I
    Women's History Month & International Women's Day

March 2016 

In This Issue
Events / Opportunities

International Women's Day Event 
Discussion with tea 

March 8th, 2016
6:00-8:00 PM

Location:
(Short North)
Zen Cha Tea Salon
982 N High Street
Columbus, OH 43201

Join AACS for tea on International Women's Day. The event will include tea, a brief discussion,
and updates on our new
Women's Wellness program.

If you are interested in joining us for this event, please RSVP by contacting Kelly Hill at  khill@aacsohio.org .

 

AACS Community Engagement Study Group


The Family Support Program is hosting a multi-week community engagement study group on Interpersonal Violence  and Healthy Relationships in the Asian and Pacific Islander community. The group will meet once a week for about one month for a guided discussions on topics related to sexual assault, intimate partner/ domestic violence, elder/child abuse, and human trafficking in the API community.

If you are interested in participating, please contact  Kelly Hill at  khill@aacsohio.org .

AACS Annual Mandatory 
Interpreters Training
   
 Speakers:

Code of Ethics
Valerie Huang, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Interpreting Services Manager

Human Trafficking
Fran Gau, Consultant


Saturday, March 19, 2016
9:00am - 12:00pm

Location:
Tree of Life Ministry Center
5000 Arlington Centre Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43220 

    
SAVE THE DATE

 Asian Gala

Our Journey, Our Stories: 
Celebrating 40 years with AACS

CORRECTION 
Friday,
November 11, 2016 
  
 
API Voter Engagement
Phone Banking   

 
Saturday, April 16th, 2016
9:30a.m. to 1:00p.m.

AACS is working together with our coalition partners to support voter engagement and voter turnout among Asian and Pacific Islander communities in Ohio.  Join us on April 16th, for a morning of community outreach, snacks, and great people!    


Internships/ Job Postings
   
 
Asian American Community Services is looking for talented individuals to join our team!

For more information... 
Please click on the following links

 
"Empowering Parents
in the IEP Process"

4th Annual IEP Clinic & Resource Fair

Saturday, March 12, 2016  
9 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Sponsored by SST 11 in collaboration with the Parent Mentor Projects and the Ohio Coalition for the Education of Children with Disabilities.  

For additional information or to register, contact Tina Forshey by calling

(614) 753-4681
or e-mail at
Lisa Nakamura
Public Lecture and Seminar 

Friday, March 25, 2016
Ohio State University
Hale Hall Black Cultural Center/Page Hall

 
Lisa Nakamura is the Gwendolyn Calvert Baker Collegiate Professor in the Department of American Cultures and the Department of Screen Arts and Cultures at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She co-facilitates the FemTechNet Project, a network of educators, activists, librarians, and researchers interested in digital feminist pedagogy. She is the author of: Race After the Internet; Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet; and Race In Cyberspace

Lisa Nakamura Seminar
11-1pm |  Room 110A, Frank W. Hale Jr., Black Cultural Center, 154 W. 12th Ave
"Radical Digital Pedagogy and Woman of Color Feminism"

Lisa Nakamura Public Lecture
5-7pm | Page Hall 20,
"Workers Without Bodies: A Feminist Critique of Labor on the Internet"    

National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum
Are you an Asian American Woman who is passionate about social justice, economic justice, women's empowerment, education access, women's health,  
immigrant and refugee rights, racial justice, and LGBTQ rights?

NAPAWF is the only national, multi-issue API women's organization in the country. NAPAWF's mission is to build a movement to advance social justice and human rights for API women and girls.

If you are interested in helping to start, or be involved with a local chapter in Central Ohio, please contact:

 
AACS in Action 
 
AACS hosted our first Anti-Human Trafficking Youth Ambassador Training on Saturday, March 5, 2016, funded by the Ohio Children's Trust Fund. Approximately 20 youth from the Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati attended the all day training, and collaborated to plan youth-led anti-human trafficking initiatives in their communities.


The AACS Women's Support Group recently participated in an Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement) class.
24-Hour Human Trafficking Hotline
 
        


From the Chairman of the Board
 

Greetings, AACS Family!

Each year since 1975, the United Nations has celebrated International Women's Day on March 8th. The day has its roots in the women's labor movement, and it celebrates the advancements of women during the early 20th century in areas of labor, reproductive rights, and equal representation in voting.
 
While there have been many advancements in the women's movement, we at AACS recognize that there is still more to do be done. Women and girls are disproportionately the victims of intimate partner violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and labor trafficking. Women are still underrepresented in many professional fields and in executive management positions.
 
Our programs at AACS work to empower survivors of human trafficking, domestic violence, and sexual assault regardless of gender. We are also developing a financial literacy program, and a youth scholarship program to help women and girls to achieve their economic, professional, and educational goals.  
 
We hope that you will join us today, in taking a moment to recognize and reflect upon the courage and struggles of the women who have come before us, and the women who continue to inspire us each day.    
 
