News
ABOUT NAACF
Asian Americans and Native Hawaiians & Pacific Islanders (AANHPI) have been an integral part of building this nation and, as the fastest growing population in the United States, we will continue to make substantive contributions. However, our diverse communities face a unique set of challenges. Our communities are underserved, often given a proportionately smaller share of charitable funds. Our philanthropic efforts, both regionally and nationally, are fragmented, and as a result, we are underrepresented in important dialogues and decisions. A groundbreaking philanthropic initiative to unify AANHPI donors across the nation, the National Asian American Community Foundation (NAACF) plays a strategic role in growing and leveraging our community’s resources. NAACF aims to create innovative collaborations and to make sustainable investments to empower our communities and to positively impact all of American society.
CORE VALUES
- Embracing Diversity, Inclusion & Equity: We embrace the incredible strengths and diversity of AANHPI communities and acknowledge the need to be inclusive of the wide range of voices within our communities.
- A Culture of Integrity & Collaboration: We operate on a shared principle of utmost integrity and strive to build trust and collaborative bridges between individuals, leaders, and organizations to strategically expand our capacity and strengthen our communities.
- A Commitment to Innovation: We recognize the need to stay attuned to transformations within society as we pursue our mission and we consider innovative solutions as an integral component of our work.
- Investing in Our Future: We believe that investing in our communities will benefit the future of all Americans.
OUR APPROACH
BE A UNIFYING FORCE
BE A DATA-DRIVEN CONVENOR OF CONTENT
BE INNOVATIVE, GENERATIVE, and INTER-GENERATIONAL
TARGET OUTCOMES
There have been too many times where our community has not been seen, heard, counted or valued. The NAACF solves this problem in a sustainable and strategic way. By pooling our resources, our philanthropic efforts are more powerful and stronger together than any one of us on our own. The NAACF is committed to harnessing our collective power to ensure Asian Americans are, and always will be, seen, heard, counted and valued.
SEEN
HEARD
COUNTED
VALUED
Founding Donors
The Legacy Circle
- The Carol & Eugene Choi Family Foundation
- Long Family Foundation
- The Hsia Family
- Anita Pramoda
- Dr. Kenneth & Johanna Kim
- Tokita Family Foundation
- The Kong Family
- Yang-Uk Kim
- Susan & Canyon Lew
- Charlie and Ling Zhang
The Gold Circle
- Asian Pacific Community Fund
- Arthur & Ginger Ong
- Wells Fargo
The Silver Circle
- Daniel Hsia
- South Coast Plaza
- June Lee
- Vietnamese in Philanthropy Fund
- Helen & Jonathan Min
- Magi Yang
- Linda Trinh Vo & John Kamei
- Linda Young
- Zion Enterprises LLC
The Bronze Circle
- Advance Beauty College
- Orange County Community Foundation
- GATI Global
- Tarsadia Family Foundation
- Frank Quevedo
- Vizio
- Gloria Lee & Calista Wu
- UCI
- Scott Seigel
- US Bank
The Community Circle
- 7 Leaves Cafe
- Asisan American Senior Citizens Service Center
- Ray Chen
- Dr. Kenneth Chang
- Sohrab Charna
- Tony Chou
- Henry Chow
- Pat Hwang
- The Jilla Family
- Christine Kim
- Ted Kim
- Linh Kochan
- Albert Kong
- Micki Kwon
- Jeene Lee Um
- Jack Lew
- Kai Liang
- Bob Mah
- Goren Matijasevic
- Meg McComb
- Song Richardson
- Chiyo Rowe
- Anne Shih
- Hye-Won Shin
- Susan Song
- Josie Tong
- Tyler Tsay
- William Um
- Ruchi Warrier
- Susie Yoon
- Burton Young
- Teddy Zee
- John and Michele Forsyte
Additional Founding Supporters
- Jason Ahn
- Amy Chen
- Deth Im
- Elaine Quach
- Mark Percy
- Yumiko Whitaker
The NAACF Advisory Board
Ruchi Warrier, Founding Board Member
Founder and President at Strategy & Seva
Ruchi is a social impact strategist and facilitator, providing customized services in designing, leading, and facilitating innovative approaches to creating and delivering meaningful impact. She works with leaders, teams, and organizations to explore culture, processes and practices that address systemic barriers to a diverse, equitable and inclusive (DEI) world.
Ruchi has over 15 years of experience in organizational development, strategy, international development and operations management spanning business, non-profit, and public organizations in education, health, pharma, advocacy, and philanthropy. Significant experience working in international and multicultural settings, and experience living and working abroad in Asia and Africa.
Relevant expertise in: strategic planning and evaluation, coaching, organizational development, leadership development, building high-performance teams, performance management, strategic philanthropy, multi-sector initiatives, program design, implementation planning, curriculum and toolkit development, global health, economic development.
Nithin Jilla, Founding Board Member
Executive Director, Dreams for Schools
Nithin has an interest in technology, education and enjoys working collectively with leaders to bring about positive impact. He aspires to build models and systems that are sustainable and empower the next generation of youth to become leaders in their local community. He is a passionate educator and social entrepreneur who champions educating and empowering the next generation of innovators. He serves as the Executive Director of Dreams for Schools, whose mission is to make STEM approachable and accessible for all. Empowering Students & Cultivating Curiosity by providing the right tools and experience, Dreams for Schools helps kids program the future training them to be STEM literate with hard and soft skills needed to become the critical thinkers, creative leaders and technologists of tomorrow.
In addition, Nithin is also a community leader and serves as a member on several non-profit and advisory boards which include Harbor Day School in Corona Del Mar, UC Irvine Young Alumni Council, and OC Grantmakers. Nithin obtained his bachelor's degree in Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine.
Johanna Kim, Founding Board Member
Managing Partner, Kerymen LLC
Her philanthropic focus has been on addressing issues of racial inequity, fostering youth, and promoting women's issues. She has served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim and the Orange County board of the Asian Americans Advancing Justice. She is currently serving on the Newport Beach Library Foundation Board and is a founding advisory board member of the NAACF.
Joanna Kong, Founding Board Member
Director of Programs, The Sun Family Foundation
Joanna Kong is the Director of Programs for the Sun Family Foundation, a private nonprofit organization that supports education for disadvantaged youth and other charitable endeavors.
Prior to this role, she worked as a corporate attorney at various law firms, including Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. As a lawyer, she specialized in counseling business owners from formation through various stages of corporate growth, including exits. Joanna received her J.D. from UCLA School of Law and B.A. in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of California, Irvine.
Susan Lew, Founding Board Member
Officer, Hsu Hwa Chao Foundation
Ginger Sun, Founding Board Member
Ginger Sun is an active community leader who currently serves on the Advisory Board of the National Asian American Community Foundation. In the past, Ginger has also served on the Advisory Board and Inaugural Gala Committee of Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Orange County, the Parent Association Boards of St Mary’s School and Sage Hill School. She and her husband, Arthur Ong, are active supporters of the Wooden Floor, a dance-based, youth development not-for-profit that is transforming the lives of young people in low-income communities.
Ginger was born in Hong Kong an moved to the United States at the age of 3 but retains a strong Chinese cultural identity. She has always believed in being a liaison between newer immigrants and community institutions. In expressing why she stays so active in the community, Ginger states “It took me a long time to realize how important it is for Asian Americans to have a stronger voice in our society. I want to give back to our community and make sure future generations know they have a voice and can make a difference.
