Who We Are

Like many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders during the COVID-19 pandemic, our founding community of parents experienced an awakening that reflected a reality of being ‘othered’ in America that existed long before the pandemic, this was the spark that lit the fire of the TeachAAPI movement.

As the pandemic raged on, racism boiled to the forefront, becoming so loud it was impossible to ignore. Horrific stories in the media of elderly American citizens attacked in broad daylight. Comments made by children parroting politicians’ derogatory use of ‘China flu’, broadcast directly into our homes during Zoom school. It was hard not to drown in the negativity aimed squarely at anyone who looked like you. The hopelessness was almost disabling, a reminder of how the disease of racism takes hold. Almost.

When our determined, angry and hurt group of passionate parents gathered, one thing rose to the top: our strong collective desire to stay productive and drive positive change for our children. The perpetual sense of being ‘foreigners’ in the only land we’ve known brought us together. The desire to build a solution so our children feel they belong in their homeland is the TeachAAPI movement.

We are the children of immigrants who didn’t have the privilege of education, language or Americanness to make much of a dent in racism, survival was their victory.  But our generation does have the privilege to drive towards changing and shaping a future we want to see as Americans. This will be our collective victory.

In collaboration with educators starting in 2021, we dared to envision a future where microaggressions are extinct and AAPI stories are abundant alongside the rich diversity that is the tapestry of America.  Our goal was simple: prevent rather than react to future incidents.  To do this, we needed to shape and seed perspectives beginning in early education.

Our collective professional backgrounds led us to build an organization whose nature is to act nimbly, flexibly and seek out progress where it can be found. With ingenuity we bring enriching and easy to use programming to the hands of educators and parents. When our first virtual program in the summer of 2021 reached 1,500 viewers across 34 schools in numerous states, we knew this solution had legs.

Since then we’ve developed evergreen AAPI programming and curriculum that complement existing lesson plans across K-6. We continue to find innovative and engaging ways to highlight the histories that reflect AAPI longevity and contributions within the history of America. We strive to bring this work and access to schools across the country, increasing access to AAPI stories so all children have the benefit of windows, mirrors and sliding doors in their most critical years.

Our vision is to offer our programming to schools in every district across the country.

Join our movement.