We kick-off Pride Month by sharing the invaluable wisdom of the prolific screenwriter, producer, and actress Lena Waithe, who reminds us of the revolutionary power of stepping into our full identities.
"To be yourself is truly a revolutionary act, and I think that more and more people should try it, because it's gotten me a pretty cool life."
Join us this month as we highlight individuals from the LGBTQIA+ community whose work and lives broaden and deepen representation of their communities!
Danez Smith is an award-winning writer and performer–and one of the most discussed poets of their generation. Danez is the author of “Homie” (2020), "[insert] Boy" (2014), and "Don't Call Us Dead" (2017), and has been featured as part of Forbes’ annual 30 Under 30 list. Their numerous awards and recognitions, including the Forward Prize, Lambda Literary Award, Pushcart Prize, Best American Poetry and more, cannot capture their success over the years.
Dr. Lauren Esposito is the Assistant Curator and Schlinger Chair of Arachnology at the California Academy of Sciences and Co-Founder of 500 Queer Scientists. She primarily studies scorpions and was once called the "world's only female scorpion expert" by a major publication. Alongside her study, she strives to fight back against a traditionally heteronormative culture of STEM fields, and co-founded 500 Queer Scientists, a visibility campaign to give queer scientists and engineers a platform to share their personal STEM stories. Esposito also co-founded Islands & Seas, a science and education nonprofit that aims to build an independent network of field stations where scientists, tourists, and locals can work together to conserve natural resources.
Jabari Brisport is currently a New York State Senator from the 25th District. He became the first openly LGBTQ person of color ever elected to the state legislature! A former public school teacher, Jabari Brisport prioritizes education and forming an equitable future for students and families. His experiences as a queer Black man and as a Brooklyn native, familiar with the effects of gentrification, shape his commitment to helping his community.
LGBTQ Victory Fund (works to change the face and voice of America’s politics and achieve equality for LGBTQ Americans by increasing the number of openly LGBTQ elected officials at all levels of government)
Queerency (digital media company focused on LGBTQ+ x entrepreneurship/business)
The Opportunity Network Welcomes Three Executives to its Board of Directors and Names New Vice Chair
Date
4 min read
New Board Members:
David Chiang Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Idyllic Partners
Aisha Thomas-Petit Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer, AMC Networks
Kim Welch Partner, Deloitte Tax LLP
Newly Elected Vice Chair:
Raquel Vargas Palmer Managing Partner, KPS Capital Partners LP
New York, NY [July 1, 2021]: The Opportunity Network (OppNet), a national New York City-based nonprofit organization that works with students from historically underrepresented communities to develop the skills, knowledge, and passions to achieve their college and career goals, has announced the addition of three new board members: Idyllic Partners Founder & CEO David Chiang, AMC Networks Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer Aisha Thomas-Petit, and Deloitte Partner Kim Welch.
“These directors complement the expertise and experiences of our existing board of directors. We are proud to have them join the community as they help us reach new heights and continue to expand our vision for OppNet,” stated AiLun Ku, President and CEO of The Opportunity Network.
David Chiang is Founder and Chief Investment Officer for Idyllic Partners with more than 23 years of private equity and investment experience. Idyllic is an outsourced solution for prominent family offices and institutional investors to access best ideas within private markets in the form of funds, co-investments, secondaries, and direct deals. David most recently served as Senior Managing Director and Head of External Funds and Co-investments at Soros Fund Management, which manages $26 billion of capital as a family office/foundation.
Aisha Thomas-Petit is AMC Networks’ first Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer and a key member of the senior leadership team. She sets the strategy, roadmap, and measures of success to develop, bolster, and retain a diverse and inclusive community within the company’s workforce, as well as in front of and behind the camera across AMC Networks’ portfolio of entertainment brands. She also plays an integral role in advancing the company’s commitment to telling original stories that entertain with vivid characters, stories, and worlds that show the full spectrum of human experiences.
