AAPI Highlights

AAPI Highlights, ­­­February 26, 2015

Welcome to this edition of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) Highlights. Below you’ll find news about the first-ever Lunar New Year celebration at the White House, the establishment of the Honouliuli National Monument, and agency announcements.

We invite you to visit our page at www.whitehouse.gov/aapi. Follow us on Twitter at @WhiteHouseAAPI for the Initiative and @KiranAhujaAAPI for Kiran Ahuja, the Executive Director of the Initiative.

A traditional Chinese Lion Dance was performed by the Wong People Association at the first-ever Lunar New Year Celebration at the White House, February 19, 2015. (Photo by Marie Nguyen). 

Celebrating Lunar New Year at the White House

WHIAAPI hosted the first-ever Lunar New Year celebration at the White House on February 19, 2015. Members of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community from across the country joined together to ring in the first day of the Lunar New Year with keynotes from Administration officials, a discussion with diverse AAPI leaders, and three lively cultural performances. President Obama also sent his greetings by video message. Read more.

National AAPI Community Google+ Hangout

Yesterday, during the National AAPI Community Google+ Hangout, White House and Administration officials discussed national priorities for the AAPI community and gave an overview of the May 2015 White House Summit on AAPIs. Konrad Ng, Director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, shared the 2015 AAPI Heritage Month theme, #APAEverywhere. Speakers also highlighted all the work federal agencies have done to increase access to services for the AAPI community, found in a new Federal Agency Accomplishments Report. View the National AAPI Community Google+ Hangout here.

Federal Agency Spotlight: National Park Service

In furtherance of its mission to provide a fair and inclusive look at American history, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)’s National Park Service (NPS) worked with AAPI scholars and NPS practitioners to research and write a crosscutting publication on the heritage and historical contributions of AAPIs. The 28-page booklet, titled Find Your Place: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, examines the enduring and influential presence of AAPIs—from the earliest settlement of the country to the economic development of the West to the desegregation of public schools in the 20th century and political influence in the 21st. This and many other valuable resources are available on the website of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Initiative. To learn more about this and other DOI efforts, see the Federal Agency Accomplishments Report.

Calling All Students: Apply for the Summer 2015 WHIAAPI Internship Program

As America’s population becomes increasingly diverse, it is important to have this diversity reflected in the federal workforce. Although AAPIs comprise 6 percent of the U.S. population, they make up only 3 percent of the Senior Executive Service (SES), the highest ranks of federal government. As part of the WHIAAPI’s work to strengthen federal workforce diversity, we want to highlight federal internship opportunities. Internship positions are open to eligible undergraduate and graduate students, and applications are due on Sunday, March 8, 2015. Read more.

AAPI Historic Sites Campaign Webinar: March 10

Please join the National Park Service and WHIAAPI for a webinar on the AAPI Historic Sites Campaign on Tuesday, March 10, 2015 at 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM ET. This campaign is part of the AAPI Heritage Initiative which aims to recognize and honor the stories, places, and people of AAPI heritage as part of our entire country’s history. Register here.

White House Summit on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: May 12 

WHIAAPI is pleased to invite you to the White House Summit on AAPIs on Tuesday, May 12, 2015, in Washington, DC. The Summit will feature engaging panels, workshops, and armchair dialogues with senior Administration officials, AAPI celebrities, and well-known community leaders, plus performances by distinguished AAPI artists. The Summit will inspire participants to continue to build upon the legacy, strength, and influence of the AAPI community, especially in the final years of the Obama Administration. The Summit is part of a series of events on May 11-15 during AAPI Heritage Month in Washington, DC, and provides a unique forum to actively engage with hundreds of AAPI leaders from across the nation.  Previous AAPI Heritage Month speakers have included President Obama at the 2013 White House Celebration and Vice President Biden at the 2014 Opening Ceremony.The White House Summit on AAPIs is open to the public and free of charge. Stay tuned for details on the program in the coming months, but please visit our Summit webpage and subscribe to our weekly newsletter to receive updates. For questions, please email WhiteHouseAAPI@ed.gov.

