“I went through the inaugural training class of the Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation (APALF), and I can state firsthand that this training was instrumental in my success in having the opportunity to serve in public office. APALF brings in the best political consultants in the state to give a hands-on and realistic training approach.”
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“APALF is the preeminent training program for Asian Pacific Americans. Without APALF I would not be in the Assembly today.”
“I came to the APALF with extensive experience in state and local government and the California Legislature gained from working in senior positions with prominent elected officials. However, despite my more than 20 years of experience and working on numerous campaigns, I felt I lacked practical hands-on political campaign training. APALF helped me become a better prepared candidate to win my election.”
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“It has been an honor to serve as co-chair of the APALF Honorary Advisory Board since the inception of the project. This is an excellent foundation that helps encourage and train APA leaders to serve in public life.”
The Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation (APALF) hosted the 2nd Annual Leadership Retreat for the California Asian Leadership Network of Electeds (CALNET) on December 3-4, 2015, in Half Moon Bay, CA. The CALNET retreat is the largest gathering of Asian Pacific American (APA) elected and appointed officials in California.
The retreat hosted more than 80 of the state’s most prominent elected officials including California Secretary of State Alex Padilla; California State Controller Betty Yee; Board of Equalization Member Fiona Ma; Assemblymembers Rob Bonta, David Chiu, Phil Ting and Evan Low; San Francisco Supervisors Eric Mar and Jane Kim; and Los Angeles City Councilmember David Ryu.
California’s key elected and state appointed officials returned for a second year in building the much needed CALNET—a network for APA elected leaders. Similar from last year, the retreat offered an opportunity for the state’s most important decision makers to learn, share ideas, and discuss their vision for California and the APA community. There are currently more than 220 APA elected and appointed officials in California serving.
The theme of the retreat was, “DISRUPTION: Changing the Way We Do Business, Govern and Lead.” The retreat workshops and panels focused on ideas and leaders that are disrupting the status quo in politics and other arenas.
The program included workshops and training sessions on how to become
more effective and successful public officials. Presentation topics included changing APA demographics and implications, messaging and panel topics that included APA Women in Leadership, Healthcare, Technology, Social Media, and Clean Energy.
Highlights from the retreat program included a special dinner panel of APALF alumni on the future of the Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus featuring California State Assemblymembers Rob Bonta, David Chiu, and Evan Low.
California State Secretary and past President of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), Alex Padilla opened the 2nd day luncheon program by drawing parallels between CALNET’s growth and the early stages of the NALEO. Secretary Padilla also emphasized CALNET as a resource to APA elected and appointed officials in California and the potential of the network to scale up nationwide.
California State Controller Betty Yee followed by recanting her previously hard fought election last year and the takeaways lessons from running against established candidates. Controller Yee’s inspirational experience demonstrated that even in face of great challenges you can be successful through smart campaign strategy, integrity and perseverance.
The retreat featured a new segment that focused on tech and social media and how these new mechanisms and tools are a tremendous resource in not only communicating to the community but also how they also contribute to the changing values in our society. These moderated panels on social media and disruptive technology had representatives from Uber, Lyft, AirBnB, Youtube, and Facebook. Specifically, the social media panel with Facebook and Youtube, invited elected officials to learn more on how to utilize special tools to engage and connect with constituents through video and draw the connection between possible voters, donors, and supporters in an effective and innovative way.
APALF partnered with the Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus, the League of California Cities API Caucus, and Chinese-American Elected Officials to host and convene the retreat.
The goal of CALNET is to serve as a network of APA elected and appointed officials—a resource for APA public servants to help them succeed and lead. CALNET is a project of APALF, a 501c3 non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to helping prepare and better equip APA leaders for public service and civic involvement.
On October 27, 2015, APALF hosted a CALNET Elected Official Briefing for APA elected in the Southern California region. Los Angeles City Councilmember David Ryu provided opening remarks and California State Treasurer John Chiang provided the keynote on “Municipal Financing: Public- Private Partnerships.”
The Asian Pacific American Leadership Foundation (APALF) hosted the first statewide convening of California’s Asian Pacific American (APA) elected and appointed officials in Half Moon Bay, CA, on July 31-August 1, 2014. This retreat served as a launch event for a new statewide network of APA public officials called CALNET (California Asian Leadership Network of Electeds).
More than 75 of the state’s leading APA elected leaders, including State Treasurer John Chiang, San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, State Controller Betty Yee, Assemblymembers Rob Bonta, Al Muratsuchi, David Chiu, Phil Ting, and Mariko Yamada, Mayors, City Councilmembers, School Boardmembers, and State appointed officials, participated in the CALNET Leadership Retreat. Attendees came together from across the state to learn, share ideas, and discuss their vision for California and the APA community. There are currently over 220 APA elected officials in California.
The theme of the CALNET Leadership Retreat was “Our Seat at the Table – From Representation to Leadership.” The program included workshops and training sessions on how to become more effective and successful public officials. Presentation topics included changing APA demographics and implications, media & messaging, legal/ethics issues, serving in high-level appointed positions, speech training, and fundraising. Presenters included leaders in their respective fields, including elected officials, the state’s top political strategists, campaign/election lawyers, senior staff to Governor Jerry Brown, and fundraisers for the Speaker of the California State Assembly.
Retreat participants discussed the need for infrastructure to support the growing number of APA public officials serving in elected and appointed office throughout the state, much like what the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) has done for more than three decades in the Latino community.
State Controller John Chiang, the state’s highest ranking APA elected
official, challenged participants to come together and support qualified APA candidates. He highlighted the possibility that State Board of Equalization Member Betty Yee could succeed him as State Controller. Later that year, Betty was elected State Controller after running a tough but successful campaign. For the first time in California’s history, there are three statewide Constitutional officers of Asian or Pacific Islander descent.
The retreat also featured BlackBerry Chairman and CEO John Chen, a high profile business executive and recognized turn-around specialist, who discussed parallels between APA leadership and the glass ceiling in the public and private sectors. Other keynote speakers included San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and State Treasurer John Chiang.
APALF partnered with the Asian Pacific Islander (API) Legislative Caucus, the League of California Cities API Caucus, Chinese-American Elected Officials, and the California Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce to host and convene the retreat.
The goal of CALNET is to serve as a network of APA elected and appointed
officials—a resource for APA public servants to help them succeed and lead. CALNET is a project of APALF, a 501c3 non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to helping prepare and better equip APA leaders for public service and civic involvement.
The 2015 CALNET Leadership Retreat will take place December 3-4 in Half Moon Bay, CA.