Kim Welch is a Partner with Deloitte Tax LLP based in New York with more than 25 years of experience serving a broad range of global clients. Kim joined Deloitte’s M&A practice in 2003. As a transaction services tax partner, she has an extensive background in leading global multi-function transaction teams for some of the firm’s largest private-equity clients and their respective portfolio companies.
OppNet is also proud to announce that Raquel Vargas Palmer will serve as the board’s newly created Vice Chair as it expands its officer leadership body.
Raquel Vargas Palmer is a Managing Partner of KPS Capital Partners, LP, Chairperson of its Investment Committee, and member of its Management Committee. She also serves on the Board of Directors for several KPS portfolio companies. KPS has approximately $12.8 billion of assets under management, and its portfolio companies have aggregate annual revenues of approximately $10.9 billion, operate 149 manufacturing facilities in 22 countries, and have nearly 35,000 employees, directly and through joint ventures worldwide.
“We are delighted to have Raquel Vargas Palmer as our inaugural Vice Chair of the OppNet board. We know that she will be a guiding force during this exciting period of growth at OppNet,” shared Dan O’Keefe, OppNet Board Chair and Managing Partner at Apax Digital.“
Chester “Chet” J. Wood Partner and Vice-Chair, Deloitte
Marc Weingarten Partner, Schulte Roth & Zabel
Chester “Chet” J. Wood and Marc Weingarten will be retiring from the Opportunity Network board after 10 and 12 years, respectively, of outstanding service. Wood is a Partner and Vice-Chair at Deloitte, where he has held leadership roles that include Chairman/CEO of Deloitte Tax, Merger & Acquisition Managing Partner, and Executive Committee member. In 2008, he helped launch a leadership development program for senior women in the tax division. Weingarten is a Partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel in mergers & acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, corporate governance, securities law, and investment partnerships. He is co-chair of the firm’s global Shareholder Activism Group and a member of the M&A and Securities Group and the Investment Management Group.
“The leadership that Chet and Marc have provided while serving on the board has been invaluable. We are all deeply grateful for their years of service and continued support. They will always be a part of the OppNet family.” said O’Keefe.
About The Opportunity Network:
The Opportunity Network (OppNet) ignites the drive, curiosity, and agency of underrepresented students on their paths to and through college and into thriving careers, powered by our commitment to access and community. The OppNet Fellows program is an intensive six-year experience for students beginning the summer after 10th grade that provides individualized college guidance, robust networking opportunities for professional and personal growth, career exposure, college transition and success supports, and five summers of skill-building paid internships and enrichment programs. This year, OppNet will grow to serve 1,030 students across this six-year program. Additionally, OppNet drives national impact through Career Fluency® Partnerships, our immersive capacity-building program for schools and youth-serving organizations looking to accelerate college and career readiness for their young people. This year, OppNet is working with more than 40 schools and organizations across 20 cities reaching more than 10,000 students nationally. To learn more, visit oppnet.org and follow us on YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Today, Salesforce announced it has awarded $1.5M in grants to three organizations across the United States —Beyond12, Bottom Line, and The Opportunity Network — focused on increasing higher education access and persistence for students from underrepresented backgrounds. These investments build on Salesforce’s ongoingcommitment to education.
One of the grant recipients, The Opportunity Network (OppNet), is a national education nonprofit based in New York that ignites the drive, curiosity, and agency of underrepresented students on their paths to and through college and into thriving careers. In this interview, OppNet’s President and CEO, AiLun Ku, discusses how the organization is reimagining college and career success for young people.
Q. Tell us about your background and what brought you to The Opportunity Network.
I moved to the United States with my family from Taiwan when I was 10 years old. We moved to a small town that didn’t know how to engage Multilingual Learners, so my sisters and I were left to figure out quite a bit of learning on our own.
When we moved, my dad packed up three sets of encyclopedias: the Britannica and two sets in Mandarin. We used those to translate and double check a lot of our work. But the feeling of being marginalized really sparked my dedication to education and social justice. I have worked in social justice jobs and education jobs, and my CEO role at OppNet allows me to work at the intersection of the two fields I am most passionate about.
Q. How is The Opportunity Network working to close the opportunity gap?
OppNet is working to close the opportunity gap in interconnected ways.