White House Announcements 

The President's Meeting with Immigration Advocacy Leaders

President Obama met with Latino, AAPI, labor and immigration advocacy leaders to provide an update on the Administration’s immigration accountability executive actions. The meeting was also an opportunity to have a dialogue with the immigrant advocacy community on the Administration’s continued efforts to push Congress to fund the Department of Homeland Security and to pass comprehensive immigration reform. The President also highlighted that despite the Texas district court’s ruling, the Administration will continue to make progress on many components of the executive actions and is confident we will ultimately be able to implement the deferred action policies. Read more.

Establishment of the Honouliuli National Monument

The Honouliuli Internment Camp (Honouliuli) serves as a powerful reminder of the need to protect civil liberties in times of conflict, and the effects of martial law on civil society. Honouliuli is nationally significant for its central role during World War II as an internment site for a population that included American citizens, resident immigrants, other civilians, enemy soldiers, and labor conscripts co-located by the U.S. military for internment or detention. Read more.

Q&A with Surgeon General Vivek Murthy: Community Health, Measles, and Teleportation

He’s treated thousands of patients in the U.S. and helped people around the globe. He’s trained students to become doctors, founded a nonprofit to combat HIV/AIDS, practices yoga daily, and keeps unflavored almond milk in his fridge. At 37, he is now one of the youngest Americans — and the first Indian American — to serve as the Surgeon General of the United States. Read more.

Taking Action to Unlock the Economic Contributions of Americans-in-Waiting

The President is continuing to take action, within his legal authority, to fix our broken immigration system. The Administration announced a final rule that will allow spouses of certain high-skilled workers to contribute to the economy while they wait to obtain lawful permanent residence status (or a “green card”) through their employer. America needs a 21^st century immigration system that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants—and that grows our economy. Read more.

Weekly Address: We Should Make Sure the Future Is Written by Us

In his weekly address, the President underscored the importance of continuing to grow our economy and support good-paying jobs for our workers by opening up new markets for American goods and services. While America’s businesses, ranchers, and farmers are already exporting goods at record levels, there’s more room for growth with 95 percent of the world’s customers living outside our borders. In order to pursue new trade agreements, the President called on Congress to pass trade promotion authority so that the U.S. can play a leading role in negotiating 21^st century trade deals that protect our workers, support good wages, and help grow the middle class. Read more.

Agency Announcements 

Department of Education: A Call to Transform Adult Learning in the United States

Skills matter. In the past year, a remarkable convergence of data, analysis, and policy informed us of just how much they matter to individuals, their families and communities, and to the economy overall. This report presents a vision for making adult skill development—upskilling—more prevalent, efficient, effective, and convenient. This vision rests on an understanding that foundation skills—the combination of literacy, numeracy, and English language as well as employability skills required for participation in modern workplaces and contemporary life—are a shared responsibility of, and value and benefit to the entire community. Read more.

Department of Homeland Security Extends Eligibility for Employment Authorization to Certain H-4 Dependent Spouses of H-1B Nonimmigrants Seeking Employment-Based Lawful Permanent Residence

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director León Rodríguez announced that, effective May 26, 2015, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is extending eligibility for employment authorization to certain H-4 dependent spouses of H-1B nonimmigrants who are seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident (LPR) status. DHS amended the regulations to allow these H-4 dependent spouses to accept employment in the United States. Finalizing the H-4 employment eligibility was an important element of the immigration executive actions President Obama announced in November 2014. Read more.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services: Extending Employment Authorization to H-4 Spouses of Certain H-1B Workers Stakeholder Call

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) invites you to participate in a stakeholder engagement on Thursday, February 26 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET regarding a DHS regulatory update. The regulatory change, effective May 26, 2015, will extend eligibility for work authorization to H-4 spouses of certain H-1B workers who have already started the process of seeking employment-based lawful permanent resident status. To join the session, call (888)-469-2153, Passcode: H4.

