AANHPI Small Business RoundtableOn June 26th, CAPAA hosted a small business roundtable to hear the challenges and barriers that our AANHPI small business community is facing. In attendance were 96 participants, business owners expressed concerns including crime/theft, insurance, and applying for grants. The Department of Commerce and the Office of Minority & Women's Business Enterprises were in attendance and provided important resources that can be found below.Small Business Resiliency NetworkUpcoming Events, Training, Conferences, and SummitsLinked Deposit Loan ProgramBusiness Resource and Supplier Diversity NewsletterEventsMLB All-Star WeekMajor League Baseball’s All-Star Game is occurring in Seattle from July 8 – 11. This will have a significant impact on the Chinatown ID, downtown, and the [...]

June Public Board Meeting The Commission will convene the March public board meeting on Saturday, June 10th, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm at the Spokane Convention Center in Room 201 ABC. This is a hybrid meeting and open for the public to attend either in-person or virtually via Zoom. A Link to participate will be published on Friday, June 9th on the CAPAA website. Updates Inslee appoints Grace Yoo to head Women's Commission Gov. Jay Inslee today named Grace Yoo director of the Washington State Women's Commission, effective May 22. She replaces Regina Malveaux, who left the commission in February. Yoo currently works for Starbucks, where she is leading [...]

March Meeting Agenda

DRAFT 2023 January Board Meeting Agenda

November Meeting Recap The Commission convened its last public board meeting of 2022 in King County at the Hirabayashi Place. We were joined by State Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos and State Senator Rebecca Saldana. You can watch a recording of the meeting here. Our next meeting will be in Pierce County on January 28th, 2023 at the Asia Pacific Cultural Center. Keep an eye out for our full 2023 public board meeting schedule! POC Legislative Summit The 4th Annual Washington State People of Color Legislative Summit (POCLS) in on on Saturday, December 3rd, 10:00 AM -1:00 PM. Organizational and self-identified community leaders of color across Washington are cordially invited to join virtually to represent [...]

This letter was sent to King County Executive Dow Constantine and Councilmember Joe McDermott. The letter outlines the commissions concerns for the Chinatown-International District regarding the proposed light rail station and "megaplex" homeless shelter.  2022.10.3 CID Neighborhood Concerns

September Board Meeting Join the Commission for its September Public Board Meeting at the Wapato Filipino Community Center in Yakima County. The meeting will take place from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. with an opportunity to make public comments during lunch. Meeting highlights include: Welcome remarks from Washington State Representative Alex Ybarra (R- 13th LD); Community presentation by Lon Inaba & Stan Viernes on the history and legacy of interracial collaboration in the Yakima Valley; Elections to board leadership including and designation of committee assignments. Meeting materials, including a link to participate virtually, can be found online at our website: Board Meetings - Washington State Commission on Asian Pacific [...]

Join us for our March Board Meeting! The Commission will convene its Public Board Meeting on Saturday, March 19th, from 10 AM – 12 PM. The meeting will be held virtually with a dial in option to participate. A link to participate and dial-in information are below. Meeting materials are available to the general public on CAPAA’s website. Members of the public wishing to provide public comment may contact Project Coordinator Brenda O’Brien at <brenda.obrien@capaa.wa.gov> with the following information: name, phone number, e-mail address, and affiliated organization. Click here to join the meeting Dial-in information is as follows:  Meeting ID: 848 9908 4241 Passcode: 142654 One tap mobile +12532158782,,84899084241#,,,,*142654# US (Tacoma) [...]

CAPAA Welcomes New Project Manager K’gnausa Yodkerepauprai K’gnausa Yodkerepauprai (“Keen-yah-suh Yawd-keery-paw-pry) joined CAPAA as its new Project Manager in February. He is a first-generation Thai Canadian-American, who immigrated with his mother to Madison, Wisconsin before moving to Olympia, Washington. He holds a B.A in Political Science from Evergreen State College. Previously, K’gnausa served in a number of legislative offices, including the Office of Senator Joe Nguyen (34th LD), the Office of Senator John McCoy (38th LD), and the Office of Congressman Denny Heck (10th CD). These experiences kindled a passion for public policy and advocacy that he proudly brings to CAPAA. K’gnausa cares deeply about preserving the environment, as [...]

Happy Holidays! As we move into 2022, we leave a year unlike any other. As always, we are grateful for the opportunity to serve the ANHPI communities of the state of Washington. In this last year, we've helped coordinate vaccinations and pushed to prioritize the members of our community who were most at-risk, and ensured that everyone had the information they needed to stay safe and healthy. We've held conversations with community leaders and elected officials to uplift the stories and voices in our communities. We spoke out against the rise in anti-Asian hate and provided resources to report instances of hate and discrimination. We are also eternally grateful [...]