First, we work closely with amazing, first-generation, college bound students of color to ensure they get access to the training, skills, access, opportunities, and resources to pursue their ambitions.
Second, we train educators and youth development practitioners and leaders to build their capacities to support students of color for postsecondary and career opportunities.
Third, we partner with institutions like public high schools, community-based organizations, higher education institutions, and employers to ready their learning and work spaces to welcome people of color, include people of color, and invest in people of color to help them thrive. And lastly, to respond to the learning interruption caused by the pandemic, we made a significant portion of our Career FluencyⓇ curriculum available on our open access learning platform, UninterruptED: Unstoppable Learning, for any student to stay the course in readying themselves for college or work. Our multiple streams of work are set up to address the systemic challenges and interwoven inequities that are at the root of the opportunity gap.
OppNet Fellows attend College Signing Day 2019. Image credit: Hashim Pipkin.
Q. What impact has the COVID-19 pandemic had on first-generation students and their paths to and through college?
COVID-19, in many ways, has intensified the problem areas of college persistence for first-generation students from low income backgrounds. For example, remote learning made a lot of assumptions about students’ access to reliable internet, laptop, tablets, and even cell phones. On the flip side, recorded lectures that students can watch for review and live transcription technology helped some students access better learning tools than traditional classrooms.
One of the biggest losses in the context of higher education during the pandemic is the missing or invisible opportunities to build networks with peers, professors, and administrators. So many career supporting and building networks are built with peers and mentors in college and summer internships, and we have heard from many of our students how difficult that has been.
Finally, the burden of expectations is stressful enough for first-generation college students. When it is compounded with a 15-month pandemic, maintaining and supporting mental wellness also became a huge priority for us in supporting our students.
Q. How is The Opportunity Network supporting schools and other education organizations?
Our Career Fluency® Partnerships program is an immersive capacity-building program for schools and youth-serving organizations across the country looking to accelerate postsecondary and workforce readiness for their students.
Through tailored integration of our Career Fluency® curriculum, OppNet’s Partnerships team designs a community-centered strategy for each partner organization to reach their desired goals and amplify student outcomes. We work with every partner to map their community assets and engage multiple community stakeholder groups before we co-construct goals with our partners. Our intention is to always support our partners to be the best version of themselves in serving their amazing young people.
Q. How has The Opportunity Network partnered with Salesforce?
OppNet is thankful for our longstanding partnership with Salesforce. With Salesforce’s philanthropic support, OppNet continues to have the financial resources necessary to advance our work, including successfully progressing on our ambitious growth plans while also shifting the needle on college and career success for young people from low income and underrepresented backgrounds.
Salesforce employees have volunteered with OppNet over the past several years, too, which has been critical to the success of our Fellows program. This year, Salesforce employees have served as College Essay Coaches for our 12th grade Fellows applying to college. As College Essay Coaches, volunteers were matched 1:1 with Fellows to provide individualized coaching on students’ personal statements for college applications. Salesforce employees have also volunteered at our speed networking events, career exposure roundtables, and mock interview workshops.
In addition, in 2018, employee volunteers provided OppNet with pro bono training in Salesforce, enabling us to build our proficiency in utilizing the Salesforce platform.
Fellows network with a volunteer at an OppNet speed networking event. Image credit: Hashim Pipkin.
Q. What’s the biggest lesson you and your organization learned this past year?
There are so many! I think the biggest lesson that was reaffirmed for me personally this year is to always care for people first. In the midst of chaos, my first priority was to maximize stability and certainty. So I asked myself what OppNet could do as an employer, as a community program, and as a partner to ensure we were a stable resource that wasn’t reacting to every new COVID-19 development in the early months of uncertainty.
Leading through that lens has enabled our whole organization to care for one another, ourselves, our loved ones, and our communities.
To learn more about Salesforce’s commitment to education, visit here and here.
