U.S. Bank supports Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month

India Post News Service

Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month in recognition of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage celebrated during the month of May. It is an opportunity to reflect on who we are as individuals, as a community, as a country. This year, this recognition seems more important than ever. With the rise of xenophobic feelings and racism around the country, we at U.S. Bank understand that it goes beyond just making a statement with words. It takes a partnership with our AAPI community and organizations to bring change in the places to help communities grow and achieve the thing most important to them.

By supporting our AAPI partners like Ascend and Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), we hope to create more dialog and understanding. Then we can truly have more to celebrate moving forward. At U.S. Bank, we’re committed to positive change. The best way to honor our past and build a brighter future is by standing up together today.

U.S. Bank is a committed ally to the AAPI community, employees and customers to #StopAsianHate. With our partnerships through Ascend and CAAM, let’s work together to make a difference. Since 1980, CAAM has been dedicated to presenting to the wider community stories and educational resources that convey the richness and diversity of the Asian American experience. From May 13-23, U.S. Bank will be the co-presenting sponsor of CAAMFest 2021, a film festival that includes more than 100 live virtual, on-demand, and drive-in storytelling events.

U.S. Bank also recommends watching the five-part Asian Americans PBS documentary series, which sheds light on the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played in shaping our nation’s history. This series is a production of CAAM and WETA Washington, D.C. for PBS, in association with the Independent Television Service (ITVS), Flash Cuts and Tajima-Peña productions.

In April, U.S. Bank announced $60,000 in additional support to Asian American and Asian Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities to combat biases and acts of violence. The U.S. Bank Foundation grants were distributed to AAPI organizations in Southern and Northern California, Atlanta, Seattle and the Twin Cities.

“Violence and xenophobia against Asian American and Asian Pacific Islander individuals cannot be tolerated,” said Greg Cunningham, Chief Diversity Officer for U.S. Bank. “In continued support to the AAPI community, we are investing in organizations across the country to combat these biases and acts of violence. We stand with our AAPI employees, customers and communities.”

In California, U.S. Bank provided grants to: 

• Asian Pacific Heritage Foundation (San Francisco, CA) to support continued awareness of diverse Asian Pacific American cultural heritage and to provide a forum for community collaborations.
• Pacific Arts Coalition (San Diego, CA) for ongoing support of the Coalition, which formed in 2020 in response to increased racism and xenophobia stemming from the spread of COVID-19. The Coalition consists of more than 30 local AAPI-serving organizations and works together to provide communication, collaboration and advocacy on behalf of the broader AAPI community.
• Asian Youth Center (San Gabriel, CA) to support additional research and survey work with Asian residents in the San Gabriel valley to help guide future policy work and community programs.

In addition to the grants, U.S. Bank delivered 3,000 safety kits packed with whistles, safety lights and bi-lingual identification cards to U.S. Bank branches and community groups in neighborhoods across the Bay Area and Sacramento with predominantly AAPI populations. The safety kits were made available to customers at select U.S. Bank branches in San Francisco, San Bruno, San Jose and Sacramento. In addition, hundreds of safety kits were provided to community groups serving the AAPI population, including San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, Yu-Ai Kai Community Senior Center, Silicon Valley Pride, Asian Americans for Community Involvement, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, and Oakland Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce in the Bay Area and My Sister’s House in Sacramento.

“We are supporting the AAPI community by investing in local organizations and local Asian leaders doing essential work fighting racism,” said Reba Dominski, head of Corporate Social Responsibility at U.S. Bank. “Our work and support of AAPI communities is critically important and will continue.”

In March, U.S. Bank pledged to do its part to #StopAsianHate and announced an increase in its support of Ascend. The funding to Ascend went toward programming that educates professionals on bias, including the “model minority” myth.U.S. Bank had previously joined Ascend (#AscendTogether) with their partners including: Catalyst, Executive Leadership Council (ELC), Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility (HACR), National Organization on Disability (NOD) and Out &Equal, as a Supporting Company on a five-point COVID-19 response Action Agenda to promote inclusion, raise awareness, denounce bias, support communities and give donations.

For more information about our efforts to #StopAsianHate, visit usbank.com/aapiheritage.