Sincerely,

Matthew Son
AACS Board Chairman 
 

 


AACS has been added to the National Human Trafficking Referral Directory! This listing will help service providers from other parts of the country to connect Asian victims/survivors of human trafficking in Central Ohio with linguistically and culturally appropriate services through our anti-trafficking program.

The directory can be found here .
    

AACS (S)Hero:
Karen Jiobu
     
This May, we at AACS celebrate AAPI (s)heroes in honor of Women's History Month. AACS (s)heroes are AAPI women who are creating change in their local communities and on the national stage. Let's celebrate Women's History Month together, as we honor longtime volunteer Karen Jiobu as one of our AACS (s)hero!

Karen Jiobu retired as from Mount Carmel Health Systems in 2002, after working 30 years as a Clinical Lab Director. She served as the performance chair of the Asian Festival in Columbus for 14 years, initiated the Asian Festival Dragon Boat races, and has worked since 2006 to eliminate Hepatitis B in the Asian born and African born immigrant communities. Karen was a recipient of the Starfish Award at the Ohio State University Women Coming Together Conference on International Women's Day in 2015.    

Describe yourself in one word.

Committed

When did you get involved with AACS and why?
I first got involved with AACS as the Lead Regional Coordinator for Health through Action Community Partnerships,  a 4 year program that was granted to the Ohio Asian American Health Coalition (OAAHC) from the Asian American Pacific Islander Forum and the Kellogg Foundation.  The objective was to eliminate Hepatitis B in the Asian immigrant community and build capacity of the partner organizations like AACS. (2008-2012).  Currently, I continue to help AACS build capacity a volunteer basis as a Health Care Consultant. 
 
What would you consider your greatest accomplishment?

Making an impact on the elimination of Hepatitis B at the local, state-wide, and national level.

Who inspires you?
Dr. Ho Luong Tran, President and CEO of the National Council of Asian and Pacific Islander Physicians

Dr. Ho Luong Tran, President and CEO of the National Council of Asian and Pacific Islander Physicians, is person that I admire.  I met her when she was the President and CEO of the Asian and Pacific Islander Health Forum while I was working as a Hepatitis B coordinator funded by the APIHF and the Kellogg Foundation.  Dr. Tran came to this country as a refugee and has risen to her position because of her intellect and passion.  

 Asian American (S)Heroes 

This May, we at AACS celebrate AAPI (s)heroes in honor of Women's History Month. AACS (s)heroes are AAPI women who are creating change in their local communities and on the national stage. 


Grace Lee Boggs  
Chinese American  
(1915 - 2015)
Author, Activist, Community organizer, philosopher, environmentalist, and feminist. Co-founder and Director of the Boggs Educational Center in Detroit, MI. Subject of the documentary film American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs.
 

Deepa Iyer 
     Indian American       
 Activist, writer, lawyer. Senior Fellow at the Center for Social Inclusion. Author of We Too Sing America: South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants Shape Our Multiracial Future. Former Executive Director of South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT).
   

Yuri Kochiyama
Japanese American

 ( 1921- 2014)
   Community organizer, human rights and anti-war activist, friend and ally of Malcolm X during the Civil Rights movement. Subject of play, Yuri and Malcolm X.
  
 
Michelle Rhee   
Korean American 
(1969-current ) 
Educator, advocate, former teacher with Teach for America, Founder of The New Teacher Project, former Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, Founder of StudentsFirst.

   
Cuc Vu 
Vietnamese American 
Director of the Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs at City of Seattle. Former chief diversity officer at Human Rights Campaign (HRC). LGBTQ activist. Labor organizer. 
  
 
 Ai-Jen Poo 
Taiwanese American 
(1974-current) 
Activist. Organizer. Director of National Domestic Workers Alliance. Co-Director of Caring Across Generations. Recipient of MacArthur "Genius" Award. Author of The Age of Dignity: Preparing for the Elder Boom in a Changing America.


Malala Yousafzai
Pakistani
(1997-current)
Human Rights Activist. Advocate for education and women's empowerment. Nobel Prize laureate. Former BBC Blogger. Co-founder of the Malala Fund. Author of I Am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and was Shot by the Talib an.


Ninotchka Rosca
Filipina American
(1946-current)
Feminist, Author, Journalist. Human Rights Activist. Recipient of American Book Award for Twice Blessed. Actively involved with AF3IRM, the Mariposa Center for Change, Sisterhood is Global   and the initiating committee of the MARIPOSA ALLIANCE.

 
Michelle Kwan
 
  Chinese American
(1980-current)
Five time world championship figure skater. Two-time Olympic medalist. Public Diplomacy Ambassador for the U.S. State Department.


Jumpha Lahiri
Indian American  
(1967-current)
Author. Pulitzer Prize medalist. Member of President Obama's Committee on the Arts and Humanities. Professor of Creative Literature at Princeton University. Television series consultant.