At OppNet, June is a month full of celebrations, new beginnings, bittersweet farewells, and important remembrances. Our students are graduating high school and college, starting new internships and jobs, and saying goodbye to old friends as they embark on new adventures with dignity, resilience, and agency. We also celebrate our friends, family, loved ones, and LGBTQIA+ community members as we hold dear the notion that love is most beautiful when we resist compromise in who we love — Happy Pride!
On Juneteenth, OppNet will continue our new tradition of remembering the legacy of slavery while honoring our Black and African American communities with a Day of Action and rest.
As our country gradually returns to in-person gatherings and post-pandemic life, we eagerly continue our stride towards the new opportunities that lay before us. We’re reimagining and renewing our lives in a post-pandemic world. And we’re so excited to do so together as a community made of members new and old. Join us this summer as we welcome new supporters, a new OppNet class of Fellows, and new Opportunity Talks speakers — while continuing our commitment to uplifting the multitude of voices in our community.
FELLOWS IN ACTION
Join us in welcoming our newest class of OppNet Fellows! Made up of 167 students in the 11th grade from all 5 boroughs of New York City, the Class of 2027 will be joining a network of 1,030 strong and were chosen from over 430applicants. Congratulations OppNet Class of 2027 — we are thrilled to continue celebrating you and your accomplishments throughout these next six years.
Click here to learn more about our newest Fellows.
CAREER FLUENCY® PARTNERSHIP UPDATES
Last month, OppNet's Partnerships team wrapped up thethird round of their virtual convening, Activating Assets and the Power of Student-Centered Programming. This free event brought together more than 40educators from over 10 states to answer the question, "How do we make space for students of color to recognize, celebrate, and activate their unique strengths?"
OPPORTUNITY ON-DEMAND GALA
There's still time to participate in our "Opportunity On-Demand" Gala! Join the celebration of our community of students and supporters by receiving a gift box with items made from BIPOC- and women-owned businesses and watching videos from our students and alumni, Oge, Audrey, and Justin.
Double your impact today by making a gift that will be matched up to $25,000 from our partners at theMeringoff Family Foundation, or click here to learn more.
OPPORTUNITY TALKS EVENT
Join us for our next Opportunity Talks Virtual Fireside Chat with Roger G. Arrieux, Jr., Managing Partner for Deloitte’s New York office—the firm’s largest office, composed of more than 6,000 professionals.
Roger is a transformational leader, widely recognized for his strategic impact and passion for Deloitte’s people and the community. Register now!
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
As a #DreamItReal partner of theCoach Foundation, we were given theopportunity to invite OppNet Fellow and Parsons School of Design alumna, Ashley Ren, to style outfits for the recent grad – from the first interview to a casual desk-to-dinner outfit. Check it out here!
How do you thrive in a constantly changing world? Hear what Frank Cooper III, BlackRock's Senior Managing Director & Global Chief Marketing Officer, has to say inthis clip from last month's Opportunity Talks.
In their latest OZY piece, AiLun Ku and Jessica Pliska discuss structural racism in the professional world and what we can do to fix it. Read here.
Eradicating systemic racism within corporate America is a top priority for Roy Weathers, Vice Chair at PwC & Head of CEO Action for Racial Equity. Read more about Roy and his legacy of impact in Jessica Pliska's latest Forbes interview here.
Celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Month
We kick off Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Month with Vietnamese writer and professor Quan Barry's quote from her second novel "We Ride Upon Sticks." She reminds us that even in the darkest of moments, we can still find light and hope—within one another.
"Remember that darkness simply requires another way of seeing. Be your own light. And just like that, you'll find yourself everywhere instantly."
Join us as we celebrate the APIDA community by highlighting individuals who illuminate their fields of work and further advance their communities.
Priya Arora is a queer, non-binary community activist, writer, and editor. Priya currently works as a Social Media Editor at The New York Times and also hosts Queering Desi, a podcast that celebrates the often overlooked stories of South Asians who also identify as LGBTQ+.
Alongside Priya's many years of experience as a skilled writer and editor at notable companies such as Yahoo and Brown Girl Magazine, she also holds a background in mental health! Her activism and passions lie in fostering the narratives of South Asian LGBTQ+ people.
