about APIA history on their shows? When will educators take time out in May to talk about Asian Americans? When? Do we have to wait for an APIA president to fix this problem?

Carro Hua, Boston, 18, is the Co-Chair of the A-VOYCE Executive Board and is currently a senior at Boston Latin Academy. She is Chinese and Vietnamese and speaks Vietnamese along with English. Her favorite food is spring rolls. Unlike the stereotypes, she only likes Math when she gets it and doesn’t play any instruments. Her favorite subject is Government because she likes politics. She aspires to major in Political Science/Government in college and ultimately become the U.S. President or an Asian American Studies Professor.

One of the most exciting community development projects to surface in the San Francisco Bay Area is the new SparkPoint Center.  I’ll admit that I may be a little bit biased since the organization that I work for is one of the founding partners.

Let me give you a little background on my organization, East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC).  EBALDC is an affordable housing developer in Oakland, California that not only builds and manages housing and community facilities, but also provides economic development programs for the community at large.  For the last ten years, we have been offering Individual Development Account programs to help low-income families and individuals buy their first homes, start businesses and go to college.  In addition, we have one of the largest volunteer income tax assistance sites in Oakland, bringing over $1.5 million in tax refunds back to the community over the last six years .

But with the unprecedented economic challenges of the last couple of years, challenges that have severely impacted Oakland’s low-income communities of color, we knew more needed to be done.  And the opportunity to do something more came in the invitation to participate in the new SparkPoint Center.  The SparkPoint Center is an innovative financial center concept that is being spearheaded by the United Way of the Bay Area.  Last summer, United Way approached EBALDC and four other Oakland community based organizations to develop the concept of bringing together financial programs that help low-income families to increase their income, manage their debt and build their assets – all in one center. Additional partners include the City of Oakland through its Bank on Oakland program, an effort to link unbanked city residents into the mainstream banking system.  All of the organizations immediately took to the idea because we saw the immense benefits of being able to offer families free income tax assistance, job training, academic counseling, small business training, matched savings accounts, mainstream banking options, financial education and coaching, credit counseling and foreclosure assistance all under one roof.

The SparkPoint Center is also taking a different approach in how we work with the people who will walk through our doors.  They are not going to be treated in the way that so many of them are used to – as case numbers, clients or even customers.  Instead they will enter SparkPoint as members who are empowered to set and achieve their own financial goals. We like to make the analogy of SparkPoint as kind of like a fitness club.  Members can get financial coaching and other services at the SparkPoint Center in order to achieve their own self-determined financial fitness goals.

There is much to be done as we ready to open our doors next week (Monday, March 30). And we are just in the pilot or “learning” phase. We have made our plans, but the months ahead are where the rubber really hits the road.  It is community development in action.

Official National CAPACD Blogger, Charise Fong, is the Director of Neighborhood Economic Development at EBALDC.

Continuing his trend of transparency and access, President Obama is now accepting questions from everyone about the economy which he will answer on a live streaming broadcast on whitehouse.gov.  You can submit your questions by creating an account here, then you can rate other peoples questions up or down.  The President will then pick a handful of the most popular questions based on the ratings, and answer them live on Thursday, March 26th.

This is really a first for the White House.  Never before have we seen a President who is opening up his office doors to the people of this country and answering the hard questions posed by them directly.  I look forward to seeing this broadcast and reading the questions posed by the community.

Our partners at the National Council of La Raza (NCLR) has just posted more pictures of the event here.  These pictures really give you a stronger sense of the volume of people we saw last Saturday!