These Fact Sheets were compiled by scanning existing data and research that is available online. Even if it is not perfect, it’s an attempt to compile a first layer of information for those who are interested in learning more about AMEMSA communities and what policies impact their lives.
What is the Civic Engagement Fund for Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian (AMEMSA) Communities?
AAPIP has been raising the visibility of AMEMSA communities and issues since 2003. After 9/11 there was a deep gap in terms of information about AMEMSA communities and infrastructure in the San Francisco Bay Area, perpetuating a dearth of investments for AMEMSA-led organizations and a continued exclusion of AMEMSA voices. These communities, while serving and representing ethnically and culturally distinct and diverse constituencies, collectively continue to face heightened challenges such as public and media scrutiny, misunderstanding and discrimination. A decade after 9/11 the challenges are daunting, yet the opportunities to support, invest and learn are immense.
The Civic Engagement Fund -- a pooled fund that is coordinated by AAPIP -- was initiated in 2006, and has continued to support AMEMSA communities as they sharpen and expand their goals and agendas. The CEF is supporting AMEMSA organizations to increase their individual and shared capacities around issue areas of common concern; to build ownership around their own capacity development; and to better serve their communities through collective action. The primary focus since 2010 has been to jointly explore how to build collective power within the AMEMSA communities, leading to greater potential for long-term community change. Through the program, groups are creating a shared analysis of issues affecting the AMEMSA communities and exploring how this work can translate into more coordinated efforts across communities and organizational practices. The CEF will provide three-year general operating support to organizations that demonstrate commitment to honoring those goals through active participation in the program.
Since its inception the CEF has been based on a learning model that creates avenues for shared learning and understanding on the part of our philanthropic partners and grantee partners, as well as AAPIP staff as the drivers of the process.
Program Goals
Increased activation of AMEMSA communities to build local and regional power
AMEMSA communities are able to proactively determine their social justice goals
Greater coordination and collaboration between AMEMSA organizations to build effective and sustainable practices that benefit AMEMSA communities and beyond
AMEMSA organizations are competitive in the broader funding landscape both individually and as a cohort
Read more about CEF's History, Overview, Structure and Timeline > view/download PDF
Civic Engagement Fund Grantee Partners/Organizations:
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation collaborating through the Community Leadership Project http://www.communityleadershipproject.org/
Other CEF partners - One Nation Bay Area Project
AAPIP is pleased to be a partner in a new local effort – the One Nation Bay Area Project -- with both existing and new philanthropic partners. Together, The San Francisco Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Marin Community Foundation and AAPIP are partnering with the One Nation Foundation to continue our work over the past decade with AMEMSA communities in the Bay Area.
The One Nation Bay Area Project consists of a small grants fund, which will grant organizations up to $10,000 to support civic engagement efforts that bring together American Muslim and non-Muslim leaders and residents to address community issues of common concern. Click here for more information.
Note: The deadline for submissions has passed.
Welcome Laila Mehta, Director, AAPIP Civic Engagement Fund for AMEMSA Communities
Spring 2010 - Please join the Board of Directors and Staff of AAPIP in welcoming Laila Mehta as the Director of the Civic Engagement Fund for AMEMSA (Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian) Communities. Laila joined AAPIP in May, directly from Kathmandu, Nepal, where she worked for two years with grantmaking institutions, donors and international agencies on issues related to governance, post-conflict peace building, and gender integration. To learn more about Laila and her thoughts on the shared experiences of AMEMSA and Asian American communities in times of crisis, view the short clip.
Based on a lack of information and understanding of the AMEMSA community and constellation of organizations in the SF Bay area, in 2004 AAPIP and Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) conducted a scan to capture both organizational needs and relevant issues impacting communities. The Civic Engagement Fund was developed based on this research concerning the needs and challenges facing these underserved populations.
This case study documents the process and key stakeholders that were involved and instrumental in the creation of the Civic Engagement Fund. Through the initial partnership between AAPIP and The San Francisco Community Foundation, along with active staff working with other philanthropic institutions, the interest to extend funding to AMEMSA organizations was actualized into a pilot project: the Bay Area Demonstration Project.
This brief is based on an external evaluation of the CEF’s four-year (2006-2009) program, which comprised two cycles of grant-making, capacity building convenings, and technical assistance support. The methodology consisted of a literature review, focus group discussions with community partners/grantees, and conversations with advisory committee members and AAPIP staff. The 2010 Program was designed in part based on feedback from this evaluation report.
