AYPAL

AYPAL’s mission is to empower Oakland’s low-income Asian & Pacific Islander immigrant and refugee families to be leaders for school reform and neighborhood change.

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AYPAL started in 1998 in response to increasing gang activity,  truancy, and substance abuse issues among low-income Asian and Pacific  Islander (API) youth.  The project was also formed to address the  marginalization of API youth voices in the burgeoning bay area youth  movement.

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AYPAL’s strategy to engage young people in school and neighborhood  reform campaigns served as a positive alternative to high-risk  activities.  Simultaneously, young people in the program were developing  the cultural capital and confidence to meaningfully participate in  multi-racial social justice initiatives.

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Since its founding, AYPAL has developed the leadership of over 500  Youth Leaders and has engaged over 5000 young people in grassroots  campaigns.  More importantly, the organization has become a vital home  where youth from different schools, neighborhoods and ethnicities can  gather together to learn, discuss and collectively change the adverse  conditions impacting their lives.

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Today, AYPAL is a leader in the education justice movement and the only organization in the state of California that organizes low-income immigrant and refugee API families around reforms in public education.