Empowering New York’s Asian American Community Since 1989

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Civic Engagement

Raising Our Community’s Voice

All Asian Americans deserve to be represented in decision-making affecting their everyday lives. However, despite being NYC’s fastest-growing demographic, less than half of eligible Asian American voters turn out.

As the sole U.S. Census Bureau-designated Census Information Center for the Northeast’s Asian community, AAF has a history of ensuring accurate representation for our community, including in the past three decennial Censuses.

Today, we partner with the #AAPI POWER Coalition to:

  • Boost Asian American civic engagement as voters, donors, community board members, and potential candidates with culturally sensitive resources like voter guides and videos.
  • Educate our community on government engagement, self-advocacy, and building alliances with like-minded groups; and
  • Enhance understanding of new electoral systems to empower our communities as a visible, undeniable force.

Click below to learn more about our coalition efforts and download our Voter Guides in multiple languages.

Latest Reports

Connecting to Power: The Growing Impact of New York City’s Asian Voters

Connecting to Power: The Growing Impact of New York City’s Asian Voters

A report on how Asians – the fastest-growing voting bloc in NYC – are reshaping the City.

Asian Americans in New York City: A Decade of Dynamic Change 2000-2010 (2012)

Asian Americans in New York City: A Decade of Dynamic Change 2000-2010 (2012)

This report is the first detailed look at Asian New Yorkers based on the data releases from the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey. The report covers changes in demographics from 2000-2010, as well as examine the status of […]

Economic Characteristics Of Asian Americans in the New York Metropolitan Area (2005)

Economic Characteristics Of Asian Americans in the New York Metropolitan Area (2005)

Supported by the the Citigroup Foundation, the C.J. Huang Foundation, and the AT&T Foundation, the Federation’s Census Information Center (CIC) has prepared a Census 2000-based analysis offering unprecedented detail on work-force participation, employment, earnings, income, housing, and occupational and industry […]

Latest Briefs

The Growing Influence of Asian Voters: A Case Study of Congressional District 3

The Growing Influence of Asian Voters: A Case Study of Congressional District 3

Asian American Federation

Comparing results of the General Election of 2022 and the Special Election of District 3, 2024

A Case Study of Assembly District 49

A Case Study of Assembly District 49

Asian American Federation

Examining the factors behind the loss of Assembly Member Peter Abbate’s seat of 36 years to Republican Lester Chang.

Census 2020

Despite contributing to U.S. society for more than 170 years, Asian Americans remain undercounted and underrepresented in the national conversation. The Asian American Federation seeks to increase the community’s participation in the political and civic life of the nation. To that end, the most important step is to ensure that Asian Americans are counted. Where do they live? How many of us are here? What languages do we speak? Our goal is to ensure the Asian American experience in all its complexity is made visible to demographers–and our most effective weapon is data.

As the only officially designated Census Information Center by the U.S. Census Bureau focused on the Asian community in the Northeast and the leading expert on New York’s Asian American census data and issues, AAF is well placed to tell our community’s story through the numbers.

We were a national and local community partner of the U.S. Census Bureau for the 2020 Census, as well as for the Censuses in 2010 and 2000.

We have been able to use our cultural expertise to break down barriers to participation in the Asian American community. Effective in-language communication and training, a deep reach into the community, and strong partnerships helped us to achieve above average participation in the 2020 Census from New York’s Asian American community. Even in a year when Covid-19 made in-person canvassing almost impossible, AAF delivered Asian self-response rates on Census 2020 that were higher than the city-wide average.

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