Alex Lee is California's first Gen Z lawmaker. He was also the first openly bisexual person to become a state legislator. Currently, he represents California's 25th Assembly District and has been prioritizing affordable housing and getting corporate money out of politics.
Yuh-Jung Youn is an Oscar-winning actress and the first Korean actor ever nominated at the Oscars for best supporting actress. Youn, known in her native country of South Korean as a legendary actress, had to start all over in terms of reputation when she came to America to feature in the American film Minari. Youn has consistently been singled out as “a scene stealer” by critics, and has made a strong impression on viewers and fans through her uniqueness and humor.
Consistency is crucial in the way OppNet shows up for our community. This means that we speak up when our communities are hurting or under attack. This means we condemn hate consistently, we practice solidarity consistently, and we uphold love and compassion consistently.
While OppNet is an organization that only operates in the United States, the recent violence in Gaza is having reverberating effects on our communities here at home. Antisemitic violence and Islamophobic attacks are, once again, on the rise.
Identity-based hate is meant to incite fear, to sow division, and to upend our sense of self and worth.
My Jewish neighbor should not have to debate with herself if she ought to wear her Star of David necklace before she goes to the store. My Muslim friend should not have to fear for her life when she attends her mosque. And for these same reasons, none of us should have to live a limited life because there are others that still believe humanity is a zero sum game.
So I encourage all of us to remain consistent in sharing and acting on our values. Consistency builds habits -- and habits metamorphose into norms.
AiLun Ku
President and CEO
The Opportunity Network
Resources to Combat Antisemitism and Islamophobia:
May is both Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Month and Mental Health Awareness Month. One commonality between the two that feels especially poignant this year is that both honor the strength in community, in (given and/or chosen) family, and in togetherness. This past month, in the midst of devastating and draining news cycles, at OppNet we harnessed this power of connection to carry on.
We welcomed and celebrated community members new and old. We leaned on our strengths and rejoiced in each others' accomplishments -- from college acceptances and decisions to Fellows' creative ventures and professional ambitions and skills. We tapped into our community and had more than 50 volunteers provide meaningful opportunities for students to learn about different career paths and all of the options available to them.
We also partnered with Harvard Business Review and OZY to share valuable college and career resources and to tell truths about structural disparities that affect members of our community.
This positive, collective energy continues in May through our Opportunity on-Demand Gala, a virtual take on our annual celebration of our Fellows, our national partners, our programs and impact, and our community of supporters.
As we elevate the multitude of voices that make up OppNet, we also tap into the healing that a strong network can bring to a community and its individuals.
Join us as we celebrate us this May.
FELLOWS IN ACTION
In April, our 11th grade Fellows participated in our 8th annual College Access and Success Symposium, where students met with college admissions representatives and current college Fellows to learn more about the college application process. Our 12th grade Fellows explored tools to build community and belonging at the schools they'll be attending this fall!
Our college Fellows attended workshops on financial literacy and wellness with financial coach, Kenya Imani, and our partners at High Water Women.
CAREER FLUENCY® PARTNERSHIP UPDATES
OppNet's Partnerships team continues to work with organizations across the country to equip them with tools to best support their students.
This past month, our team hosted workshops with The Cowen Institute in New Orleans and Detroit College Access Network focused on "best fit" career exploration to support students in discovering their passions, values, and skills.
Make a gift or click here to learn more about this year's special celebration of our students and our community of supporters.
FREE WORKSHOP EVENT
How can we make space for Black and Brown students to recognize, celebrate, and activate their unique strengths?
We invite youth-serving organizations and educators to join our FREE interactive, virtual workshop to learn more. RSVP here.
OPPNET IN THE MEDIA
Featured in a recent Harvard Business Review interview, OppNet President and CEO AiLun Ku shares valuable advice to students of color on thriving in college and at work. Read here.
Written by AiLun Ku and Jessica Pliska, this recent OZY article exposes structural racism in the professional world—and what we can do to fix it. Read here.
Check out theMichael & Susan Dell Foundation's article on virtual support for college persistence featuring our UninterruptED: Unstoppable Learning platform! Read here.
