APIs CAN - Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network

As we celebrate 10 years of APIs CAN, we’re launching a monthly Steering Committee Member Spotlight series to honor the organizations and leaders who have helped build our coalition into what it is today.

We’re kicking off with our founding member, the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW), and its Co-Executive Director, Nicole Eigbrett, who also serves as APIs CAN Steering Committee Co-Chair.

AARW is a pan-Asian grassroots organization and political home for Asian Americans in the Boston area, organizing across housing justice, immigration, policing, and climate justice, with a deep commitment to deportation defense for Southeast Asian refugee communities.

We are grateful for AARW’s leadership in building collective power across Massachusetts—and for Nicole’s leadership in helping guide APIs CAN’s vision and growth.

Swipe to read Nicole’s reflections on building narrative power, expanding our coalition, and growing toward a more just future.

Meet Sabrina Balmaseda, a Pour the Tea alum.

Sabrina is a recent graduate of Northeastern University’s Master of Public Health program and an early-career researcher passionate about community-centered research and storytelling.

During Pour the Tea, Sabrina explored how storytelling and narrative are essential to understanding community experiences beyond data alone. The workshop went on to shape her MPH capstone research, strengthening her commitment to honoring community context, lived experience, and resilience in public health work.

As Sabrina shared:
“The Pour the Tea Workshop deepened my conviction that storytelling has always been the core of communities and is necessary to centering communities in research.”

That’s the power of creating space for our stories to be heard, valued, and connected to broader systems change.

📣 Final days to apply for Pour the Tea: An AAPI Storytelling & Action Workshop (June 12–14)

This free, stipended 3-day workshop helps you connect your lived experience to the change you want to see—through writing, reflection, storytelling, and public speaking.

📅 June 12–14, 2026
📍 Boston @ St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
🗣️ Open to AAPI community members across MA (interpretation available)

⏰ Deadline: May 22 at 5 PM

Apply now ➜ https://bit.ly/pourthetea3

In honor of AANHPI Heritage Month, we’re lifting up a major milestone for AAPI communities in Massachusetts: the release of the first-ever statewide Massachusetts Asian & Pacific Islander American (APIA) Community Survey last year.

This groundbreaking survey—led in partnership with our incredible coalition of partners —centers the lived experiences of AAPI residents across the Commonwealth and ensures our communities are seen in their full diversity.

Why it matters: data drives power. This survey is used to advocate for community needs, inform academic research, and challenge harmful narratives about AAPI communities—including the persistent “model minority” and “wealthy AAPI” myths that often erase real disparities.

One key finding: 30% of AAPI residents struggle with housing costs.

As APIs CAN continues our policy advocacy this year, housing justice remains a central priority—because these numbers make clear what communities have long known: affordability and stability are urgent issues across AAPI communities in Massachusetts.

We invite you to read the report, uplift the findings, and use this data to support action, advocacy, and policy change.

📊 Read the report + learn more in our bio
🤝 Tagging our partners with gratitude for making this work possible