April 1, 2010Registration Begins @ 6:30 PM

Panel Discussion Begins @ 7:00 PM

Location: Asian Americans for Community Involvement Building

2400 Moorpark Avenue

Room 210

San Jose, CA 95128

Free (donations are welcome!)

The biggest problem of playing the odds is having the odds play you. Learn why Problem Gambling is a serious issue in our community and what you can do to help someone you care for. There is so much more to lose than just money.

RSVP via Evite or

RSVP via Facebook

Event made possible by the generous support from:

Asian Americans for Community Involvement

Southwest Airlines

Exploring How Immigrant Integration Strengthens Our Communities

This event includes:
Premier screening of Asian American Voices, dinner, policy briefs, and small group discussions

March 4, 2010
Registration Begins @ 6:00 PM
Premier Screening Begins @ 6:30 PM

Location: De Anza College, Campus Center Conference Rooms A&B
21250 Stevens Creek Boulevard,
Cupertino, CA 95014
Park in the Flint Center Parking Structure. $2 permit required, cash only

Free (donations are welcome!)

Premier Screening: AACI’s Asian American Voices is a documentary that follows the successes, hardships, and hopes of three immigrants in Silicon Valley working to shape the community.

Presentation & Dialogue: Engage with policy advocates on issues that affect all immigrant communities:

• State budget cuts
• Health care reform
• Immigrant support services

RSVP via Evite or

RSVP via Facebook

Presented By:
Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI)
South Bay First Thursdays (SBFT)

Co-Sponsored by:
Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute(APALI)
Southwest Airlines
Silicon Valley Community Foundation

Check out the trailer for Asian American Voices!!

Location: Asian Americans for Community Involvement Building
2400 Moorpark Avenue
Room 210
San Jose, CA 95128

Free (donations are welcome!)

Have you ever needed to make a complaint about the police, but didn’t know where to turn? Come to SBFT’s February event, where we will be highlighting the role and responsibility of the Independent Police Auditor. This interactive and engaging forum will focus on what an effective IPA could mean for public safety.

Moderator:
Tamon Norimoto – Organizer, South Bay First Thursdays

Panelists:
Anne Im – Director of Community Programs & Advocacy, AACI
Daniel Katz – Assistant Chief of Police, City of San Jose
Richard Konda – Executive Director, Asian Law Alliance
Shivaun Nurre – Acting Independent Police Auditor, City of San Jose

Event made possible by the generous support from:

Asian Americans for Community Involvement
American Leadership Forum – Silicon Valley (ALF)
Southwest Airlines

Our February event was recognized for its community importance. We’ve made it onto ABC 7 news. Check it out!!

RSVP via Evite or

RSVP via Facebook

FREE (donations are welcome!)

December 3, 2009 | Event 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Koji Sake Lounge
41 South 1st Street, San Jose, CA 95113

Start December off right with South Bay First Thursdays organizers, friends, and people like you who want to get involved in the Asian American & Pacific Islander community in the greater San Jose area! Come out for a relaxing evening to mix and mingle, enjoy delicious sake specials, and learn more about this organization that connects people with issues of significance.

RSVP via Evite or

RSVP via Facebook

FREE (donations are welcome!)

November 5, 2009 | Registration Begins 6:30 PM | Event 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
United Way Bldg., Rm. 105
1922 The Alameda, San Jose, CA 95126

LGBT issues are API issues. Find out how immigration and marriage equality affect our communities and how conversations about these issues are lost in translation.

Panel includes representatives from API Equality, Out4 Immigration and Song That Radio

RSVP via Evite or

RSVP via Facebook

FREE (donations are welcome!)

October 1, 2009 | Registration Begins 6:30 PM | Event 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Asian Americans for Community Involvement (AACI)
2400 Moorpark Ave, Rm 111 | San Jose, CA 95128

Around the world, at least one in every three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused during her lifetime. This woman may be your mother, your sister, your friend. Attend this informative workshop to learn what service providers are doing to help our abused women. Engage in thought-provoking discussion with experts and peers to learn safe and practical methods to address domestic violence within our Asian & Pacific Islander (API) communities.

RSVP via Evite or

RSVP via Facebook

FREE (donations are welcome!)

September 3, 2009 | Registration Begins 6:30 PM | Event 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
United Way Building | 1922 The Alameda, Rm 107 | San Jose, CA 95126

Uncovering the true health cost of a $16 manicure: nail salon workers (mostly immigrant women of color) are chronically exposed to harmful chemicals. Community organizers are leading the charge for social justice in the nail salon industry.

Moderator and Panelists Include:

• Momo Chang, Freelance Writer
• Theresa Le, UFCW5, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative
• Le Phan, MA, Graduate Student in Sociology, UC Davis
• Lenh Tsan, Project Manager, Asian Law Caucus, California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative

View below for panelist bios

Momo Chang is a freelance journalist based in Oakland, California. Her writings focus on Asian American communities, communities of color, and youth culture. She is a former staff writer at the Oakland Tribune, where she covered Asian American communities. Her stories range from uncovering work conditions in nail salons, to stories about “invisible minorities” like Tongan youth and Iu Mien communities. Momo has received local and national awards for her writing, including the Ida B. Wells Journalist for Justice Award from the Center for Media Justice. She has written for the East Bay Express, San Francisco Bay Guardian and ColorLines, among other publications. She is also an editor, writer and blogger for Hyphen, a national Asian American magazine focusing on arts, politics and culture.

