As the year winds down, we extend our heartfelt gratitude for your unwavering support of Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California (AJSOCAL). Your steadfast belief in justice and equality fuels our mission to challenge Asian invisibility and advocate for language access, representation and data equity and transparency in our society.
Combatting Asian Invisibility
We’re thrilled to present our 2023 Policy Impact Report. This comprehensive report showcases how your support has directly contributed to how we Combat Asian Invisibility.
In the coming weeks, stay tuned for a series of emails spotlighting specific policy achievements AJSOCAL has realized this year. We hope these updates will ignite your interest and inspire continued involvement in our journey towards a more equitable society.
This Year’s Policy Journey
Every voice matters in the quest for justice and equality. Your partnership empowers us to keep striving for a brighter future for all. As we move forward, we eagerly anticipate the continued impact of our collective efforts.
The Impact
Our robust effort yielded significant results across several critical areas:
- Empowering the Bilingual Workforce: We secured funding through the API Equity Budget to provide bilingual pay for direct service workers at community-based organizations. This will support bilingual workers to continue bridging the language divide between governmental services and limited-English proficient (LEP) Californians.
- Break Down the Other Act (AB 943, KALRA): We passed legislation this year directing the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to publish disaggregated demographic data, fostering data equity and transparency. This bill will finally allow policymakers, stakeholders and the public to understand the make up of our prison system, in order to address language barriers in due process, as well as learning about the needs for culturally competent reentry programs.
- Dual Immersion Scholarships: The $5 million budget for dual immersion teacher accreditation programs for Asian Languages that we advocated for in 2022 began its distribution this year, culminating in over 90 scholarship applications and the creation of the state’s first Khmer accreditation program starting next summer.
Check out our full Policy Impact Report here.