Los Angeles County Asian American Employees Association (LACAAEA) and Asian Pacific Community Fund (APCF) announced the second “Leading by Example” event, called “Rising Through the Ranks” in response to a 2022 AAPI community survey revealing that AAPIs in LA County are most likely to face discrimination at the workplace, followed by schools and grocery stores.
“If you do not intentionally include, you will unintentionally exclude.”
In an article by Harvard Business Review, AAPIs are the forgotten minority in the glass ceiling conversation. AAPIs are the least likely racial group to be promoted to management and executive levels, even though they are the most likely to be hired into the government workforce. AAPIs have been called the model minority, but the Asian community is painfully reminded about being the forgotten minority. This community have faced many misperceptions or stereotypes, for example, being quiet, hardworking, family-oriented, technically oriented, and good at math and science, but are also passive, non-confrontational, and antisocial. While some of these stereotypes have positive characteristics, they also have become barriers that create the ‘bamboo ceiling’ framework, preventing AAPIs from promoting into the upper tiers of an organization. Good or bad, these myths have created real obstacles in the workplace.
To help amplify discussions about these disparities and introduce County of Los Angeles leadership to the AAPI community, our second event of the series is scheduled on the morning of Saturday, December 3rd at the Santa Anita Park in Arcadia. The event will feature Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the second largest Asian population with over 16% of AAPI residents in the Fifth District. It will include panelists from the County’s executive leadership team and our local elected officials from District 5. Registration will start at 8:00AM with the program to begin at 9:00AM. Please RSVP by Friday, November 18th to ensure capacity. Thanks to our sponsors, registration is provided free of cost.
This will be one of many events across Los Angeles County to bring more attention to the AAPI community. In an effort to encourage the AAPI community to build relationships with their local government elected officials, LACAAEA will continue to build a directory of community organizations serving AAPIs throughout Los Angeles County, especially those in the Fifth District. The contact information that any organizations provide will be shared with County and local government stakeholders.
Any AAPI community organizations and County departments interested in hosting a resource table should email or fill out the Resource Table Interest Form and we will let you know if space is available.
