AYPAL Collaborative Structure

AYPAL started in the summer of 1998 as a collaborative of six community-based agencies organizing low-income youth and youth from immigrant and refugee communities. The community agencies each host a self-directed Youth Leadership Organization (YLO) based on the ethnic group or neighborhoods they serve. Currently, AYPAL involves over 400 youth annually through five YLOs and has as an active membership of 150 youth that participate on a weekly basis. Through youth-led grassroots campaign, community projects, and cultural arts activism, the AYPAL collaborative has become a vibrant center for generating the leadership and empowerment of young people to participate in the movement for systemic change.

Youth ages 12-20 of any ethnicity can attend any of AYPAL's YLO meetings, which focus on the history, culture and struggles of the particular ethnic group it is based around. All sites come together collectively to work on an annual campaign.

AYPAL's collaborative partners:

Asian Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS)
ACMHS empowers Asians and Pacific Islanders to lead healthy, productive and contributing lives, to reduce inequities and injustice, and advance human achievement.

Filipinos Advocates for Justice (FAJ)
FAJ works to build a strong and empowered Filipino community by organizing constituents, developing leaders, providing services, and advocating for policies that promote social and economic justice and equity.

Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association (LIMCA)
LIMCA's mission is to preserve the culture heritage of the Iu Mien who came from the highland Lao tribal community, and to develop social and cultural programs to facilitate the Iu Mien integration into the economic and cultural life of the United States.

Oakland Asian Students Education Services (OASES)
OASES engages youth in opportunities that often are not offered at school, including leadership, environmental education, diversity education, financial literacy, arts, and more.

Pacific Islander Kie Association (PIKA)
via Arts, Research and Curriculum Associates (ARC)
PIKA is a grassroots volunteer organization that advocates and promotes the empowerment of Pacific Islander families and youth through community organizing, youth leadership projects and education, and cultural and contemporary arts.