Proudly Uniting San Francisco’s Asian & Pacific Islander Communities

The API Council is a 57-member coalition of nonprofit organizations in San Francisco that ensure that underserved Asian & Pacific Islanders’ needs are visibly engaged, addressed and represented in policies, research and data collection, and equitable funding allocations to advance overall healthy communities to enhance and shape San Francisco’s continued vibrant evolution.

Collectively, these organizations serve approximately 250,000 APIs annually. The API Council unites all the neighborhoods of San Francisco, ethnic communities and issue areas, to promote fair, inclusive and meaningful engagement of underserved APIs to strengthen the vibrancy of San Francisco. Using vehicles of policy/advocacy, research/data and partnership has leveraged relationships, partnerships, and political power to enable the API Council to be the go-to API counseling entity for policymakers, administrators and elected officials in the city and beyond.

The Asian Pacific Islander Council is the largest coalition of API-serving community organizations formed in San Francisco. The API Council was formed in response to the lack of racial and economic justice and equity for underserved APIs in San Francisco. Through coalition development, research, and advocacy over the past 5 years, API Council has protected and grown resources at the city-budget appropriations level for underserved API communities by $1-3 million per year to support core services along with API constituency engagement

Our Mission

The API Council advocates for equitable resources that improve the quality of life for San Francisco’s underserved Asian & Pacific Islander residents.

Our Vision

As the premier voice on behalf of Asian & Pacific Islanders, API Council believes that all residents should have access to programs and services that empower them to make choices that improve their standard of living.

API Council aims to be a leader on behalf of San Francisco’s API residents, ensuring their needs are prioritized and represented in policies, research, and data collection. We advocate for equitable funding allocations to foster healthy communities that contribute to San Francisco’s vibrant culture.

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API Council accomplishes this in the following ways:

  • Leverage established relationships within the city for budget needs of the API community.
  • Conduct public policy analysis with an API lens and perspective
  • Demonstrate unity within the community
  • Coordinate stronger citywide data collection and research to help make the case for API communities and organizations
  • Develop a citywide organized grassroots base that can be mobilized for action
  • Break the perception that API communities do not have needs, due to recent API success in the current political landscape.