Theresa Le is the Special Projects Organizer for UFCW 5 Cosmetology Division that represents Manicurists, Estheticians, Cosmetologists, and Salon Owners in dealing with the Board of Barbering & Cosmetology (BBC). BBC’s mission is to ensure the health and safety of California consumers by promoting ethical standards and by enforcing the laws of the beauty industry. Theresa is responsible for strategizing and organizing multiple tri-lingual campaigns (English-Vietnamese-Spanish) to build positive consumer awareness, increase membership enrollment, and combine traditional and innovative marketing methods to build synergy between policy makers and industry practicioners. Her work philosophy is “Your Net Worth is defined by Your Network!”

Currently, Theresa’s Cosmetology campaign focuses on:

Salon Consumer Protection
Green-Purchasing Manufacturers
Advanced Education for the industry members learning about the 5 P’s

Board of Barbering & Cosmetology (BBC) citations prevention

Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) protection
Maximizing profits through A.R.I.E.S (Awareness.Responses.
Interaction.Evaluation.Sale)
Fair Labor practices
Grassroots promotions

Prior to joining UFCW Local 5, Theresa was a licensed manicurist and an eyelash extension educator who owned and operated a full-service salon in San Diego since 2005. She also coordinated Donald Trump’s Miss Universe 2008 Pageant hosted in Vietnam in the summer of 2008. Theresa graduated Cum Laude from University of California, Riverside with a bachelor’s degree in Business Economics.

Le Phan is a fifth year Ph.D. student in Sociology at the University of California, Davis. She received her bachelor’s degree in Ethnic Studies with a minor in History at the University of California, San Diego. Her research interest encompasses a wide range of areas including race, ethnicity, immigration, gender and family. Her most recent research project explores the work experiences of first and second generation Vietnamese nail technicians in Northern California. As a teaching assistant, she has experience in numerous Sociology and Asian American Studies courses. She is involved in various organizations on campus and throughout her community including a graduate student organization that provides support for graduate students interested in Asian American Studies. Le is committed to raising awareness about issues affecting Asians and Asian Americans. She is also passionate about empowering Asian American youth through education and research.

Lenh Tsan, Project Manager at the Asian Law Caucus, is a graduate of UC Davis’ Sociology Department. While in Davis, she worked at the International House to promote dialogue between immigrant families of different backgrounds in Yolo County. At the Caucus, she works with the Immigrant Rights Project to defend low income immigrants. On the Nail Salon Project, she conducts occupational health and safety trainings to salon workers and owners, who are predominantly Vietnamese immigrant women. Since joining the Caucus in 2005, she has conducted over 250 of these trainings in the nail salons, cosmetology schools, and occupational health classes and has outreached to over 500 workers, students, and nail salon owners in the bay area. She works to mobilize workers to publicly speak about the hazards they face and to advocate for their rights to work in a healthy and safe environment. She is fluent in Vietnamese, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

August 6, 2009
6:30-9 PM

United Way Building: Room 107
1922 The Alameda
San Jose, CA 95126
FREE (but donations welcome!)

RSVP Now!

For some, gang activity is something only read about in the papers or seen on television; for those who live in the east side of San Jose, gangs are an everyday reality – and problem.

Come learn more about the gangs in East San Jose, the communities they affect, and meet the people who are dedicating their lives to change it.

Learn why this is everyone’s problem and what we can do to help.

Panelists:

- Judge Jacqueline Duong
- Patrick Ngo, Associate Program Coordinator-Project PLUS, Asian Americans for Community Involvement
- Phillip Rodriguez, Outreach Specialist, California Youth Outreach
- Conrad Solarez, Outreach Specialist, California Youth Outreach

RSVP Today!

July 2, 2009 6pm to 8pm
Koji Sake Lounge, 48 S. First Street, San Jose, CA 95113

It’s not your typical mixer…it’s the first annual South Bay First Thursdays Summer Mixer!

Kick off the summer with South Bay First Thursdays organizers, friends, and people like you who want to get involved in the Asian American & Pacific Islander community in the greater San Jose area! Come out for a relaxing evening to mix and mingle, enjoy delicious sake specials, and learn more about this organization that connects people with issues of significance.

RSVP Today!

May 7, 2009 8pm to 10pm
Roosevelt Community Center, Community Rooms A&B, 901 E. Santa Clara St., San Jose, CA 95116

(Re)Present: A South Bay First Thursdays event featuring innovative artists who will (re)present AAPI history and contributions by representing their art, their voice, their identity, and their community.

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This free, experiential event will explore the new voice and leadership of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders through art. Artists will perform and speak about the current fusion, energy, and cultural/identity contributions that they as young leaders are creating. Dialogue with these artists about community issues and self-expression, and bring your own piece to perform during the open mic!

Learn. Support. Inspire.

Featuring: 
   *Break dancing with Bobbi Vie and HeadHunters Crew
   *Musical performance by April Chase 
   *Spoken word performances by Dandiggity Le and Malaya Arevalo
   *Short films by Folola Takapu & Barkada Inc.
   *Photography by Andre Nguyen
   *Live art by Abel Gonzalez & Fernando Amaro
   *Spinning by Brian Lau
   *open mic and much more…

Sign up for the open mic at the beginning of the night!