Department of Justice: Office on Violence Against Women Fiscal Year 2015 Grants to Reduce Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking on Campus Program Solicitation

The Campus Program is designed to encourage colleges and universities to adopt comprehensive, coordinated responses to violent crimes against women on campuses and create partnerships among campus entities, along with community-based victim services organizations and criminal and civil justice agencies. In order to receive grant funds through the Campus Program, institutions of higher education must provide multi-faceted prevention, education and bystander intervention strategies on violence against women for all incoming students, train all campus law enforcement or security staff on appropriate responses to violence against women, train all members of campus judicial or disciplinary boards on the unique dynamics of violence against women, and create a coordinated community response to violence against women. DOJ will be holding a pre-application conference call on March 5, 2015. To register for the call, participants should e-mail ovw.campus@usdoj.gov or call Mrs. Kimberly Shamberger at 202-514-7998. Read more.

Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Got Coverage? Next Steps in Using Your Health Insurance 

Join the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the Got Coverage? Next Steps in Using Your Health Insurance webinar on Thursday, March 5, 2015 from 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET. This webinar will discuss how to read your insurance card, how to find a doctor, what you need to know in making an appointment and what to do in case you have a health emergency. Key terms will be discussed as well as recommended health screenings. We will highlight the Coverage to Care materials on health insurance literacy during the webinar. Register here. 

Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services: Special Enrollment Periods and Resources for the Uninsured 

Join the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the Special Enrollment Periods and Resources for the Uninsured webinar on Thursday, March 12, 2015 from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET. The health care law has created special enrollment periods for those who experience special circumstances such as graduating from college and losing health insurance, getting married and needing coverage for a spouse, losing employer insurance or turning 26 and losing coverage on a parent’s health plan. Join this webinar to learn more about special enrollment periods and how to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace. For those who are uninsured and don’t qualify for the special enrollment period, learn what resources are available and when to enroll in the Health Insurance Marketplace. Register here. 

Small Business Administration: Affordable Care Act 101 Webinars for Small Employers, Including Nonprofit Organizations 

SBA and Small Business Majority will host a free Affordable Care Act 101 webinar so small business owners can learn the basics of the Affordable Care Act and how they can enroll in health insurance marketplaces. 

• Thursday, March 5 at 2:00 PM ET: Register here. 
• Thursday, March 12 at 2:00 PM ET: Register here.
• Thursday, March 19 at 2:00 PM ET: Register here. 
• Thursday, March 26 at 2:00 PM ET: Register here.

Funding Opportunities

Department of Health and Human Services: Increasing the Implementation of Evidence-Based Cancer Survivorship Interventions to Increase Quality and Duration of Life Among Cancer Patients

As of 2008, nearly 12 million cancer survivors were living in the United States; this number is expected to increase to 18 million in 2020. Cancer survivors have long-term adverse physical and psychosocial effects from their diagnosis and treatment, and have a greater risk for additional cancer diagnoses compared with persons without a cancer history. Cancer survivors commonly report negative behavioral, medical, and health care access issues that may contribute to poor long-term medical and psychosocial outcomes. The Center for Disease Control (CDC)’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NCCCP) supports collaborative cancer control and prevention efforts in all states, the District of Columbia, tribal organizations, territories, and Pacific Island jurisdictions to address the cancer burden in their jurisdictions. Read more.

Department of Agriculture: Crop Protection and Pest Management

The purpose of the Crop Protection and Pest Management (CPPM) program is to address high priority issues related to pests and their management using IPM approaches at the state, regional and national levels. The CPPM program supports projects that will increase food security and respond effectively to other major societal challenges with comprehensive IPM approaches that are economically viable, environmentally sound and will help protect human health. The CPPM program addresses IPM challenges for emerging issues and existing priority pest concerns that can be addressed more effectively with new and emerging technologies. The outcomes of the CPPM program are effective, affordable, and environmentally sound IPM practices and strategies supporting more vital communities. Read more.

Department of Agriculture: Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge Area

This Challenge Area Focuses on the societal challenge to end obesity among children, the number one nutrition-related problem in the US. Food is an integral part of the process that leads to obesity and USDA has a unique responsibility for the food system in the United States. This program is designed to achieve the long-term outcome of reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents 2-19 years. The Childhood Obesity Prevention Program supports Multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants. Read more.

 For more opportunities, please visit Grants.gov or WHIAAPI's Grants & Resources page.