Issue 06: LAAUNCH and TAAF Join Forces

Issue 06

LAAUNCH and TAAF Join Forces

November 15, 2021

Dear Friends,

As our earliest and dearest supporters, we wanted you to be the first to hear exciting news regarding our efforts and organization. LAAUNCH is joining forces with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF.org), the world’s largest AAPI philanthropic organization! LAAUNCH’s CEO and co-founder, Norman Chen, has been tapped to become the CEO of TAAF, effective today. With more than $1 billion in corporate and individual philanthropic commitments, TAAF will provide multi-year support for the STAATUS Index and other meaningful programs. This merger will allow LAAUNCH to amplify its efforts and impact, with LAAUNCH operating as an incubation engine within TAAF.

LAAUNCH, like TAAF, came together from a core group of committed friends focused on helping Asian Americans during turbulent political and pandemic times. We are thrilled and honored by this opportunity to combine and supercharge our efforts with TAAF.

All funds raised by LAAUNCH thus far will remain dedicated to current programs. We are deeply grateful to you, our supporters, partners, and friends of LAAUNCH.

Meanwhile, congratulations to the progress for AAPIs with new political leadership in Cincinnati, Boston, New York, and Seattle.

We shall keep you posted as always, and welcome your thoughts and input at info@laaunch.org.

Warmest regards,

The LAAUNCH Team
Norman Chen, Ming & Wah Chen, Ed King, David Ting, Richard Ting, Eric Toda

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Asian American Spotlight - Debbie Shon

Debbie Shon is a force of nature and a leader who has the chutzpah, intelligence, and resume of a true super woman. A graduate of USC and Georgetown Law, Debbie has been a political, legal, sports and entertainment powerhouse for decades. She is the first registered agent for the National Basketball Association, one of the first Asian American C-suite executives in Corporate America (United States Steel), former CEO of Ticketmaster China, Chief Strategy Officer at USA Gymnastics, and national board member of The Smithsonian.

Top Asian American News Stories – November 2021

We highlight journalist, Jay Caspian Kang and his new book, The Loneliest Americans, and the experience of Asian Americans quarterbacks, perhaps the one position that holds the greatest influence on American culture in all of sports. We also applaud the elections of several Asian Americans into positions of leadership across the country, especially the emergence of Asian American women in political leadership, and USC's apology and awarding of honorary degrees to Japanese Americans, whose educations were cancelled after being forced into internment camps during WWII and not being allowed to re-enroll after the war. Finally, we congratulate May Lee, one of our past interviewers, on her new course at USC exploring Asian American history.