SOCIAL MEDIA HIGHLIGHTS
From graduation to college decisions, many of our Fellows are celebrating their good news this month. Check out OppNet Fellow Ethan who recently committed to The University of Pennsylvania!
Last month, we joined HIVE Diversity for their How to Slay Your Summer Hive Hangout where OppNet President and CEO AiLun Ku, DIFFvelopment Co-Founder and President Esi Kagale Agyeman Gillo, and OppNet Fellow Miguel shared valuable advice on engaging with the career process for recent college graduates!
The past two weeks have caused an emotional whiplash in our community. While we build our individual, collective, and institutional resilience, we also strive for moments of grace and respite to keep us going. We were able to extend grace to one another, but we were not given the respite we needed.
As George Floyd’s daughter and loved ones miss him everyday, they now continue to grieve with the basic accountability of Derek Chauvin’s guilty verdict.
20-year old Duante Wright’s family, 13-year old Adam Toledo’s family, and 16-year old Ma'Khia Bryant’s family spend their waking moments yearning to hug them, to love them, to laugh with them. Their futures were stolen because we live in a country where the lives of Black communities and communities of color are devalued and deemed worthy only when convenient.
The AAPI community continues to reel from having targets on our backs in our day-to-day lives––when we walk down the street, when we go get groceries. We urge our elders to stay home and tell loved ones “text/call when you get home safely” a dozen times a day. We limit our movements because we can’t limit the violence.
10-year old Kai Shapley paused her childhood to tell a roomful of politicians and adults to not hate her and her existence because transkids like her deserve to live full lives.
Everyday, we face a news cycle filled with stories of relentless harm toward our communities. We bear the unjust burden of parlaying loss into hope, harm into grace, grief into justice. Yet you see us persisting. We persist because our collective resistance is rooted in mutual care, love, and hope.
April welcomes us with the showers of spring—a season representative of restoration and renewal. But the heaviness of recent events and those of last year still linger. Much like the downpour of spring rain, the onslaught of blatant hate crimes and racial injustices speak deafening volumes against the existence of communities of color and those who are marginalized. Already in 2021 we’ve released three Community Statements (which you can read here, here, and here) denouncing the increasing violence across our country.
In spite of this turmoil, we remain dedicated to fighting for a more equitable future. With renewed vigor we strive to equip our community with the tools to thrive and ignite their agency—through classes focused on self-advocacy, insights into navigating the college campus, a Fellow and alumni job board, and capacity-building partnerships with schools and community based organizations across the country.
We have continued our work and are holding fast to the power that comes from our collective strength and resilience. And we do this while recognizing that persistence is only possible with deliberate moments of self-care, reflection, and rest.
I invite you to join us in this month’s Opportunity Report to pause and explore all the ways our community continues to listen, grow, and uplift one another:
Our alumni community launched OppNet Connect, a job posting community on LinkedIn! Join here.
FELLOWS INTERNSHIP SPOTLIGHT
Anisha, OppNet Fellow Class of 2022, will be joining Microsoft this summer as a Software Engineer Intern:
"I've always wanted to help others through my career and thought I wanted to be a doctor. When I realized that the medical field wasn't for me, I turned to computer science because it spoke to my interest in building things. Microsoft is one of my dream companies; they have many programs and initiatives to give back to the community. I'm excited to meet and learn from many smart and experienced people this summer!"
CAREER FLUENCY® PARTNERSHIP UPDATES
In our collaboration with TandemED—funded by the Fund II Foundation—OppNet's Partnerships team continues to work with Black communities in Detroit, Newark, and New Orleans to focus on educational and racial equity.
OPPORTUNITY ON DEMAND GALA 2021
Excitement continues to build for our "Opportunity On-Demand" Gala in May!
Join OppNet for an on-demand gala experience from the comfort of your own home while making a critical investment in OppNet's work. Participants will also receive curated gift boxes featuring meaningful student stories and products!
Make a gift or click here to learn more about this year's special celebration of our students and our community of supporters.
OPPORTUNITY TALKS EVENT
Join us on Tuesday, April 20 at 5PM (ET) for an Opportunity Talks virtual fireside chat with New York City Public Advocate, Jumaane D. Williams! Register here.
In his current role, Jumaane focuses on affordable housing, anti-gun violence measures, fair policing, equity, and social justice issues.
OPPNET IN THE MEDIA
How can we cultivate workplaces that best foster inclusion and underrepresented talent? Learn more in OppNet President & CEO AiLun Ku's article here.
In a Forbes article on college admissions, OppNet's Associate Director of College Guidance and Transition, Emmanuel Moses talks about the shortcomings of standardized testing.
FORBES LEADERSHIP SERIES
In her monthly Forbes column, Jessica Pliska, OppNet's Founder & Head of Leadership Giving, recently interviewed Emma Grede, global fashion entrepreneur who recently launched Safely with co-founders Chrissy Teigen and Kris Jenner. Read here.
#TBT: We are so excited to cheer on our 2019 Night of Opportunity Gala honoree, Kelly Marie Tran, who stars in Raya and the Last Dragon as Disney's first South East Asian Princess!
Check out OppNet President & CEO AiLun Ku alongside Congresswoman Grace Meng and The Walking Dead's Angela Kang in an AMC Networksvirtual discussion centered on raising awareness of the recent rise of anti-Asian violence here!
At OppNet, we share NFL Player, Kelvin Beachum'ssentiments on the value of giving. Check out this clipfrom his Opportunity Talks last month!
Ishared my thoughts and feelings about the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes a few weeks ago on February 19, 2021. This week, the horrendous killings of the Asian women in Atlanta, Georgia put racial hate and violence into sharp focus, again. Today, I feel deep sorrow but also expansive love and care across the OppNet community.
Solidarity shows up in many ways. It might be a silly joke to break through the tears and grief. It might be an offer to listen when there isn’t anything to say. Or it might be stepping up to take turns to hold the line in the fight for justice and humanity. Every action we choose to take to show up for one another and to care for one another defeats the racial hate that plagues this nation.
We, as a community, will continue to wield our solidarity and our mutual care for one another to overcome racial violence and white supremacy. Our collective light is too bright to ignore.
To learn more about how to help, see below for the solidarity statement from OppNet’s Senior Management Team.
In service and community, AiLun
We are appalled and devastated at the murder of eight people on Tuesday evening, six of whom were Asian Americans, targeted and attacked soley because of their racial identity by a white supremacist gunman in Atlanta, Georgia.Our deepest condolences go out to the families of all the victims: Delaina Ashley Yaun, Xiaojie Tan, Daoyou Feng, Paul Andre Michels, and four others whose names have not yet been released. There is no doubt that this hate crime fueled by racism and xenophobia is a product of the same hateful rhetoric and historic devaluation of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) people and their communities in the United States since they first began immigrating to this country as early as the mid-1850s.
It is essential to note that this particular act is but one incident in a spate of violence directly resulting from the intentional campaign of misinformation by the previous presidential administration which sought to tie the rise of COVID-19 and its devastation to the AAPI community, in order to deflect from the administration’s own irresponsible, egregious mishandling and inaction.
And, it must too be acknowledged that to stand at the intersection of both marginalized racial and gender identities is to be doubly at risk. Since the onset of COVID-19, AAPI women have been reporting higher rates of harassment and assault, and they are more likely to be killed as a result of this violence. In yesterday’s shooting, seven of the eight people killed were women.
It is a deeply enraging and perverse injustice to take pride in your identity and culture, as so many of us do, and for that very identity to place us at the dangerous and precarious intersection of white supremacy and patriarchy. Our communities deserve to exist in full color and dimension, safely and fully protected.
While we will continue to find innumerable sources of joy, love, and celebration within our respective cultures as we always have, there are times where the full truth of our existence as BIPOC people in this nation and world can weigh especially heavy. Today is surely one of those days for the AAPI community, and with the heaviest of hearts, we stand and mourn with them in solidarity.
To learn more, find ways to support, and spread awareness, explore and follow these organizations:
